Budgeting App for Expats in Greece

Greece has been in the EU since 1 January 1981, in Schengen since 1 January 2000 and in the euro area since 1 January 2001¹.

Borderless Budget connects to major Greek banks including National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank, and Eurobank through secure bank connections, and your accounts in the US, Canada, the EU, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein connect too.

Major banks for expats

• National Bank of Greece
• Piraeus Bank
• Alpha Bank
• Eurobank

Cash vs. card culture

Greece has used the euro since 1 January 2001¹. How you pay also matters for income tax: each year, taxpayers must incur expenses through electronic payments equal to 30% of their actual income from wages, pensions, business activity and immovable property, capped at €20,000. If declared expenses fall below that threshold, 22% of the shortfall is added to the scale tax².

Track a couple of months of real spending before you set targets. If you earn in dollars or pounds, the euro rate decides how far your salary goes each month.

With the euro as the local currency, the only exchange rate in your Greek budget is the one between the euro and what you earn. If that's dollars or pounds, the same rent can cost noticeably more or less from one quarter to the next. Tracking it in one place shows the real trend.

Transferring money to Greece

• If you already hold euros, compare your home bank's fees for euro transfers with a multi-currency account like Wise or Revolut.
• If you're paid in dollars or pounds, convert in larger monthly batches rather than small ad hoc transfers, and compare your bank's rate with a specialist service first.
• Paying by card rather than cash also counts toward the electronic-payments threshold described below².

Borderless Budget tracks all of your accounts, your home-country bank, your Greek bank, and services like Wise or Revolut, in a single dashboard. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects where things actually stand.

• Permanent residents of Greece are taxed on their worldwide income. The general scale for salaries runs from 9% on the first €10,000 to 44% above €60,000, with lower scales for people with children or under 30⁵.
• Each year, taxpayers must incur expenses through electronic payments equal to 30% of their actual income from wages, pensions, business activity and immovable property, capped at €20,000. If declared expenses fall below that threshold, 22% of the shortfall is added to the scale tax².
• The tax year is the calendar year, and income tax returns are submitted from 15 March to 15 July⁶.
• Employee social security contributions of 13.37% come on top of income tax, so budget from your net pay, not your gross⁴.
• The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income from all sources, wherever they live⁷.

1. Budget your Greek life in euros. If you earn in dollars or pounds, the exchange rate is the only currency step to watch.
2. Pay by card where you can and keep a running total of your card spending against the 30% threshold².
3. Ask whether a flat's rent includes the building's shared charges and utilities, and put them on their own budget line.
4. Keep your home-country bills, like subscriptions, loans and phone plans, in their own currency so you can see what Greece actually costs you.

Connect your Greek and home-country banks

Link your National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank, or other Greek bank alongside your home-country bank. Transactions from all accounts sync automatically into one dashboard.

Budget in EUR and your home currency

Your budget is set in your home currency, and Borderless Budget automatically converts every transaction, whether it's in euro or your home currency. You can toggle any transaction to see the original currency amount. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects reality.

Automatic categorization

Transactions from Greek merchants are automatically categorized. Categorization improves as you use the app, learning your patterns across both currencies, so you spend less time sorting transactions and more time living your life in Greece.

See the impact of exchange rates

When exchange rates shift, your combined budget view updates automatically. You'll see exactly how currency movements affect your overall spending, no surprises, no guesswork.