Overview

• New EU payment rules taking effect in October require name-to-IBAN checks for individual transfers, but the pension insurer has exempted its mass disbursements to avoid blocks over minor name mismatches.
• Officials labeled claims that October pensions would not be paid as false and urged recipients to rely on DRV information channels for guidance.
• Deutsche Post/Postbank will end its cash pension payout service at the close of 2025, and remaining recipients must provide bank details so payments can be transferred from December 2025.
• Pensioners have a legal right to a basic bank account, which typically carries monthly fees of about €5–€10, or they may route payments to a trusted person’s EU/SEPA account; assistance is available from VdK, consumer centers, or BaFin for account issues.
• If no account is submitted by December, payments may pause briefly but will be paid retroactively later; separately, a mid-month supplement for certain disability pensions will be bundled into the regular payment from December 2025 with a revised calculation method.