MAWISTA distances itself from Degis

Accusations of financial interests were made against Degis (Deutsche Gesellschaft internationaler Studierender gGmbH) this year.

Foreigners’ authorities require students whose home country is outside the EU to prove that they are able to finance their living expenses. This is done in the form of a so-called blocked account. The student pays a legally prescribed minimum amount into this account before entering Germany. Opening a blocked account is possible within a few minutes through various providers.

The purpose of the company Degis, whose founder is also behind the blocked account broker Expatrio, was originally declared to be non-profit. The intention to serve the public good is currently in doubt. Various indications point to the purpose of initiating insurance and financial transactions. For example, the supposedly neutral product recommendations on the Degis website hid only the exclusive partners of Expatrio Global Services GmbH. Furthermore, Degis falsely stated that it also worked with the competitors Coracle and Fintiba. According to Finanzbusiness, there was also the suspicion that Expatrio was using the data of the Degis homepage visitors for marketing purposes.

Since the accusations of Degis’ ostensibly financial interests became loud, the company has removed the cookies on the website and the consulting tool on the website. Nevertheless, the neutrality is still to be doubted. Numerous universities and scientific institutions have already distanced themselves from Degis. There has also been no cooperation between MAWISTA and Degis. MAWISTA cooperates exclusively with the market leader Fintiba regarding blocked accounts.