In Germany, (regular) payments are normally transacted. Not only your semester fee but also rent, telephone etc. can be comfortably transacted. As spending non-cash is more and more popular in Germany, too, it is advantageous to own a corresponding EC-Card, anyway.

Many banks offer students (or clients up to a certain age in general) a free giro-account. Banks and according EC-cash points are spread all over Hanover and Germany. Just look for a conveniently located bank and open an account, there. If the account is only free for students, tell the bank that you are studying and produce a registration notice as soon as possible. In order to keep the free account, you must show a valid notice at the beginning of each semester.

In order to open an account you need
• passport
• registration notice from the university
• registration notice from the residents' registration office or the aliens department respectively.

Further details about payment transactions can be found at the Deutscher Akademisches Austauschdienst (DAAD) at the subpoint Money transactions. 

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