# Opening commission free bank accounts in Spain - my recent experience



## tmarshall57 (Jan 17, 2017)

Given the number of banks in Spain introducing or increasing their commissions or just providing bad service I thought that my recent experience may prove useful to others. I have no connection with either bank listed below.

I needed a Spanish bank account for non tax residents of Spain. My main residence is the UK. I have a property in Spain. I had had very poor experiences with Bankia, being charged commissions for so-called free accounts and having to write official complaints on an annual basis in order to recover those charges. After spending some lock-down time researching the situation this is how I recently opened 2 commission free accounts in Spain.

*N.26 basic account*
I arrived in Spain on Thursday last week, accessed the N.26 website from my Spanish address, entered the relevant details using my Spanish address for the location of the account and my UK passport, National Insurance number, Spanish NIE etc as my identification. I then downloaded and used the N.26 app to take ID photos of my UK passport and my face. The app also appeared to use my location as confirmation. The process was simple and I received confirmation that my account was active within minutes. I requested normal delivery for my debit card which took 4 business days to arrive at my Spanish address. I was a little concerned when I then withdrew some cash from a local DeutchBank cash machine which advised that a commission of €2.90 would be applied however I withdrew the cash and the commission was not deducted. You are allowed 3 free cash machine withdrawals per month. All in all the simplest bank opening experience ever. Many banks could learn from this. Please note that you cannot open a joint N.26 basic account.
* 
Cajamar Rural: Wefferent account*
Based on positive experiences reported by others, we wanted to open a Wefferent joint account as non-residents. This is a commission free account providing all banking services online. I had previously been advised that, for non-residents, opening this account could only be achieved by visiting a branch. I visited the local branch last Thursday, explained my requirements and they gave us an appointment for the following day. I have a little Spanish but the lady I dealt with spoke reasonable English. We were advised to bring passports, national (UK) tax ID (we took official copies of our National Insurance number letter - downloadable from HMRC website), NIE, P60 and proof of sources of income (my wife showed details of her NHS pension, I showed proof of private pension/investments). All the form filling and signing was completed in about 30 minutes and we were each given a slip of paper with temporary user names and passwords to allow us to access the Cajamar web site and App so that we could then order the Wefferent account online.
We then discovered an issue in that the default address for delivery of the debit cards was our UK home address whereas we had understood that we would have the cards delivered to the local branch or our Spanish address. We also needed a correction to our home UK postcode. We therefore re-visited the branch and the assistant made the necessary corrections, ordered the Wefferent account for us and gave us a card containing the account’s IBAN and BIC numbers and told us that the cards would be at the branch within 4 working days. We were then able to lodge money in the account and set up relevant direct debits. All-in-all a pleasant experience. We wanted totally free banking, the Wefferent account appears to provide this and yet allows you to visit the branch should you need and only be charged for the month in which you visit (€7 I think). Providing the cards appear on Monday next, this will have been a good experience.

I hope this helps others and was our experience of late September 2021


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## fortrose52 (Nov 29, 2018)

Thank you for that welcome information. Let us know what happens with the Cajamar Rural account please


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## tmarshall57 (Jan 17, 2017)

A brief update:

*Cajamar*

I received a notification yesterday to say that my debit card had arrived. I went to pick it up today - no problems. I thought we had ordered a card each but it seems that we agreed to order just one card. To be honest I can't recall and 1 card is sufficient for our needs so I didn't pursue this.

*N.26*

I forgot to mention that, if you require a physical card rather than a virtual one, you need to pay a delivery fee. This is €10.00. I added money to my account immediately after opening the account and, so far, I've not been charged for the card. I do believe though that the card is produced once there is money in the account so worth adding money after setting up the account.


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## Brulee (Jan 13, 2021)

I have an n26 account. They are very good. I deposit money using a revolut account.


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## yevlondon (Jul 8, 2020)

i also have N26. was easy to open.

went to Cajamar in person (Barcelona) but when the lady heard i needed a non resident account she refused to help saying it is muy muy complicado 

i ended up with Bank Inter which was pretty straightforward and compared to other non resident accounts does not charge an arm and a leg - only 60eur annual fee.


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## fortrose52 (Nov 29, 2018)

Thank you all for this information. I have been wanting to change from my Caixa for ages


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

I would live to be rid of the charges that exist with my bank but I'm worried about these online banks as my brother used an online Icelandic bank when they were offering good saving rates(remember?) and ended up have no protection when the banking crisis hit in 2007. I also was with an online bank but cant remember the name but it turned out to be part of some Saudi banking group and it too ran into problems and only guaranteed limited security.


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## Mark427 (Dec 22, 2020)

kaipa said:


> I would live to be rid of the charges that exist with my bank but I'm worried about these online banks as my brother used an online Icelandic bank when they were offering good saving rates(remember?) and ended up have no protection when the banking crisis hit in 2007. I also was with an online bank but cant remember the name but it turned out to be part of some Saudi banking group and it too ran into problems and only guaranteed limited security.


N26 has been around for 8 years and was voted best bank in the world for 2021.Yourr money is protected up to €100,000 by the German Deposit Protection Scheme. They also use 3D secure protection for online shopping.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

I think all those Icelandic online banks also claimed protection ( every bank does) the problem was that the Icelandic government couldn't fund the losses. I believe people are still trying to get their money back 13 years later


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## Mark427 (Dec 22, 2020)

kaipa said:


> I think all those Icelandic online banks also claimed protection ( every bank does) the problem was that the Icelandic government couldn't fund the losses. I believe people are still trying to get their money back 13 years later


If Germany can't fund the losses then I doubt any country could. Plus the protection provided back then was sloppy at best and has since been overhauled.








Deposit protection: why your money is protected in your bank account


Deposit protection guarantees your money is secure. Find out how these schemes ensure you’re protected.




n26.com


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

The protection is no doubt better than it was 15 years ago. However, I would imagine that a purely App based account is fraught with potential security risks. I have just discovered that my HMRC file has been hacked and DOB changed despite HMRC saying its impossible. After a month I have just phoned NI again and this time the message begins by saying that there are investigating recent security breaches. As there is no email address and no physical offices available it is impossible for me to do anything- as each time you fail the security check they discontinue the call. I would hate to find I'm locked out of my bank account and had no had no resort other than an App.


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## Mark427 (Dec 22, 2020)

kaipa said:


> The protection is no doubt better than it was 15 years ago. However, I would imagine that a purely App based account is fraught with potential security risks. I have just discovered that my HMRC file has been hacked and DOB changed despite HMRC saying its impossible. After a month I have just phoned NI again and this time the message begins by saying that there are investigating recent security breaches. As there is no email address and no physical offices available it is impossible for me to do anything- as each time you fail the security check they discontinue the call. I would hate to find I'm locked out of my bank account and had no had no resort other than an App.


Personally I wouldnt be keeping all my eggs in 1 basket anyway. I would use N26 for paying bills using their Spanish IBAN and fund it monthly from a bricks and mortar bank like cajar previously mentioned by others.The only way you will be guaranteed safe is if you stick it under the mattress, buy a shotgun and sleep with 1 eye open 😁


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

You are right. If you simply use it as a bank to facilitate living in Spain it probably is fine as you avoid charges and can use it for direct debits( not sure how that works as I thought you needed a Spanish bank for that). Not great to use if buying or selling property though. In fact, you can only do that with a bankers draft at the notary and you won't get that unless it's a physical Spanish bank.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

kaipa said:


> You are right. If you simply use it as a bank to facilitate living in Spain it probably is fine as you avoid charges and can use it for direct debits( not sure how that works as I thought you needed a Spanish bank for that). Not great to use if buying or selling property though. In fact, you can only do that with a bankers draft at the notary and you won't get that unless it's a physical Spanish bank.


As clarified on another thread, if you have an address in Spain you can get a Spanish IBAN. So ideal for paying direct debits like council tax (most ayuntamientos will only accept Spanish IBANs).


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## Mark427 (Dec 22, 2020)

kaipa said:


> You are right. If you simply use it as a bank to facilitate living in Spain it probably is fine as you avoid charges and can use it for direct debits( not sure how that works as I thought you needed a Spanish bank for that). Not great to use if buying or selling property though. In fact, you can only do that with a bankers draft at the notary and you won't get that unless it's a physical Spanish bank.


You dont need a spanish bank to pay direct debits, as long as you have a spanish IIBAN then thats all thats needed, which N26 gives you. Technically all the utility companies should accept any IBAN as that is the law but quite a few refuse to accept any other than spanish ones.


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## Mark427 (Dec 22, 2020)

kaipa said:


> The protection is no doubt better than it was 15 years ago. However, I would imagine that a purely App based account is fraught with potential security risks. I have just discovered that my HMRC file has been hacked and DOB changed despite HMRC saying its impossible. After a month I have just phoned NI again and this time the message begins by saying that there are investigating recent security breaches. As there is no email address and no physical offices available it is impossible for me to do anything- as each time you fail the security check they discontinue the call. I would hate to find I'm locked out of my bank account and had no had no resort other than an App.


One last thing to note as I'm starting to sound like an N26 fanboy or on commission  if you were unable to access via the phone app, you can also go to their website and login there and have full access to your account, so as long as you had access to a pc you would not be up the creek.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

kaipa said:


> You are right. If you simply use it as a bank to facilitate living in Spain it probably is fine as you avoid charges and can use it for direct debits( not sure how that works as I thought you needed a Spanish bank for that). Not great to use if buying or selling property though. In fact, you can only do that with a bankers draft at the notary and you won't get that unless it's a physical Spanish bank.


Not true! We sold our house to a Dutch couple last year and they paid by bank transfer. They authorised the transfer on their mobile phone in front of the Notary and minutes later we logged on to our account via mobile phone and confirmed that the payment had been received. They had previously paid the 10% deposit by online transfer. We paid for our new home by banker's draft and CaixaBank tried to charge us €700, reduced to €200 after our protests and still under negotiation as our local branch had told us the banker's draft would cost only €50.


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## Weronika_yogini (5 mo ago)

tmarshall57 said:


> Given the number of banks in Spain introducing or increasing their commissions or just providing bad service I thought that my recent experience may prove useful to others. I have no connection with either bank listed below.
> 
> I needed a Spanish bank account for non tax residents of Spain. My main residence is the UK. I have a property in Spain. I had had very poor experiences with Bankia, being charged commissions for so-called free accounts and having to write official complaints on an annual basis in order to recover those charges. After spending some lock-down time researching the situation this is how I recently opened 2 commission free accounts in Spain.
> 
> ...


Hi, I know it's been a long time since you posted but could you clarify that to open your N26 you used just your NIE number (and you didn't need to show/scan your NIE green card or actually in your case I think it'd be TIE card, in other words, the card proving your residence in Spain)?
Also, during the registration process, did you state you're resident in Spain but for tax purposes resident in the UK? 
Many thanks!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Weronika_yogini said:


> Hi, I know it's been a long time since you posted but could you clarify that to open your N26 you used just your NIE number (and you didn't need to show/scan your NIE green card or actually in your case I think it'd be TIE card, in other words, the card proving your residence in Spain)?
> Also, during the registration process, did you state you're resident in Spain but for tax purposes resident in the UK?
> Many thanks!


As a non-resident of Spain the OP would have neither a TIE nor a green resident card/certificate.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Weronika_yogini said:


> Hi, I know it's been a long time since you posted but could you clarify that to open your N26 you used just your NIE number (and you didn't need to show/scan your NIE green card or actually in your case I think it'd be TIE card, in other words, the card proving your residence in Spain)?
> Also, during the registration process, did you state you're resident in Spain but for tax purposes resident in the UK?
> Many thanks!


How would that be possible?


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## tmarshall57 (Jan 17, 2017)

As the OP: I don't have a TIE or other Spanish ID card. I just have an NIE number. I recall using my UK passport and NI number. I think I needed my NIE but I can't recall for sure. Best thing is to download the app and go through the step by step approach. It cost nothing other than a €10 fee and then only if you require a physical debit card. I used my Spanish address as the correspondence address. I've no idea if they tracked my to that location when I was completing the application. For additional clarity I stated that my address was in Spain but that I am tax resident in the UK.

PS - it's been a year since I opened the accounts and it's been the most hassle free banking year I've had in Spain since I purchased in February 2017. As well as being fee free.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Sorry to slightly flip the subject. Can you open a UK bank account online if you are not a UK resident.? My son is 16 and has NSI children bonds his grandmother bought him when he was a child that have matured. Now he is 16 he has control but he can't actually reinvest them unless they are paid out to a UK bank account first. He lives in spain but can we open a UK bank account online for him?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

kaipa said:


> Sorry to slightly flip the subject. Can you open a UK bank account online if you are not a UK resident.? My son is 16 and has NSI children bonds his grandmother bought him when he was a child that have matured. Now he is 16 he has control but he can't actually reinvest them unless they are paid out to a UK bank account first. He lives in spain but can we open a UK bank account online for him?


I only know of HSBC that allows EU residents to open a UK account. They have children's account for under 18s: Children's Bank Account | MyMoney - HSBC UK


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Joppa said:


> I only know of HSBC that allows EU residents to open a UK account. They have children's account for under 18s: Children's Bank Account | MyMoney - HSBC UK


OK, I will try that. I use HSBC myself.


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