# Initial bank account whilst on property / area hunt



## hertsmas (Nov 12, 2014)

Lo all, 

I am going to start some regular scouting trips in the wider' Granada catchment area' 

First an area , then an actual town , then a property to 'long term' rent and all with the aim of having a property for my looming retirement. I have picked this large starting point as I want to be in proximity of The Sierra Nevada but also the proximity of the coast either side of Nerja though on the coast is not by any means part of my plans. As you can see I am not stuck on one place , its just a starting point. 

I am thinking a bank account would be a good start as I'd like it in place well before entering in to a rental and i know there are lots of 'why do you expect free banking etc' posts but I'm not just concerned with that.

I dont mind a small yearly or quarterly charge if need be and don't expect to do anything other than have a debit and ATM card at the moment, however I would like no regular other dodgy charges and no ATM charges. Online banking in English would be a serious bonus and worth paying a little for.

Also will I be able to open one without yet having a Spanish address, I cant see how so it might be catch 22 ?

Any suggestions please 

Thank You ....


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

hertsmas said:


> Lo all,
> 
> I am going to start some regular scouting trips in the wider' Granada catchment area'
> 
> ...


Yes, it's quite common to open a non-resident bank account before you have a Spanish address. I did, before we started looking in earnest for a property.

Some people report that they were able to open one with just a passport, but others (including me) needed to obtain an NIE first (fiscal identification number). You get that from the nearest Comisaria de Policia Nacional, normally (the Oficina de Extranjeros, to be more precise) which involves paying a fee of just over €10.

As far as I know it's not possible to find a non-resident bank account which doesn't involve paying fees. There will be account maintenance fees (approx €60 pa), a fee for having a debit card (approx €20 pa) and a charge for submitting an annual certificate of non-residency which is required by the tax authorities (not sure how much that is as I changed my account to a resident one before that was introduced). You will not be charged for cash withdrawals if you use an ATM within your bank's network, and if you find a property and set up direct debits to pay the bills they don't incur a fee either. Neither should you be charged for transfers of funds into your account from overseas (the exception being for amounts of €50,000 or over).

My OH and I both bank with Banco Popular which has a good Bank Online service, you can select the English language option if you wish and also opt for ATM displays in English. Online banking doesn't involve a separate charge.


----------



## hertsmas (Nov 12, 2014)

Thanks for that , 

That is generally similar to what I've read though 80 Euros per year seems more than others have admitted to paying. I always prefer to hear from the horses moth so to speak.

I'm seeing a lot of people mention using Sabadell and Caixa in my situation too but many are saying Sabadell was bought out and have ramped up charges massively.


----------



## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

hertsmas said:


> Thanks for that ,
> 
> That is generally similar to what I've read though 80 Euros per year seems more than others have admitted to paying. I always prefer to hear from the horses moth so to speak.
> 
> I'm seeing a lot of people mention using Sabadell and Caixa in my situation too but many are saying Sabadell was bought out and have ramped up charges massively.


My experience trying to open an account with Banc Sabadell wasn't good, but I don't live in a typical ex-pat area so maybe not reflective of all areas. But they do seem to charge a lot of fees. I now bank with Catalanya Caixa who are (so far) much better.


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

Helen,

As stated, yes non-residents can easily open accounts, but certainly technically one needs an NIE and a certificate of non-residence, obtainable from the police office where one gets the NIE. That is the one which has jurisdiction for where you are living in Spain, that includes where you are staying, even a hostal for the one night.

However, never believe that any service will be the same as in any other country. Always ask about how, whatever you want, can be achieved and how much it will cost. It always was, probably still is, normal to charge to receive funds being paid into, transferred to, an account. If you know there might be a problem, you can can always hope to negotiate a solution. If you don't ask they will just do it their way.

Never even expect 2 branches of the same bank to do things the way another branch does
So ask, and ask again.


----------



## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Walked into Sabadell with our passports and walked out 30 minutes later with a joint account whilst we were visiting and used our Belgian address.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

hertsmas said:


> Thanks for that ,
> 
> That is generally similar to what I've read though 80 Euros per year seems more than others have admitted to paying. I always prefer to hear from the horses moth so to speak.
> 
> I'm seeing a lot of people mention using Sabadell and Caixa in my situation too but many are saying Sabadell was bought out and have ramped up charges massively.


This is simply wrong! Sabadell (ISTR) is in the top 5 banks in Spain and seems to be 'buying' out lots of other banks - CAM and Lloyds International for example. To my recollection, their charges are not any higher than other banks.

I wouldn't worry where the bank is - it really makes no difference these days. Just make sure that they have very good on-line services.

You should NOT need anything more than your passport to open a non-resident account. Far better to do this as any NIE these days is temporary and expires after 3 months. They then start to ask awkward questions as to why you want another one rather than the certificate of registration ('residencia').


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> This is simply wrong! Sabadell (ISTR) is in the top 5 banks in Spain and seems to be 'buying' out lots of other banks - CAM and Lloyds International for example. To my recollection, their charges are not any higher than other banks.
> 
> Far better to do this as any NIE these days is temporary and expires after 3 months. They then start to ask awkward questions as to why you want another one rather than the certificate of registration ('residencia').


Solbank, which is now part of Sabadell charged me 0.5% (0n the whole amount) to transfer sterling from a sterling investment account with them to another bank (that was to any other bank). I tried to negotiate a better fee but they were not interested. *The charge amounted to over £800.* Yes a very good bank, I do not think.

NB The NIE lasts forever, it is just the the certificate which has a 3 month validity.


----------



## NickH01 (May 4, 2014)

We went into Bankinter in La Marina and half an hour later walked out with a non - residents joint account opened. We only needed our passports and used our U.K address.

Not sure as to charges as we are just adding a little money to the account whenever we go out to Spain. They will start to charge us when we ask for debit/ATM cards etc.

We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful.


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

NickH01 said:


> Not sure as to charges as we are just adding a little money to the account whenever we go out to Spain. They will start to charge us when we ask for debit/ATM cards etc.
> 
> .


Sorry but that is like signing a contract to buy a house without knowing the cost.

By signing the opening contract you accepted the conditions, whatever they may be. 

In your shoes I would go back and ask what the charges are for having the account will be, not just the charge when/if you take card, and what they will charge you for every service which you may want. You may find that you may need _the little money you add each time you are here_, to cover the service charges, even for a dormant account. Banks are not philanthropic organisations. 

_We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful._
Any successful con man answers to that description, that how they become con men.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

larryzx said:


> Solbank, which is now part of Sabadell charged me 0.5% (0n the whole amount) to transfer sterling from a sterling investment account with them to another bank (that was to any other bank). I tried to negotiate a better fee but they were not interested. *The charge amounted to over £800.* Yes a very good bank, I do not think.
> 
> NB The NIE lasts forever, it is just the the certificate which has a 3 month validity.




No, really??!!

Sabadell are a great bank for a variety of reasons. Solbank doesn't exist now - Sabadell own all of their assets. Yes, transfer charges can be high, that's why it's best to do the homework first before committing funds - same with any bank.


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> No, really??!!
> , that's why it's best to do the homework first before committing funds - same with any bank.


But if one does not know there are reasons to wary (maybe because someone they think they can trust, says _AB is a great bank, _ then like Nick, people may not ask questions and then can be mislead. 

Sol Bank were great when I opened the account. As I said (because I knew that banks can legally make extortionate transfer charges, i.e. a percentage of the whole amount amount transferred, without any limit) I tried at a very high level to negotiate a lower charge, but they were not interested.


----------



## Guest (Nov 13, 2014)

We too walked into Sabadell off the street with our passports before we moved over here and were able to set up an account immediately. The staff all speak some degree of English and at this branch they have two fluent English speakers on tap to deal with expats. They couldn't have been more helpful. They also dealt with questions such as "how do we avoid paying that fee" and offering us alternative types of accounts. The internet banking is excellent and has an English option. The help line is helpful and offers English speakers (UK banks, please note that last statement. It was a relief dealing with someone who wasn't out in India). Now for the downside. It costs - I don't have the figures to hand - which of course we'd prefer didn't exist but as we are buying a good service, we feel we are getting value for money. We felt this was particularly important as we might have had the need to make currency transactions whilst in the UK - which in fact happened - and needed reliability and accessibility above all else. You get what you pay for. Hope this is helpful.


----------



## NickH01 (May 4, 2014)

Whilst I admit that perhaps I could have worded my post a little differently, we are not stupid enough to simply walk randomly into a bank and open an account. The bank was recommended to us by friends who live in Spain and the charges will depend upon the services we use. I was simply offering up the fact that the staff were helpful, we only required our passports and used our U.K address.


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

NickH01 said:


> ............. The bank was recommended to us by friends who live in Spain and the charges will depend upon the services we use. I was simply offering up the fact that the staff were helpful, we only required our passports and used our U.K address.


I know that in my bank I have a much better deal on charges than a couple of my friends who have accounts in the same branch. They did not negotiate I did. They were very surprised when they found out as they thought it would be the same for all customers, as it might be in UK. 

That was the point I was trying to make in your case. If you have not asked and agreed conditions, you do not know, and that might mean unpleasant surprises. 

PS For at least the past 31 years one has been able to use an address in another country, on an account, with any bank.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

larryzx said:


> I know that in my bank I have a much better deal on charges than a couple of my friends who have accounts in the same branch. They did not negotiate I did. They were very surprised when they found out as they thought it would be the same for all customers, as it might be in UK.
> 
> That was the point I was trying to make in your case. If you have not asked and agreed conditions, you do not know, and that might mean unpleasant surprises.
> 
> PS For at least the past 31 years one has been able to use an address in another country, on an account, with any bank.



Not in the UK any more.

A Spanish resident can NOT open a UK bank account.


----------



## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> Not in the UK any more.
> 
> A Spanish resident can NOT open a UK bank account.


We are talking about banks IN SPAIN "Initial bank account whilst on property / area hunt"


----------



## hertsmas (Nov 12, 2014)

I came back to this post as I'm now looking to book a trip out and thought that I might find some recommendations or maybe even examples of accounts with particular charges. 

What did I find , ? a lot of arguing. The internet can be a wonderful thing but I see it never changes  

Thanks to all who have tried to help.

Mas


----------



## pizzacheaze (Oct 29, 2012)

hertsmas said:


> I came back to this post as I'm now looking to book a trip out and thought that I might find some recommendations or maybe even examples of accounts with particular charges.


Hi Mas, 

Banks seem to make up the charges as they go along and I'm sure each branch has their own set of charges, rather than a nationwide standard charge.

I have a La Caixa Non-resident account, here is what I pay.

12 euros a quarter for the account
26 euros a year for a debit card
25 euros every 2 years for a non-resident certificate

I don't pay anything when I send money into the account via transferwise (as long as it is under 50,000 euros)

When I bought my villa, I was charged a flat fee of 200 euros for sending in more than 50k in one go.

Hope this helps and good luck with your search


----------



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> Not in the UK any more.
> 
> A Spanish resident can NOT open a UK bank account.


As I posted before ; my wife had one opened in her name, by an agency using there office as an address. all whilst never leaving Spain. :lol:
My wife then changed it to our daughter's address some months later. She didn't actually need a bank account but as it was with a different bank to our others they're always worth having !


----------



## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

We have an account with Bankia , very easy to open , online banking and ATM cards , very reasonable charges but not English speaking in our village so Spanish required, I have used the ATM in Spain , updated my passbook at the machine and done transfers online , no more charges than some UK banks , all good so far. All the account info is available online in Spanish and English.


----------

