# International Bank Account



## Jenny J (Jan 24, 2015)

Hi,
I would like some advice please. I am at the begining of my journey to move over to spain and I want to open an international bank account.
I wonder if anyone has any opinions or advice on which personal international bank account would be the better option.
Thanks in advance.
Jenny - Cheshire UK


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Jenny J said:


> Hi,
> I would like some advice please. I am at the begining of my journey to move over to spain and I want to open an international bank account.
> I wonder if anyone has any opinions or advice on which personal international bank account would be the better option.
> Thanks in advance.
> Jenny - Cheshire UK


Open an offshore account with a UK bank. You can open an account with £100 or 100 euros. Ask for a sterling and a euro account. 
Then open a Spanish euro account as you will need one to pay bills etc.
I can't recommend any one offshore bank.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Jenny J said:


> Hi,
> I would like some advice please. I am at the begining of my journey to move over to spain and I want to open an international bank account.
> I wonder if anyone has any opinions or advice on which personal international bank account would be the better option.
> Thanks in advance.
> Jenny - Cheshire UK


Is there a reason why you need an international bank? Most people who move oevrseas retain their UK one for UK dealings and open a Spanish for Spain. As mentioned here some UK banks have Spanish offices (Barclays, Santander etc ) and you can get deals like free transfers etc although for me I find using a currency exchange company usually gives better rates and same day transfers anyway!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> Is there a reason why you need an international bank? Most people who move oevrseas retain their UK one for UK dealings and open a Spanish for Spain. As mentioned here some UK banks have Spanish offices (Barclays, Santander etc ) and you can get deals like free transfers etc although for me I find using a currency exchange company usually gives better rates and same day transfers anyway!


Strictly speaking Barclays doesn't exist in Spain any more - its 'La Caixa'. 

I think it's from 1st March that they drop the old name altogether.


Also Santander - UK is very different to Santander - Spain. Friends of mine have found that there really is little benefit from having accounts with both.


I transfer money from UK to Spain via SEPA payments occasionally and have NEVER been charged for it.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I think Barclays Spain has been sold to La Caixa. Halifax/LLoyds Spanish banks were sold to Sabadell. Citibank Spain has been sold to Banco Popular. They've all probably still got offices in Madrid somewhere, but the only bank I know of that's still big in both countries is Santander. But given Santander UK and Santander Spain are effectively different banks anyway, I wouldn't use that as a reason for opening an account with them.

If you need an international ccount then I understand HSBC are very tax efficient


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> Strictly speaking Barclays doesn't exist in Spain any more - its 'La Caixa'.
> 
> I think it's from 1st March that they drop the old name altogether.
> 
> ...


It's hard to keep up with all the bank changes, a friend of mine has santander in both and gets some type of deal on transfers between them but I dont know then is and outs and this could have changed (or been some marketing ploy to get him signed up) but I am still curious what exactly the OP means by international bank account? Offshore? I see on Sky News that HSBC are very popular for those wishing to open offshore accounts at the moment


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Chopera said:


> If you need an international ccount then I understand HSBC are very tax efficient


Snap!


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

Whats the difference between an international account , or a uk and Spanish one ?

I only have Uk and Spanish ones and both can be accessed easily by internet 

Tony Agost Alicante


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

tonymar said:


> Whats the difference between an international account , or a uk and Spanish one ?
> 
> I only have Uk and Spanish ones and both can be accessed easily by internet
> 
> Tony Agost Alicante


I have the same confusion. Maybe the OP is simply asking which bank in Spain ppl recommend.

The honest answer these days is that they are all robbing *&^%^&&^%'s! If you are not resident then you will pay for your account and non resident fees for the to file certain tax declarations etc. If you are resident I have to say I am liking EVO Banco very much. As long as you have your nomina paid in or have a certain amount of bills paid out then they charge nothing for their account, they allow you to use ANY cash machine (on any network) in Spain Free and any cash machine in the world with no charge too... so handy!


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

Yes banks here dont seem to give much away , I think if I would tend to leave the bulk in the uk and have just what you need to on live here !

Tony


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

tonymar said:


> Whats the difference between an international account , or a uk and Spanish one ?
> 
> I only have Uk and Spanish ones and both can be accessed easily by internet
> 
> Tony Agost Alicante


If you didn't have the UK current account then you might find it impossible to open one in the UK (residency is usually a requirement). So an international account might then be an option.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Chopera said:


> If you didn't have the UK current account then you might find it impossible to open one in the UK (residency is usually a requirement). So an international account might then be an option.


Yeah this is true. A friend of mine couldnt get one as didnt live there although got one from nationwide who have an office in jersey or geurnsey or somewhere and you get a uk sort code and account number and can live anywhere in europe... was very fast and simple online.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> Yeah this is true. A friend of mine couldnt get one as didnt live there although got one from nationwide who have an office in jersey or geurnsey or somewhere and you get a uk sort code and account number and can live anywhere in europe... was very fast and simple online.


Yep - many banks do offshore accounts. Santander have one on the Isle of Man for example.


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## tonymar (Jan 29, 2015)

Chopera said:


> If you didn't have the UK current account then you might find it impossible to open one in the UK (residency is usually a requirement). So an international account might then be an option.


Oh , yes never thought of that , thanks !


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

tonymar said:


> Whats the difference between an international account , or a uk and Spanish one ?
> 
> I only have Uk and Spanish ones and both can be accessed easily by internet
> 
> Tony Agost Alicante


An offshore international account is useful if you move between countries. You can hold accounts in as many currencies as you need.
I closed my UK account when I left the UK.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

steve_in_spain said:


> Is there a reason why you need an international bank? Most people who move oevrseas retain their UK one for UK dealings and open a Spanish for Spain. As mentioned here some UK banks have Spanish offices (Barclays, Santander etc ) and you can get deals like free transfers etc although for me I find using a currency exchange company usually gives better rates and same day transfers anyway!


The only advantage I could see when I investigated whether or not to open an international account was that they don´t deduct tax from interest earned, as the UK mainland banks do. My UK bank says it has to deduct tax from interest even though I have proved to them that I am a fiscal resident of Spain but as the amount is so small I haven´t bothered to open the international account. By the way, I opened a Barclays account in Spain when I first moved here because I was promised free and fast transfers from my UK Barclays account but they tried to rip me off on the exchange rate, so I stopped using them and opened a different Spanish account. I have recently discovered a new way to transfer funds at the best possible exchange rate. I transferred GBP 1,000 this week and within 24 hours had €1,346 in my Spanish account. And no fee! Take a look at this link for details: https://transferwise.com/u/95496a


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## Gareth54 (Nov 8, 2014)

Chopera said:


> If you didn't have the UK current account then you might find it impossible to open one in the UK (residency is usually a requirement). So an international account might then be an option.


I have lived in Holland for the last 33 years but have 2 english accounts. Both banks know my address is in Holland. The second one I opened in January from Spain via the internet with my Dutch postal address. So for both of these banks residency is no problem.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Gareth54 said:


> I have lived in Holland for the last 33 years but have 2 english accounts. Both banks know my address is in Holland. The second one I opened in January from Spain via the internet with my Dutch postal address. So for both of these banks residency is no problem.


Which banks are they as most people on here are reporting that they can't find a bank that will allow them to open a new account whilst being resident in Spain?


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## Gareth54 (Nov 8, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> Which banks are they as most people on here are reporting that they can't find a bank that will allow them to open a new account whilst being resident in Spain?


Clydesdale Bank plc trading as Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank (just opened) and Cater Allen Private Bank. With Cater Allen as long as I have more than 5000 in the account get a Visa card free of charge for sterling use, obviously for euro use there are conversion charges.
HTH somebody


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## Jenny J (Jan 24, 2015)

Hi, its me, the op, in awe at the conversations I have produced. How great is that. I have gained some information reading through all the replies and thank you all for bothering to put fingers to keyboard!
I was initially enquiring about an international bank account because I had read somewhere that it was something I could open in advance of my move to make life easier with transfers of money. But, the more I read this does not seem to be so, I will keep my uk account and then when I get over open a Spanish one I think.
Thanks everyone - Jenny


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

Jenny J said:


> the more I read this does not seem to be so, I will keep my uk account and then when I get over open a Spanish one I think./QUOTE]
> 
> I would suggest you never close your existing UK account/s as you never know when you might need a UK abased account.
> 
> I came to Spain 25 years ago I still have 3 Nationwide accounts and a Nationwide Visa card


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

For sheer convenience you can't beat an offshore account with a UK bank. You use your sterling account in the same way as you would your UK sterling account and it's so easy to move funds from one account to another. You get debit and credit cards too. At one point I had to operate UK, Canadian and Czech bank accounts and then here in Spain a euro account...it became so much easier with the one offshore account. 
I have kept my UK Tesco credit card which I use for sterling purchases as I get regular cash vouchers by so doing.
If it weren't for the fact that you need a Spanish account to pay utility bills I doubt I would bother. My rule is to keep cash in my Spanish account to a working minimum as I have heard horror stories of cash for traffic fines and tax penalties simply being extracted from accounts here......finesand penalties that have not been incurred by you!!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I have kept my UK Tesco credit card which I use for sterling purchases


Tesco? Mary? Tesco? I would not have had you down as a Tesco girl Mary:confused2:


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