# Best banks and best mobile providers?



## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Hi,

I'm sussing out who would be best to open a bank account with in Spain and which mobile phone provider would be the best to go with. At the moment, from what I've seen out there BBVA for a bank acct and Orange's Tarjeta Ardilla for a phone plan seem to incur the least fees. For a bank, I just want something with no monthly charges and a good mobile app; for the phone, a pay-as-you-go phone option with minimal calls, texts and data included would suit me best.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these, or any others that they've found to be really great?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I've been with Orange for many years. I pay around €14 a month for internet and calls on a PAYG phone, with a certain amount of calls and texts free. It never costs me any more as I don't make many calls and have wifi at home. Personally, I've never had a problem with them.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Yoigo are pretty good too, €11 a month including free calls (just an 18 cent connection charge) and 1.2 Gb internet. You'll end up paying more for a PAYG.

http://www.yoigo.com/tarifas/tarifas-de-contrato/la-del-cero-1-con-2-gb/

As for banks, I think the only way to get a commission-free account these days is to have your salary or pension paid into it - usually a minimum of €600 a month. There are several recent threads on here about banking, if you do a search.


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## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> Yoigo are pretty good too, and you can send texts to international numbers at the same price as Spanish ones (Movistar used to charge me 70 cents to text a +44 number two streets away!)
> 
> As for banks, I think the only way to get a commission-free account these days is to have your salary or pension paid into it - usually a minimum of €600 a month. There are several recent threads on here about banking, if you do a search.



Thanks Alcalaina*–*I just had a peek, and Yoigo looks good. It's these dang 18,15 cent establecimientos de llamada that i can't stand. Such a rip-off!

Annoying to hear about that bank minimum pay-in*–*I had thought that BBVA didn't have any such minimums, but I might have been mistaken.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

director1 said:


> Thanks Alcalaina*–*I just had a peek, and Yoigo looks good. It's these dang 18,15 cent establecimientos de llamada that i can't stand. Such a rip-off!
> 
> Annoying to hear about that bank minimum pay-in*–*I had thought that BBVA didn't have any such minimums, but I might have been mistaken.


They might not, I don't know. I used to bank with BBVA but I switched to La Caixa because BBVA's charges were too high - but that was a few years ago.

Are you going to become resident in Spain? Conditions are different for non-residents.


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## director1 (Dec 28, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> They might not, I don't know. I used to bank with BBVA but I switched to La Caixa because BBVA's charges were too high - but that was a few years ago.
> 
> Are you going to become resident in Spain? Conditions are different for non-residents.


Yes, I'll open the account while a non-resident, but once the residency card is issues, I'd plan to change the account to a residents' permit*– something I assume is fairly straightforward to do.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Just checked BBVA website, you're right, with their online-only account you just pay for your debit card.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

director1 said:


> Yes, I'll open the account while a non-resident, but once the residency card is issues, I'd plan to change the account to a residents' permit*– something I assume is fairly straightforward to do.


You need to read this thread about non-resident bank accounts
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ving-spain/510314-nasty-trick-some-cajas.html

And go through the "FAQs and Useful information" sticky about getting residency.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

director1 said:


> Yes, I'll open the account while a non-resident, but once the residency card is issues, I'd plan to change the account to a residents' permit*– something I assume is fairly straightforward to do.


yes - you just go into the branch with your resident card & they will change the account to a resident one


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

director1 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm sussing out who would be best to open a bank account with in Spain and which mobile phone provider would be the best to go with. At the moment, from what I've seen out there BBVA for a bank acct and Orange's Tarjeta Ardilla for a phone plan seem to incur the least fees. For a bank, I just want something with no monthly charges and a good mobile app; for the phone, a pay-as-you-go phone option with minimal calls, texts and data included would suit me best.
> 
> ...


BANC SABADELL, cuenta expansión, and VODAFONE tarifa GB.


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