# Best Spanish Bank Account



## Bluebell8111 (5 mo ago)

We are not moving to Spain but are in the process of buying a holiday home, so need a bank account for all the bills to come out of.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what bank would be best for this?
Thanks


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

You are pretty much going to get a broad number of banks. I dont think many recommend any one bank as Spanish banking is notoriously lacking in care or interest in its customers - unless you are opening account! That said you do need a spanish bank or at least a Spanish IBAN number. Some members are reporting that some online banking services outside of Spain are offering much better services and charges and that these banks will allow direct debits for Spain - which is probably the most important thing need. Im sure these members will be able to provide more information.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Bluebell8111 said:


> We are not moving to Spain but are in the process of buying a holiday home, so need a bank account for all the bills to come out of.
> Does anyone have any suggestions of what bank would be best for this?
> Thanks


You don't really need a Spanish bank account and most non res ones will have charges (sometimes high ones).
Most high street banks here are average to rubbish by most peoples experience.
We have Santander but have taken the time to get to know some of the staff in the branch, so this helps and we have no issues (but are resident now anyway)

Depending where in Spain most of your household bills can be paid from almost anywhere and any bank.
Our neighbours who are only here 90/180 use Nationwide in the Uk and both the water company (Hidraqua) and electric (Iberdrola) allow DD from the Uk.
He pays his IBI via Suma here in the Alicante region by card as its an annual payment.

I would suggest you talk with your solicitor doing the purchase and ask them to contact the current owners suppliers to check if they will accept foreign accounts before you waste time looking for a bank account here. If they are doing their job they will have insisted on the last bill and to see if the account is clear anyway.

We got our solicitor to make the transfers of account for the bills etc when we purchased (its not as simple here to take over a contract as in the UK)
Spain seems to be a few years behind the Uk in this respect. No moving and final meter reading form.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

A Spanish IBAN is indeed a must for paying bills and receiving payments. Despite "IBAN discrimination" being illegal in the EU, I found some Spanish entities just don't care and will not / cannot accept anything that doesn't begin "ES".

After that, it depends what you want to do with your bank account. Spain has a possibly curious network of regional affiliations for its banks, so I found that in one town I was unable to pay my car tax online with my bank because the local town hall did not have an agreement with them (a direct debit was ok for long term settlement but not a direct transfer for immediate ones).

These things don't always come together, either. I noted that one of the online start-up / challenger banks makes much of offering a Spanish IBAN but then reveals it is not a "collaborator" with Spanish state services, meaning you cannot receive things like tax refunds or unemployment benefits into the account.

I recently settled on a bank that seems to have a branch presence nationally, good online services (including English website etc), charges zero fees for residents and non-residents alike who fulfill certain criteria (10 direct debits per year and a minimum spend on the card), and offers 5% interest on credit balances (limited). Customer service will reveal itself eventually..

So I'd say decide where you will be and what you need the account to do, then check the branch network if you're going to need a physical presence (sometimes just easier to get things sorted in than calling a call centre).


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## Samuel.tri (6 mo ago)

Hi @alpinist what is the name of the bank you chose? 

I had good luck with N26. Offers ES iban. Quick chat support, fluent English.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

Samuel.tri said:


> Hi @alpinist what is the name of the bank you chose?
> 
> I had good luck with N26. Offers ES iban. Quick chat support, fluent English.


We went with BankInter as they seemed to meet a lot of our needs, including those above. 

N26 was appealing and I looked at the charge accounts too for all the insurances etc, but they state the following restrictions which made it no good for us:
"N26 is not a collaborative entity of the Spanish social security system, so it’s not currently possible to pay social security taxes from your N26 account, including social security contributions for self-employed workers. You also can’t receive government benefits such as pensions, unemployment allowance, guaranteed minimum income payments, etc into your N26 account. However, you can pay most of the taxes from the Agencia Tributaria (such as VAT, personal income taxes, and many more) and receive certain kinds of tax refunds, such as those for overpaid personal income tax."








Can I pay my self-employment taxes in Spain from my N26 Business account?


Find out what self-employment taxes you need to pay, and if you can pay them from your N26 business account.




n26.com


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Take a look at Wefferent from Caja Rural (Cajamar) - they are an online account which is currently free to everyone (even non-residents). I have heard good things about their service too.


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## Samuel.tri (6 mo ago)

snikpoh said:


> Take a look at Wefferent from Caja Rural (Cajamar) - they are an online account which is currently free to everyone (even non-residents). I have heard good things about their service too.


I have an account with Cajamar. I am satisfied. Online only accounts free. Non-online accts i think just 60 euros a yr. 
But I heard it is not easy to open accounts for nonresidents there, particularly for Americans.


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## stevec2x (Mar 24, 2012)

Hi 
I pay all my bills using my Wise.com euro IBAN - in fact Wise is the only bank account that I have. All my GBP income is paid into Wise using the UK IBAN. Simples!
Cheers 
Steve


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## Sebastian32 (5 mo ago)

We have had a good experience with Sabadell overall.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

Sebastian32 said:


> We have had a good experience with Sabadell overall.


Sabadell were good for us too, until they weren't. Fees to have the account open and to transfer money out of it!


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## tomwins (Dec 27, 2014)

stevec2x said:


> Hi
> I pay all my bills using my Wise.com euro IBAN - in fact Wise is the only bank account that I have. All my GBP income is paid into Wise using the UK IBAN. Simples!
> Cheers
> Steve


I moved to Spain last month and was unable to get some services (especially internet) as the Wise IBAN was not ES (from Spain). So I opened up an account with Santander even though I don't have my residency card yet. 

So depending on what services you need to order, you may run into the same problem I did unless you have an IBAN number from Spain.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Some (all?) challenger banks like N26, even with ES IBAN, cannot be used to pay income tax or receive rebate as it's not registered with Spanish tax authority (Tributaria), so you need to get Spanish bank, either branch-based or online. You can pay your tax in cash at any bank even if you aren't a customer, but handling several thousand euro in cash once or twice a year isn't something I want to do.


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## tmarshall57 (Jan 17, 2017)

For free, online banking I use Cajamar Wefferent account (I am non-resident). I also use N.26 as a backup (free cash machine withdrawals - I think 3 per month from any cash machine plus Spanish IBAN).

If you are non-resident you will need to visit Cajamar for them to check your ID and commence the account set-up. The account is free if used online. You can visit the branch and only pay a small fee for the month of your visit(s). You don't pay for the visit to setup the account. You will need passport, NIE, utility bills, escritura/rental agreement.

N.26 is easy to set up. All online using phone App. Use your address in Spain as the address. Use your UK passport as ID.

I have had a year of trouble-free banking since setting up these accounts a year ago. I had a nightmare previously with so called free banking from Bankia/Caixa.


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