# Bank account



## welldoneson (May 4, 2013)

Does anyone know of a free bank account in Spain? I have one with Lloydstsb that only costs €25 per annum, but they have just sold up to Sabadell who plan to charge twice that. Anyone know of a better deal. I dont need a cash card, I live in uk and only have the account to pay my land tax for my finca.
Thanks.
J


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## Trubrit (Nov 24, 2010)

*bank*

I have recently changed to Sabadell Atlantico and have found them to be super efficient with no bank charges as long as you pay in at least 700e per month. A debit card and a credit card is supplied without charges. Also an interest free card is available for purchases of over 50e with the balance being taken over 3 months.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

welldoneson said:


> Does anyone know of a free bank account in Spain? I have one with Lloydstsb that only costs €25 per annum, but they have just sold up to Sabadell who plan to charge twice that. Anyone know of a better deal. I dont need a cash card, I live in uk and only have the account to pay my land tax for my finca.
> Thanks.
> J


.... I think you mean Lloyds International (there isn't a Lloyds TSB here - has there ever been?).

I'm not sure there is a free non-residents bank account. They usually charge and also take for things like non-resident certificate, non-resident tax etc.

Don't you also have to pay IBI?


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## welldoneson (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately as I live in the uk. My income goes into my current account here so I can't afford to pay 700 euros a month into my Spanish account. I need a basic cash account that I can set up direct debits from just to pay my taxes. At the minute I will pay 50 euros maintenance for a 5 euros land tax bill. Madness!!


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## welldoneson (May 4, 2013)

Yes lloyds international thats what I meant. Yes the IBI is what I pay by direct debit paid directly to the town hall. The non residents income tax I pay yearly when I visit.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Don't you just need a bank account anywhere (not necessarily in Spain) that can handle SEPA? Everyone is supposed to be switched over to IBANs and such no later than February 1, 2014.


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## welldoneson (May 4, 2013)

I'm not sure. I have a euros account offshore on the Isle of Mann but I don't know whether the town hall in my village in Spain will accept a non Spanish account. Also there may be additional charges as I guess it counts as an international payment if going from this account to Spain. Anyone know?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

The Isle of Man is not (yet) part of SEPA, so you're out of luck in that respect. However, any euro-denominated account within SEPA should be treated the same (including the same fees, if any) as one that's specifically in Spain. That's the whole point of SEPA, to have one domestic payment regime across the EEA. So if your village charges 1 euro to pull a payment from a euro account at a Spanish bank, they'll charge the same for a euro account at a Dutch bank. And the Dutch bank has to charge the same for withdrawals from Spain as they do from Holland. (Often those two numbers are zero.) That's how it's supposed to work, anyway, and there seems to be a lot of evidence that's how it's actually working.

Anyway, if you have a preference for a euro account in a particular SEPA country besides Spain, that should be perfectly fine. The U.K. (i.e. London), for example? Just give the village (payee) your IBAN details -- the payment form should be the same/standardized now. Or of course a euro account in Spain works, though in addition to any fees for the account itself you'll have potential fees for moving money from the Isle of Man to Spain since the former is not yet part of SEPA.


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## welldoneson (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. J


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Not sure if this will help but it might.

A friend of ours lost her husband a couple of years ago and now gets a widows pension - 7.50 euros a month!

This must be paid into a Spanish account (economies of scale etc.). The problem is that her bank (La Caixa) charges her 7.90 euros per month maintenance.

We queried this and were told that if the book is presented into the cash machine each month that this will stop the charges.

As we live here, and she lives in UK, we now have her book and present it once a month - hence no charges.

Do you know anyone who could do this for you?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

CurrencyFair has a simple explanation of SEPA which I think is helpful. CurrencyFair is one of the several money transfer specialists that may be a good choice if you need to convert pound sterling income deposited in a U.K. bank account into an outbound SEPA payment in euro to a Spanish village (for example).

Upon further reading it appears that Barclays in the Isle of Man can transmit payments via SEPA, but the fees and charges are ridiculously high. Barclays onshore is much, much cheaper since it falls within SEPA regulations.


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