# Sol bank



## uffington15 (May 4, 2009)

After several months of emails we finally went into Sol bank in Rojales today to open an account. Must say it was a great experience and very effective. Unlike our experience with Halifax Banco Espania where we are still waiting for our cards, we should be able to go into the branch next week and collect our debit cards. They also gave us all the necessary details to use internet banking and they did not require a large deposit. Everything was in English and all questions we had were answered there and then. Would highly recommend and may cancel our Banci Hispania account later on.
So one good thing has happened


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

uffington15 said:


> After several months of emails we finally went into Sol bank in Rojales today to open an account. Must say it was a great experience and very effective. Unlike our experience with Halifax Banco Espania where we are still waiting for our cards, we should be able to go into the branch next week and collect our debit cards. They also gave us all the necessary details to use internet banking and they did not require a large deposit. Everything was in English and all questions we had were answered there and then. Would highly recommend and may cancel our Banci Hispania account later on.
> So one good thing has happened



Nice to know that summats gone right for you!!!! I'm with Solbank and I think they're good too!!

Jo xxx


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Good to hear things going in right direction! Solbank are OK! If you are not resident yet (officially) you will have a tourist account and they will take fees from it - THE MOMENT you get residencia go and upgrade your account and save money!

Solbank, or Sabadel Solbank as they now like to be known (what a waste of millions in re-branding pink to blue - i thought banks were hard up!) are great for foreigners, they have a "Privelidge club" and you can call them for anything - if you are locked out, break down etc. Before I learned some spanish I used to call them to get a taxi for me! Great service!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> Good to hear things going in right direction! Solbank are OK! If you are not resident yet (officially) you will have a tourist account and they will take fees from it - THE MOMENT you get residencia go and upgrade your account and save money!
> 
> Solbank, or Sabadel Solbank as they now like to be known (what a waste of millions in re-branding pink to blue - i thought banks were hard up!) are great for foreigners, they have a "Privelidge club" and you can call them for anything - if you are locked out, break down etc. Before I learned some spanish I used to call them to get a taxi for me! Great service!


You still get fees when you have a resident account though dont you, I think its about €22 a quarter when you have the prestige account


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> You still get fees when you have a resident account though dont you, I think its about €22 a quarter when you have the prestige account


Yes, this is the problem with Solbank! I think the fees are lower for residents but still there. I switched to Bancaja a few months ago - no fees and just as good - in fact their internet banking is better! Worth checking them out!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> Yes, this is the problem with Solbank! I think the fees are lower for residents but still there. I switched to Bancaja a few months ago - no fees and just as good - in fact their internet banking is better! Worth checking them out!


Take your point, but I'm more than happy with SOL Bank .. they have been very good to us since we arrived


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> Take your point, but I'm more than happy with SOL Bank .. they have been very good to us since we arrived


Yeah I agree, can't fault them (just the fees)!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I have had bank accounts with very many banks in the UK, offshore, the Balearics, Canada and the Czech Republic and without a doubt Solbank has been the best of the lot in terms of service, efficiency, friendliness....and fees.
No bank will do owt for nowt these days, sadly. It's about VFM and Solbank are clear winners.
Let's hope they keep this up now they have been taken over by Sabadell.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Thats true, many banks you go to now you have to pay, and I'm guessing it will happen more in the UK as well. When I was with RBS years ago I used to pay £12 a month. That being said I had "free" travel insurance and fee free currency (this was in the early 2000's


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> Thats true, many banks you go to now you have to pay, and I'm guessing it will happen more in the UK as well. When I was with RBS years ago I used to pay £12 a month. That being said I had "free" travel insurance and fee free currency (this was in the early 2000's


They make a fortune on the so called Value Added accounts. I remember years ago I had a "Platinum" current account with my UK bank. This was because they valued my business. Now you can get the "platinum" title easy - just pay them £20 a month and they throw in a travel policy and a few other bulk bought jobbies. 

They make it so hard for you to get a basic old fasioned free account also. My OH has an account in Barclays, he only uses it about once a year when he has a trip to the UK. They charge him £5 a month for it and he wanted to downgrade to a free one. We spent weeks practicing the conversation so he got it right in English, he went into the branch last week and they said they couldnt change it!  So looks like I got to call them for him and kick off a little later.

A while ago my Spanish debit card stopped working - the chip must have died. It was only 3 months old. I popped into my branch and they kindly ordered me another one which was ready to collect 48 hours later - then they charged me 4€ for the new card (well.. tried to) jeje

I HATE BANKS - I HATE BANKS - I HATE BANKS!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

You have to weigh it up.

Annual cover then would have cost me £100 - £120. Currency fees ... well, who knows.

When I started the fee was £120 a year, but I got a load of other things like discounts in restaurants etc so it was worth it then. I'm not sure if the charges I pay at SOL are as worth it, but I havent experienced any of the nightmares I hear about from some banks, and they always sort any niggles out immediately


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> You have to weigh it up.
> 
> Annual cover then would have cost me £100 - £120. Currency fees ... well, who knows.
> 
> When I started the fee was £120 a year, but I got a load of other things like discounts in restaurants etc so it was worth it then. I'm not sure if the charges I pay at SOL are as worth it, but I havent experienced any of the nightmares I hear about from some banks, and they always sort any niggles out immediately


Yes, if you use the value added services then it can work out good!

What I love about Spanish banks most though is the fact the cashiers are not behind glass - you can talk face to face, etc. Much more personal - lets hope crime rates stay low enough to keep it this way!


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

Solbank may be great when you are dealing with your branch, however it is the least you can expect when their fees are so high, there is the €25/quarter, but then they have tons of extra costs, I travel between portugal and Spain Regularly, if I withdraw €100 in Portugal Solbank Charge €6, the local bank has no fee for the transaction, I have had an incident where a Car rental company mistakenly charged my account twice, thus putting me into unauthorized overdraft, Solbank Fee = €30. and Account was then blocked until I could go to the branch in Marbella to ask them to unblock it in person, not good enough to go to the Ayamonte branch. this was just before going on holidays so I had to drive a 10 hour round trip journey to spend 30 seconds in the bank....... oh and pay €10 for the reactivation.

Several times I have been charges fees for no reason which when questioned they would refund, without explaination as to why they charged them in the beginning.

Frankly I think they offer a terrible overall service, charge crazy fees. so definately looking at a change to Bancaja or similar


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## weluvspain (Aug 16, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> Thats true, many banks you go to now you have to pay, and I'm guessing it will happen more in the UK as well. When I was with RBS years ago I used to pay £12 a month. That being said I had "free" travel insurance and fee free currency (this was in the early 2000's


i'm with the RBS and have been for years-cant fault them and always a bonus you can still ring your local branch and not a call centre.

the £12 a month is still the same price, which is a suprise as banks love to charge over the odds and still get free travel insurance and lots of other perks too including emergency plumbing etc and never cost us a penny for the call out! 

useful advice from all about the spanish banks, gives us a good idea of who we will use when we EVENTUALLY get ove there


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

mayotom said:


> Solbank may be great when you are dealing with your branch, however it is the least you can expect when their fees are so high, there is the €25/quarter, but then they have tons of extra costs, I travel between portugal and Spain Regularly, if I withdraw €100 in Portugal Solbank Charge €6, the local bank has no fee for the transaction, I have had an incident where a Car rental company mistakenly charged my account twice, thus putting me into unauthorized overdraft, Solbank Fee = €30. and Account was then blocked until I could go to the branch in Marbella to ask them to unblock it in person, not good enough to go to the Ayamonte branch. this was just before going on holidays so I had to drive a 10 hour round trip journey to spend 30 seconds in the bank....... oh and pay €10 for the reactivation.
> 
> Several times I have been charges fees for no reason which when questioned they would refund, without explaination as to why they charged them in the beginning.
> 
> Frankly I think they offer a terrible overall service, charge crazy fees. so definately looking at a change to Bancaja or similar


As I said in a precious post, apart from them trying to charge me for a replacement card I do like bancaja. I have been with them for almost a year now and so far not paid any charges! Nada! Their internet banking is great also and so is the online shopping security. With sol what I didnt like was that they gave me a little card with lots of numbers on. If I made an online purhcase I had to get the card out to type in a number. With bancaja they just text you a code everytime you use your card online


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> With sol what I didnt like was that they gave me a little card with lots of numbers on. If I made an online purhcase I had to get the card out to type in a number. With bancaja they just text you a code everytime you use your card online


Thats sometimes know as ......... security! 
It doesnt apply to online purchases, just amendments to the bank account details etc on the website, or iirc it asks for it if you top up your phone on the SOL web site


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> Thats sometimes know as ......... security!
> It doesnt apply to online purchases, just amendments to the bank account details etc on the website, or iirc it asks for it if you top up your phone on the SOL web site


What do SOL use if you shop online then? I thought it was that card with digits on? I have to say I like the Bancaja text service, a code comes to your phone everytime you try to use it online and you have to put that code in. Better than trying to remember passwords like you have to with UK cards


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

steve_in_spain said:


> What do SOL use if you shop online then? I thought it was that card with digits on? I have to say I like the Bancaja text service, a code comes to your phone everytime you try to use it online and you have to put that code in. Better than trying to remember passwords like you have to with UK cards


I'm not sure I understand? If I shop on line with my credit card or debit card I use my pin number, like any other bank.

If I'm actually on the SOL bank site changing details or doing anything within the site then I sometimes do get asked for the card code


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