# Best bank account



## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

We were advised to open a bank account and the lady who is dealing with our affairs suggested Sabadell but as we are non-res at the moment there were only two bank accounts open to us, neither of which were much cop.

Can anyone advise of a better one, hopefully without charges?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I have seen posts on forums from people saying that they have been permitted to open Sabadell Expansion accounts as non-residents (providing they have the minimum €700 per month requirement paid into the account). If your local branch won't permit that, personally I would still open an account with Sabadell and change it to the Expansion account once you become resident. We both transferred our current accounts to Sabadell (from Banco Popular) and find the Expansion account very good. There are no charges (apart from a charge I had to pay to have a cheque bancario issued when we bought our new home, but it was a lot lower than Popular would have charged), and I get 1% cashback on utility bills. Not a lot, but better than nothing!

I am not aware of any non-resident accounts which don't carry hefty charges.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> I am not aware of any non-resident accounts which don't carry hefty charges.


I'm afraid that seems to be the case. I looked into it recently for a non-resident English couple whose bank charges are higher than the direct debits they need the account for. Then there have been problems with accounts being closed if they don't turn up and present evidence that they are non-resident for tax purposes. It's certainly harder these days than a few years ago to find a user-friendly account.

To add insult to injury, our Ayuntamiento (and doubtless many others) won't accept direct debits for council tax etc from banks that don't have a Spanish IBAN, so offshore euro accounts are no good.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

If, like me, you see no point or necessity of having a branch close by, then take a look at online bank accounts.

BBVA do a good one, Santander have their OpenBank, Caixa have Virtual ..... These accounts are all FREE even to non-residents - you just need to have an NIE nd a Spanish telephone number. If you don't have a Spanish mobile, then a PAYG (pre-pay) is very cheap and easy to get.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

I started with a Sabadell non-residents account some years before coming to live here in Benidorm. I was able to transfer money to that account online to show a "regular income" prior to applying for residency. There were fees involved but not to expensive. I changed to a residents expansion account as soon as I got residency.

Excellent bank for service and online banking. 

Steve


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> If, like me, you see no point or necessity of having a branch close by, then take a look at online bank accounts.
> 
> BBVA do a good one, Santander have their OpenBank, Caixa have Virtual ..... These accounts are all FREE even to non-residents - you just need to have an NIE nd a Spanish telephone number. If you don't have a Spanish mobile, then a PAYG (pre-pay) is very cheap and easy to get.


Caixa Virtual is no longer available. Don't know about the others. I suspect the new laws on money laundering had something to do with it.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Before we were resident, we opened an account with Caja Granada which cost us 15€ per year. We converted that to a residents' account after we moved - we still have that account although it has now been absorbed into BMN.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Before we were resident, we opened an account with Caja Granada which cost us 15€ per year. We converted that to a residents' account after we moved - we still have that account although it has now been absorbed into BMN.


Yes but when the stricter anti-money laundering regulations came into force earlier this year, things changed. It isn't so simple these days.

This is from the TransferWise currency exchange website, which I hope I am allowed to quote as it's not a competing forum or touting for business:



> *Opening a bank account as a non-resident*
> In order to open a bank account as a non-resident, you’ll need the following documents:
> 
> Your valid, unexpired passport or national identity card (if you’re an EU citizen);
> ...


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Thanks everyone. We'll just have to grin and bear it till we are resident...hope it's not too long


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

We have had this argument before, and I guess it´s based mainly on personal experience. In my personal experience, Sabadell have the worst customer service, and take liberties like no other bank I have ever experienced!! 

Maybe it was my fault for not changing my account after they bought Lloyds, but they were charging 2.50€ for internal transfers, and I had fees up to 45€ per quarter! 

When I attempted to upgrade at my local Sabadell, the guy said I had to go to my original branch to do so!! What would I have done had the account been opened in Madrid?

In the end, I went to the original branch to close the account.

I would now recommend BBVA. Great online service & you can pay large sums in at the cashpoint and pay bills, saving the huge queues you can face at these ridiculously under-staffed banks.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

I have personally found Sabadell to be an excellent bank. I've always had good customer service and their online banking is so easy to use. Wouldn't go anywhere else. 

Steve


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

I think the answer is - it all depends on the branch as to what service you get and what you are charged.

Some people like Santander, but when we tried to open our first non-resident account, the bank manager screwed it up so well that we were banned by the Bank of Spain from opening an account anywhere in Spain for three months. We went, in the end, with Caja Granada - that was 10 years ago and we are still with them.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

We have a non resident account with Sabadell and can't fault them, there is a charge but I don't think it's excessive and the service we have received is excellent.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

danboy20 said:


> I would now recommend BBVA. Great online service & you can pay large sums in at the cashpoint and pay bills, saving the huge queues you can face at these ridiculously under-staffed banks.


You can also pay in cash to your account and pay blls at Sabadell cash machines - I checked yesterday. I pay all mine by direct debit so have no need to use the facility. They also have an app on their online banking service whereby you can pay bills from your smartphone.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> I'm afraid that seems to be the case. I looked into it recently for a non-resident English couple whose bank charges are higher than the direct debits they need the account for. Then there have been problems with accounts being closed if they don't turn up and present evidence that they are non-resident for tax purposes. It's certainly harder these days than a few years ago to find a user-friendly account.
> 
> To add insult to injury, our Ayuntamiento (and doubtless many others) won't accept direct debits for council tax etc from banks that don't have a Spanish IBAN, so offshore euro accounts are no good.


Ask for the complaint forms & make one. It is totally illegal for the bank to do that as they all now come under SEPA regs, & have done since 2014, which mean they have to accept payments from overseas banks .That is the idea of it. 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-...nt-services/single-euro-payments-area-sepa_en

I'd also make a complaint to the EU SOLVIT .

SOLVIT - EU rights problem solving when working, living or doing business in another EU country - European Commission


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## kaluza (Jun 3, 2017)

Hi,

Is anyone aware of a specific spanish bank account I can open without an NIE?

I just started working in Spain this December. I so far have my padron and Spanish SSN. But, the appointment to get my NIE is not until the end of the month.

We are getting by without a euro bank account but gosh it would be nice to have one sooner rather than later! I have an EU passport (if that matters) and we are in Valencia.

Thank you!


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## tmarshall57 (Jan 17, 2017)

We opened a Sabadell Key Account Plus in December 2016 prior to purchasing our apartment. This was done face to face at the branch within an hour with only our passports required. Charges are about 30€ per quarter. They do charge what I consider an excessive amount for bank cheques for house purchase but this can be reduced if you take our their home insurance (which we did for a year). They also charge about 25€ for an additional bank card for a joint account. All documentation is in English and I believe most branches have english speakers.


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## kaluza (Jun 3, 2017)

Hi tmarshall,

That is perfect! I was even able to confirm on their website that a passport is good enough to open an account. I wish I had actually checked for myself weeks ago instead of listening to all the people who said I would need an NIE. Sigh.

Thank you!


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## slpmaria (Nov 11, 2017)

*US Transfers and Conversions*

How are you all from the US getting your money to Spanish bank accounts? We have several sources of income coming in, but are receiving conflicting information from our various banks (I know, we should have consolidated). One says we can put a foreign bank on our online automatic bill-pay, but we're not sure we can do that with a foreign bank. The Spanish bank would also have to accept an automatic transfer (such as ACH) or an electronic check will have to be generated. Another bank says we can't do online automatic bill-pay at all. So how do we get our money at a low or no transfer rate?

We've looked into BorderLess (recommended by TransferWise), and they claim to charge a 1% transfer rate.

And what about the conversion rate on any of these schemes? I'm assuming it's based on daily market values?? And that our banks would charge more for conversion than BorderLess??

So confusing. We think we understand, but could always use the experiential knowledge of those already living there. Thank you!


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## Ifn (Jan 29, 2017)

I just opened a Sabadell account. There were no fees if I deposited 700€ a month. Somehow this scenario came up: what if I withdrew €700 and then redeposited it every month? The woman I was working with said this would meet the requirement as long as I kept the minimum amount, €150, in the account. In addition they give a small percentage discount on utility bill if they are transferred directly from my account.
Yeah, customer service might be a problem. I had a problem setting up the online app and had to go to a local branch. Boy, that guy did not want to help me. But I sat down anyway, played dumb, and placed all my paperwork in front of him. So of course he helped me just to get rid of me.


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## Gregorians (Oct 18, 2017)

BBVA's online account is useful as it's fee free for regular transactions (bill payments, direct debits, ATM withdrawls from BBVA machines).

But, boy, was it hard work trying to open one as a non-resident.

It took three visits to a larger BBVA branch before it conceded that it was in fact impossible to open an online account online.

Perseverance paid off though.


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