# Spanish Banks



## KennyM (Jun 25, 2020)

A question for the banking & finance experts lurking about 

Which Spanish bank has the lowest charges and do all Spanish Banks charge for paying money into your account?

TIA


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I'm with La Caixa and there is no charge for paying money into the account. (If you are talking about a different currency, use an exchange broker like CurrencyFair to convert it to euros before it arrives at your bank.)

Fees and commissions change on a daily basis. It depends on whether you have a regular pension or salary payment going in (cuenta nómina), whether you take out their insurance, whether the account is online-only, and many other factors. This comparison site might be useful.

https://www.rastreator.com/cuentas-bancarias.aspx


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## KennyM (Jun 25, 2020)

Alcalaina said:


> I'm with La Caixa and there is no charge for paying money into the account. (If you are talking about a different currency, use an exchange broker like CurrencyFair to convert it to euros before it arrives at your bank.)
> 
> Fees and commissions change on a daily basis. It depends on whether you have a regular pension or salary payment going in (cuenta nómina), whether you take out their insurance, whether the account is online-only, and many other factors. This comparison site might be useful.
> 
> https://www.rastreator.com/cuentas-bancarias.aspx


I paid euros into my Caixa Bank account and they've charged me for the privilege, the euros came from my Starling euro account.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

KennyM said:


> I paid euros into my Caixa Bank account and they've charged me for the privilege, the euros came from my Starling euro account.


La Caixa did this to us a few years ago. We asked and got a refund. Since then we have closed the account as we found them totally unreliable. We now use Santander, we prefer them as they have a branch in a local village, La Caixa 45 minutes away, always busy and impossible to speak to anyone. Horses for courses


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Megsmum said:


> La Caixa did this to us a few years ago. We asked and got a refund. Since then we have closed the account as we found them totally unreliable. We now use Santander, we prefer them as they have a branch in a local village, La Caixa 45 minutes away, always busy and impossible to speak to anyone. Horses for courses


We use La Caixa because the branch is in the village and you can now get a cita previa to see the manager. They will take money off you for sneezing if you aren't careful but if you make a fuss you can often get them to change their mind. Don't suppose any other banks are that different.

Apparently they are introducing a hefty maintenance fee from today, if you don't have a regular monthly deposit or a balance of €20k. Always the poor that get hit the hardest!

https://www.elconfidencial.com/empr...comision-octubre-condicones-evitarlo_2749156/


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## KennyM (Jun 25, 2020)

Megsmum said:


> La Caixa did this to us a few years ago. We asked and got a refund. Since then we have closed the account as we found them totally unreliable.  We now use Santander, we prefer them as they have a branch in a local village, La Caixa 45 minutes away, always busy and impossible to speak to anyone. Horses for courses


I will definitely follow your advice and ask for a refund!


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Alcalaina said:


> We use La Caixa because the branch is in the village and you can now get a cita previa to see the manager. They will take money off you for sneezing if you aren't careful but if you make a fuss you can often get them to change their mind. Don't suppose any other banks are that different.
> 
> Apparently they are introducing a hefty maintenance fee from today, if you don't have a regular monthly deposit or a balance of €20k. Always the poor that get hit the hardest!
> 
> https://www.elconfidencial.com/empr...comision-octubre-condicones-evitarlo_2749156/


Glad you mentioned this because I THOUGHT we had closed it but my husband says no it’s still got €70 in. We will go to caceres tomorrow and close it. Thanks!


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Megsmum said:


> Glad you mentioned this because I THOUGHT we had closed it but my husband says no it’s still got €70 in. We will go to caceres tomorrow and close it. Thanks!


Closed with a balance of €62.35. CX costs!

Still now it’s closed and I have the paperwork to prove or. Once again thanks for mentioning this


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

In my experience the banks don't charge any commissions for any national operations as long as you are using them to receive regular income (nóminas). International operations are a different matter, but as stated above, the transfer services experts have banks in all countries so that makes this a moot point anyway.

I have two bank accounts, one of which is where my employer pays my wages and that satisfies the condition for all commissions to be reimbursed, and the other where I manually transfer my wages after it has been paid into the first bank, which then satisfies that bank that all the commissions are reimbursed. I just have to remember to write the concept of the transfer as "nomina" when I do the manual transfer.


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