Best bank to open an account

Thanks Jan

I did a lot of research today and it seems Sabadel is indeed the option for my purpose. Will pop down there to see if Passport, NIE and proof of residence will do the trick.

I am happy with Caixa

You may want to have a look at Bankia they have scrapped most charges on their accounts and if you pay in 200 euros a month from a pension their cards and banking are all free. I am considering changing to this bank when I am next in Spain to speak to them about their account which is called 'just for being you' account. Link as follows:-
https://www.bankia.es/en/particulares/s ... por-ser-tu
I understand as long as you can prove your transfer is coming from a pension in UK you only need to deposit a minimum 200 euros for free banking.
Worth investigating I think as fees with Sabadell are also due to rise from September for each entry.

Karen& Ceri wrote:You may want to have a look at Bankia they have scrapped most charges on their accounts and if you pay in 200 euros a month from a pension their cards and banking are all free. I am considering changing to this bank when I am next in Spain to speak to them about their account which is called 'just for being you' account. Link as follows:-
https://www.bankia.es/en/particulares/s ... por-ser-tu
I understand as long as you can prove your transfer is coming from a pension in UK you only need to deposit a minimum 200 euros for free banking.
Worth investigating I think as fees with Sabadell are also due to rise from September for each entry.

I'm not sure but I think that's a resident account only, not a non-resident one. We were called in a while back and our "personal account manager" explained the level had dropped from 700 a month to 200 a month for residents.
However, they may be trying to get some customers back and opening it to all over 65s.
Worth checking.

Thanks Marcliffe
I have been in touch with Bankia via email with various questions and explained we are non residents and they suggested the Just for being you account.
However just to be sure I sent them a further email and today I received a reply to confirm that the account is open to residents and non residents. I think you are right and they may have changed their rules to encourage more custom. My husband is on a private pension and under 65 which I have already told them and they still say we can open an account. I will post back after the holidays in September if any of this information is incorrect once we have been to the bank .

Hi there,
we found La Caixa to be the best bank especially for offering all English banking and correspondence. Watch out for all the bank charges ask for explanations at every point. All banks have charges a lot of them hidden.

Karen& Ceri wrote:You may want to have a look at Bankia they have scrapped most charges on their accounts and if you pay in 200 euros a month from a pension their cards and banking are all free. I am considering changing to this bank when I am next in Spain to speak to them about their account which is called 'just for being you' account. Link as follows:-
https://www.bankia.es/en/particulares/s ... por-ser-tu
I understand as long as you can prove your transfer is coming from a pension in UK you only need to deposit a minimum 200 euros for free banking.
Worth investigating I think as fees with Sabadell are also due to rise from September for each entry.

Fortunately I am still quite a long way off retirement, and even when I do, I am not entitled to any pension payments from anywhere as I lived in South Africa and things work a bit different there.

And I only work part-time in the UK, so I doubt I will be getting anything from there.

I opened a non-resident account at Sabadell in the end. There is no minimum deposit required and the internet banking looks quite user friendly and comes in many languages. The quarterly fees are fairly high at €25, but most of the transactions are free, even the £'s I transfer in from my Lloyds account. My German Bank charges about €12 every time I put £'s in! You'd think they're glad to get the funds...

The service was very good at the Quesada branch and the lady spoke English and German, so it was easy to get it all done.

So that's one more thing ticked off the list.

How long does it take to open a Spanish bank account,and what paperwork do we need

Dasa wrote:How long does it take to open a Spanish bank account,and what paperwork do we need

You need your passports and NIE number. If you are Resident then you need to take proof of this I think but if Non Resident you will just need to sign a form for proof of that. If you have a utility bill with address on that may help too. However they can send statements, letters etc to the UK address if you prefer, which is what we do.

I don't think you need anything else but obviously worth going in and asking so you can have everything with you.

Jan

La Caixa. Listen to the majority. Brilliant service.