Talk Quesada forum

La Caixa.

Not sure of her name, but the lady on the front desk (dark wavy/curlyhair & glasses) is really helpful, and everything just seems so easy. Sonia is also great. It's nice to have the "personal" service...an email address direct to a contact in the branch, rather than to someone "centralised" on another continent...!!!

Not sure, but I guess charges are fairly standard. We pay €24 a quarter for the non-resident Holabank account...need to find out from them whether I can get a free savings account with them (unless someone on here knows already!!).

Hello, I was shocked to find it cost so much for banks to be privileged to have my money in their account, but after a bit of research, santander 123 acc does it for me. Pay 600+ in monthly from someone else, family member for example, get 3% up to 15000 balance, set up 3 dd, utility bill etc, use their credit card just twice a month and pay it off with a dd, 6euro a month acc fee. If u transfer approx 3000 or more into it, the interest easily outweighs the 6 euro fee, and even make a profit. Go see them and find out if its right for you.

I have Santander 123 in gb so I'll look at that and ask at la caixa , I used to be with la caixa years ago but the charges were ridiculous , maybe they have improved now. I've been happy with sabadell for a while, was just going to start transferring more cash monthly. Been trying to contact them from gb over a transfer I did that took ages to clear and no one would call back, after being passed from pillar to post and loads of phone calls at 3.50 per minute I'm furious with them so time for a change I think. Of course, they are being nicer now I've said I'm going but we'll see , thanks for your advice folks

Jan wrote:Come on everyone.
Let's be 'aving you? In the words of Delia Smith.

https://youtu.be/Bop4rr6sUQo

Fink you've ad it !!

Joy arise wrote:I have Santander 123 in gb so I'll look at that and ask at la caixa , I used to be with la caixa years ago but the charges were ridiculous , maybe they have improved now. I've been happy with sabadell for a while, was just going to start transferring more cash monthly. Been trying to contact them from gb over a transfer I did that took ages to clear and no one would call back, after being passed from pillar to post and loads of phone calls at 3.50 per minute I'm furious with them so time for a change I think. Of course, they are being nicer now I've said I'm going but we'll see , thanks for your advice folks

I got my daughter to 'Twitter' Sabadell Spain about something we needed to know and they were amazing - Managed to get us a call back from the bank at a certain time to sort out what we needed and it didn't cost us a penny. Since then I've used Twitter contact for a few companies and it works so much faster than emailing and doesn't cost like phoning. By the time the details are sorted out over Twitter, the phone call is easy as they have all the information in advance and because companies and banks have dedicated Twitter staff, they make sure the company is represented well and the problem is dealt with fast.

I have no idea about using Twitter myself, even as Internet savvy as I am, but I have two kids who are Techies and they do the contacting for me with my questions and I just do the end bit on the phone. It works well.

Worth trying if the email doesn't work for Spanish banks.


Jan

janetl wrote:La Caixa, we have been with them for five years since we arrived in Spain. No problems at all, very helpful. We would recommend them.

I agree that La Caixa are very helpful, but does anyone besides me feel that the amount of charges they make are completely over the top ?
i.e. When you deposit money in to your a/c... they charge you.
When you pay a bill ... they charge you
When you transfer money .... they charge you
and of course they regularly charge you for account service/maintenance on top of all the other charges ..

Do all banks in Spain work like this ?

Regards.

Eltel01 wrote:

janetl wrote:La Caixa, we have been with them for five years since we arrived in Spain. No problems at all, very helpful. We would recommend them.

I agree that La Caixa are very helpful, but does anyone besides me feel that the amount of charges they make are completely over the top ?
i.e. When you deposit money in to your a/c... they charge you.
When you pay a bill ... they charge you
When you transfer money .... they charge you
and of course they regularly charge you for account service/maintenance on top of all the other charges ..

Do all banks in Spain work like this ?

Regards.

No Sabadell don't!
Normal account charges for a normal current account is 15 euros every 3 months and 34euros per year for the cards (inclusive fee for two cards for us!). Those are a flat fees inclusive for two of us on a joint account, with no other charges for any account dealings. Much better than some banks I have found. Also for anyone with a certain amount like a pension going into the account per month , there are NO charges.I just looked at my last full year fee statement for this.

Jan

Eltel01 wrote:
I agree that La Caixa are very helpful, but does anyone besides me feel that the amount of charges they make are completely over the top ?
i.e. When you deposit money in to your a/c... they charge you.
When you pay a bill ... they charge you
When you transfer money .... they charge you
and of course they regularly charge you for account service/maintenance on top of all the other charges ..

Can I just confirm...is that for a resident or a non-resident account?

We have a non-resident account, and haven't been charged once for putting money in to the account or paying any bills.

I have a non resident account and must say I've never been charged for deposits. I'm thinking I might stay with sabadell but change branch to quesada and I'm definately going to set up a twitter account, that probably would have sorted it. It was quite worrying and annoying that they didn't call back after me phoning. I speak a fair bit of Spanish but think maybe something lost in translation. Thanks Jan , that was a good tip x

Sabadell now charge 30 euros a quarter, so obviously is 120 a year, (maybe just new customers I'm not sure), + 38 every two years for non res tax, so approx. 138 euros a year just for having the account never mind what transactions you might want to do! for eg, 4.5% charge if you don't use certain cash machines.

me personally, I hate paying anyone for the privilege of them having my money to lend to others. but I'm sure there are many happy customers for most banks, so we all have to do the rounds, and ask the questions that relate to us as individuals.