Talk Quesada forum

It's ok Iv just seen it now, I was still on page 1 & didn't realise there was a page 2. Newbie to this site as we're just started the process of buying out here. Many Thanks all for your valuable info, am finding it really interesting & keep it coming x

I would like to know does your euro bank in the UK have maintenance charges and how much ?M Spanish bank appears to charge me quite regularly and I am not sure for what ?

just had a look at this account and you cannot set up standing orders and direct debits, so wouldnt be useful for suma, ibedrola, water etc

If you log on to Transferwise/Currencies direct etc and enter £1000 as if going to send but don't go ahead with it, at roughly the same time ring your UK bank ask them what Euros you will get if you send £1000 to your chosen account at that time, by comparing you will know who is giving the better deal. It is not just the rate offered but the charges involved. I have done this in the past with a couple of euro exchange companies and also rang my UK banks at the same time, TW has always come out better, In my case it is a transfer to Sabadell, which has huge charges every year. I would also like to ditch them but have not got around to finding an alternative !

Just to update - as mfc has shown in the T&C's, although the account is up and running in Euro and perfectly "normal" in that I have a debit card and cash withdrawals etc, for reasons unknown you cannot set up DD's for bills in Spain grrrrrrr.

So it was back to the drawing board.

Another display of my naivety is that indeed those championing Transferwise are correct. As per my post on the previous page, I followed the advice of another forum poster and did a test transfer between the Cater Allen Sterling and Euro account versus Transferwise and the latter gave me a far better rate. So the ludicrous method by which I am loading my Cater Allen Euro account is to transfer Sterling from the Cater Allen £ account to Transferwise, and from transferwise to the Cater Allen € account! Bonkers.

In any event, my requirements for a Euro account that can facilitate DD's remains. Research has led me to an account with N24 bank - a German "smart" bank that a poster elsewhere said he had set up direct debits in Spain through. Sadly N24 are not yet registered in the UK but I have registered with them on the basis they advise they will shortly be open for business in the UK following openings across various other european countries.

I'd rather not be at the mercy of Sabadell judging by various issues I have read both on here and other forums and it also seems slightly disproportionate to have to pay €30 per quarter to pay a handful of house related DD's and use it for nothing else. I would probably only need to have €1k per annum running through the account so to pay over 10% of that just for the pleasure of having an account seems bonkers.

Just on that N24 point - the poster I read was saying he eventually managed to swap all DD's to use that N24 account but met with some resistance at low level before having to escalate matters to management level.

It seems that SEPA regulation does force the arm to have to allow other for payment of DD's by other European banks but it still seems implementation is in its infancy (or compliance with it!).

Just out of interest, what puts people off the Santander 123 account? The Spanish one seems to be €3 PCM and also offering up to 3% interest on balances of €3k - €6k? Seems a lot more reasonable than Sabadell, with further cash back benefits if your taxes are paid through that account. As I understand it, you face withdrawal fees at non-Santander cash machines but then the same applies with most of the banks in Spain.

You possibly need to pay at least €500 and have 2 DD's out of the account per month same as in the UK. We have a UK 123 account and tend to take out cash from a Santander cash machine weekly rather than use our Sabadell debit card. There's no charge to take money out in Spain. I would be interested to know the answer to your question though as I'm totally happy with Santander in the UK.

In responses to grumbling sabadellers, I write this again in the hope it helps you.

I’m always looking to save money and after a through hunt, I now have a Santander ZERO account, - free to use just like any regular uk account, ''IF'' you pay 600eu a month in, (which I do via transferwise), and have 2 DD's set up (electric and water). branch advised me would still be free for me even if missed paying in on the odd month. so far (7 months) has been totally free, free Santander machine withdrawals, free debit card payments, so for me, the best one so far. Go see them, see if it’s for you. good luck in your search.

Likewise, if you find a better deal, then I would like to know too.

select your branch location carefully though, because unlike the UK when any branch will help you if you are their customer, in Spain, that is the only branch that will work with you when you need to query something. good luck

PM me please Thanks Sheila