Upon moving to Spain, one of the first things you need to do is open a bank account, together with purchasing private health insurance. If you haven’t learned any Spanish yet, I would also recommend that you get the basics nailed down.
You will need it for several things, most importantly for paying your monthly rent. A foreign bank account is not that useful in Spain as many institutions rely on direct debits to a local account. For example, if you make a gym subscription, or if you sign up for private health insurance, you will need to provide your bank details, and you need to give a Spanish IBAN number.
See also: Best broker for buying stocks in Spain
The same thing applies if you have an iPhone and want to use the Spanish app store; you need a Spanish debit or credit card.
When I arrived in Spain, I had a list of criteria that I used to search for the best bank here. Let me share them with you:
- Commission-free.
I’m giving money to the bank and they will use it to gain money, I shouldn’t be paying them. If anything, they should be compensating me for providing the capital. - Straightforward to open and operate.
I didn’t want to jump through too many hoops to open a bank account, and I expect a modern web and mobile interface to operate on a daily basis. - English-speaking staff and multilingual website and contracts.
Not so much of a deal-breaker as I’m fluent in Spanish, but it’s always a plus. - Stable and highly-regarded bank.
I don’t want nasty surprises in the future, so let’s keep to the top banks and avoid going with the lesser-known ones.
See also: Best apps for trading cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum
Here are some of the typical bank fees charged by banks here that I was not prepared to pay:
- Maintenance fees
There is usually an average fee for having your bank account and this is anything from ā¬40 year and upwards - Transferring money
If you use your bank account to transfer money, even to another Spanish account, you may be charged. The transfer cost is usually around ā¬2 or C3 for every transaction you make. Online transactions are usually free. - ATM
If you use a cash machine that is not linked to the bank you use then you will be charged a fee. This varies but is likely to be at least ā¬2. - Credit and debit cards
Some banks may charge a small fee per year for maintaining your card and can be around ā¬8 and ā¬10 per year.
After spending many hours in online research, speaking to people and visiting bank branches, these were my shortlisted banks:
Currency Conversions
Before we delve into details about each of these banks and my top pick, I’d like to make a special note for those who will be transferring money from other countries. The most common cases are GBP and USD but this applies to any other non-Euro currency.
I suggest that you use Wise for your conversions as you will save a ton of money versus any local bank. You can also set up a Wise Borderless account which gives you a debit card in multiple currencies that is perfect for travel.
Ok, now that you now know how to do currency exchanges the right way, let’s move on to Spanish banks. If you have any questions about currency exchange, leave a comment and I’ll try to help out.
Documents needed to open a bank account in Spain
Before you even attempt to open a bank account, make sure you have the following documents handy as you will need them.
If you’re opening your first bank account in Spain with one of the local banks:
- A valid passport or national identityĀ card
- Your Spanish Tax identification number (NIE)
- A document to confirm your address such as a utility bill or Title Deed
- A document to prove you have an income ā this could be a payslip, tax return or an official form connected to your pension (optional)
Proof of income documentation is not always required. When I arrived in Spain I did not have any payslips to show, so instead, they asked me for statements from the bank account in my country, and that was enough to open the first bank account here in Spain.
If you already have another bank account in Spain and you’re opening another bank account in Spain with a local bank:
- A valid passport or national identityĀ card
- Your Spanish Tax identification number (NIE)
- The IBAN number of your other bank account
If you’re opening an account with one of the digital banks:
- A valid passport or national identityĀ card
The digital banks (Revolut, Wise, Wirex and N26) only require basic identification to open a bank account with them.
Banks trust each other, so if one bank has done its checks and opened a bank account for you, you can then open another account at another bank by just providing basic identification and the IBAN number for your other bank account.
Note that many traditional Spanish banks do not provide sign up instructions on their website in English, but it’s pretty self-explanatory in most cases.
Keep in mind that banks do discriminate openly against citizens of certain countries that they deem to be on their “blacklist”. My wife (Russian) was straight up refused consideration from various banks, while even myself (Maltese) was refused in one bank due to the manager claiming that Malta was on some kind of blacklist, which is very weird since it is in the EU.
See also: Should you buy Bitcoin in 2021?
N26 – Best Low-Cost Bank in Spain for 2021
Unfortunately, I haven’t been very impressed by banking in Spain. It’s decent enough, don’t get me wrong, and most banks have very good online systems and apps, however, support and compliance can get very frustrating.
That is why I would recommend N26, a German bank with the very latest technology and an amazing mobile app through which you manage your account.
Since April 2019, N26 gives its Spanish users a Spanish IBAN account, so you will be able to use the bank for any direct debits as you would use other Spanish bank accounts.
Now that we have the option, I recommend opening an account with N26, which is a new breed of bank that is totally app-based. This is the future of banking, so they give you best-in-class digital facilities such as an app and website to go with it, while also helping you track your expenses.
I use DEGIRO as a stockbroker in combination with N26 as a bank account, and I have zero hassle with local branches and any other issues.
Revolut
The famous online bank Revolut is also available to residents of Spain. Revolut is a digital banking app and card that focuses on technology, low fees and premium features. Itās designed for those who travel a lot and offers ways to spend abroad, including international money transfers with no hidden fees.
When you sign up, you will need to choose between three account tiers, starting at ā¬0 per month for the Standard account.
For all account tiers, Revolut gives you a free IBAN account, a free UK current account and a bank card so you can spend your money. You can spend in over 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate and exchange 29 fiat currencies. There are a number of features that come with each account tier, such as free ATM withdrawals plus exclusive features that come with the Premium and Metal accounts.
Revolut has three tiers: Standard, Premium and Metal. The Standard account is ā¬0 per month, the Premium account is ā¬7.99 per month and the Metal account is ā¬13.99 per month.
One of Revolutās most appealing features is that it lets you spend fee-free at the interbank rate in over 150 currencies.
Using it abroad is much like using it in Spain. However, donāt forget that while thereās no spending limit for card payments, free ATM withdrawals are limited to ā¬200 per month with the Standard account (higher for Premium and Metal), after which youāll be charged a 2% fee.
Revolut received its European banking license from the European Central Bank in December 2018. This means that if you open a current account with Revolut in the future your funds will be protected up to ā¬100,000. However, at the time of writing, this was still being put into place. For now, Revolut still has obligations to safeguard your funds in a separate bank so you can get them back should anything happen to Revolut.
Revolut stands out from its competitors in cryptocurrencies. In 2017, it became the first challenger bank to let customers buy cryptos within the app.
Whatās more, itās incredibly easy for anyone to use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin with Revolut. Revolutās aim is to make cryptocurrencies accessible. Customers have access to five different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and XRP. However, you have to hold a Premium account or higher to access the cryptocurrency feature automatically. Otherwise, you will need to invite three or more friends to use the app to unlock the feature.
Revolut shows you real-time cryptocurrency graphs which shows you current rates. You can also set up price alerts to hear when your cryptocurrency hits a certain value.
Revolut applies a markup of 0.5% on major currencies and 1% on other currencies over the weekend when markets are closed.
You are charged at least a 1% markup for currencies such as the Thai baht, Russian rouble, Ukrainian hryvnia and the Turkish lira. This rises to 2% on weekends.
You can make fee-free currency conversions up to ā¬6,000 per month, after which a 0.5% fee applies.
The big disadvantage of using Revolut at the moment is that you don’t get a Spanish IBAN. Although according to EU rules, businesses here in Spain should accept European IBANs for direct debit purposes, in practice there are some big companies that still refuse to do so. You might want to check which companies you will need to work with and decide accordingly.
Having said that, since there is no cost to signing up to and maintaining a standard Revolut, I would still recommend having it, especially since you like to travel. Having more options is always better than less options. If you’re worried about managing multiple cards, have a look at the solution I found for that further down in the article.
Wise
Before you move abroad consider opening a TransferWise multi-currency account. You get your own free local bank account details in Europe, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand so you can have a local bank account before arriving.
It comes with a debit card so you can pay and withdraw money at ATMs once you come to Spain with much lower fees than with your bank.
Read my full Wise Borderless review or go ahead and open an account using the link below.
BBVA Cuenta Online – Best Spanish Bank
BBVA is a Spanish bank with an excellent reputation, and their mobile app has won numerous awards.
You can open a Cuenta Online with no commissions in 10 minutes using the mobile app. Their website is available in multiple languages including English.
You can’t really go wrong with BBVA if you want the extra peace of mind of having your money in a Spanish bank. BBVA is consistently rated among the top 3 banks in Spain.
This is now my favorite local bank in Spain. I am very happy with the service they provide and the application is excellent, even allowing you to aggregate other banks’ accounts into the BBVA app for your convenience.
Bankia
Let’s move on to Bankia now. Bankia is a Spanish bank that was formed in December 2010, consolidating the operations of seven regional savings banks. It is now one of the top 5 largest Spanish banks. It has a somewhat rocky past and is currently recovering, but that shouldn’t put you off.
Their best offering at the moment is Cuenta ON, which gives you zero commissions, similar to ING Direct. In Bankia’s case, there is no minimum balance requirement. There are no commissions on outgoing or incoming Euro transfers either.
The most important requirement in order to keep this account commission free is that you conduct all operations online without visiting the branches. For example, if you want to make a transfer, you would do it online rather than visiting the branch and asking them to do it for you. Perfectly fine for me, as I find it way more comfortable doing everything online.
Bankia doesn’t have an online chat system, but you can ask for a callback for free, or use the contact form on their site to send in queries. ING Direct is better in this respect.
On the other hand, Bankia offers its website in English and Spanish (apart from Catalan and Valencian), so you can find all the information easily.
With Bankia, you can send or receive money from friends using the Bizum system, and you can also use Bankia Wallet to pay directly with your mobile phone, in a similar way to ING Direct’s Twyp Cash.
You can withdraw money from Bankia ATMs (up to 600 Euro daily) and no commissions will be charged. If you’re abroad and need to withdraw cash they will charge 4% with a minimum of 4 Euro.
You can use your card to spend up to 1,500 Euro daily.
The best thing about Cuenta ON is that it is completely commission-free. I prefer ING Direct’s and BBVA’s interface, related services and also their facility of withdrawing from other ATMs commission-free. Therefore Cuenta ON is a good secondary or backup account. I would always suggest having two bank accounts in place just in case conditions change with your usual bank. Keep in mind that terms can change at any point with Spanish banks, so you’ve got to be on the ball and read any communication they send you.
Liberbank
Liberbank is the eighth listed Spanish bank and one of the 128 largest European banking groups subject to the supervision of the European Central Bank. Liberbank is the result of the merger of four savings banks, with more than 100 years history, and with a leading position in their home markets (No 1 in all with a significant market share).
Founded in 2011 by Cajasur Group (including the Bank of Castilla-La Mancha), Caja de Extremadura and Caja Cantabria, Liberbank is a retail bank, specialized in households, SMEs and self-employed workers.
I haven’t used Liberbank myself but plenty of friends have and recommend it.
Banks to Avoid
Banc Sabadell
I don’t recommend this bank due to the various reports of multiple charges that are now associated to having accounts with them (see comments section).
Ing Direct
ING Direct used to be my favorite local bank, but as of April 2019, I would recommend N26 above ING Direct. They have a weird policy of letting all incoming transfers in, then suddenly asking for documentation about all incoming international transfers months later. It’s quite maddening because they typically don’t even know what they need, they just ask you for documentation for everything, which of course can be incredibly time-consuming to retrieve given that some transfers might have been done years ago.
They have also blocked many clients’ accounts even during the sensitive Coronavirus crisis times, piling more difficulty on families when they should be helping alleviating the burden. I find these practices extremely insensitive and unprofessional and cannot recommend this bank any longer.
Their customer support is only available via phone (long waits) and usually turns out to be quite incompetent, barely able to answer basic questions.
In short: Stay away from this bank.
Wrapping up
You will no doubt have your own requirements for bank accounts. Perhaps you are already thinking of a loan or mortgage, or you’re interested in finding a bank with great stock brokerage facilities, or even other products such as life insurance or deposit accounts.
Make sure you make a list of things that are most important to you, then start your search by visiting all the sites of the local banks. You will usually get a gut feeling about certain banks that will allow you to narrow things down. You can then proceed to visit the local offices of the shortlisted banks and get a feel for the kind of people that work there and get more information about their products.
Finally, you can make an educated decision on which account to use. Remember that you can always close an account without any hassle or cost if further down the line you understand that the bank is not well aligned with your needs.
When you open a bank account at any entity, be aware that they will usually ask for your passport and your NIE at the very minimum. They might also ask for things like your rental contract, statement from your foreign bank, tax statements from your previous country of residence etc. Banks are on the lookout for money launderers and have very strict parameters within which to operate. All the banks I mentioned above are very reasonable in what they require and will not make things difficult for you. Others may have stricter policies, and they might reject your application without providing any specific reasons.
Over the years, I’ve come to prefer online banks, so here would be my favorite options:
Accounts for traveling outside the Euro zone:
- Revolut (Personal or Business)
- Wise Borderless
- Wirex
Good luck with opening a bank account in Spain, and if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments section.
Curve – Managing multiple cards
It’s a hassle having many cards in your wallet. You might lose one without even noticing, not to mention the inconvenience of a fat wallet in your pocket.
The solution to that is to use the Curve app and card. Basically, Curve allows you to load all your cards into its app, then use just one card (the Curve card) to make your payments. Before you make a payment, you can use the app to choose which bank card you want to take the money from. Incredibly useful for those of us who have many debit and credit cards.
Savings and Investment accounts
None of the banks mentioned in my article are great places to earn any interest on your money. As you know, banks nowadays offer very low interest for leaving your money in their accounts. However, there are some good online options if you’re seeking some return on your money.
Raisin – Best Investment accounts
Raisin puts more than 70 savings products at your disposal. The platform collaborates with many European collaborator banks, all of which count on the European deposit guarantee scheme (up to ā¬100,000). It is basically an aggregator of all the savings account offerings across Europe.
I find it extremely convenient to be able to access all these investment products in one place. The traditional way would be to actually sign up to a bank in order to be able to access its savings products, which is incredibly more laborious and harder for the customer to compare offers between banks. Check it out, I think you will like the idea behind Raisin.
Finizens – Best Roboadvisor
Finizens is the Spanish version of Betterment or Wealthfront, two extremely popular roboadvisor platforms in the United States. With a roboadvisor, you put your money in their account and then let algorithms pick out the best long-term passive investment strategy for you.
It’s a valid alternative to investing in index funds and like I said these kinds of platforms are already extremely popular across the Atlantic. In Europe, they are just starting out but I’m betting Finizens will be a strong player in the space.
P2P Lending – Mintos
If you’re interested in making the most of your money, don’t leave it sitting in your bank account where it generates low returns.
Take a look at my results (above 10% returns) investing through the Mintos P2P lending platform, it’s been excellent so far. If you’re not familiar with P2P lending, read my review of the best P2P lending sites in Europe, which includes a thorough guide on how this sector works.
Another option is to invest in property via online platforms. I have lots of content on that subject as well on this site, and a good place to start from is my post on the best property investment platforms in Europe.
Bonus tips
Spanish Banking Glossary
Let’s talk about some of the most common words used in Spanish banking.
- Cuenta = account
- Cuenta Corriente = current account
- Tarjeta = card
- Seguros = insurance
- Saldo Contable = account balance
- Saldo Disponible = balance available
- Traspasos = transfers
- Inicio = Start
- Extracto = statement
- Cuenta para residentes = resident account
- Cuenta para no residentes = non-resident account
- Caja = savings banks
- Account numberĀ ā usually a ten digit number
- Sort codeĀ ā four digits for your bank reference and four digits for your branch
- Control numberĀ ā a two-digit number
- BICĀ ā Bank Identifier Code. It begins with letters that refer to the bank you are using. It is used in conjunction with the IBAN
- IBANĀ āĀ āInternational Bank Account Numberā and is a standard way of identifying banks across different countries.
Thinking about leaving Sabadell bank due to excessive charges!!
BBVA looks good but do they charge for transferring money from uk bank or from Revolut card? Cannot find any information
Thanks
Thank you Jean Galea for a very useful article on Spanish banks. As mentioned by others, we have not found Spanish banks to be very good. In our relatively short time of living here we have banked with 1) Santander (our first account) – a very aggressive bank on fees – charged us nearly 1% in commission to issue a banker’s draft to buy a property here! 2) Unicaja – an improvement on Santander but rather antiquated. I like their ATMs though as I can withdraw cash on UK registered cards without additional fees, 3) Sabadell – another quite hostile bank that foists credit cards on you when you open a regular cuenta nomina, 4) Bankinter – a hopeless bank in terms of customer service and the app, 5) Triodos – who we have remained the longest with but there has been a reduction of service recently so we are looking to move again.
Last year we tried applying for a hipoteca, which exposed ING and Abanca as being particularly incompetent.
Hi,
My experience since 2016 as a Spanish Sabadell customer:
– 2016 they opened my account, it was easy
– 2017 they gave me a loan (an insurance was required), which I transferred internationally to a USD country, I was surprised with the eur to usd exchange cost. Comparing with google exchange and considering the fees charged, for a 5500ā¬ I paid 250ā¬. Happy for the loan, but it tasted weird
– 2019 I paid the loan in advanced, but they automatically renewed the loan insurance for one more year, 250 euros more that I should have not paid! The insurance cost was higher than the interests paid.
– 2019 I discovered that the load insurance was never needed, it was not a requirement as the executive stated when I signed, I felt cheated.
– 2020 stopped using the debit card for traveling, the currency exchange was expensive, and the commission per transaction high
– 2021-03 the two closest ATM closed, their office included. I donāt have a close to my flat atm anymore
– 2021-03-31 This morning I found for non-sense commissions (these are new): I have a merchant account that transfers money from my ecommerce sales, the 400ā¬ transfer was divided in 3 parts, 300-75-25ā¬. For each, sabadell charged me 18ā¬, even for the 25ā¬ transfer from a european country. Additionally, i was charged 15euros for the use of their service, this is the quarterly cost for putting my money there (instead of paying me interests)
I lost lot of money with Sabadell.
I was patient with them, because they gave me free credit cards, that, I like to have a plan B in case needed. (only used them once)
Plan B is way to expensive with them, Today, I will close my sabadell account forever. Changing to BBVA and N26
STAY AWAY FROM SABADELL !!!!
II am from the Netherlands and have been living in spain for the past five years now with an Evo Banco account. Personally I would not recommend this bank as they ONLY speak Spanish (andalucien) and have a horrible customer service. You will have to do your banking mostly online what would be fine if their app would be better. I have had multiple times issues where it seems money is dissapearing, the card can not be blocked when stolen as the app is not functioning well and their customer service is horrific for non Spanish. I speak the language but they dont seem to be very welcoming to forgeiners at all.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes, cant be bothered to fix them. Just want to give you heads upp.
A couple of questions regarding the BBVA account you recommend. Are there charges for direct debit payments from the account ? I donāt have a BBVA branch nearby. What are the costs of ATM withdrawals from other banks ?
Hi Jean
As a customer with Bank Sabadell, I would say they are the worst bank i have had dealing with, They are charging for everything i agree with Hanna,
i must get out of this bank too
, i got ripped off changing pounds from my sterling
account, to my euro account. in same bank, Email transfer can cost 35 euros, i have pension which now charged commission. i feel my monies not safe they can help themselves, i found your website very helpful.
thank you
Some clarifications Revolut and Banco Sabadell. Firstly, to correct your article, the maximum fee-free currency exchange amount on Revolutās Standard (free) account, and also their Plus account is Ā£1000 per month , or 1000 euros if you open your Revolut account as a Spanish resident (not ā¬6,000 as you have quoted). Above that amount you are charged 0.5%. Their Premium and Metal accounts allow unlimited fee-free exchanges.
Re Banco Sabadell, since Brexit kicked in in January 2021, and as mentioned in other comments, they have indeed started charging min 18ā¬ (or 0.35%) for any transfers in from UK banks. If you open/opened a Revolut account with a UK home address your Revolut accounts have UK IBAN codes so even if you do a Euro to Euro transfer from Revolut then Sabadell bank will charge you the minimum amount of 18ā¬ for each transfer. This was taken up with the British embassy in Spain and a solicitor was quoted as stating āPost Brexit the UK is still a member of the āSingle European Payments Areaā (SEPA) and part of the SEPA agreement is no charges. This means that any banks applying transfer charges are unilaterally acting in breach of European Council Regulations.ā However, it appears that some Spanish banks have chosen to ignore this. There have been many complaints and perhaps they may remove this fee in the coming months if enough pressure is applied on them ā but I wouldnāt hold my breath! On another article it was said āLocal regulators and the European Payments Council, who run the SEPA scheme, may not be motivated to argue the case for UK financial institutions and their customers over EU banks, now that the UK is no longer an EU member.ā
HOWEVER, if you are RESIDENT in Spain thereās a work around with Revolut. You have to close your existing Revolut account with your UK home address (they do not allow you to just update the address) and then open a new Revolut account but this time give your Spanish home address. You are then set up with a Euro-based Revolut account and the accounts on that one have IBAN codes staring with LT which is for Lithuania. I have done this and can confirm that Euro transfers from my Revolut account to my Sabadell account are now fee-free again.
Thank you for the heads-up Gareth. I am also a Revolut account holder (registered UK) and we bank with Triodos in Spain (which is not a very well-known bank here, but there happened to be a branch close to where we live in Malaga). So far we have not encountered additional fees when moving money with Revolut but now that IĀ“ve read your post, I will be extra vigilant.
The reason I came looking for advice on Spanish bank accounts (thank you Jean for your very useful writeup) is that I would like to switch from Triodos to a bank account that 1) allows us to deposit cash (Triodos removed their ATM and we are now required to use a third party ATM or the Correos – and there is a charge for depositing cash. 2) has a online app 3) is cost free (Triodos charge us a quarterly service charge and a debit card fee).
Another spin on things is that we are hoping to buy a rural property and Sabadell are one of the only players in the mortgage market. From the reviews on here I would not consider Sabadell otherwise – but if we take a mortgage with them we would be required to open an account also.
You say that BBVA don’t charge commissions, but as a customer I was notified this week that in future they will be charging commissions on receipts in Euros from countries outside of Europe, including the UK. How they can justify charging commissions on receipts in Euros I simply don’t know.
The UK is no longer part of Europe so these charges will become standard across all banks unfortunately.
Hi. We will be moving to Spain later this year. I was looking at opening an account with N26 before we moved, but I do have an address to use. I couldn’t really determine if I could open a joint account with my wife or if we’d need separate accounts. Can you provide any insight on that? Or maybe we hold off and open at BBVA or similar once we arrive?
Hi,
This is very helpful, thank you.
Iām currently with Unicaja. If I swap over to one of your recommended banks, do you know if theyāll shut the Unicaja account down and transfer my monthly direct debits (like they do in the UK)?
Any advice would be appreciated as I havenāt a clue about what to do!
I am applying for residencia in Spain. I have two online Monese accounts, a GBP one and a Euro one. Will the Euro Monese card count as a Spanish bank, like the N26 card. Thanks Carl
We are non resident in Spain, and of course due to Covid 19 we have been unable to visit for some time. However we were horrified at the bank charges, and around November 2020, we ditched Sabadell, and opened a Starling UK and Starling Euro accounts with no fees.
The electric and water were duly changed to the Starling Euro account fine, until today when we had an Email from the water company saying that they will no longer be able to take money from our GB IBAN registered account, asking us to open a Spanish Bank Account, (Are they in league?). Of course I cannot find a bank in Spain, so far, that we can open a Non-resident account on line, as we do not know when we will be allowed to travel to Spain. I expect the Electric etc to follow suit.
I looked into opening a Revolut account, but trust pilot reviews put me off. Also they suggest opening an account which is based in Lithuania, by just changing the IBAN from GB to LT. I believe if it sounds to good to be true, then it is.
I wouldn’t trust any Lithuanian banks over Revolut. I really like N26 and TransferWise if you have those options.
I didn’t read the whole article I must say but IO cam here because my bank Banco Sabadell is charging me .80 cents for each transaction even if I pay for a metro ticket or parking which can be as low as ā¬1. So I am surprised to see it in the list of non-commission banks. The only way to be charged no commission is to put 700 euros every month and once it is not possible it goes back to charging and stays there. Am I missing something? And I want to complain to the ombudsman because of the way they never explain this properly, contract is not in English and also when my account status changed I did not get a warning , an SMS or email.
1st. We recently went into a Santander bank to change our branch as the one we used transferred the only English speaker. The new branch nearby started talking to us about charges, we said our contract was that if we put a minimum of three pensions per month into the account it would be free. The new branch said that was before the UK left the EU. We told them we had not had any communication from them regarding this and they said that all their branches would be making charges from January. So we do want to move and appreciate your findings. 2 nd. We are both in our mid 70, s and are not very computer savvy. Whichon line bank would you consider the easiest tu use. We have 5 pensions between us. You mention using travel wise borderless for money transfers, would that include pensions and if so, would we need to use it for other purposes or simply have our pensions paid in then transfer the fund from them to our other bank? If we swap our Santander to Bankia and open an online account too, would we get any benefit using curve. Do you recommend a joint account, or a separate accounts for my husband and I, thinking of leaving all our worldly goods to the kids and grandkids..we do have a Spanish will, and have been Spanish residents for over 9 years. ( although if you heard us trying to communicate in Spanish you would think we had been here for 6 months, a fact which to be honest we are ashamed of. A combination of good English speaking Spanish Nieghbourās and a good English speaking lady at the local council office has helped so much, and we have an excellent translator who accompanies us for medical matters, translating letters and forms and making phone calls at a very reasonable rate). Thanks in advance for any reply you send us.
BBVA Cuenta Online – this is Only for new customers. and If you are 18 or older, live in Spain and are not a BBVA customer, you can open and enjoy all the advantages of this account.
Hi Jean, Iam thinking of closing my Santander 123 account due to the new increased charges so wondered if you have some info/feedback on the Openbank online account?
Hello,
Thank you for all this bank related information.
I recently got a Revolut account, including card and benefits. The reason why I did was that I am outside Europe for work and that I often have to work in countries with doubtable reputations when it comes to banking and money spending. However, I tried to sent some crypto funds to my Revolut account, as this one includes crypto trading. My surprise was that I got a note that my Revolut IBAN number is blacklisted. I contacted some people within Revolut, but beside a very friendly conversation, I don’t have any solution regarding this issue, as keeping this account on the background instead of using it as a primary account. I have been searching online about this “blacklist” problem, but I can’t find the right answers or links to solve it.
I hope to find an answer here, if possible.
Greetings,
Hi! Any idea of Dukascopy bank pls? Or itās not good enough in Spain?
I haven’t come across this bank before and I’m not sure whether they have any presence in Spain.
Thanks for this fantastic information. As a non-resident, I have been with Bankinter for 14 years and they have been okay as a local bank but fees have been creaping up over the years and I have just been too busy to notice. My Spanish is weak and I didnt have the confidence to switch so your article has given me the boost I needed to save a ton of money! Thanks again.
Hello Jean
I wonder if you could help? I live in uk and am english but want a non resident bank account in Spain. I already have two – Sabadell which used to be good and Caja Rural local to my property which I felt I needed at the time. I now can’t just have Sabadell because of the 700 euro entry per month (which currently goes back and forth) I don’t like either due to so many charges and such incompetence (CR). I have tried contacting many other banks, including BBVA, where I had all the requisites – NIE, spanish property (address) etc but lack a spanish telephone number. They will not accept a uk mobile
My requirements are: to hold my money, pay some direct debits (taxes, electricity, home insurance), online access, no monthly pay slips or entries, no spanish phone number.
I speak fluent Spanish, so that’s not a problem. I am also concerned about any changes due to brexit, but guess no one knows the implications currently (though please tell me if you do!)
Thank you
Hello Lynn
Do not open a bbva account, their maintenance fees have gone through the roof.
Unless you put minimum of 800 euros a month into the account and accept the obligatory credit card you will be charged for every debit and transaction. I have been a customer with bbva for 16 years and I am disgusted and looking to change banks
That’s just not true. I have a BBVA account and there are no maintenance fees nor minimums for deposits.
Thanks Jan, I won’t go with them then, let me know if you find a better one.
Great information here. Thanks for that.
Iām trying to open the BVVA online account, but my employer isnāt a Spanish company and Iām stuck and canāt complete the online application.
Calling customer service and as soon as you ask for an English agent, the call is cut off. I tried 5 times and always the same issue and problem. They mailed me as they saw I had applied and didnāt finalize the process, I answered then 2x on that, but no reply. Very disappointing and stuck without solution.
I really hoped I would get around it somehow but canāt. No idea how to open the online account….
Visiting a branch doesnāt help also, as they donāt help opening online accounts (I guess they donāt get their commission…).
So Iām still searching to find my bank at the moment.
Hi!
I have the same problem as you. I’m a non-EU foreigner with legal Spanish residency. Similar to you, my employer is not based in Spain.
Nonetheless, it’s impossible to complete the BBVA online banking application. I have tried at least 4 times with the application process blocked before completing the form. It’s very frustrating. I was asked to contact a branch to open an account but I am trying to avoid those crazy fees the banks are asking for doing nothing.. Calling the helpline number doesn’t help because the operator will literally hangup as soon as she hears me speaking English.
Min: itās very frustrating indeed.
I went to the branch and they donāt give you the free online account.
I found a way around the fees being charged. If you have 800 or 850 EUR a month coming in ur BBVA account, the account is free also.
I will make a fixed monthly transfer from my Foreign account into this account. The transfer is free anyway, so then I wont have any fees charged. If too much money in the account, I will just withdraw and take it back to put on my other account.
Another way to have the account for free, is being a shareholder of the bank. If you own min. 1000 shares (around 4EUR/each), the account is also free and no maintenance fees charged.
So there are some solutions to have the account for free although itās not the online account.
Hi Jean – fellow Maltese in Spain here. I’ve found this list really useful, so thanks for compiling it and keeping it up to date! I work in Spain as an autonomo and I currently have a Banco Sabadell autonomo account together with a secondary N26 account. I’ve been meaning to leave Sabadell for a while as their conditions, charges and lack of practical app services are really frustrating. For this reason I’ve been considering the possibility of using N26 as a principal account, but their account comes with a big catch – even if N26 are now offering Spanish IBANs (although for some reason it’s taking ages to issue them to existing customers), the bank is not recognized by Spain’s TGSS (Social Security). This means that if you use the N26 account for your taxes and SS, it will be impossible to collect benefits such as paro, ERTE, parental leave, possibly even pension. I think it is something really worth mentioning as it really renders the possibility of using it as a primary account practically useless. Also, minus points for N26 for not even making any mention of this anywhere. Just thought I’d flag this up.
I think that with Spain being Spain, if your finances are based in the country (which is something you will need to do if you’re here for the long haul) I would still opt for a Spanish bank, even if the service and system is not always ideal. They seem to have the best understanding of how to operate in the country, for obvious reasons.
Hi Steven and thanks. All valid points that I agree with.
Thank you for this article. I have been with sabadell for 1 year now and they have added yet more fees – not enough to charge us ā¬35/month, now they’re charging a card maintenance fee of ā¬30 as well. Absolute joke. I will use this list to find our next bank.
Pretty please… Are you planning to update this soon? In light of the recent announcements by Spanish banks ie. Caja Rural etc to charge considerably more than they already are I’m keen to look for an alternative. I’ve loved this article of yours and appreciate that it’s free advice but will hold off if there may be any updates on the above.
And yes, I appreciate that the above may not have changed much as it’s mostly other banks – not the above – that are making changes.
Hey Nikki, I’ll update it if I come across new information, but it’s not something I keep on top on a daily basis. I’m happiest with the online banks like N26, Revolut, TransferWise as well as BBVA at the moment.
You mention that you are happy with BBVA. I have been a customer for over 20 years & have also been until now. I am stuck in England with little hope of getting to Spain for many months – I am in the high risk group for Covid 19 – and I suddenly have no access to online banking,
I have tried phoning Customer Services but as soon as I ask for someone who speaks English the call is terminated. When a friend went to my a branch in Chiclana she was told that I would have to put up with no access until I could visit a branch.
Is this the way to treat customers & is it reasonable that the only way to contact them requires fluent spanish.
Thanks for your prompt and informative reply. That’s helpful and I’ve now narrowed it down.
hello,
It seems impossible to open an online acct at BBvA with a european NIE, since those have no photo attached. Was that your predicament? or what might be a way to be able to sign up? thanks. Maya
You’d have to use your passport instead. Failing that, visit a branch.
Hi Jean,trying to open BBVA online account but having trouble,do you have to be a Spanish resident to open one. Thank you
If I apply to N26 will I be able to use it in UK and Spain when UK leaves the European Union without a deal. Which unfortunately seems likely.
Hi Jean,
I would like to know whether opening the BBVA Cuenta Online will incur any maintenance or management fees ? A debit card is also available once the account gets opened, but my question being very specific to know if there are any criteria or conditions to be met in order to not charge clients a fee for the debit card and the account.
The purpose is to have an extra bank account and use it for online/offline shopping.
Thank you.
I am not charged any fees with this account and there donāt seem to be any hidden charges.
Hi Jean,
I am looking for an account for low commission charges and where I can pay Spanish Social security and taxes out of and also put money in to cover these costs. Do you recommend the BBVA online one? If I get this one can I put money into a BBVA branch? I tried to look at the above link to Sign up for BBVA online but the link doesnt seem to work?
Thank-you,
Cas
I have been with ING for 5 years and can fully corroborate your experience regarding them blocking incoming transfers for no reason. In my case they started doing this about 1 month ago and asked for a document confirming my status as autonomo. When I sent the document they credited the blocked transfer only to block again the next one. They are truly incompetent. I filed an official complaint with them (to no avail) and 2 weeks later with the Bank of Spain but well, this being Spain it will take months of waiting until nothing happens in the end so …
Regarding N26, I opened an account with them but then read a bunch of really scary reviews on trustpilot according to which N26 froze people’s accounts for no reason and did not reply to client requests to have them unfrozen. As a result some accounts (and the money therein) were apparently blocked for months at a time. Have you heard anything about this? Because of these reviews I am rather reluctant to use the account for anything other than pocket change.
I also opened an ccount with BBVA but am still waiting for them to activate it (10 days and counting so far – not impressed).
I have lived in 6 other European countries and I have to say that Spain has the worst banks I have seen (in terms of hidden fees, lacking customer service, and doing simply dumb things like blocking a transfer or an entire account for no reason whatsoever). Runner up are UK banks btw who milk their clients wherever they can (fully exploiting the fact that they stayed out of the EURO which allows them to charge ridiculous fees for simple transfers).
Agreed with all your comments. Spain is one of the most incompetent countries when it comes to financial matters, from the government to private entities.
BBVA and N26 have worked well for me so far, I have had no issues whatsoever and both accounts are free.
BBVA starting charging commissions on receipts in Euros from outside the EU on 8th Feb 2021.
I’m a dual Polish/Canadian citizen (resident of Canada) in Spain for a year or more (or forever) and I’m having a difficult time opening a bank account here. I can’t get a NIE without a bank account in euros and I can’t get a bank account in euros without a NIE, it seems. I was finally able to open a Revolut account but now I’m still not sure if having funds in euros in a Revolut account is enough proof for the Spanish government for the NIE. Does anyone know if a Revolut account can be used as proof of funds? Thanks in advance
A foreign account is good enough for proof of funds to get the NIE.
as far as I know, Santander offers a non-resident account. So once that is open you can transfer your funds and apply for a NIE.