Spanish banking has improved, but it still has a long way to go. If you’ve lived here for any amount of time, you’ve probably dealt with opaque fee structures, branch-only services, staff who treat you like an inconvenience, and a general culture of extracting money from customers in ways that feel designed to confuse.
I’ve been living in Barcelona since 2012 and have been through the full Spanish banking experience — opening accounts, getting refused, watching fees appear out of nowhere, and eventually finding a setup that actually works. This guide is the result of that experimentation.
The good news: you no longer need to settle for a traditional Spanish bank as your primary account. Digital banks have matured significantly, and a combination of the right online bank plus one traditional option for backup will serve you better than anything a Caixabank branch can offer.
What You Actually Need From a Bank in Spain
Before getting into the options, it’s worth understanding what “working in Spain” actually requires from a bank account.
The key issue is the Spanish IBAN. Spain runs on SEPA direct debits, and a surprising number of Spanish companies — utilities, gym memberships, landlords, insurance providers, government services — will only accept a Spanish IBAN (starting with ES) for direct debits. Some will refuse a foreign IBAN outright, others will accept it in theory but fail in practice.
This is not a minor inconvenience. It affects your electricity bill, your internet provider, your health insurance, your Hacienda tax payments. If your bank can’t give you a Spanish IBAN, it cannot be your primary Spanish account.
Beyond the IBAN, you’ll want:
- No monthly maintenance fees (or very low fees for premium features)
- A debit card that works everywhere
- A decent mobile app
- English-language support (or at least a functional app that doesn’t require calling anyone)
- Access to Bizum (Spain’s peer-to-peer instant payment system — it’s used constantly here)
With that framework in mind, here are the banks I actually recommend.
1. N26 — Best Overall for Expats in Spain
N26 is my top pick, and it has been for years. It’s a German bank (licensed by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator), but it assigns every Spanish customer a genuine Spanish IBAN. You get all the protection of a German bank with an account that behaves like a local one.
This matters more than it might seem. I’ve had zero issues setting up direct debits with Spanish companies using my N26 IBAN — utilities, subscriptions, everything. It just works in the way a Spanish IBAN is supposed to work.
A few things that make N26 stand out beyond the IBAN:
- Desktop access. Most neobanks are mobile-only. N26 has a proper web interface, which matters when you’re doing anything requiring a real screen.
- Clean, fast app. Instant notifications, clear transaction history, easy controls for freezing your card or adjusting limits.
- Bizum support. Available on all plans, so you can split a restaurant bill or pay the plumber without friction.
- Wise integration. International transfers are handled through Wise directly inside the app, which means mid-market exchange rates when sending money abroad.
- €100,000 deposit protection under the German Deposit Guarantee Fund.
N26 has over 8 million customers across Europe, and it’s been operating since 2013 — this is not a startup experiment. That said, it’s Europe-only; if you move outside the EU, your account gets closed.
N26 Plans in Spain
- Standard — Free. No monthly fee, Spanish IBAN, Mastercard debit card, Bizum. This is all most people need.
- Smart — €4.90/month. Adds sub-accounts (Spaces), partner discounts, and a choice of card colors.
- Go — €9.90/month. Travel and purchase insurance through Allianz, unlimited free ATM withdrawals abroad.
- Metal — €16.90/month. Premium metal card, comprehensive insurance package, airport lounge access discounts, higher ATM limits.
The free Standard account is genuinely good. I’ve used it as my primary Spanish account without ever feeling like I was missing something essential.
Read my full N26 review for a deeper breakdown.
2. Revolut — Best for Everyday Spending and Travel
Revolut is the most feature-rich neobank out there and, with 70+ million customers, it’s become the de facto spending card for anyone traveling through Europe. Currency exchange at interbank rates, instant spending notifications, easy card controls, a solid budgeting interface — it’s genuinely excellent for day-to-day use.
Revolut now offers Spanish IBANs. If you open a Revolut account in Spain today, you’ll automatically get an ES IBAN. Existing customers with Lithuanian IBANs are being migrated to the Spanish branch — once migrated, you get an ES IBAN as your primary identifier (your old LT IBAN still works). So the old objection about Revolut not working for Spanish direct debits is no longer valid.
That said, I still rank N26 above Revolut as a primary Spanish account. N26 gives you desktop access (Revolut is mobile-only), BaFin regulation (the strongest in Europe), and a longer track record of seamless Spanish IBAN functionality. Revolut is the better spending and travel card; N26 is the better bank account.
That said, Revolut earns its place as a powerful companion account. Use it for:
- Spending abroad — currency exchange at interbank rates with no markup on the standard daily limit
- Splitting costs with friends through the app
- Holding and converting between multiple currencies
- Budgeting and analytics features
- Cryptocurrency and stock trading (paid plans)
One significant limitation: Revolut is mobile-only. There is no desktop interface. If you prefer to manage your finances from a computer, that’s a real constraint.
Revolut Plans in Spain
- Standard — Free. Currency exchange up to a monthly limit, basic card controls, Bizum.
- Plus — Low monthly fee. Priority customer support, purchase protection, higher limits.
- Premium — €8.99/month. Unlimited currency exchange, overseas medical insurance, higher ATM limits.
- Metal — €15.99/month. Metal card, cashback on card payments, comprehensive travel insurance.
- Ultra — €45/month. Concierge service, highest limits across the board, exclusive Ultra card.
The free Standard plan is useful for travel and currency exchange. Most expats living in Spain will find Standard or Plus sufficient as a secondary card.
Read my full Revolut review or the N26 vs Revolut comparison if you’re deciding between the two.
3. Wise — Best for International Transfers and Multi-Currency
Wise (formerly TransferWise) isn’t a bank — it’s an Electronic Money Institution regulated by the FCA in the UK. That distinction matters: your money is safeguarded but not covered by traditional deposit insurance schemes the way a licensed bank would be.
For international transfers, though, Wise is in a category of its own. It uses the mid-market exchange rate — the real rate you see on Google — and charges a transparent, low percentage fee. No hidden spread, no inflated exchange rates, no surprise charges on the receiving end.
The Wise account also gives you local bank details in over 10 currencies, including EUR, GBP, USD, and AUD. If you receive income in multiple currencies, or regularly send money to family abroad, this is genuinely useful.
Where Wise fits in a Spanish banking setup:
- Receiving international payments in foreign currencies
- Sending money internationally (especially outside the EU)
- Holding balances in multiple currencies simultaneously
- Complementing N26 when you need to do cross-currency transfers
I wouldn’t use Wise as a standalone Spanish account — it’s not designed for that. But as part of a multi-account setup alongside N26, it covers a gap that neither N26 nor Revolut quite fills for complex multi-currency needs.
Read my full Wise review for more detail on how it works.
4. BBVA — Best Traditional Spanish Bank
If you need a traditional Spanish bank — for a mortgage, for dealing with Spanish bureaucracy that insists on a “real” bank, or simply as a backup — BBVA is the one I’d point you toward.
Their Cuenta Online is genuinely commission-free — no maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirements, no conditions. This is notable in Spain, where even “free” accounts often have hidden strings attached. BBVA’s mobile app has consistently won awards and is far better than anything offered by Caixabank or Santander. They also offer English-language service, which alone puts them ahead of most Spanish banks.
BBVA won’t replace N26 as your primary account — the experience isn’t as clean, and you’ll occasionally have to deal with branch visits and Spanish-language bureaucracy — but it’s the most competent of the traditional options and worth having in your toolkit for situations where a local bricks-and-mortar bank is required.
Banks to Avoid (or Be Cautious About)
Sabadell
I had an account with Sabadell for a while and I’d steer clear. The fee structure is opaque, customer support is poor even by Spanish banking standards, and their online banking interface — despite recent updates — still feels like it was designed in 2008. There are better options at every price point.
ING España
ING used to be my top recommendation for commission-free banking in Spain, and for a while it genuinely was. Then things went sideways.
ING has a policy of letting all incoming international transfers through without question — and then, months later, suddenly demanding documentation about every single one of them. I’m talking about transfers that were already processed and settled. They wanted proof of origin, invoices, contracts — for transactions that in some cases were years old. Retrieving all of that is enormously time-consuming and stressful, especially when you’re a freelancer or business owner with complex income sources.
Worse, during the COVID crisis they blocked clients’ accounts while all of this was going on. People who needed access to their money — during a pandemic, when families were under real financial pressure — were locked out. I find that kind of behavior indefensible. A bank’s job is to help during difficult times, not pile on more difficulty.
Their customer support is phone-only, with long wait times, and the staff can barely answer basic questions. On top of all that, the Cuenta NÓMINA is now conditional — you need a minimum monthly salary deposit to keep it fee-free, which rules out most freelancers and self-employed people.
Stay away from this bank.
Caixabank, Santander, and the rest
Spain’s big traditional banks are fine if you have no choice — and sometimes you genuinely don’t, for certain mortgages or specific financial products. But as primary accounts for day-to-day use, they’re expensive, bureaucratic, and their digital products lag far behind the neobanks. Unless you specifically need something only they offer, there’s no good reason to use them.
Documents You’ll Need
This is where a lot of people get stuck. Here’s what each type of account typically requires.
Traditional Spanish Bank (First Account)
Opening your first account with a traditional bank in Spain usually requires:
- Valid passport or EU national ID card
- NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) — your Spanish tax identification number
- Proof of address in Spain (rental contract, utility bill, or padron municipal certificate)
- Proof of income or employment (payslip, employment contract, or tax declaration)
- In some cases: proof of legal residence status
Getting your NIE is the critical step. Without it, most traditional banks won’t open an account for you. The NIE application process involves a trip to a police station (or a Spanish consulate if you’re applying from abroad) and can take weeks. Sort this out early.
Traditional Spanish Bank (Second Account, Once You Have NIE)
Once you have an NIE and an existing Spanish bank account to show, the process is much simpler. Most banks will only need:
- Passport or national ID
- NIE
- Your existing Spanish bank account details
Digital Banks (N26, Revolut, Wise)
This is where the neobanks shine. The requirements are minimal:
- Valid passport or national ID
- A smartphone for identity verification (selfie + document photo)
- An email address
No NIE required. No proof of address. No visit to a branch. The verification is done entirely in-app and usually takes less than 10 minutes. For most expats, this means you can have a working N26 account within a day of arriving in Spain, long before you’ve sorted out the Spanish bureaucracy required for a traditional account.
The Discrimination Reality
I want to be direct about something that gets glossed over in most expat banking guides: banks in Spain discriminate, and they do it routinely.
My wife is Russian. She was refused by multiple Spanish banks before we found one that would open an account for her — not because of any issue with her documentation or finances, but simply because of her nationality. The refusals came without explanation, in the way that Spanish bank staff sometimes refuse things without telling you exactly why.
I’m Maltese — an EU citizen. I was refused at one bank despite Malta being a full EU member state. The staff member apparently wasn’t familiar with Malta and decided that was grounds for refusal. No appeal, no escalation, just a polite no.
This is the reality for a lot of non-Spanish, non-Western European people living here. The discrimination is usually informal rather than codified policy, but it’s consistent enough that you need to account for it. Traditional banks have discretion in who they accept, and they use it.
The practical implication: digital banks like N26 and Revolut don’t have this problem. Their verification is automated and nationality-blind. If your documents are valid and you pass the KYC check, you get an account. This is one of the strongest arguments for making a neobank your primary account rather than trying to force a relationship with a traditional Spanish bank that may not want your business.
My Recommended Setup
Here’s what I’d suggest for most expats in Spain in 2026:
- Primary account: N26 Standard — free, Spanish IBAN, works for all direct debits, desktop access, Bizum. This is your main account.
- Secondary account: Revolut Standard or Plus — use it for travel, foreign currency spending, and any situation where the Revolut feature set is useful.
- International transfers: Wise — whenever you’re sending money outside Spain or receiving income in another currency.
- Traditional backup: BBVA Cuenta Online — keep one if you eventually need it for a mortgage, for Spanish bureaucracy, or as a fallback. But don’t pay fees for it.
For a broader look at digital banking options across Europe, see my guide to the best online banks in Europe. If you’re also looking at investment accounts, I’ve covered the best stock brokers in Spain separately.
Spanish Banking Glossary
Spanish bank documentation loves jargon. Here’s a quick reference for the terms you’ll encounter most often.
- Cuenta corriente — Current account. Your standard everyday bank account.
- Cuenta de ahorro — Savings account. Usually offers a small interest rate and may have withdrawal restrictions.
- Tarjeta de débito — Debit card. Linked directly to your account balance.
- Tarjeta de crédito — Credit card. Spend now, pay later. Spanish banks often push these aggressively — be careful about accepting credit products you don’t need.
- Domiciliación — Direct debit. The instruction you give to allow a company to pull payments from your account. This is why the Spanish IBAN matters — many Spanish companies will only accept domiciliaciones from ES IBANs.
- Transferencia — Bank transfer. Standard SEPA transfer.
- Bizum — Spain’s instant peer-to-peer payment system, linked to your phone number. Essential for splitting bills with Spanish people. Available on N26 and Revolut.
- NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) — The tax ID number required for most financial and legal activity in Spain as a foreigner. Get this sorted early.
- DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad) — Spanish national ID. Only applicable if you’re a Spanish citizen.
- Comisión de mantenimiento — Account maintenance fee. What you’re trying to avoid.
- Seguros — Insurance products. Spanish banks cross-sell these constantly. Home insurance, life insurance, payment protection — often attached as conditions to loans or mortgages. Read the fine print before agreeing to anything.
- Hipoteca — Mortgage. Spanish mortgage law changed significantly in 2019, giving borrowers more protections. If you’re buying property, get independent legal advice.
- Comisión por descubierto — Overdraft fee. Going into negative balance in Spain triggers automatic fees that can compound quickly. Keep a buffer.
Final Thoughts
Spanish banking in 2026 is genuinely better than it was a decade ago, largely because the neobanks forced the traditional players to improve. But the underlying culture — the bureaucracy, the discrimination, the preference for complexity over clarity — hasn’t changed much.
The smart move is to stop fighting the system and work around it. N26 gives you a Spanish IBAN without the Spanish banking experience. Revolut handles your travel and currency needs. Wise takes care of international transfers. And if you ever need a traditional Spanish bank, BBVA is the least painful option among the incumbents.
That combination covers everything. Use it.
Related
I’m with Sabadell and very bad and rude service so I’m trying to find another bank. If I open an N26 account in Spain is it possible to get your bills paid automatically every month or is it just an account with a virtual Mastercard ?
It is a real bank account with a Spanish IBAN, I’ve used it to pay bills and set up direct debits in Spain.
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 5500€ I paid 250€. 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 don’t 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 400€ transfer was divided in 3 parts, 300-75-25€. For each, sabadell charged me 18€, even for the 25€ 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 !!!!
I totally agree. I have my mortgage with them so I feel very trapped. I am charged so much money. I am hoping to just use them to pay the mortgage and find another bank for everything else.
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 don’t 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 Revolut’s Standard (free) account, and also their Plus account is £1000 per month , or 1000 euros if you open your Revolut account as a Spanish resident (not €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 18€ (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 18€ for each transfer. This was taken up with the British embassy in Spain and a solicitor was quoted as stating “Post Brexit the UK is still a member of the “Single European Payments Area” (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.” 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 – but I wouldn’t hold my breath! On another article it was said “Local 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.”
HOWEVER, if you are RESIDENT in Spain there’s 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 I´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.
I’m currently with Unicaja. If I swap over to one of your recommended banks, do you know if they’ll shut the Unicaja account down and transfer my monthly direct debits (like they do in the UK)?
Any advice would be appreciated as I haven’t 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 €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 Nieghbour’s 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 it’s 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.
I’m trying to open the BVVA online account, but my employer isn’t a Spanish company and I’m stuck and can’t 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 didn’t 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 can’t. No idea how to open the online account….
Visiting a branch doesn’t help also, as they don’t help opening online accounts (I guess they don’t get their commission…).
So I’m 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: it’s very frustrating indeed.
I went to the branch and they don’t 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 it’s 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 €35/month, now they’re charging a card maintenance fee of €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 don’t 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.
After about 6 months with BBVA now I can report that they are also rather incompetent:
1) incoming transfers: when you check them online they neither show you WHO sent you the transfer nor what it is regarding (the concepto). This information takes a mind-boggling 3-4 days to be displayed. For an autonomo who has to match incoming payments with clients, this is more than useless.
2) outgoing transfers: I do a €-transfer to Germany on Friday evening. According to SEPA rules, this should go out the next Monday morning and arrive at its destination on the same day. Instead, by the end of Monday it is still shown under “retenciones” without any reason or justification, i.e. under “retencion autorizacion” it simply says “indisponible”. So they hold your transfers (illegal) and don’t even bother to tell you why (incompetent/disrespectful). I am starting to get desperate in this country. Is there any bank that works as it should? I have reached a point where I no longer mind to pay some small fee as long as the bank is not so blatantly useless and bordering on the outright criminal. Or is it possible to have an account in another European country while continuing to be registered as autonomo in Spain? In theory any organism (including agencia tributaria) should be able to take money via direct debit from an account with a European IBAN, or am I missing something?
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.