Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 2:03pm
If you look through the forum "banking" you find lots of answers. These is one what impressed me the most:
Hi, I have posted many replies to posts asking for any info on a
Spanish bank account for non residents without fees. I am also constantly
receiving private messages asking questions that I keep answering with the same
info, so I’m writing this as our experience of opening an account with Cajamar.
At this moment there are now many postings regarding resident accounts that
used to be free now requiring extra conditions to keep their accounts free of
charges too.
In March 2019, after 10+yrs of paying Sabadell over 2000€ in
fees, I researched every Spanish bank and some internet only non Spanish banks
for a fee free account with no conditions for a non resident. This took weeks
of research and finally We opened a online account with Cajamar bank and closed
our Sabadell account. We had to open in branch as the white paper NIE is not recognized
by online applications. Residents can open online. The account is called
"weferrent". Thankfully Cajamar have a dedicated English helpline
that told me to go into branch to apply.
Before we went I translated all the questions I could think of
in google translate as there is no guarantee of an English speaking person in
branch, such as Sabadell offer. I also took all our direct debit info’s with
reference no,s to enable a switch service (however I wasn’t convinced it would
happen as smooth as Uk switch and as we had closed our old account on same day,
I telephoned or emailed all our debit Co,s to confirm to ensure a smooth
changeover). If your Spanish is poor for phone use, write in google translate
and send email in Spanish. It did go smooth too as I changed the accounts on a
date as far away as the next one was due.
We took our passports, NIE,s, copy of deeds for ID and last
statement from Sabadell. We were not asked for any proof of income and although
we were opening with a sizeable deposit (balance from Sabadell) we were given
loads of info on a interest paying account called 360 but we declined this.
The bank "gestor" who dealt with us had no English nor
did anyone else, but using my phone and google translate we managed
successfully to open our account. It is an online account but if you want to do
an "in branch" transaction there is for that month only a 7€ fee.
That month no other fees even if you go in every day.
In 50yrs of banking in Uk I rarely go into our bank and haven’t
even had a branch in my town for past 6years as they closed it. As said there
is an English phone helpline.
The cards are free but take 2 weeks to collect (so keep some
cash to last for 2wks). On opening it appears "transfers" are not
part of normal banking?? So a visit a few weeks later and we had that service
added to account. Needed transfers to pay our accountant for doing our non
resident tax and if we need to pay a builder/workman perhaps. Anyway ask for
"transferias" when you open to save returning.
The atm use is free and you can deposit cash in the machine. We
have not paid a cent in fees yet (1 year now) but I believe we will shortly for
the non resident tax certificate which Sabadell charged 35€ ea and Cajamar is
25€ ea.
The website is in very good English and although the app wasn’t
available in English when we opened it they now have it available in English so
we have found it perfect.
I hope those that need this info will find it helpful and have
the confidence to leave their present greedy banks as I know its not just
Sabadell but most of them are now exploiting even more. I am also sure others
will offer their experiences with their choice of banks but this suited us. I
believe N26 have recently changed their rules too, so many people are now
looking for an alternative.
Regards
Pauline.
My name's Alex and this is my website all about Los Alcázares in Spain. Register now for free to talk about Banking and finances in Los Alcázares and much more!
