Bank charges - Page 2

Im currently with Sabadell. Ive a non resident account. They have increased their fee to €35 per quarter, flat rate.I only use the account for utilitydirect debit bills.

I made an appointment to meet manager to discuuss the increase. She was so rude .  Im definately changing banks. 

I contacted La Caixa. They charge €24 per quarter.

My son has suggested N26 online bank. Its free? Any suggestions?

I think the mainstream banks in Spain are fast losing the plot to be honest.

Charges are way over the top.

I have just briefly looked at N26 online bank & can't really see a problem with them.

However they are a German Bank not  a Spanish bank.

The only thing I can't find on their pricing structure is anything are a minimum account balance or a monthly funding requirement.

https://n26.com/en-eu/bank-account

https://docs.n26.com/legal/06+EU/01+Account/en/13account-pricelist-en.pdf

Dear all,

                On another website I found this a few weeks ago so hopefully Bank charges must change 

hope you find this interesting, regards Andy Williams. 

Bank account commission to be capped at €3 a month

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Bank account commission to be capped at €3 a month

thinkSPAIN  Tue, Mar 5, 2019 @thinkspain

BANKS will be forced to cap current account commission or ‘admin charges’ to just €3 a month by March 25 in a welcome move introduced this week by Spain’s national government.

Depending upon where you bank, charges can vary from €1.50 to over €12 a month on each and every account, meaning it is not worthwhile setting up separate ones for bills, holidays, car expenses and so on.

Even at €3 a month, banks will still be netting €36 per year per account, but with the high-street finance industry being forced more and more to become competitive and offer customers good reasons to stay, some are opting to reduce or even axe commission altogether.

Unfortunately, many banks continue to demand a minimum average balance of around €2,000 to €3,000 a month to waive commission – amounts unlikely to be maintained by the ordinary wage-earner and high enough that €36 a year in admin fees would not make much of a dent.

The difference now is that the €3 a month maximum must cover credit and debit cards, meaning charges for renewing expired ones must be included, and up to 120 annual withdrawal or payment operations within the entire European Union, not just Spain, to include direct debits, standing orders and transfers.

Once these 120 transactions – averaging 10 per month, which is very low for a current account used for everyday expenses – have been exhausted, banks are still not permitted to increase commission beyond their usual amounts for these operations to compensate for any losses by the €3 cap.

This means if a bank does not normally charge for withdrawals, payments or standing orders, it will not be able to do so once 120 transactions in a year have been made.

Transferring money between accounts held at different banks will be amended by the new requirements, making them much easier – and, in most cases, free of charge.

Banks are also required to tell customers about the best deals they can offer on accounts and commissions, whether or not this information is requested.

The €3 cap will be reviewed every two years by the Bank of Spain, meaning it may go up, or even down, depending upon various macro- and micro-economic factors.

Once details of the new law are published in the State Official Bulletin (BOE) on March 25, they will go live within 20 days and banks will be required to comply.

I havent done it yet as I,m having difficulty applying online. You have to take several photos and a selfie and a video???. Anyway 3 times and it keeps telling me the photos arent good enough! Will try again in morning in the sun! Changing direct debits though I dont see a problem , we have Iberdrola(will email them) Securitas, again will email, my water has a local office, same with Suma.  I dont anticipate any problems.

Pauline.

Ps. If I cant get BBVA application done I will phone their customer service which does have english speakers (have already rang them previously).

Pauline.

Andy Wiliams, please see my earlier reply concerning Sabadells refusal to allow us to have a 3€ mnth account. They stated it was for "low income" people, under a certain income criteria which had to be proved, ie. pension only going in or tax declaration showing earnings. As non residents we dont do tax in Spain and therefore unable to supply proof. This was put on CAB website last week and specifically stated for low incomes only.

Pauline.

Hi Pauline,

                 I have been with Sabadell just over 2 years and being charged the new quartile charge €35 and will be sending the manager that article this week to see what they have to say about it.

There is no mention on that article of low income customers it will be interesting what they have to say about that.

I hate the charges and just to cover myself have just opened an account with BANKINTER they charge less than  1/2 from what Sabadell charge and when I had a meeting with the manager in Feb this year charges might be dropped soon with them.

I am back to my apartment in Lo Pagan in May and will be transferring and closing the Sabadell account will keep you posted if I do have feed back from Sabadell manager. Best regards Andy Williams

Best of luck Andy with Sabadell in Lo Pagan. Thats my bank too!!

The manager practically laughed at me when I asked if she could review the exorbitant charge of €35. So I told her I would be closing the account.

Im over in April and I am moving bank.

Hi Andy

CAB,s info states this is for low income account holders and so did the Sabadell agent. Did you read I am opening a BBVA online account, which is totally fee free. You may want to review it. Have a good english app too.

Pauline.

According to the statement issued by Think Spain the new charge should go live on April 15th, and all Banks should comply. Maybe best to wait until then and go and ask again. That would save the hassle of changing Banks again.

Think Spain said there was another scheme to make charges totally free for low income residents. Their statement regarding the €3 cap made no mention of low income. Somewhat confusing, so best to wait until the start date.