Free Spanish Bank Account for Non Residents - Page 10

TrevorW wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 3:42pm:

Hi. Were you able to open account in  Cajamar without having to make a monthly lodgement? And without a European residency card? Is there a debit card without charges? I am unable to email them to ask any questions as their online form requires a Spanish phone number and I only have a Uk one

Jimbob wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:49pm:

Yes, we opened a "Tarifa Capital Social" account. This is basically a shareholder account. We had to pay in 1037€, which was used to pay for a share of the bank. This money is tied up until we end the account. I looked on the savings we make on not paying Bank charges as equivalent of interest.

We have a joint account, with my wife nominated as the shareholder. We get free banking, but I have to pay 18€ for my debit card, wife's is free....

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The app is really good, works fine in the UK, the lady in the bank help us set it up, swapping the language, etc.

Hope that helps.

Jim..

MartynF wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:52pm:

The Banco Cajamar Wefferent account beats this hands down.

TrevorW wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 8:48pm:

Thanks again for your help.  Yes Sabadell are currently ripping me off too. I have around 40K Euro in an account there and they're no doubt lending it out at hefty interest rates and charging me heftily for lending it to them!!!  Its about to end I can assure you...and I've told them so...

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......and they don't even bother replying to emails.

I'm also looking at Wise as a possibility.  I already have an account with them, iused previously for transferring funds. They apparently can now  handle direct debits (which after all are the only reason we need bank accounts is Spain at all...for water, electric, rates, car tax etc).  Even Cajamar cannot take over direct debits from another bank like banks in the UK can, so all the work running around Companies I have DD's set up with would have to be done anyway!

MartynF wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:30pm:

Yes Wise can do direct debits but they use a Belgian IBAN which is not always accepted by Spanish companies,

ian48 wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 5:37pm:

Hiya.

Yes o opened an account 19 years ago as a none resident it was easy. Back then they offered free banking. They have now changed it and i have to pay a none resident tax €25 and i have to pay a card charge of €30, i think every 6 months. I am about to change it to a Weferent account which give...

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...s me the same benefits but is free, it is operated solely on line. I don't know if you have been on their web page? but it comes up on the home page, oh and they offered to send the debit card to my UK address. The firm is in Spanish but if you struggle with Spanish, if you highlight the sentence Google translate should come up.  Hope this helps

TrevorW wrote on Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:07pm:

Thanks for that.  If I was in branch (another visit planned in June) do you think I could manage it without the Spanish Sim?  Also is it just a NIE number (I have one) or do they need a NIE card with photo? San Javier Branch has an English speaker, but he was off last week when I was in...

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....  I made the mistake of not asking for him to email me when he is back, and I cannot use their enquiry form to contact him as it wont take my UK number!

Anni20 wrote on Sat Apr 16, 2022 10:36am:

Why not buy a prepaid Spanish SIM card, this will enable you to get the account and I believe once you have the cajamar app on your phone you will be able to access via WiFi …. If I’m wrong someone will correct me……

paulsav wrote on Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:37pm:

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 answerring with the same info, so I,m writing this as our experience of opening a account with Cajamar...

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.... 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 recognised 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 infos with reference no,s to enable a switch service (however I wasnt 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 havent 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 wks 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 wks later and we had that service added to account. Needed tranfers 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 wasnt 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.

MartynF wrote on Sun Sep 5, 2021 2:08pm:

Hi Pauline

You may remember that a friend and I began to open our Wefferent account last October but were stumped for want of a Spanish mobile number to link the account to. The good news is that the accounts are finally up and running using a HITS sim and I have to say I am impressed with all the features ...

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...of the Wefferent account. My only concern now is maintaining the HITS number using the Keep your Line Service annually. Were you able to set up a direct debit with HITS or the providers of the SIM card?  Thanks again for all your advice on this topic, I am finally free of the tyranny of high charges and very poor customer service!