santaanita

Down again they really are the pits onlline

macliam

That's a shame, because CGD have changed the rules that allowed us a discount on their monthly fee and I'm looking to move.

If you don't live in a city, the alternatives are few and far between....

Other than the issues with online access, how do you find Banco CTT?

santaanita

they dont have dedicated banks they work out of post offices which can be a nightmare if you want to go in for any reason,i work online and have to make deposits into various accounts via online banking mainly at weekends sometimes in the early hours of the morning,the amount of offline for maintainace is huge,also i have had payments declined because they have blocked certain transactions,for security reasons without telling me its blocked and then they have to put in a request to the department to unblock which can take up to 48 hours.normal use of debit sales out and about ok no probs,

Mac and Mabel

I use CGD but haven’t received any notification of a change to the discount on fees. Did they communicate this to you somehow? After reading this, I checked my account and can see, yes, this month the fee has increased. No revised way around it, as far as you know?...

macliam

They have increased the hoops to jump through in order to qualify for a "discount"- originally it was enough to have a certain amount in credit, then they wanted a "structured product", now they seem to want you to spend on the debit card .... and DDs are not counted. Basically they just change the rules to get extra revenue - and their service is as mediocre as ever.

However, it seems this is common to most Portuguese banks - which is why an online one (and fee free) would be a bonus..... but I need one to work for the simple things, DDs, withdrawals, debit card for backup - and the ability to transfer in funds on an ad-hoc basis without paying for the privilege of accepting my own money into my account.

In the UK I have used online banking for 20 years.... changed bank 3 times, but generally OK. It looks as if Portugal is still playing catch-up.

macliam

If you look on your Caixadirecta you'll find a message (in Portuguese) which happily tells you that the rules have been changed. To qualify for the "bonus" of paying less fee than they want to charge you, you must now make "Purchases of €50 or more per month, made with debit cards, deferred debit and/or credit from the current account associated with the Caixa Account.

and one of two conditions:

Domiciliation of income; or Two or more successful SEPA-DD (direct debits) payments made in the last three months to the current account associated with the Caixa Account."

SgtTroy

Banco Best,
BiG
No worries so far with online banking, etc.

macliam

Somewhat easier for you as you're near Lisbon......

However, do you use it for your day-to-day, for utility payments etc. - and how long have you used it?

SgtTroy

For everything

Open Bank (Santander lite) is also a good option, account opened online, free debit card Mastercard, free SEPA transfers.

It doesn't matter where you live, you can still open accounts inline with most of the providers nowadays.