capdan

We hold our Portuguese bank account with Banif, who were taken over by Santander. We are not resident in PT so rely on the account running smoothly and operating it via the internet.
Our Banif branch in Almancil closed on 30th Sept and we have been given new account numbers and told these will operate under Santander from 15th Oct.
In the letters we have received we have been 'assured ' all our direct debits and account will changeover and run smoothly!
Anyone else in the same situation...holding their breath hoping the changeover will go smoothly and also know if the internet banking will open and be accessible from the 15th. The website only allows access to copies of letters sent to us, by entering our NIF numbers at the moment. We have tried emailing, no reply and there are quick telephone numbers but these only operate if you are in Portugal.

coffeeman

Mine is the same bank i'm on the silver coast and have been into the santander branches near me and they all same the same so lets hope all goes Ok it looks like it's just a take over what could go wrong !! 15th Oct you can ask in the santander branches what to do but all good i think so far. The Inter bank rate is the same as well.
R

capdan

Thankyou...at least I am not the only one holding my breath!

pdr

My bank is Banif too, I'll keep an eye on this thread in case things go wrong!

pdr

Well, changes seem to be complete, and everything appears to be OK. One minor issue though, there is lots of text describing how things work. It's all in Portuguese with no English version, which slows things down for me. Banif site used to log me off if I took too long with anything, so I hope Santander will be a little more patient

capdan

Hi PDR
Yes all changed over here and fingers crossed. What i did glean is the website on a laptop is not the easiest, but it did suggest if you wanted it in English download the App. I downloaded that on the Ipad and went between the two. Once i did that and forgot all the old Banif logging on details and went with the fresh Santander ones it seemed to be better than Banif. I have had to write myself a couple of reminders . DD and Standing orders seem to be working.

pdr

Thanks for the tip about the mobile app. I just need to work out how to do a transfer now, as it seems an activation code is sent by SMS, but to local numbers only

capdan

Hi PDR,
Yes I spoke too soon regarding the above. To try to do a transfer took me three days! I joke not! You need to ring the superline, which as i am not in Portugal was 00351 21 780 73 64. If you are in PT the number is on the website. You will need your NIF, passport and details of the account to hand and make sure you have the NIB number. All of these I learnt I needed over a few calls. As soon as I got through i asked for an english speaker, if they couldn't be bothered , and sorry that was the case a couple of times they said in perfect english they couldn't help and would ring back. They never did. If i got an english speaker they were brilliant, really helpful, but i did get cut off once and it was so hard having to start again. Security questions answered the sms will and can be sent to an english mobile. They have mine. They ask you to sign in via the Pedir Codigos , which is under Net Banco on site. £20 of phone calls later and when you try and do your first transfer they will ring you back on an automated line but then speak to you and explain as all has to be authorised you can achieve a transfer! Who i paid i just got to confirm with me it had arrived. I did jump around the room when my mission was complete. i wrote down everything as i went, you will need a new passcode so have an 8 digit one ready. If i can help any further just PM me. Plus make sure you have a glass of wine (large) or beer ready once you complete as you will need it! Santander are different they told me to Banif (they certainly are there are a lot more hoops to jump through!

pdr

Thanks capdan, that was all very helpful!
I set up everything with the new sign-on details with no problems, and then set up the mobile app, and was feeling very pleased with myself.

I then took your advice, and called the superline, asked the girl who answered if she spoke English, and when she said no, asked if I could speak with someone in English - this was all in Portuguese!

She then said a colleague would call me back, and asked for my number - and this was all said in English!

Over a week later my call hadn't been returned, and I was thinking about sending an email, when I received a call one evening - and within 5 minutes everything was sorted.

Only slight worry is, what happens if my mobile phone isn't working? Just have to see if/when that situation arises I suppose!