cfs

I opened an account at ActivoBank last week, I used a foreign tax return as proof of address and proof of income. Once the account was setup and I was home I was able to change the address to a Portuguese one on the website. They would not accept Airbnb as proof of address in Portugal but had no qualms about registering the account to a foreign address with a Portuguese mobile number.

suiko

OK, so looks like I'm going to have to use my UK address, as any rental, even for a relatively long period (3 or 6 months), seems to have bills included.

What will be accepted as proof of address? I could print off a tax return, or a bank statement? And bring a water bill. I have NIF already.

To set this up with CTT or Millennium, I imagine I need to go to a branch? Which would be easier?

coleio

Why are you making this so utterly difficult? Make an appointment and Just go to the millenium-bcp (other banks exist) office in London with your paperwork, NIF, uk address and they'll open an current account for you at your chosen Portuguese branch. If you don't like the bank branch when you get there then go find another bank/branch.

1711JohnB

What a good reply. When I opened my first account with Santander back in 2007 I had not bought a property then but just showed information from my UK address which was accepted without any issues. Take tax documents and payslips besides your NIF, utility bills. infact, anything official.

JohnB

suiko

Thanks. Just trying to find out as much as I can before I go

It's actually a lot easier for me to do this in Portugal than in London. I don't live near London and I'm going to Portugal in two weeks time. But now I'm wondering if it might be easier to do it in London if I have only British address at the moment. Can I open an Activo (Internet) account at the branch in the same way as a regular current account?

I don't have paper payslips anymore, but I guess I can print out my tax return and a bank statement or two.

vertigobike

hi, suiko + all

from experience:

BPN = no longer exists, nationalized + sold to BIC; very bureaucratic at the time, you'd need to fill out a form to sneeze »» avoid
Montepio = my first bank, "forced" into it by my employer at the time; good savings scheme at the time; very bureaucratic as well (old-style "caderneta") »» avoid
Millennium = "forced" into it by the lowest mortgage offerer at the time; fees, fees, fees - if you sneeze you pay a fee »» avoid
CGD = "forced" into it by the lowest mortgage offerer at the time too; fees, fees, fees - if you sneeze you pay a fee »» avoid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BiG = online first, all the banking services, including savings and investments; absolutely no fees charged even if your balance is € 0 for 1 or 2 years »» highly recommended, best bank I ever had

regards

suiko

Thanks! The BCP/Millennium account I found has no charges, though, it seems?

suiko

Just to let you know I contacted Millennium in London and they said they don't open Activo accounts. The standard Millennium/BCP one does, of course, have charges.

coleio

I know but if you open an account at London offices it'll be euro, at a UK address and with a working ATM card and interweb access and all done and have a working Portuguese account before you even set foot in Portugal. also in Portugal you may have issues with getting a PT address, changing the NIF to the PT address, getting an ATM card sent to the address which you don't live at etc etc so there's a good chance you'll not get your NIF and bank account synchronized within two weeks. Also if you don't like the bank/branch you can sort it out later and open an online only account and close the branch one if that's what you want. Obviously you don't have to do any of this as it'll take a bit of effort and thought in advance.

suiko

OK, fair enough, I see your point. It does seem though that CFS (above) did what I'm planning to do. I've emailed Activo, anyway as regards opening the account at BCP in Setúbal - will see what they say!

I have a NIF, but it's very old - I don't remember it having an address on it, but will check. Do I need to change that address before doing the residency stuff? (OH God, sorry, maybe this should be - yet! - another thread...)

cfs

One of the good things about Activo is that they issue you with your card on the spot, they actually print it in the bank so you don't have to wait to receive it in the mail. It was the third thing I did on my first working day in Portugal. The first was to get a NIF, the second was a PAYG sim card. It took me about an hour to open an account at Activo. I used my NIF, my passport, my Portuguese mobile no. and a foreign tax return that they also used as proof of address. They scan your documents and send them to Head Office to be checked and if they are approved they open the account. I was actually missing a document (a complete foreign tax return not just a summary of it) but I had a copy of it in the cloud and they let me email it to them using my phone. They even printed out a copy of it and gave it away with me in case I needed it in the future. I had heard horror stories about the queues but the day that I went there was one person in front of me and he was already being attended to (the attendant said it was because I had gone at luncthime, it was 2pm, and that was normally the quietest time). I reckon I waited for 2 minutes to be attended to. The reason it took an hour to open the account was because I was waiting for Head Office to approve the documents. I was told I could go away and come back later but I preferred to wait. I needed to deposit 500 euros to open the account but I could withdraw it straight away as soon as I left with my card. I was really impressed by Activo after hearing all the horror stories about the queues. I prefer to do all my banking online so their business model suits me. As I said earlier changing the address from a foreign one to a Portuguese one was a piece of cake on the Activo Bank website.

Rambling archer

Just a note on Activo - being basically an OnLine banking setup they have very few actual branches to go to if you have a problem you cannot sort online. And it looks from the map on their website that there are none south of the Lisbon area?

suiko

Ah OK. I thought you could set up an Activo account at a BCP/Millenium branch. Is that not the case? If not maybe I'd better go with CTT...

macliam

Yes - I try to avoid branches like the plague..... but the lack of coverage south of Lisbon put me off Activo

suiko

Who did you go with, then?

CTT account can be opened at any post office, right? I imagine they will also take foreign address and tax return as proof?