Barriej

When I first started work, I opened an account with Barclays in Hatton Garden. For the sum of £1.00 a month I had my own personal banker, access to foreign banking, an overdraft, and after 3 months with them a Barclaycard with a limit of £500 (as I was a lowly apprentice earning £27 a week in 1978) Didn't take long for me to realise that they wanted me to get into debt as quickly as possible.

Ive never understood why people are opposed to paying for things, every business bank account I've had came with charges.
You try paying £20 a month plus a % of all the cash you pay in, plus a charge each time you write a cheque or make a card payment.
Not to add that at one time having a credit card machine was another £30 a month plus 1.75% for credit card and 0.75% for debit.
And if anyone asked if you took American Express, you always said no as they charged the retailer at least 5% of every sale (and thats why they used to give cash back and points, they never paid for)

For a business with a turnover of around £150,000 in 2010 we used to pay around £3,500 a year in bank charges. All that has to come from somewhere so the customer had to pay.

Pulaski

Thank you for giving a real world example in support of my post. People who have never run a business would be shocked to discover how incredibly expensive a business bank account is.

spainrico

Having had a full and frank discussion with my Sabadell branch manager this morning he has agreed to refund the charges and upgrade my account based on my balance, transfers in and other business we transact including insurance policies.

Thanks to all contributors to this thread which I hope has encouraged others to review their banking options and arrangements.

dougal03

I too am in the situation of being a Spanish resident who wants to put money into a British Bank.As an elderly person with only family members in UK,I want to put some savings in UK bank for easy access for my inheritor after I leave this earth.This amount I used to have in a Gibraltar Bank for many years until a year ago I was told abruptly that it was being closed & a sterling cheque was on it's way by post to me in Spain.So it seems that not only credit card accounts will be affected by many banks after Brexit.At present it appears that UK banks will have to have the correct operating licence for Europe,up to now been OK as we were in EU.Who knows what the situation will be like,as for so many other things,after Brexit as our own British Govn. hasn't a clue.Even Bonkers Boris is worried about his finances.Not a good sign for us plebs!

spainrico

Useful article here

https://moneysaverspain.com/avoid-fe...oY9x31CuctC6No

jonboy

As one who is based in the UK I was fed up with the fees charged by Sabadell Bank and thought I would transfer over to N26 Bank. Tried to download the App. but informed by N26 that they have closed their business in the UK. So that is not an option for me now.
I will say nowt about Brexit. You will have to read my mind!

Campanula

I am about to come out for the first time in years . I am non resident but have a property on long term rental . I want to look for a bank with minimal charges and convenient to golf Del Sur (not sure if that is a must) one with online banking low fees and a card that you can withdraw money in Spain. Also will transfer the direct debits etc . Thanks for anyone’s input

bolton wanderer

Try N26, https://n26.com/en-es

They are a German online bank that offer free banking, a Spanish IBAN, a debit card and free cash withdrawals from ATM's (3 per month free). You will need a (nominated) Spanish address to receive the debit card.
We are UK resident and use this account to pay our bills in Spain..... N26 have pulled out of the UK market due to requiring a UK banking licence after Brexit but are still operating in the EU and offer the €100,000 banking guarantee.

Pulaski

Every retail bank operating in the EU does, it's a legal requirement.
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jonboy

I do not think that they will offer an account just because one applies within the EU, whilst being resident in the UK. I would like to think I am wrong though.

bolton wanderer

You can apply from anywhere but you do need a Spanish address for use in Spain. Your passport is used during the application process so they know that you're a UK citizen.

Spanish banks offer non resident accounts to UK applicants, N26 do the same but don't charge the hefty bank fees.

Joppa

UK citizen can apply for N26 account, as I have done, but you need to have a residential address in Spain to which your debit card is sent. You also have to state your tax residence, and have chosen both Spain (with NIE) and UK (with NI number), and were accepted.

inbarcelona

I opened what I thought was a borderless account and got a Belgian IBAN.....but should I have got a BIC/SWIFT code as well?

spainrico

Having successfully used the transferwise service to move pounds to euros for 2 years I have opened an account with them and transferred some sterling into it and I have a UK sort code and account number/IBAN but NO SWIFT code as they do not use that service. It is all detailed on their site.

stevesainty

I have never had to give a Swift or BIC code but you can look them up here https://transferwise.com/sg/swift-co...t-code-checker