dorishaslop

I read somewhere on the forum that I can open a non resident bank account with only a passport and some cash, no NIE needed. Yesterday I tried to open one in Almoradi and they said no, needed an NIE, trouble is I am not a resident yet, and do not need to buy a house or car so can't get an NIE. bit of a catch 22 so I was hoping someone might know of a bank that doesn't need the NIE.. cheers folks .. xxxxx Jan xxxxx

lynnxa

hmm - I suspected 'they' might start insisting NIE numbers for non-resident bank accounts eventually - I should imagine some banks will still let you without one though


I have to ask being nosey , if you don't need to buy a car or a house, & you don't live here..........why do you need a Spanish bank account at all?

dorishaslop

we are renting a property but it's in my partners name, I don't need or want a car, but I wanted a bank account so that I can pay the utility bills as I will be staying there for a little while

lynnxa

best thing you can do then is just ask around different banks - as I said, I'm sure some will still let you open an account with your passport

if you're going to be here long enough to be paying bills, will you not be here long enough to register as resident anyway?

amideislas

Try LaCaixa. usually 15 minutes with only a passport. You get a VISA debit card too (takes 5 days).

EsuriJohn

When we opened our first account many years ago we did it at the London branch of the Banco Andalucia and just used our passport. They are now part of Grupo Banco Popular but you could check if Popular still has a branch in London Pall Mall I think and ring and ask if you could open an account and what you need.

An NIE is useful to have for all sorts of reasons and lasts as long as you do so why not get one. It is not the same as your Certificate of Residence and not the same wait to get just fill in form EX15 and take to the foreigners office no appointment needed as you would with EX18 for the Certificate.

tommy.irene

They will take you just for paying Bills but they will charge you €4.75 a month fees.

dorishaslop

thanks Tommy, that would be ok as it's less than paying through moneycorp... one more question,,, does the bank have to be in the same place as I'm staying only I'm currently staying in a town about an hour away from where i'm going to be living and I'll be here till the 29th which means I can pick up the card before I go... once Ive gone it's more difficult to get into town as I have hurt my back and don't have a car so until I've sussed the bus system out I'm stuffed.

tommy.irene

My Bank is a mile away...but why worry were it is .. i use mine to pay the phone and internet by direct debit and top it up every 3 months with €200. and they charge me €4.75 a month.

amideislas

That's right. Of course, if you are a resident, the fees are nearly nonexistent.

BBVA charges €6.75 and Banca March €5.25 for non resident accounts, and they have half as many branches as LaCaixa, and AFAIK, Spanish and Catalan are the only online banking languages they offer (LaCaixa's online banking in 7 languages, including English).

Santander in the UK charges me 5.25GBP per month just to have the account, which if far more than LaCaixa, yet they offer only a fraction of the services La Caixa does (not to mention their painfully overzealous security which routinely prevents me access to my funds).

But back to the original topic:
La Caixa is about the easiest bank I think I've ever dealt with. They are always fast, pleasant, don't burden you with unnecessary nonsense, their online banking is about the best I've ever seen (and you can do virtually everything, including international transfers in GBP or Dollars), and you don't need to get a NIE or obliged to be a resident to hold an account (although if you're a resident, everything becomes much cheaper).

No wonder they are the largest retail bank in Spain, and amongst the top 3 most solvent Spanish banks.

dorishaslop

once again guys and gals, thanks a million for all the expert advice given, nice to know I can come here and get good answers.. Jan xxxxx