I read on here a couple of months ago.. the best bank for pensioners was La Caixa because they didnt charge fees... on the 1st of the last 3 months they have taken €4.75 services charge. I put in €100 and have paid my phone bill by direct depit.. is this normal as it looks like i will be paying just under €60 a year charges...

I hope not its my bank toooooo

When I opened my account early this year I was told that the month before reaching 65 I was to go back to branch and they would open a pensioners account which would be free of charges. Doing this a month or so before would give me the account details in advance so that I could inform DWP and others to enable a smooth transfer of funds.

Last week I was in there and reminded that I was to come back for the pensioners account.

So, are you entitled to and actually have a pensioners account, or is it just a standard account - which does have service charges. Mine were €2.45 IIRC as I havent got any transactions going thru at the moment.

hth

Mine is a pensioners account. it even says on the bill payed by pensioners account....Looks like its going to cost me €4.75 extra a month for my internet and phone..

why don't you just go back in & ask them?

most banks do a 'free of charge' account for anyone who has regular payments put in - pensioner or not

I don't pay any charges on mine

Mine is free of charges, cards free, and 3% refund on Direct Debits up to 20€ limit.
deposit > 700€ per month
SabadellSolbank Advantage account

Maybe thats were i went wrong i dont put regular payments in ,, i only use it to pay the phone bill by direct debit. once a month..

that will be it most likely

why don't you either set up a regular transfer from another account or just have your pension paid into it - that's what they will be expecting for a 'pensioner account', surely?

We bank with La Caixa.

When we started off we had a non-resident account and the first time they charged us a fee we went in and asked the manager what it was for. She just said 'don't worry' and refunded the money.

The next year we had changed to residents accounts (1 each) and the same thing happened. Then that manager left and when we got charges last time and went in the new one just said 'tough, those are the charges'. It seemed to be a flat 10 euro fee for the account and then there are fees for having debit and credit cards.

I've never heard of a free pensioners account but my husband would qualify so perhaps we should ask.

Probably should have done this before my last post

Have just checked on line and if your pension or salary are domiciled you can have a Cuenta.Cero which has no fees. So age doesn't matter.

Same with us. Last year annual card charges were refunded on request, this year they weren't interested.

What sort of account is it?

I have a Cuenta Corriente residents' account with La Caixa and I don't pay any fees apart from 35 cents a month for statements. They also charge for the debit card after the first year (around €20 I think) but there is no service charge. Talk to your bank manager!

I reckon managers have discretion - our new one was definitely not waiving the fees this year.

Banco Sabadell have an account thats free, and they also pay you back a percentage of d/d utility bills that are paid from your account each month. Maybe not a good option for Tommy though, where he is

They appear to have introduced charges for new customers. The Cuenta Corriente is now €3.25 a month. If you want a commission-free account now, you have to have the online-only Cuenta Cero.

La Caixa current accounts