Sabadell account holders beware!
 

As Lynn flagged up in another of my threads, Sabadell are changing its account charging structure, and they have sent out a notification which can be found in the Correspondence section of their website.

I think it is very unfair and penalises 'seniors' (other banks have accounts especially for this group) as typically we don't want loans or mortgages at our time of life, and so some of the free banking options are not applicable to us.

I suggest if you are a Sabadell account holder, you check this out and review your options.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

Thanks for the warning but I've just had a look at my messages section in my account and I've not had that message about any charges. Does it apply to everyone?

After 12 years of having a joint Sabadell account and not paying any bank charges i would certainly change banks if new fees/charges were applied.

Steve

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

It's in the digital documentation section, sub-section Correspondence. My husband and I both received it.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

Thanks Lynn, I've found it now. Apparently it comes into affect on 24th June but all I can understand from that is that it only affects overdraft charges. Maybe (more likely i don't understand) im totally wrong.
I'll keep a close eye on it.

Steve

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

I think you may have misread it - can I suggest you take another look, because that is not how I understand it.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

I admit that I could have misunderstood the notice but as I'm charged a maintenance fee of €60 which is immediately returned to my account I can't see that any new change of fees would affect me or anyone who has maintenance fees reimbursed. (Hopefully)

Steve

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

But the conditions for getting the whole €60 per quarter reimbursed will, from 24 June, be to etither have a minimum balance of €25k IN UNITS (not cash in a current account) or have 3 insurance contracts with the bank's products.

I misread it initially, I didn't realise that the minimum account balances they were talking about to qualify for the different levels of discount on the account maintenance charges were about investment units, not cash balances.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

Thanks for the clarification. If I start getting charged I will change banks. I will see what happens after the changes are applied.
Steve

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

I have just checked and the only change notification is about BIZUM Pay.

Can you post a copy of the changes please so that I can see them - thanks

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

As I said earlier it's in the Digital Documentation Section (not messages), sub-section Correspondence, the title of the correspondence is shown as Sight Account and dated 17th April 2026. I can't find a way to download it to post it, nor will it let me copy and paste the content, sorry.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

Fortunately my wife and I started the process of moving all our Direct debits from Sabadell to N26. We visited our branch to see why our usual bank charge debit of €60 and a refund of €40 had not happened. The lady we spoke to was somewhat dismissive and more interested in selling us car or health insurance. No thank you!

So far the only ‘downside’ to N26 seems to be the tax authorities will not directly deduct our annual tax from the account. So we will have to set a calendar reminder to pay before the deadline not a problem if it saves paying bank charges.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

AEAT takes the annual tax from my N26 account without issue. But some government agencies using the same payment gateway won’t allow online payments e.g. DGT.

That said DGT have updated and now accept Bizum and mention credit card but still unsure of the latter with N26.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

Well done, voting with our feet is all Sabadell might understand - maybe it is a pity the BBVA takeover deal failed.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

I'm looking around at alternatives but all the ones which advertise no charges seem to be online accounts only and I do want to be able to visit a physical branch if a problem arises without being stuck trying to talk to a senseless chatbot. Up to now at any rate, in branch staff at Sabadell have sorted out any problems without difficulty. I've just looked at the N26 account but details online say that they don't currently offer credit cards and I do need one - hotels, in particular, often insist on bookings being made with credit cards rather than a debit card, and credit cards offer more consumer protection. Other online accounts advertised have conditions such as limiting the number of cash withdrawals allowed per month.

This new announcement about increased charges from Sabadell has come at the worst possible time for me as I've only very recently done my 2025 tax return and given details of the Sabadell account to have the sizeable tax payment taken out at the end of June, plus I have numerous hotel bookings made right through to the end of the year with my Sabadell credit card. I know from previous experience when my card had to be changed because of fraudulent activity that if a credit card changes after a booking has been made the hotel requires notification of the new card details (so they can pre-authorise payment even if you are not due to actually pay before arrival) as they insist the card you pay with on arrival is the same one the booking was made with. I also have a reasonable credit card limit now with my Sabadell card and a new provider might not match that initially which would cause me problems. That's before we start on all the direct debits that would have to be changed, pension providers and FX companies notified, standing payments with my debit card.

I just can't face it all at the moment along with a whole new series of hospital appointments, however much I dislike what Sabadell is doing.

Re: Sabadell account holders beware!
 

I feel the same as you, Lynn - I too have health issues and cannot face the hassle of moving banks at the moment. So I will retain a policy I was going to cancel with Sabadell and hopefully will qualify for free banking via the insurance route.

By the way - now they are saying they are launching a 'cashback' option with their debit and credit cards - ie some sort of return when certain transactions are paid for with the card.
Not expecting to become a millionare doubtless the small print will be in their favour.

Oh dear my cynicism has returned...


PS Amazing - they just emailed me and a renewal premium has gone DOWN - no Creo!!