Goldwinger

We will need to have a Spanish bank account. Any suggestions as to who to avoid? I suspect that they are all pretty much alike, unless you guys know different. Thanks

Boseley

Go to the one nearest your front door.

snikpoh

Don't go to the one nearest to you.

Instead, go to one that has the best on-line facilities and the cheapest charges.

These days, one does not need to be close to ones bank.

Boseley

I need to withdraw cash, I walk, less than 5 minutes.

snikpoh

I withdraw cash too but not from my bank - I use any one of the many banks on the same (ATM) network.

amideislas

To actually try to be helpful, you will find some who consider the difference between €5.49 and €5.24 for any given fee to be a significant reason to choose one bank over another.

But there are other factors to consider, such as online banking and how scattered various branches are (and whether there's one near you and in other towns), where the atms are, and so on. Plus, is their mobile banking app brain-dead, or well designed and comprehensive?

We chose on the basis of convenience rather than cost, including the quality and comprehensiveness of online banking and mobile app, plus, what you can do at an ATM (and where are they and can you find one almost anywhere?) such as transfer money between accounts, transfer abroad, pay bills, etc. Comes in handy on a Sunday afternoon at the beach. Convenience.

101wvd

Has anyone experience of banking with Santander? We went to see them whilst over in Spain in July and everything seems okay. We do have an account in UK with them that works well but obviously this would be a totally different set up. We will need to do on line banking, money transfers, pay bills, ATM etc. Any good or bad points great fully received.
We were going to open an account in July but as a non resident the costs are somewhat higher so they advised us to wait until we are nearer the time to becoming resident so we can get the benefits rather than be paying non resident rates just for having the account open and not being in use until we buy.

Boseley

Bosslady has, and all O.K. here.

101wvd

That is hopeful then!! Thank you Boseley.

Mustard

If you need online banking and have a history with Santander then go with OPENBANK, which is their online bank in Spain. I've been with them for 15 years and never paid a penny in commissions and they offer a full range of services plus free withdrawals from Banco Santander ATMs

101wvd

Well that seems an even better idea. I wonder why the guy in Santander es did not tell me that!!!

I will take a look at their online banking with OPENBANK. Thank you.

Culebronchris

We've banked with several organisations over the years and, to be honest, most of them are much of a muchness. Or should I say they all sell similar products. The problem is that you can't guarantee that any particular branch will actually set you up with the "correct" account. Your best bet is to do the checking yourself from amongst the ones you consider possibles.

I remember, for instance, asking Banesto (now Santander) for a list of their commisions and charges which they dutifully supplied. I also asked about Internet banking (this was years ago) and they told me all about that too. Unfortunately I didn't ask for all the charges associated with their Internet banking which they considered to be a separate service not linked to the primary account - there was no mention of internet fees so I presumed there were none. In fact every transaction was charged at 2€. They also failed to tell me that, as I was working, I should have one of the "cuenta nomina" accounts. I asked about a current account in my imperfect Spanish so that was what they told me about.

Spain is a country that likes cash so having a bank machine you can use for free is important and although you can do most things online there are things you can't - like paying in cash. So you need an account which gives you somewhere close to do that too.

I kept the name of the bank that won some sort of Governmnet conducted survey for the best bank in terms of customer satisfaction and lowest charges. I'd never heard of it till then but it was called the Triodos bank. Second on the list was ING Direct.

101wvd

Very helpful post and thank you for taking the time. Santander did tell us about the charges for internet banking and transactions as we would need to transfer pensions etc. I will take a look at the other 2 you mention.

Hopefully they will translate to English as the Spanish is not fluent enough yet!!!

Dondurma

Could you tell me do they have an English webpage? Thanks

Mustard

No, it's a Spanish bank for Spanish residents. That said, once the account is open, the page is intuitive and you only need rudimentary Spanish plus learning a bit of banking vocab to operate it.