spanish bank account

spanish bank accounts can anyone tell me what bank to open an account here in spain that has free transactions. Here for the week and want to get the job done. By the way its 30 degrees for anyone who wants to know !!!

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well all i can say is be careful, and before you take out any money read what the ATM machine displays, the good thing is if you use another ATM to make a transaction they will inform you if and what charges will be applicable, for example, i bank with Solbank, they dont charge me to use their ATM machines, however some banks will attempt to charge me EUR 4.80, which is nuts!  personally i wont give them my money and now know where all the Solbanks are located....

 

hope it helps

 

Jeff

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well all i can say is be careful, and before you take out any money read what the ATM machine displays, the good thing is if you use another ATM to make a transaction they will inform you if and what charges will be applicable, for example, i bank with Solbank, they dont charge me to use their ATM machines, however some banks will attempt to charge me EUR 4.80, which is nuts!  personally i wont give them my money and now know where all the Solbanks are located....

 

hope it helps

 

Jeff

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Halifax España if you keep an average of (I think) €600 in the account throughout the year.

All banks in Spain charge for transactions, maintenance fees, issue of debit card etc but most give free ATM withdrawals.

I'm with Bankinter and it was a bit disconcerting to have several thousand euros in it, not use it and still see €7.80 a month taken out in "account" fees and then a €25 maintenance charge taken out annually plus a fee for paying standing orders.  And don't even mention the charge they make when you pay for something by cheque...........Am going to close it down soon and change to Halifax when I move over.

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not sure of this is useful....

 

I opened a Solbank ( non resident account)  they only charge me 20 Euros every three months, and all transactions are free. all international money transfers are free, if i send receive money to anywhere or any country it is free......i have a debit card with them, its free, like i said the only financial obligation, ( charge i have is the 20 Euros every 3 months), the branch in Marbella have super staff, most speak a high level of english, ( degree educated staff helps),  they are used customers trading , investing, or even foreign students, i highly recommend them....when in spain why have a british bank.....!

 

hope it helps

 

thanks

 

Jeff 

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Hi tired of waiting,

Maybe you should try Halifax espania, as Halifax are in Ireland now if you open an account with them  ( Trimgate Street Navan) you can get free money transfers to your account in Spain.Thats what we are doing at present.

Hope this helps

Julie

Dublin

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Hi Helen,

Halifax ES .. free transfers from a UK Halifax, current a/c, free banking as long as you open ordinary a/c with minimum 600€ & maintain that amount generally, free DD's, debit card 3€ annually. NO non residents charge, normally around 18€ per person named on the a/c every two years. You can open the Extra current a/c & keep less in without charges but it costs 25€ annually for that, lots of extras though, see links below.

http://www.halifax.es/halifaxing/acc/curracc.asp?sec=acc  basic a/c

http://www.halifax.es/halifaxing/acc/xtra.asp?sec=acc# Extra a/c, click on the  HALIFAX CLUB to see benefits of this a/c.

You can open a Halifax ES a/c from the UK by phoning  the European Operations Dept. in the UK (0845) 600 3603

Also, if you're going over to Spain regularly you get brilliant rates from Visa ATMs if you open a Nationwide flexi current a/c in the UK & ensure you put money in that before going to Spain. Draw cash out once in Spain & you'll get bank rates. We did this last week & got 1.4801 rate.

This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/28/2007.

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Thanks everybody. Julie, I actually live in Navan and the Halifax is opened next door to my husbands business Tierneys Newsagents, Trimgate Street  - you might know it ?

Helen

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why pay rates for the use of ATMS,  personaly id take all the advice on offer here, then work out what will suit your current financial situation, Smiley had some sound advice for me, regarding Spanish banks, i thought the UK banks would be preferable, however, after searching and reading various tpoics here, i found some suitable to me, personally, its all about what you want to do with your money, are you investing, saving, or just using an account to live  day to day......

i cant remember where the thread is but this has been covered before, Justin and Smiley had mounds of experience in this area...and of course any new information which you may find out in your research do pass on to us here. No one has a monopoly on information and competition is high, so banks frequently change their options and plans....

 

regards and good luck

 

Jeff

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Hi Jeff,

If you use your Nationwide debit cards in a Visa ATM, there are no charges, honestly.

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We found Caja Madrid in Arroyo de la Miel, CDS to be super - no charges other than €4.50 quarterly if your account balance falls below an average of €1,500. They had some small charge for a debit card which is needed if you wish to access your account from the internet. Foreign transfers are free but if you are transferring a large sum into the account they like to get notification by phone or email so that they can intervene to eliminate the normal automated charge. They have English speaking staff also. I think it's very useful to be able to access the account online.

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Interesting the positive comments about Halifax, they have opened in Maynooth near where I live (Kilcock). I must call into them.

I've tried a number of different banks over the years in the CDS and finally found one that has excellent service at reasonable cost and all paperwork is in the english language - it is the Solbank at La Cala de Mijas branch. (I believe all Solbank branches have multi lingual staff).

I've had problems insuring my apartment using the conventional brokerage route and then I found Solbank offered this service. The cover I got was better and the cost of insurance less than what I was paying.

Hope this is of interest to those who reside in the Royal County!

 

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