Hi Folks,

I would be really interested in any personal experiences/recommendations for current account banking, esp in the Costa Blanca area.  We will be looking to open a non-resident account initially and hopefully convert to a residential account within 12 months, and will need to arrange regular transfers from a UK account (I know its best to use a currency broker for that and welcome any personal recommendations on that too!)

We bank with First Direct (HSBC) in the UK - they have told me I can have an international account with them, but so far as I can tell they don’t appear to have a branch structure in Spain?

And how do people find using accounts in Spain, do you use branches more..?  I almost never set foot in a bank branch in the UK, relying on internet banking, direct debits and the odd cash withdrawal.  But from all I hear/read there is more need to go and do things in person in Spain, is this to avoid/reduce fees or is it just the way things are done..?

We are moving in January but planning a quick trip back in November - literally a day or so - is it possible to open a bank account in 2 days or will that just provoke hollow laughs from anyone with first hand experience of the legendary Spanish beauracracy required..?

Any advice and suggestions most welcome, and I apologise if this has been covered before…  I am sure its the kind of info that dates in any case and what I really welcome are personal suggestions from anyone in this position recently, especially if they are anywhere near the northern CB,

thanks all! 

Mx

Sol bank has a good non resident account and they accept British Cheques etc etc.

If you open an Abbey account, there owned by Spains Santander group.

There are many Banks in Spain, two types, one being Banco which is private owned the others are Caixa`s which are govt run.

In the south people bank in person, the north too, Costa Blanca I`ve no idea.But many Spaniards prefer to deal with cash and in the hand, they distrust anything electronic where money is concerned.

Although most bank`s cash point machines allow you to pay money into an account and also pay bills using a barcode scanner reading the code on the bill, that can save time.

The banks in the south even the large ones such as BBVA can be slow, Spaniards do talk a lot, its not unusal to spend 30 minutes waiting.

Also In out BBVA when you talking to the manager, people will butt in and try to hav a minute.Although this tends to be a Malaganian thing, everybody seems to be the friend of the manager.

In the South also you have too judge there breakfast times, i`ve been waiting in one of two queues, only to have the cashier close the till, get up and leave for her pitufo y cafe.

Other than that never really had to many problems, but one thing to bear in mind, direct debits in Spain sometimes seem to have a mind of their own, if you notice a direct debit that isn`t correct as long as you report it to the bank within 14 days, the bank refunds the money and investigates for you, thats great.

I have lived/worked in S.Spain for 10 yrs. Up until recently I was with Unicaja from day one. Generally excellent on everything - except you had to pay! 
I changed to Cajamar (not sure if they have branches on East Coast as they are a local group?).  & they charge me absolutely NOTHING for my account (As long as I have ‘one movement’ min a month.  So I have my mob phone contract on standing order and that covers that!).  Not too great on no of cashpoints - plus if you go to one outside of the group - then you are hit for higher commission.. (So I make sure I either have enough cash - or use the ‘right’ machine.  I have no probs at all with the card spending in shops via ‘Electron’).
It used to be the custom to que in the bank for everything.. but we have switched to entirely on-line - and no probs whatsoever!

Re getting good exchange rates/transgers… Sadly this is still one we haven’t worked out to our satisfaction.
I am with First Direct in Uk - and I ‘could’ make a lump sum transaction (very high limit) for a fixed fee of ?15?  - I presume at daily bank rate.  But instead I have a Nationwide current account and use my ATM here - for no charge!!! But of course - it is only at the daily bank rate - so when the pound goes down…..

I know there are co’s called hifx and alike - who offer ‘best rates’ etc.. but not sure how they work…

Barclays Spain are advertising at the moment here - that if you have an acc here and one also in the UK -you can transfer money freely between the two (a min amount I think are the conditions - again a sizeable lump sum - over 2k?).

I keep meaning to look into the Abbey/Santanderthing.. but am guessing there would still be bank charges incurred.

Let us know! + Buen Viaje for the move!
regards, sj

For transferring money, I’ve had good experience with HIFX, although you’ll find several similar companies if you google “currency exchange”.  They don’t charge fees and will refund any charge made by the receiving bank, and their rates are better than high-street.  They will also give you a set exchange rate for 12 or 24 months, which allows you to budget precisely.  This will be a less attractive rate but if the pound continues to fall you could save big time - I got a decent rate last year and am enjoying the benefit.  Of course it could work the other way too….

As for banks, if you’re building or setting up business, consider the local caja, as the manager will know the mayor, the councillors, the architects etc. for miles around.  The cajas are more right-on than bancos too, spending some of their profits on arts and social projects. Don’t know your area, but it may be called “Caja de name of your province”, like maybe Caja de Alicante. (In Valencian it will probably be Caixa de Alacant or something.)

For regular bills, I’ve found domiciliaciones - standing orders - as easy to set up and use as Britain.  You prob need to know all the terms in Spanish or Valencian/Catalan, though.  For spending, the cheque is a thing of the past and big shops are fine with cards.  Restaurants and small shops hate cards - you’re much better off with cash.  People happily carry big wads around - maybe because there isn’t as much crime.  (Someone will now disagree with me on that and we’ll get another massive string about rising crime rates!)

Lloyds TSB in the UK don`t charge a fee to Transfer cash to Lloyds TSB Espana.

Although both are independent, although not many branches in Spain, there is only one in Costa Del Sol in Marbella.

Ps…
The two main types of bank I understand (as mentioned above)...
are Banco - Usual type of regular bank and
Ahhoros - Savings bank..
But on the matter of interest rates here… forget it!  - 1% if you are lucky???
Although, I did see at our Cajamar if you put in ?5,000 for a 6 month period (new customers only I think).. then they would give you a fixed interest rate of nearer 5%!

But… I keep my spare cash in the UK (with First Direct Bonus Account as it happens)..and it was 5% - now 4.75% I think - No risk - they always pay!

SJ

ING Espana are offering 6% last time I checked (Last week).

Inflation currently higher in Spain than the UK, although the UK media are more, lets say SCARE MONGERING than the Spanish authorities who are more likely to be on siesta when the recession hits.

Got luv the difference in the two cultures, same problems, different attitude.

Always made me laugh, how some Expats believe they escaped the stresses of life in Spain.

Santi post above…
‘Lol’ 😉

‘We are living the dream’... But also have to deal with the daily ‘stuff’!

susanspain - 10 July 2008 07:00 AM

Santi post above…
‘Lol’ 😉

‘We are living the dream’... But also have to deal with the daily ‘stuff’!

Speak for yourself, Spain dosn`t come close to my dreamy location.

So where would you rather be Santi?  (I have been many places - including the ‘exotic’... but that kind of dream fades very fast). 
Where RU from originally?
sj

susanspain - 11 July 2008 12:19 PM

So where would you rather be Santi?

Montreal

Where RU from originally?
sj

UK.

I think i wld rather be in montreal than uk… then spain… then xxxxx
I hope i do not ever have 2 rt 2 uk! good luck if u end up there!
sj

susanspain - 11 July 2008 10:23 PM

I think i wld rather be in montreal than uk… then spain… then xxxxx
I hope i do not ever have 2 rt 2 uk! good luck if u end up there!
sj

Well I miss the rain, at the moment its 89 Degrees and its only 8.45pm.

Trust me when you`ve spent as much time in Spain, you get fed up of the sun and beach.

Having said that, I think I`d be trully happy if I`d just written a few childrens novals and was worth 600,000,000.00 then I`d be happy in any country.

Happiness is a state of mind, and not found in a location.

I`ve meet many Expats who escaped the bad old UK, and found Spain just, if not worse.

People who come to Spain retired find Spain great and I understand that, if I had nothing to do all day but relax, enjoy hobbies, etc etc I`d say the same place.

I`ve been happy in Spain, sad in Spain, fed up with Spain, drunk in Spain.

I wouldn`t lose any sleep returning to the UK, doesn`t bother me, I still like the UK,I never ran away from the UK.

A big mistake many make is having a running away attitude.

Not so much running away Santi (in my case)... but facing up to the fact I didn’t fit in…
Much happier here - even if there is daily ‘stuff’ to deal with and the different approach to things (good and bad)..
But you got me thinking.  Yes… if I had xxxxxxx from my ‘latest best seller’ then I could be anywhere!

Think I would start in N/S America.. and take it from there!
sj 😉

Hi all,

Thanks very much for the replies.  For some reason I stopped getting alerts of responses on this thread and was delighted to find so much useful info on different banks, loads of useful stuff to go on there!  And I found the other stuff useful too, anything that makes me think through why on earht I am uprooting my family to make this move is a good and positive thing!

thanks everyone,

Mx

BuenosDiasPet - 14 July 2008 06:07 PM

anything that makes me think through why on earht I am uprooting my family to make this move is a good and positive thing!

Mx

That`ll be the Gitano blood in you. 😝