Hello,

Thank you for any help with these questions!

I am moving from the U.S. to Spain to become a vagabond. My bank has informed me that they will charge a 3% international transfer on ATM withdrawals. This is totally unacceptable so my plan is to have them cut me a check in Euros (this will still cost me something, but less). Then I will open a bank account in Spain. My understanding is that I will need to get an NIE first. Is this correct? (FYI-I am a UK citizen as well and thus have the right to an NIE). Given that I need to get an NIE first, I will bring with me some ???s in cash. Once I have my NIE and open my bank account, my question is: what is the best bank account to open and with what bank considering that I will be moving around Spain quite a bit? Are there ATM fees for all banks? Any other thoughts that would facilitate this?

Thanks again!

Hi.
If you have a British or other European Community passport you don’t really need the NIE to open a bank account, you can open a ‘non-resident’ one. The point is ... it will be more expensive, with higher commissions ... and some banks might refuse to open it (it happened to a friend of mine in Almeria a few months ago). You’ll definitely need the NIE if you become a permanent resident in Spain and therefore pay taxes here. Or if you wish to work in Spain.

On international money transfers the commissions are applied both from you current bank and from the Spanish one receiving the money. Current commissions in Spain go from a minimum of 3% up to 5%.  Banks are compelled to advise the Spanish Authorities for any transfer higher than 10.000 euros (in compliance with the European Community laws) and for any deposit from 3.000 euros up (in compliance with Spanish Anti-Terrorist laws, thanks to ETA). Spanish banks apply commissions even to cash a check, so in the end it might result equally expensive but require more days before the money is available on your account.

As for your question about banks I’d suggest to forget small or local ones, such as CAM, La Caixa or Rural Caja. Santander Central Hispano, BBVA, Banesto are currently the biggest Spanish banks and have branches all over the Country. I hope your Spanish is fluent enough to be able to obtain better conditions than the standard ones ...

Thanks for all the tips. If I were to open a checking account with Santander Central Hispano say and deposit my check from my U.S. bank, would there be ATM fees all over the country? Also, my bank is talking about writing me an ‘international draft’. Would this waive the international transfer fees? I know very little about banking…

Mavec - 08 September 2008 09:21 PM

Thanks for all the tips. If I were to open a checking account with Santander Central Hispano say and deposit my check from my U.S. bank, would there be ATM fees all over the country? Also, my bank is talking about writing me an ‘international draft’. Would this waive the international transfer fees? I know very little about banking…

If you open a ‘non-resident’ bank account, not only you’ll have to pay all sorts of fees and commissions, but they’ll probably be higher than what pay residents in Spain.

Haven’t got a clue about the ‘international draft’, really. Nevertheless, keep in mind that currently Spanish banks are facing a lot of troubles and low cashflow, due mainly to the mortages that quite a lot of people cannot afford to pay any longer. It is true, though, that you can try and negotiate with the bank when you open an account, especially if we are talking of a huge amount of money. But:

1- it’s rather difficult nowaddays to make good deals if they don’t know you and/or have been a customer for quite some time. It would certainly help if you were introduced by some friend or acquaintance that has been keeping an account at that same bank ... obviously without causing any problem at all 😊

2- usually the best you can get is to have the commission reduced to a minimum, say 1-1.5%

3- you’d better make sure that the transfer is made in Euros: exchange rates applied by spanish banks are often outragious.

Credit cards in Spain are issued by the bank, and the most common one is VISA, followed by Mastercard, and banks charge an annual fee for them (although, if they consider you a good customer, they might decide to refund the first year fee ...). Most shops, restaurants and supermarkets refuse to accept American Express and Diners because they charge higher commissions (up to 7% on the purchase value ...). Normally, when you open an account for the first time, the bank gives you a DEBIT card (such as VISA Electron) for an annual fee from 7 to 15 euros (it depends on the bank policy). They give you a credit card only after a few months/a year ... meaning after they’ve checked if you are a ‘good client’ or not.  😖

I lived in Spain a couple of months, before I decided to move here. I solved the ‘commissions problem’ opening an account with some cash, keeping my account in Italy for one year and using the Italian credit card to pay almost everything. At the end of that period I went to the bank, talked to the manager and graciously ‘blackmailed’ him :lol:  At that time it worked, and I got pretty good conditions that still apply (although I have to check them every now and then, because they can change without notice ...  😖 )

Hey Mavec,

I recommend openbank—they’ve got agreements with Santander and Banesto, so you can use any of their ATMs at no cost. You can also use other 4B ATMs for just 50 cents. They have no fees for opening/closing the account (other banks do). They have no problem with whether you’re residente/no residente. They have very reasonable fees for international transfers (which is why I went with them in the first place). The bank is starting to grow, as well, and I’m starting to see offices outside of Madrid (e.g., recently I was in Granada, and they had an openbank office). But regardless, doesn’t matter, cause you can also use Banesto and Santander offices to deal with many transactions.

You are right Fropie: OpenBank is a pretty good solution, and I think I’ll open an account with them this week. But, for the time being, I’ll keep it as ‘second bank’ because when there is a problem (which often happens here) I prefer to deal directly face-to-face rather than by phone or Internet. And after 8 years in Spain I doubt that anybody at Santander or Banesto would be really willing to discuss any problem concerning an OpenBank account ...  😖

why not open any non resident bank account in spain with any major banks like la caixa

Hello
I am a US resident, and I own several bank accounts with US banks, like Bank of America, Chase, ect, and I travel often to Barcelona, Spain, and I would like to open an account in Spain to make my trips easier.  I would like to transfer money from my US account ( even if I need to open a new one with a diferent bank)  and my spain account. Which bank do you recommend that has offices in both countries and that allows me to do online transfers, and be cheap?

Thanks

ljra - 04 March 2009 01:56 AM

Hello
I am a US resident, and I own several bank accounts with US banks, like Bank of America, Chase, ect, and I travel often to Barcelona, Spain, and I would like to open an account in Spain to make my trips easier.  I would like to transfer money from my US account ( even if I need to open a new one with a diferent bank)  and my spain account. Which bank do you recommend that has offices in both countries and that allows me to do online transfers, and be cheap?

Thanks

You’d better ask one of your american banks (i.e. Chase) which is the spanish bank they use in Spain (could be Santander Central Hispano, for example) and open an account there. Makes money transfer a bit easier ... though not chepaer. Usual commission on international transfers is (was?? at present it could be higher ... or lower. Better ask ...) 5% in Spain. EU transfer via swift, which until 2003 were made in 48 hours, now rquire 4-5 days since all money transfer transit through a “compensation room” (or whatever they call it in English) in Luxembourg.
Hope I’ve been helpful.

Grupo Santander own sovereignbank are many need to get in touch with

  * Santander Private Banking
  * Sovereign Bank
  * Santander Consumer USA Inc.

get yourself International Bank Account Number (IBAN) sould be able to move money around the world via online accounts ,

jurdy

Fate_06 - 04 March 2009 06:13 AM

ljra - 04 March 2009 01:56 AM

Hello
I am a US resident, and I own several bank accounts with US banks, like Bank of America, Chase, ect, and I travel often to Barcelona, Spain, and I would like to open an account in Spain to make my trips easier.  I would like to transfer money from my US account ( even if I need to open a new one with a diferent bank)  and my spain account. Which bank do you recommend that has offices in both countries and that allows me to do online transfers, and be cheap?

Thanks

You’d better ask one of your american banks (i.e. Chase) which is the spanish bank they use in Spain (could be Santander Central Hispano, for example) and open an account there. Makes money transfer a bit easier ... though not chepaer. Usual commission on international transfers is (was?? at present it could be higher ... or lower. Better ask ...) 5% in Spain. EU transfer via swift, which until 2003 were made in 48 hours, now rquire 4-5 days since all money transfer transit through a “compensation room” (or whatever they call it in English) in Luxembourg.
Hope I’ve been helpful.

ooops ... sorry: Spanish commissions on international money transfers are 0,5% ...