Is there a free bank account in Spain

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markwilding
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby markwilding » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:19 pm

My bank never charges me if I haven't got enough in it to cover a payment. If this happened in the UK, I believe the charge to be quite high.

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Mowser
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Mowser » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:50 pm

Cajamar is free. I too got the letter saying they were introducing a maintenance charge. I pointed out that when I changed to Cajamar I got a leaflet saying free banking for ever. He took the charge off.
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Campo Steve
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Campo Steve » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:38 pm

peteroldracer wrote:The OH went to the Cajamar ATM in Benamargosa t'other day, and her eyes bulged when she looked at the receipt slip left in the machine by the previous user - withdrawl 400€, balance remaining 48,600€!!
Someone rich enough not to care about loss of interest, obviously!
Of course there is someone amongst our members that lives around there...."Steve" or something?! :thumbup:
If only!
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Free at Last
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Free at Last » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:12 am

Maybe it was the Alcalde - I remember when the Alcalde of Alcaucin was arrested a couple of years ago, it was reported that police had found 160,000€ under his mattress and that he had not withdrawn a centimo of his salary from the bank for years!

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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Lavanda » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:45 pm

Glad you understood my ironic post, annfoto!!! :think: Indeed!!!

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annfoto
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby annfoto » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:03 pm

The Bank of Spain have just released these figures today that shows that on average bank charges have increased by 15% in the past year.
"The maintenance and management fees for checking accounts in September rising to €25.80 on average, compared to €22.36 in December 2010, resulting in a rise of €3.44, 15.3% more.

The fees for these items in the case of savings accounts were established in September at 25.16 euros, representing an increase of 3.43 euros so far this year, a 15.7% increase.

As for the plastic money, the annual fee for having a debit card now stands at €19.89, up 15% compared with €17.30 euros for the last month of last year. In the case of credit cards, the average charge has registered a rise of 7.4% to €36.39."
Ann

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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby morlandg » Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:24 am

I notice that Ingdirect are advertising their Orange account with no charges whatsoever and also 3.3% interest for first 4 months for new accounts. There are very few offices throughout Spain and their online website does not offer an English version. But is it just early days yet?

GeorgeG
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby GeorgeG » Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:53 pm

Did you eventually manage to find a free banking service?

ValL
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby ValL » Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:36 pm

My account never shows any charges, I have no direct debits coming off it and a pension going in to it.

luckyjim
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby luckyjim » Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:19 pm

Banco Santander, providing you have something coming in. I have a small amount each month, there are no charges. When I transferred funds to someone in England, no charges. Bank cards, no charges. Money withdrawn in England, no charge. Suits me fine.

Heracles
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Heracles » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:38 pm

ValL wrote:My account never shows any charges, I have no direct debits coming off it and a pension going in to it.
Care to elaborate just a little please?

Regards

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Wicksey
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby Wicksey » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:51 pm

Sabadell do an Expansion account where you need to pay in 700€ per month. Unlike some other banks you don't need to do this by transfer from another bank (which always put me off this type of account), you can pay in cash and then you get free banking.

For the sake of calling into the bank each month to make the deposit I think it's worth it to save the fees (almost 3X what we were paying when we were with Lloyds), plus they give you 3% back off any direct debits for household bills.

leafy211
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby leafy211 » Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:27 pm

anyroads wrote:Yes I agree,

Why should banking be free ?

If people keep an average balance of eur 1000 in their account, why do they think they can get free banking for their standing orders for utility bills etc ?

anyroads
Because the banks use all these many £1000's to make their outrageous profits..

El Cid
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby El Cid » Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:47 pm

Perhaps we should all have free electricity and water. These companies also make outrageous profits.

Free iPhones for all, I say.

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qe2ex
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby qe2ex » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:48 pm

I guess one's view on banking fees depend greatly on where one come from. In my home country, banking is free. Credit cards (sans non-basic AMEX and similar) are free too. I'm sure the first bank that tried to introduce some sort of fixed fee for having an account there would almost immediately lose most of their customers, unless all other banks did the same at the same time.

markwilding
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby markwilding » Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:00 pm

I have free banking. I must keep a minimum balance and pay in a certain amount a year.

elusive
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Re: Is there a free bank account in Spain

Postby elusive » Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:26 am

Banks use the money of their customers to invest/play around with inorder to make money and profits for themselves. Theres no intrest provided like a savings account. So being charged so they can use your money to make money for themselves is a little off. They provide a banking service and in return get to keep your money and make x amount off it ontop of making a charge for their service. Leccy companies provide a direct service and you make a direct payment for it thats it.


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