Torrevieja Forum

[Beardyboy]

We are banking with Bankia.
We are non residents.
We do not have a card as do not withdraw cash from this account.
Account is solely used to pay direct debits/ bills /Suma.
When Bankia took over our original bank Caja Murcia and Banka Marie Nostrum, we had enormous difficulty accessing our account online.
Finally sorted on a face to face visit, we were given a cash card which we didn’t need or want. Subsequently charged for the pleasure of having it.
My husband went into the bank and returned their card explaining his reasons....not happy. Now, we cannot access out online account because we don’t have a cash card.
On top of that, the charges are ridiculously high over the year,
Can anyone recommend a good bank who don’t charge a fortune to have a bank account?
We do not wish to lodge large sums of money to the account as everytime you lodge money from the UK it costs us money.
There must be a better way of banking for non residents.
Help, please.

[freddo]

Sabadell

[Info]

We have been with Banco Popular for the past 20 years which has now been taken over by Santander. Our 6 monthly charges for just direct debits were €36. I am wondering will the charges start creeping up now with the new regime. It is my intention to close our Spanish bank account and just use my Irish bank account to pay the Spanish Dr Debits as we have free banking. I don't know if there are any downside to that yet. Bee

[Beardyboy]

Hi Freddo, please elaborate on your Sabadell recommendation.
My husband called into the branch near us and the lady told him that their charges were €70 per year. Now, at this stage on going back to Bankia, they said that their charges were €35. But , he cannot access his account so has no idea if this is the case at all.
Bee...how on earth can you pay direct debits from your account in Ireland without incurring transfer charges? Perhaps because you have a Euro account at home, there shouldn’t be any charges, if so, lucky you.
We phoned Bankis’s head office in Madrid and they said that we sisn’t Need a card and to go into our branch in Torrevieja and they would sort it out. No such luck, refused held as we don’t pay for the card.

A mine field to say the very least.

[Info]

It seems very unfair to make you take a card that you don't want and have to pay for. We don't have a card for accessing on line. As like you we don't do any transferring from our Spanish Bank A/c. Yes we can do simple SEPA D/D and transfers . Bee

[kenbowns]

Beardyboy
I too have have travelled the same route as yourselves, Caja Murcia-BMN and now Bankia.
I also had to make a special visit to La Zenia branch for a face to face meeting to sort out access to my account, at the time I was very angry with them and was going to dump them at the earliest opportunity after I had sorted out the access to my account.
I had also set up a meeting with Sabadell branch in Cabo Roig but on further exploration of their charges for a non resident I found that they would be more expensive and cancelled.
Once access to my online banking was sorted I found that Bankia's online portal and app were far better than anything that I had had from the other two and my charges were no different. I pay just over 100euro.
I have a debit card which I use for cash withdrawals and send my holiday spendo and running costs for my apartment via Transferwise who are excellent and I have used them since they were first set up.
I do believe that Bankia have an account without any charges, it is called Cuenta On or something like that. I will ask more at my branch when I am next over.
When I was over in Spain and after the visit to my branch I was back at our apt and managed to lock myself out of the online banking, this was quickly sorted out by the Bankia English speaking helpline, was this the number that you tried ? If not I wonder if it is worthwhile you asking them if they can unlock your account ? 0034 902 114 015, I found them very helpful.
Just as an aside, I read elsewhere of a guy who had managed to sort out all the access palaver without going to Spain and the number above was what he quoted, wish I had known that before I had to pay for flights to Spain

[Beardyboy]

Many thanks Ken.
I certainly remember your posts from the time that Bankia took over the BMN. That was a shambles.
I have given your info.to my husband and although he did speak to a person who spoke English, he can now go back and tell them that their advice to go into our local branch proved futile. Hopefully, we can get things sorted as it is a pain changing banks.
Have you considered banking online with N26? I googled yesterday and this recommendation came up. We still have an online account in the U.K. with Intelligent Finance so I assume it will be something similar and may be well worth enquiring about.
Will keep you updated.
Thanks again,
Rosemary.

[kenbowns]

Ok Rosemary, look forward to the updates.
Have to say, never heard of N26 ?

[freddo]

I have an N26 account but tend to use the Transferwise Debit Card as they are more efficient

[SenorHillsy]

We are non residents and have a Cuenta On account with Bankia. We have had the account since September last year and have paid no fees since then. We use it for direct debits for all the usual stuff and as long as it's in credit you pay no fees. Bit of a faff setting it all up, took around 45 minutes at the branch, but is straightforward and easy to use on line

[kenbowns]

We are non residents and have a Cuenta On account with Bankia. We have had the account since September last year and have paid no fees since then. We use it for direct debits for all the usual stuff and as long as it's in credit you pay no fees. Bit of a faff setting it all up, took around 45 minutes at the branch, but is straightforward and easy to use on line

Thanks for the info, do you have a debit card with this account ?
Can you still go into branch to sort any problems or is it all online stuff ?
Did you change over from another Bankia current account and if so are there any extra limitations ?
If you were already with Bankia did they change your direct debits over for you or did you have to do this yourself ?
Thanks SenorHillsy, Ken.

[kenbowns]

I have an N26 account but tend to use the Transferwise Debit Card as they are more efficient

Thanks Fred
I have the TW debit card too but I dont withdraw cash with it, tested it last time over and cost me almost 5 euro.

[freddo]

I was one of the first to get one and all transfers are free

[royazul]

I have been with Popular for sixteen years and found them exceptional. As I have my state pension paid into it, I incur no charges.

Santander is next door and it is hoped Popular will become the new Santander retaining the present staff

[kenbowns]

I have been with Popular for sixteen years and found them exceptional. As I have my state pension paid into it, I incur no charges.

Santander is next door and it is hoped Popular will become the new Santander retaining the present staff

Hi Roy
Because you are a resident and have a certain amount paid into your account you may not incur any charges but the majority of posts on this particular thread are from non-resident people, very different.