New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

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Screagle
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Screagle » Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:26 am

Thanks, Paddy - I'll look into that. Fortunately my fellow garage owners are all Spanish so that should be no problem...

Saludos

SlimTim
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby SlimTim » Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:12 am

Hi,
Interesting post.
Can I ask how you went on and did you change your bank and how was the process please ?
We have been with La Caixa but the last straw was going in to the branch for a replacement debit card for my expired one and without my knowledge been given a credit card and a charge of €36 which I assume will be a quarterly charge to go with all the other bank charges they seem to be debiting these days .The bank is in my Pueblo and was friendly and convenient but enough is enough.
I only need an account to pay electric,water and other household direct debits.
I don’t need a La Caixa debit or credit card.
If I were to set up a regular payment of €600 a month am I right in assuming banking would be free? Is there anything to stop me transferring this back to my U.K. bank account a few days later.I assume there would be charges ?
Many thanks for assistance

Screagle
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Screagle » Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:00 pm

I've not got round to changing the community bank account yet, SlimTim. Our president sent me the community garage owners NIF (Número de Identificación Fiscal) back in June but I just did not have the time to trawl the banks on my recent visits. He's recently emailed me about the community property bank account, this time Banco Santander, that has been charging us 30 euros per month (!!) since March for maintenance so it look's like I'll have to sort out that as well.

The account I'm looking for is not a personal bank account but an account in the name of the community. This makes things a little bit more complicated because we have to show our community minutes (actas) every year or the account is blocked!

Anyway I doubt my experience will help much unless this is the type of account you are looking for. I've not got around to changing my personal bank account yet either...

Saludos

Pamela1
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Pamela1 » Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:17 pm

I'm going into Granada tomorrow to la Caixa, i have been summoned to update my details.I was with Bankia but they were taken over by la Caixa, prior to that i was with Caja Granada who were taken over by Bankia..How many more take overs! I am going to mention the credit card, i have noticed a few people complaining about it.I certainly don't want a credit card and i will make them aware of that.Other than that it seems that all of the banks are on the make when it comes to non resident accounts so no matter which bank i go with the charges are going to be much the same.

Ana de Chipiona
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Ana de Chipiona » Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:18 pm

We are non-residents and also use to have a non-resident bank account with Caixa. This year we closed the account completely. We pay our electricity, water and council tax with our Starling credit card.

Dominic Lopecas
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Dominic Lopecas » Mon Sep 06, 2021 9:02 pm

In Spain most if no all of them charge you for keeping account and paying transactions from UK to Spain, Santander local manager told me that the country is Bankrupted and no foreign investment doesn't exist so the only way to keep the doors open is charge the customers that they have no choice but pay as thanks to the government poliza all major utility and services bills would have to be payed by Direct Debit on to your bank account. It is very sad that a lot UK and Spanish poor people are the victims of Rip-off, engineered by Spanish Government & executed by the Banks.

anyroads
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby anyroads » Tue Sep 07, 2021 5:56 pm

Has anyone had to get their account "unblocked" ?. And is this simply the account holding branch unlocking the account. Guess I must have had a mental block putting the password in !

My usual contact is on holiday.

anyroads

Pamela1
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Pamela1 » Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:33 pm

Yes we have anyroads, same reason as yourself.Simple to sort out in branch if you are in Spain but not if you are in the Uk and it had to wait until our next trip over.

Cádiz
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Cádiz » Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:42 pm

Are Revolut and this N26 available in Spain. I have revolut but would consider changing to Spanish revolut if good option.
My knowledge of N26 limited as i never really checked...

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Wicksey
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Wicksey » Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:59 am

Isn't Revolut like (Transfer)Wise and is an e money institution, not a bank? I have Wise and you can have it anywhere and can have Sterling and Euro accounts.

Cádiz
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Cádiz » Wed Sep 08, 2021 11:25 am

Wicksey wrote: Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:59 am Isn't Revolut like (Transfer)Wise and is an e money institution, not a bank? I have Wise and you can have it anywhere and can have Sterling and Euro accounts.
The card is actually a debit card where we can transfer money from our home bank, then we can change that currency to any currency within the bank app...
Revolut are now an actual bank as they got a bank license a year or so ago...
My question really to anyone who has either of these cards is their IBAN Spanish or elsewhere...

anyroads
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby anyroads » Wed Sep 08, 2021 12:40 pm

Pamela1 wrote: Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:33 pm Yes we have anyroads, same reason as yourself.Simple to sort out in branch if you are in Spain but not if you are in the Uk and it had to wait until our next trip over.
Yes, guess you are right. Had someone else look at it over there, giving my NIE Number too. Guess it does not help if my new debit card is sitting at the branch, not activated.

anyroads

anyroads
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby anyroads » Wed Sep 08, 2021 2:42 pm

Lo and behold.

There is life in Lebrija ( even though the account is domiciled in Seville, my usual contact there is on holiday ).

To cut a long story short, they were able to unblock the account, using my passport number it seems. That appears strange, as of February this year, I have a new passport. They did not ask me for my passport number, but I gave them old and new in any case.

anyroads.

Pamela1
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Pamela1 » Wed Sep 08, 2021 4:13 pm

Good result anyroads..

Cádiz
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Cádiz » Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:06 am

Dominic Lopecas wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 9:52 pm All Spanish Banks except N26 are in the game of Rip-off all British and Spanish people expat regarded they are resident in Spain or not and Spanish government do nothing about, some of my friend that were likely to sell off property they moved to Portugal, the Government is very keen to attract British and other northern Europeans to move to Portugal. Their banks Don't charge any thing por a privet personal Account, you only pay €12.00 per month if you do have a business account. The easy way out is to leave the country as many Expats are doing.
Seeing as you mentioned N26 do you know the Country where the IBAN of the N26 lives or is it the place you live.
I tried to set-up with 2 different cards but were not accepted because not Spanish IBAN...

ashtondav
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby ashtondav » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:23 pm

I have opened, and am delighted with, a WISE account. I wish to switch all my spanish direct debits and close my current account. Has anyone successfully switched in this way (IBI, WATER, ELECTRICITY etc) , was the process straightforward (esp. IBI) and were there any problems? Thinking particularly about the Belgian BE iban number as a spanish friend had difficulty transferring funds from a spanish Santander account to my wise account.

Cádiz
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Cádiz » Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:46 am

ashtondav wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:23 pm I have opened, and am delighted with, a WISE account. I wish to switch all my spanish direct debits and close my current account. Has anyone successfully switched in this way (IBI, WATER, ELECTRICITY etc) , was the process straightforward (esp. IBI) and were there any problems? Thinking particularly about the Belgian BE iban number as a spanish friend had difficulty transferring funds from a spanish Santander account to my wise account.
I tried to switch electric to revolut some time ago and this really pretty Spanish lady with a lovely smile said...
When you signed the contract you stated you have Spanish Bank account...

good luck and post how it goes...

Cádiz
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Cádiz » Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:14 am

Beachcomber wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 3:35 pm I get 'free' banking with Unicaja as long as at least €600 is credited to the account per month, a not unreasonable balance is maintained and my credit card is used at least twice a month.

The worst of those is having to use the credit card. The only time I use it is to buy from Amazon so unless I use it there I have to go into somewhere like Mercadona twice a month and buy a carton of milk!
Hi,
I assume you are a resident... do you know if non-resident can avail of this account....

Beachcomber
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby Beachcomber » Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:17 pm

I don't know but the requirement has changed since I wrote that post. Instead of a minimum balance you now need to have at least €20.000 in an investment account (which has already increased in value) but you do not need to have a monthly deposit of €600 although you still need to use the credit card twice a month.

All this saves bank maintenance charges of €120 per annum and charges for transfers etc but, as I say, I don't know if non-residents qualify.

adamski
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Re: New CaixaBank fees ... time to change banks?

Postby adamski » Sun May 01, 2022 3:13 pm

I switched to Bankia from CaixaBank in 2017 to escape CaixaBank’s charges. At that time the Bankia staff in my part of Spain could not have been more helpful.
I then enjoyed four years of trouble free banking with no charges.
Following the takeover of Bankia in 2021 I found myself back with CaixaBank. My new assigned branch contact made it very clear that she couldn’t care less whether I remained a customer or not.
I looked at accounts with Wise and Revolut, but decided against them because my money would not be protected if they went out of business. Also, some people online say they’ve needed a Spanish IBAN to be able to set up some direct debits.
The only Spanish bank I could find which would offer me a non-resident account with no charges was Cajamar - their ‘Wefferent’ account comes with a debit card, you can use an app or their website, and it’s completely free if you operate it online.
As a non-resident I was not able to open the account online, but Cajamar have a nearby branch to me which I visited in March 2022. All the staff were very helpful and the manager spoke excellent English. They needed to see my passport, NIE, P60 and I needed a Spanish mobile number to verify certain transactions (their system will not accept a UK number). You can install the app on your UK mobile though.
It was quite easy to change the direct debits over myself, online, and I’ve just made a note to check that the first payment for each of them goes through OK. So far, the electricity and water have been fine.
I reduced the CaixaBank balance down to zero and then went into the branch and asked them to close the account.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions!


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