Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

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fyfin
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Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fyfin » Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:39 am

We were having our usual discussion over coffee as we do every morning and banks were mentioned, mainly because the UK State pension increase letters are arriving. We have ours paid direct into our Spanish bank account and we get the commercial exchange rate.
I was surprised that the other 2 couples we regularly sit with, both said they don't trust Spanish banks so everything is paid into their UK bank. They only transfer enough to pay bills as they had heard that Spanish banks can take money from your account when they feel like it.

I thought maybe they used Transferwise to transfer but turns out they take cash out using their UK bank card and pay it into their Spanish account.

I tried to explain that this was very inefficient and costly but I didn't want to fall out with good friends so left it.

I was just surprised that there is this suspicion about Spanish banks and I have come across it before but surely they are subject to the same rules and regulation as UK banks. We bank online, use Paypal and Transferwise and have never had a problem, in fact, I can't imagine trying to operate the way they do.
Is anyone else suspicious of Spanish banks and operate an account just to pay bills. I should point out we are all residents and have been for over 10 years .
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Wicksey
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Wicksey » Wed Mar 29, 2023 10:53 am

We prefer our income to go into the UK bank and then use Wise to transfer it here as and when we need it. We have a rental house in the UK so still have expenses there and we do get a little interest on savings there too. So we transfer the 700€ required for the account (although we have now started to pay 20€ a quarter fees, so wonder why I bother) and then top up as necessary.

I do use the Spanish account for most things as I buy online here (Amazon.es) and for flights etc etc all done in euros. I just like to squirrel away any excess into the other UK accounts we have that give a little interest. All we ever get here is fees and charges. Also I do like to choose when I exchange money in my Wise account, trying to get the best rate. If the rate suddenly rises then I exchange money and it can sit there until I need to send it here.

Years ago we used to draw out cash and pay it in but then we realised how much we were being charged once withdrawals started to be charged for by our building society. It turned out we were paying about 13 pounds to withdraw 500€ and that was years back. If nothing else, I would try to persuade your friends to switch to Wise who charge about 2.50 to exchange pounds into 700€ then it's free to send it here. A lot quicker too, especially if they have to queue up to pay it in.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Pamela1 » Wed Mar 29, 2023 11:45 am

I'm not a resident but i do have a Spanish bank account to cover bills and i like to keep enough in the account to cover at least 2 years..During covid i had peace of mind knowing there was was enough money to last till we returned to top up the account again...I don't do transfers (except for the one we did when we bought the property) if i was resident in Spain i guess i'd have to get used to doing it..I only started doing online banking since covid started.. :lol: If i was resident in Spain i wouldn't move my money from my Uk bank account unless i had no choice and was forced to do so.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby jonbar.1 » Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:41 pm

We opened an account with Sabadell when we arrived in Spain 10 years ago.
We have our pensions payed into our UK bank but transfer a set sum every month to Sabadell by simple Direct-Debit.
The transaction is free but,of course, the amount appearing after transfer is subject to the usual exchange-rate fluctuations.
We are more than happy with both our banks; especially as we don't pay any bank charges to either. :thumbup:
Mrs Jonbar & I like an easy life. :D

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fyfin » Wed Mar 29, 2023 2:57 pm

It's interesting to see what others do. I should have said that we have a UK bank account with Nationwide where my annuities get paid into. It would be far to costly to let the various providers use a 3rd party to transfer at goodness knows what exchange rate and charges. We use Transferwise as they seem the best route and were one of the first to offer this service.
It still seems best to me to have the UK State pension paid into the Spanish bank though and it covers most of the costs associated with living here. We have no UK interest at all now, previously we had a house we rented but we sold that to buy the villa and now rent out the apartment here.
I just found it a bit strange that our friends who have lived here more than 10 years think UK banks are better than Spanish banks but maybe they remember how things used to be years ago.
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby jonbar.1 » Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:11 pm

Cheers Fyfin.
We also use Nationwide.
We have chosen to have both of our incomes paid into them.( nothing is paid directly into Sabadell)
Maybe it's only Sabadell who allow you to transfer money to them via a normal direct debit.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Wicksey » Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:10 pm

jonbar.1 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:41 pm We opened an account with Sabadell when we arrived in Spain 10 years ago.
We have our pensions payed into our UK bank but transfer a set sum every month to Sabadell by simple Direct-Debit.
The transaction is free but,of course, the amount appearing after transfer is subject to the usual exchange-rate fluctuations.
We are more than happy with both our banks; especially as we don't pay any bank charges to either. :thumbup:
Mrs Jonbar & I like an easy life. :D
Sabadell now charge us 20€ a quarter for the Expansion account that used to be free. We pay in 700€ pm as we were told that was required, but as we don't yet have state pensions I think this is why we are being charged :think: . I think if your state pension goes directly to them then perhaps there aren't these fees.

Moving money about using Wise takes only a few minutes. It is very easy using the app and I wouldn't use any other method nowadays. Living here with a UK bank account means that I do all transfers and payments online which is quick and easy to do.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby jonbar.1 » Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:24 pm

Sabadell used to charge us €15 per quarter, but since last August we are charged nothing.
Apparently because of the amount we always have in our account,plus three direct debits.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fyfin » Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:02 pm

We actually don't get charged by Ibercaja but state pension is paid in there.
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fincalospinos » Thu Mar 30, 2023 7:46 am

Have banked with Cajamar for years, having both business and personal accounts. Charges were always minimal and clearly stated, with no unauthorised charges.
Since retiring, we changed to their Wefferent account and have UK pensions paid directly into this account. It is an online account, and providing you dont physically enter the bank (other than to use ATM ) there are no charges. If you do go into the bank for any reason, there is a 6 Euro charge for that month.
Debit and Credit cards cost 30 Euros / year.
Hardworking resident !!

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby jonbar.1 » Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:19 am

I can't believe that Sabadell is the only bank where you can have a normal( not "only online") " account with no charges.This includes debit cards etc. :think:
Surely there must be another bank who offers this ?

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Wicksey » Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:11 am

I shall have to have a look at Sabadell and see if there's anyway to avoid the 80€ a year charge. We have numerous direct debits as all our bills are paid that way but not sure how much we'd have to keep in there to avoid fees.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby jonbar.1 » Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:05 am

Good idea Wicksey.
I'm sorry I don't actually know exactly how they determine the level of charge.
We have been with them for 10 years and have always had a few €K in the account.Possibly we've ticked the right boxes.??
Must be worth an enquiry though. :thumbup:

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby markwilding » Fri Mar 31, 2023 5:04 am

I also have accounts in both countries. I don't transfer money between countries as I just use the the UK account for UK expenditure and the Spanish one for what I need here.
I have never had a problem with money being taken out of my Spanish account for no reason. What I have heard is the government can take fines and any money owing from the account but i don't really see that as a problem as I will pay any fine before it gets to that situation. It's not as if I could avoid paying because just like in the UK, I'm sure they would attempt to recover any unpaid fines anyway but maybe through over means like using bailiffs, who from what i have seen on UK TV, have the right to enter the house and take away property.

One facility that I don't think exists in the UK but I believe is possible here to use in my account here is that If, for example my phone company takes an unauthorised payment, I have a button in my online banking site which allows me to put the money back into my account.

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fyfin » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:26 am

Mark, exactly so. This is why I find it strange that living in Spain for so many years there are still people who think the UK system is somehow better. I pointed out that, as you said, you can actually recover a payment within a certain time limit if it shouldn't have been paid.
Still, nowt as strange as folk as they say.
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Pamela1 » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:39 am

There is a tradition amongst many Spanish families of adding their children to their bank accounts...Why i don't know, when i asked hubby he told me it is common amongst many Spanish families. Perhaps in these modern times not so many families do this anymore and hopefully they don't.We heard a story from our Spanish neighbour about what happened to his brother, he discovered that his bank account was almost empty when he turned up to the bank to withdraw some money. It was a huge shock, 10,000 euros gone, disappeared.He had not long since lost his wife and had recently retired.. He found out that it was because one of his daughters was in debt and the debt had been recovered from his account.Both her and her husband had been living beyond their means, however i'm not sure the daughter would realise her fathers account could be raided.. Horrendous situation...This is when the bailiffs coming in would have benefited him, both his daughter and her husband have decent cars standing outside their property. :wink:

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby El Cid » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:41 am

A friend owns a house on an urbanisation. The local council is trying to get the owners to pay large sums of money because there was a problem between the original developer and the council. The whole issue is under legal consideration and has not been resolved to date. That did not stop the council arbitrarily taking €35000 directly out of his bank account without any notice.

I'm not sure a UK bank would allow this.

Sid

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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby fyfin » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:46 am

Interesting. Although I suppose these are rare. I guess that can explain the suspicious attitude then
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby peteroldracer » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:51 am

"both his daughter and her husband have decent cars standing outside their property"
chances are they are both on personal lease or some other finance, particularly if they are keener on how they look rather than exercising fiscal prudence!
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Re: Spanish bank or UK Bank - who do you trust?

Postby Wicksey » Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:30 pm

El Cid wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:41 am That did not stop the council arbitrarily taking €35000 directly out of his bank account without any notice.

I'm not sure a UK bank would allow this.

Sid
A very good reason not to have 35k sitting in the bank perhaps :think:


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