Bank Charges in Spain where can I find a list?

I am at my wits end. My bank is Spain BBVA is charging me ridiculous amounts of money to run a basic bank account with no special facilities like overdraft or credit cards. Is there anywhere I can go to find a list of Spanish Banks and their charges?

Hi Richard and welcome to the forum. 

You will find many, many rants here about Spanish banks but I doubt very much if the list you ask about exists.  Banks here charge a fortune for things we would expect to have for free, but then again, my bank does not seem to charge very much at all for a couple of days unauthorised overdraft.

I bank with Bancaja and they say there are no charges for common transactions, although I do pay 12€ per year for my debit card since becoming resident.  Have a look at their website, and those of the other main banks, and hopefully you wil get some information that way.

Good luck!

Hi all

I have been using Citbank in Spain since I moved here 10 years ago and am happy with them.  The charges are very low but did decrease slightly when I started getting my salary paid in.  The charges were pretty low before then.

I also like that I can do free & real-time transfers between my UK and Spanish Citibank accounts

I've never used them but Santander are always advertising that their accounts have "0% commision".  Can't say what thay means in real life though.

The 2 that spring to mind that have absolutely no charges are:

-Cajamar

-Barclays

Obviously Barclays is the better of the 2.

Richard

Have you been into BBVA to query the charges and say that they seem far too high?  I have done that a couple of times and had them reduced!  I do agree though that it might be a good idea to change.  My husband banks with CajaMurcia and his charges are a lot less.  I think on the whole the Cajas seem to be the best bet.

Sue

Thanks all for your wonderful help and advice.

I will follow up on some of those ideas.

Regards Richard

I would avoid all Cajas personally, probably a time bomb waiting to go off with all their bad property loans. The big banks (BBVA and Santander) are probably happily charging whatever they want and getting away with it, as their customers no doubt are willing to pay a bit for security in uncertain times. I wasn't, so walked away from BBVA after many content years. Now with Solbank (part of Sabadell, also a pretty big one); Barclays are probably a good choice for foreigners as they do seem to make sure they have English speakers in their branches.

Can andbody comment on the Barclays ' Not just any Current Account ' offering?

They seem to be offering no charges, free cards and a 3% cashback on bills paid by direct debit amongst other things

Seems to be to good to be true!

s

Yes have to agree we changed from the Bank of Valencia, to Barclays no charges at all and even some interest. Which seems amazing to me in Spain.  But as I have said before it could all change but it will do for now.

Pat 

Must have posted at the same time Team GB, yes I thought that when we changed but thought we would give them a try, been with them over a year now and everything has been fine  You do get interest and no charges they set all the direct debits up for us with no problems at all.  

Hope this helps.

Pat  

Pop in this week to complain and negotiate new charges and you will at least get a free bottle of wine.

If you have an X in your NIE/DNI then that translates extranjero and for the bank that's a licence to steal.

Spanish nationals do not pay these ridiculous charges and changing resident status does not automatically mean you change tariffs.

But you can negotiate.

Thanks Pat

I think its time we opened one of these accounts with Barclays.

S

Hi Team GB Good luck with it, you will need all your paperwork ie Utility bills etc!!!!!!.  I expect you know that.

Let us know how you get on

Pat