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We have accounts in the Halifax in the Uk and Spain I thought that we would get free transfers between the accounts and the business rate. I went into the local branch today to sort out exactly what I needed to do to transfer funds and check information correct. They agreed that the transfers were free but that I would only get the tourist when I transferred the money to Spain. Can anyone confirm if this is right difference can be 4-5€ any help appreciated.
Thanks
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Carmel & George
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I love scampi  (with chips).
Someone has to post. 
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Gosh - are you busy on every thread!! Yes, it was from there i got the initial plugs but would be keen to know if anyone has knowledge of the Los Gallardos branch. If not would be happy to go to Vera/mojacar/Puerto Rey branches.
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Certainly had great reviews IN HERE Scampi.
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I have been recommended to consider Cajamar for value and service. I know they have a branch near where i will be living in los gallardos. Anyone else got any views on them?
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Hi Gypsy. Just checked our Banco Halifax statements & we were charged 3€ each. 
Lucky you. 
Please would you mind going to your forum profile & putting your area (Torrevieja) in so we can all know your area. Not obligatory but we're all nosy. Just helps if you ask questions specific to your area.
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Hola Jeanie, happy to have you posting. Don't leave us now, ok ?? 
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Hi Morerosado,
I agree with you that Banco Halifax is an excellent bank, my O.H. and I have
a debit card each but Banco Halifax have only charged us 3 euros for both.
We were with bankinter(obviously recommended by Atlas) who we bought through
but got out of there pretty quickly. We got charged over 24euros each last year
by Bankinter for non residents form thingy.When the account is getting low we
transfer money in from england or spain.In Torrevieja branch they also speak
english.I asked one of the staff if they had many spanish customers and he said no
that all of their customers are english and all staff MUST speak english
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GYPSY
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Hi Rosada
I find this realy interesting and helpful as eventualy we will move to spain.
I hav opened an a/c with Halifax as i received some money when i reached 60 and also receive a pension now and i didnt want it with natwest whom we have been with for donkeys years i wanted to keep it all seperate.
They are very obliging they seem to have the best deals.
So it looks like it will be the Halifax for us when we finaly move to spain.
Waiting for the house to sell so we could be here yonks yet  the way things are.
I dont post much but i read a lot.
Thanks Morerosada.
Jeanie.
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I've just got back from my weekly 1/2 day stint at the local charity shop, volunteering there I no longer need medication. 
Thank goodness for cut and paste More 
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 Think I'm needing medication !! Want some too, Semi ?? 
LAST TIME NOW !!! JUST AS WELL I KEEP THIS ON MY DESKTOP.  (WRITTEN MARCH 2007)
We are now with Halifax ES (after being with Cambank) for a few reasons. http://www.halifax.es/
1) THEY don't charge us (as non-residents ) ANYTHING for the declaration of non residency. ( Cambank charges 17 euros something every two years for each person named on the a/c ! )
2) We have (now) a Halifax high interest current a/c in the UK & enjoy FREE transfers at almost bank rates & transfers are in our Spanish a/c within three working days generally ! Halifax UK has increased the rate of credit interest on its High Interest Current Account to 6% Gross (6.17% AER) for first £2,500 (March 2007. Now it's 5.12% gross I believe July 2008)
3) A debit card is only 3 euros annually, think it's 6 euros at Cambank.
4) NO bank charges to maintain a/c if 600 euros (opening balance) is maintained generally. Cambank charged us a quarterly fee of 5.75 euros to maintain the current a/c even though we always had a minimum of 1,000 euros in most of the time.
5) FREE direct debits.
6) Guardamar (Costa Blanca) opened a branch in October 2006. Very conveniently sited on Torrevieja side of the town next door to "Bedz" shop. Parking right outside. Everyone speaks perfect English & actually Claire IS English !
7) We opened a Spanish a/c by ringing the European Banking Dept in Halifax on 0845 number, see
http://www.halifax.es/halifaxing/acc/openingacc.asp?sec=acc It was quite simple & an a/c can be opened before you go over next.
HOW you go about opening the Spanish current (basic) a/c from the UK.
As I said before you ring up The European Banking Dept. Based in Halifax on 0845 600 3603 (Mon - Fri 9 - 5 BUT, if you ring outside these hours you can ask them to contact you, I often did this around 8.45am , saves your phone bill !!!) & ask for the application pack. It'll arrive within a couple of days.
There's an info sheet on how to fill it in but it was easy.
It's quite self explanatary.
"Source Of funds" we ticked "savings"
"Type Of Account" we ticked "Current Account" box.
"Additional Facilities" we ticked both "Cheque Book" & "Debit Card"
"Account Holding Branch" .. IF you want the branch to be GUARDAMAR, which is our nearest branch, it is so new (only opened October 2006) so it wasn't listed. SO .. You NEED to write "Guardamar" in this section & create a tiny box which you tick.
Declaration Of Residence For Tax Purposes
"Taxpayer's Data/Datos Identificativos" ONLY put your passport no. In box 3.
"Country Code" box 10. Write 006
"Type Of Declaration" WE ticked box 13 because WE had gone through all this having had a Cambank a/c previously. Tick box 11 if it's your FIRST declaration.
Don't forget to sign back of form & add your passport numbers.
Get photocopies of both your passport's personal pages & a utility bill with your ID & address on. Take form & these copies ALSO originals to your local Halifax branch. They'll need to verify the copies so need to see originals. They'll put a sticker on the copies & scribble over the stickers.
That sorted, you go to the cashier. I ASSUME you have Halifax UK current a/c as you'll NEED one in order to get the FREE transfers. Tell the cashier you need to transfer minimum 600 euros from your Halifax UK a/c to the holding a/c detailed in your Welcome Pack.
This will be an International Bank A/C No. (IBAN) plus a Bank Identifier Code (BIC/SWIFT)
(ENSURE she puts the customer reference they've given you on with your full names.) This holding a/c is ONLY used for this first transaction, you'll get your a/c number once all is set up. She'll convert this to sterling & give you an A4 form with all this on. (We transferred 650 € & also asked for a copy of transaction to send to Halifax in with application forms & verified copies of passports & utility bill.) She'll give you the preferential rate. (EG.. We got 1.46 when all we would've got at T.Cook's, best in town, was 1.41 AT THE TIME ! Commercial rate then was about 1.48 !)
Put all in the pre-paid evelope & post off.
After a couple of days you'll get a letter from Halifax advising you they've received your application & everything has been transferred to head office in Madrid. If you ring Halifax at this point they likely will have your Spanish a/c number. I rang for ours & she rang me next morning with it.
Once you have your a/c no. you obviously use that when transferring funds over. Nothing more now goes into the holding a/c ! You can either set up security with European banking dept & ring them asking for transfers or we have just been going into our local branch & getting them to do it as we then get a receipt. Transfers are taking three working days.
Your cheque books, debit cards & PIN's will all come through separately, from Madrid. It can take a couple of weeks.
This message was last edited by morerosado on 7/9/2008.
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Hi AP007 - If you scroll down/up this thread it gives details of the two types of accounts that Non-Residents can open with Banco Halifax and how they operate.
I see that you've not updated your details with where your property is in Spain, it does help when answering any questions you may have at a later date.
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Believe Halifax Building Society have a banking arm in Spain - Banco Halifax Hispania
Why not give HAlfax a call 0845 601 8156 have just got a pack from them myself but haven't read it yet. Worth a look as believe no account fees and transfers from Halifax Bldg Society accounts to their spanish accounts is free..
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Another 6e saved through the power of the internet
We do exactly the same, the other good thing about Nationwide debit cards is that if you have a joint account each card has a £300 a day limit.
We've been doing a lot of work on the house this year and being able to draw out around 700e a day has really helped. I don't like going into a bank/building society in the UK and drawing out large amounts to pay tradesmen. You never know who's listnening to your request, you hear so many horror stories nowadays.
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Come to think of it, Semi, we both have a debit card with Banco Halifax & never use them. We only put cash into Banco Halifax when in Spain to top up the joint a/c because of having DD's for community fees, electricity & water bills. If we need more money in there & we're not going to be in Spain soon, which is hardly likely these days, we transfer free of charge from our UK Halifax a/c. In Spain we use our Nationwide Flex debit card to withdraw from Visa with best rates.
(Just told the OH we're giving up our Banco Halifax debit cards in September. (I got that look, you know the one our OHs give us when you interrupt their TV viewing. )
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Hi More, I read the pdf file and saw the charge. The file is dated January 2007 and I opened my account with them in October last year. After 6 months I wasn't charged anything so this could probably refer to a residents account.
This is the leaflet that I was given when I opened the account and the Halifax rep underlined the things which would effect me. He said that as long as I left an average balance of 600 euros over a 6 month period then there would be no maintenance charges only a 3e fee for debit card. As I've never used the one I had been given by SolBank I didn't apply for one.
Anyway you're right we should all read the small print to see if it meets our own criterias.
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Hi all
I've written so much about Banco Halifax as have others such as Semi. (I'm all Halifaxed out these days).
YES, Banco Halifax does have internet banking & the a/c can be opened in the UK. All wll be revealed if you read their website & my posts ! I wrote in this thread a few posts ago too on it at great length. You are correct saying there aren't any branches in the Mojacar area, Scampi.
HALIFAX ES
Also search "Halifax", been discussed endless times.
(Does anyone read these threads or just the last post ?)
Semi, their terms now say there's a 5€ half yrly charge see my previous post. You need to open basic current a/c with min 600€ & leave min 600€ in too or pay 18€ per 6 months. (As they don't charge me 5€ half yrly I assume it's for new customers). Check out http://www.halifax.es/halifaxing/pdf/Commission_Rates.pdf
Don't rely on other members info, check terms out in case they change for new customers.This message was last edited by morerosado on 7/8/2008.
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If you scroll further down Morerosada has posted a blue link for Halifax, maybe that will answer any questions you have.
She also opened up their account in UK so maybe you could ring and talk to someone about any concerns you have.
I was given a leaflet regarding bank charges when I opened the account. Certain transactions do incurr charges so depending on how you intend to operate your account it might be better to find out in advance.
As I said previously I use mine to pay utility bills and as long as I leave 600e in account there is no quarterly maintenance charge for doing this, Solbank charged me 19.50e for doing the same thing.
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Hey thanx. For info I have this regular quarterly charge of €19.50 just for having theaccount. They then have charged me over €40 I think because I moved some deposit money before it was in my account [their explanation] even though my on-line statement said the money was there for me to move. I am arguing with them about it and I think i will win but the principle is irritating me. I would be interested in more info on the best Halifax account - although I don't think there are any branches in the Mojacar area. I just wonder how important that actually is?
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I used to bank with Solbank and probably would have stayed with them but last year they increased my charges for 9e a quarter to 19e?. When I querried why the charges had increased I was told that they had changed my account to one that offered free cards and other incentives. I only use my Spanish account to pay direct debits and my annual declaration of non residency. As a non-resident I use my English credit and debit cards.
I decided to change my Bank to Banco Halifax and also open an account with the Halifax here in UK should we ever need to transfer money over.
I took the latest copies of all the bills I pay by D/D with me when I went to open the account and everything was dealt with by them and the changeover was successful.
There are two types of accounts you can open up, the first you have to keep an average balance of 600e over 6 months and charges are free. The second you pay an annual charge of 25e and do not have to leave a minimum balance in. Also it gives you access to a help line with English speaking staff.
On line internet access works ok but I have one gripe in that the statements you look at on-line don't show you who has submitted the direct debit, you have to click on individual payments to find out which company you've just paid.
Maybe Scampi you could elaborate on the internet banking charges and then others can say how their banks compare, that way you can decide which bank would suit your purposes.
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We should all try and do a comparison of charges.
I think I read on one of these forums that someone opened a Spanish bank account with 50 Euros and it had disappeared after a year yet no transactions took place. Trouble is you have to barter with the bank manager and how do you barter when you don't live there. I cannot fault SOLbank but they charge for everything . I am sure if my hubs, who speaks fluent Spanish, discussed these charges with the bank manager they would be reduced but he won't haggle over a few Euros. He tells me to go and do it but how can I when I don't spead the language?
I am interested in the charges for a British bank based inSpain.
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