Second home near Javea banking

Hello,

We bank with BBVA and free banking is available provided that you pay in at least 2,500 euros per quarter. Direct Debit facilities are available.

Good morning,  we now bank with wise and have all our D/D set up . We set up online for electric and went into water to set that up, all very easy. The bank was charging €24 a month for bank account.  Even with the small charges with wise its saving us so much money . Its all very easy to get account , we did ours online . Hope this helps 😊

You can also pay your direct debits via Wise, many of us non residents have ditched the Spanish banks and now use Wise, no running costs but small fees for transactions ( not direct debits )

Ken

Thank you so much for replying. I was thinking of BBVA as they have branches in Javea. Are they helpful in branch or do you not really need to go there? 

Thank you very much, that’s so helpful. May I ask if you use a Wise debit card for goods and services eg shopping and restaurants because that’s the other thing we need to work out how to do most effectively. Thanks

Thanks Ken - super helpful. And do you use Wise for paying for things out and about too?

Yes I do, Wise can provide a debit card.

For me, Wise has been a game changer, such a relief to rid myself of the Spanish bank, my branch hadn't the first idea of customer service and then there was the extortionate charges, all they did for me was pay my direct debits.

One thing to note about the Wise card, it isn't the best for ATM withdrawals, limit is €200 per month, any more than that and charges kick in.

I have an alternative arrangement to cover this, if you have a Santander account in the UK then withdrawals at a Santander atm in Spain are free of charge and at good exchange rates too.

Ken

Yes we use it in restraunts and shopping contactless., there is a charge to get money out but it is so much cheaper than having a bank account.  The charges at ATM  varies so shop around,  they will tell you the fee 😊

Great to know, thanks. We had a nightmare getting the deposit on the house across as the vendor’s bank didn’t want to accept the funds from a euro bank account which happened to be offshore  - eventually we paid it to Wise for them and it it cleared straight away! I read the CEO is being investigated for something but I suppose as long as you don’t keep large sums in there it doesn’t really matter that it’s not a big established bank.. Really very grateful 😃