bank for expats

Hi, bank int at plays flamenca are very helpful and have lots of branches..

Ask for Asim, he is a super guy, speaks great English, we are new here, but they couldn't have been more helpful

Hope this helps

Thanks Bles..Regards

I would not recommend Caja Rural, they used to have English speakers but would seem that is no longer the case.  They have ignored my emails for 6 months now and when I call them they hang up as they do not speak English.  Sabadell in Almoradi were really good and have  sent us contracts, etc n English. 

Thanks Julietony.regards

Hi definitely bankinter in playa flamenca. Asim did everything for us by email.

Hi Johan1

I do not know the area so cannot comment on which bank would be most favourable for you. What I hope I can offer though is some guidance on when choosing a bank.

I cannot claim the advice as my own, it was an article I read! 

Firstly, whichever bank you choose you need to understand the scale of their business, this is most important for cash machines. I read that there are often (not always) charges for using another banks cash machine, so I was advised a) make sure the bank is local enough to you for you to be ablate withdraw cash and b) that they have a good network of cash machines!

Next was the issue of fees. I understand this totally depends on your residency status and different accounts are offered to those ex-pats who are residents to those who are not.

We chose Sabadell. It is local, has a few English speaking cashiers in our local area and has a good spread of cash machines. However, as a non resident, our account attracted charges... for no known reason and not something the bank clerks could easily explain! Every now and then we managed to get money refunded but one charge we did come across appears to be the fee for a non-resident having a bank account.

This only appears to be for people who DO NOT have a minimum of 700€ per month being paid in to their account.

There is a workaround to this, I hope I am not breaking any rules by advising this workaround?! 

The solution is to draw out 700€ during the month and then simply deposit the cash back in! 

Apparently the system does not consider withdrawals, it just looks to see if a minimum of 700€ has gone in to the account. If YES then NO charge. If NO then Charge!

Hope that helps!