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Bankia Account Changes: December announcement

Posted: Thu Jan 2, 2020 11:13am
5 replies252 views4 members subscribed
Tmarshall57

Tmarshall57

Helpful member

Posts: 98

76 helpful points

Location: El Campello

Joined: 6 Nov 2019

I have a Cuenta On account with Bankia. I own an apartment as a non resident and opened the account in September 2018. The account is free of management charges as long as the account is managed online.

On 16th December I received a letter (via Bankia's online messaging system) containing revised terms and conditions. My understanding of the letter (9 pages long) is that current users of the Cuenta On account are being moved, on 23rd February 2020, to another account type: "Por Ser Tu" which appears to have much more stringent conditions for it to remain free of charges. As a non-resident it appears I will be subject to significant charges.

The Cuenta On account is still available and is being promoted for new clients.

I just wondered if anyone else has this account, has received the letter and has formed the same view as me (the letter was in Spanish and I could not guarantee my interpretation is 100% accurate). There does appear to be some limited protests on Bankia's Facebook site but these appear to get lost amongst the other generally negative comments that appear to apply to any Spanish bank.

Tmarshall57

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:41pm

Tmarshall57

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 98

76 helpful points

Location: El Campello

Joined: 6 Nov 2019

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:41pm

I've now had confirmation that the Cuenta On account will remain free of commission as long as the account is operated according to Bankia's digital profile rules which mean operating via web/phone app and enabling push notifications on the app.

Jact

Posted: Tue Jun 2, 2020 3:36pm

Posts: 45

16 helpful points

Location: Mil Palmeras

Joined: 22 Nov 2017

Posted: Tue Jun 2, 2020 3:36pm

Tmarshall57 wrote on Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:41pm:

I've now had confirmation that the Cuenta On account will remain free of commission as long as the account is operated according to Bankia's digital profile rules which mean operating via web/phone app and enabling push notifications on the app.

Hi I’ve just read your post, Ref: Bankia.  We also opened an account back in Dec 2017 & we had maintained a balance which exempted us from monthly charges, apart from an annual payment for two debit cards.

We hadn’t noticed that we had been getting a monthly charge to our account as we weren’t aware of the changes made by the bank.

We rang Bankia who confirmed that maintaining a specific balance on the account no longer prevented bank charges & the only way to avoid them was to have a pension or salary paid into this account.  Like you we are non- resident so I would be interested if you have been successful in maintaining a free banking with Bankia?

Cheers Ade

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Tmarshall57

Posted: Tue Jun 2, 2020 11:00pm

Tmarshall57

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 98

76 helpful points

Location: El Campello

Joined: 6 Nov 2019

Posted: Tue Jun 2, 2020 11:00pm

Jact wrote on Tue Jun 2, 2020 3:36pm:

Hi I’ve just read your post, Ref: Bankia.  We also opened an account back in Dec 2017 & we had maintained a balance which exempted us from monthly charges, apart from an annual payment for two debit cards.

We hadn’t noticed that we had been getting a monthly charge to our account as we weren’t aware of the changes made by the bank....

...

We rang Bankia who confirmed that maintaining a specific balance on the account no longer prevented bank charges & the only way to avoid them was to have a pension or salary paid into this account.  Like you we are non- resident so I would be interested if you have been successful in maintaining a free banking with Bankia?

Cheers Ade

Hi Ade

The Cuenta On account doesn't rely on a minimum balance in order to remain free of charges. It relies on using the account online (digital) only. So you would need to enable "push" notifications on your phone (so you can receive notifications relating to use of ATMs etc), download the app, register your mobile number etc and not use the branch offices for transactions.

The main issue I had with Bankia was that they charged me for both debit cards (joint account) over 2 years (see resolution below). On a separate subject I then received the letter in December 2019 which I thought was realted to monthly charges being applied unless certain conditions were met (minimum payment into account, minimum balance, insurance etc.).

I resolved the debit card charges eventually be completing an official complaint form and emailing it to head office. I received a written reply to my UK address in January stating that I shouldnt have been charged and that I would receive a refund. I needed to chase this refund via email and eventually Facebook Messenger and eventually all debit card charges were refunded (112€ approx)

In connection with the letter relating to proposed bank charges I sought clarification via email and FB Messenger and it turned out that I had misunderstood the letter - the Cuenta On Account when used 100% digitally was not subject to bank charges.

So - I am now in the position where my debit card charges have been refunded and I am not subjected to any other bank charges. It took a bit of persistence but a result in the end.

Good luck

Jact

Posted: Fri Jun 5, 2020 7:58pm

Posts: 45

16 helpful points

Location: Mil Palmeras

Joined: 22 Nov 2017

Posted: Fri Jun 5, 2020 7:58pm

Tmarshall57 wrote on Tue Jun 2, 2020 11:00pm:

Hi Ade

The Cuenta On account doesn't rely on a minimum balance in order to remain free of charges. It relies on using the account online (digital) only. So you would need to enable "push" notifications on your phone (so you can receive notifications relating to use of ATMs etc), download the app, regist...

...er your mobile number etc and not use the branch offices for transactions.

The main issue I had with Bankia was that they charged me for both debit cards (joint account) over 2 years (see resolution below). On a separate subject I then received the letter in December 2019 which I thought was realted to monthly charges being applied unless certain conditions were met (minimum payment into account, minimum balance, insurance etc.).

I resolved the debit card charges eventually be completing an official complaint form and emailing it to head office. I received a written reply to my UK address in January stating that I shouldnt have been charged and that I would receive a refund. I needed to chase this refund via email and eventually Facebook Messenger and eventually all debit card charges were refunded (112€ approx)

In connection with the letter relating to proposed bank charges I sought clarification via email and FB Messenger and it turned out that I had misunderstood the letter - the Cuenta On Account when used 100% digitally was not subject to bank charges.

So - I am now in the position where my debit card charges have been refunded and I am not subjected to any other bank charges. It took a bit of persistence but a result in the end.

Good luck

Hi 

Thanks for sharing all this info with me,  Like I said, we hadn’t paid any bank charges until February this year, other than for an annual charge for our 2 Debit cards.  Now we are being charged 15€ monthly.  We rang Bankia up last week & they confirmed the changes to our account & that keeping a balance of €5000 no longer prevented us from receiving the latest introduced charges.  

They also said we could not avoid these charges unless we, as you say,downloaded the app etc & agreed to have our Pension or Salary paid directly into this Cuento- On account.  We are non - residents like you so we only have a Spanish bank to pay our bills & expenses.

By downloading the App & complying with the conditions do they automatically move your account to the no fee account?

Thanks for your advice 

Ade

Tmarshall57

Posted: Sat Jun 6, 2020 12:21am

Tmarshall57

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 98

76 helpful points

Location: El Campello

Joined: 6 Nov 2019

Posted: Sat Jun 6, 2020 12:21am

Jact wrote on Fri Jun 5, 2020 7:58pm:

Hi 

Thanks for sharing all this info with me,  Like I said, we hadn’t paid any bank charges until February this year, other than for an annual charge for our 2 Debit cards.  Now we are being charged 15€ monthly.  We rang Bankia up last week & they confirmed the changes to our a...

...ccount & that keeping a balance of €5000 no longer prevented us from receiving the latest introduced charges.  

They also said we could not avoid these charges unless we, as you say,downloaded the app etc & agreed to have our Pension or Salary paid directly into this Cuento- On account.  We are non - residents like you so we only have a Spanish bank to pay our bills & expenses.

By downloading the App & complying with the conditions do they automatically move your account to the no fee account?

Thanks for your advice 

Ade

Hi Ade

From your first post you don't say that you opened a Cuenta On account. It is this account that remains free of charges as long as the account is managed digitally. I don't, and never have, maintained a minimum balance nor paid any regular amount into the account. The Cuenta On account was open, and still is, to new customers only. If you originally opened a Bankia account that remained free of charges subject to a minimum balance being maintained, I suspect this was not a Cuenta On account. In December 2019 Bankia wrote to all customers (I only noticed my letter after checking the "correspondence" section of the website. I didn't receive a flag that I had new mail. This letter stated that most accounts were going to automatically be transferred to Bankia's "Por Ser Tu" programme which implemented charges unless you fulfilled certain conditions such as salary being paid into the account or taking out Bankia's insurance etc. I initially thought that this referred to the Cuenta On account also but I checked with Bankia and was told it didn't (the letter makes this clear when I re-read it).

I suspect that if you didn't open a Cuenta On account you could try to open one but, as I said, this may not be open to existing clients. Banks want to charge you!

The other alternative is to open a Wefferent Account with Cajamar. As a non resident you can't do this online but you can if you visit a branch and take relevant documents with you. I was planning to do this until I discovered that the Cuenta On account would remain free for me and I had a very positive conversation with Cajamar who arranged for me to be called by an English speaking agent when they realised my Spanish wasn't up to a telephone conversation. There are a number of posts on here relating to the Wefferent account.

Good luck

Tony

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