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How much to keep in bank

Posted: Sat Sep 4, 2021 6:28pm
6 replies387 views5 members subscribed
Mary2022

Posts: 21

4 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 16 Mar 2021

Hi all,

We are hoping to buy a small place in La Marina later this year. We are going to open a Spanish bank account and want to find out how much we would have to keep in it. We appreciate we would need sufficient money for utility bills, but confused as to how much the Spanish government is asking us to keep in account. Many thanks in advance for any info

Kimmy11

Posted: Sat Sep 4, 2021 7:13pm

Kimmy11

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 6869

12554 helpful points

Joined: 8 Aug 2017

Posted: Sat Sep 4, 2021 7:13pm

Hi Mary,

My in-laws lived in La Marina for 18 years and loved it.

Regarding bank accounts, the Spanish Government only stipulates a mandatory amount required to be held in your Spanish account if you are applying for residency.  If you're a UK citizen, this is considerably more since Brexit, as you now have to apply for a visa and meet the financial and healthcare requirements, depending on which type you apply for, e.g. Non-lucrative visa, Work visa, etc.  If you're Irish, you can apply for residency as an EU citizen, for which the financial requirements are much lower.

If you don't plan to become resident and the property is going to be just a holiday home, the bank will stipulate how much you need to keep in your account for it to remain open.  However, it's worth noting that Spanish banks charge quite high fees for non-resident accounts and you may wish to consider an online bank instead - so long as it has an EU IBAN, you will be able to set up direct debit payments for your utilities.

Kind regards,

Kim

Mary54

Posted: Sat Sep 4, 2021 9:23pm

Posts: 10

Location: La Marina

Joined: 26 Aug 2021

Posted: Sat Sep 4, 2021 9:23pm

Kimmy11 wrote on Sat Sep 4, 2021 7:13pm:

Hi Mary,

My in-laws lived in La Marina for 18 years and loved it.

Regarding bank accounts, the Spanish Government only stipulates a mandatory amount required to be held in your Spanish account if you are applying for residency.  If you're a UK citizen, this is considerably more since Brexit, as you now have to apply for a visa and meet the financial and healthcare requirements, depending on which type you apply for, e.g. Non-lucrative visa, Work visa, etc.  If you're Irish, you can apply for residency as an EU citizen, for which the financial requirements are much lower.

If you don't plan to become resident and the property is going to be just a holiday home, the bank will stipulate how much you need to keep in your account for it to remain open.  However, it's worth noting that Spanish banks charge quite high fees for non-resident accounts and you may wish to consider an online bank instead - so long as it has an EU IBAN, you will be able to set up direct debit payments for your utilities.

Kind regards,

Kim

Hi Kim, thank you very much for all that information.  I will definitely look for an online bank account and other comments on this site have been very helpful in this regard.  I will also need to find out how much the visa and health care is going to cost.  There are many costs that need to be taken into account before buying.

Angie38

Posted: Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:32pm

Posts: 2

1 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 9 Nov 2019

Posted: Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:32pm

Mary2022 wrote on Sat Sep 4, 2021 6:28pm:

Hi all,

We are hoping to buy a small place in La Marina later this year. We are going to open a Spanish bank account and want to find out how much we would have to keep in it. We appreciate we would need sufficient money for utility bills, but confused as to how much the Spanish government is asking us t...

...o keep in account. Many thanks in advance for any info

Hi my husband and I recently opened a bank account and was asked to put 9000 euros in each and also persuaded to take out private health insurance as doing this would enable us to avoid any additional bank charges for "maintenance" if the bank card the supply you with. Be aware that when you set up an account you will have to put 700 euro in per month and adhere to the rules. It's very different to having a UK bank account. There are lots of hidden charges and lots of paperwork to sign on an electrical signature pad. Usually all in Spanish. We we told by a Spanish resident yesterday that TIE cards have to be registered at the bank or accounts will be frozen, not sure if this has something to do with Brexit or even just a rumour?

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Mary2022

Posted: Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:53pm

Mary2022

Original Poster

Posts: 21

4 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 16 Mar 2021

Posted: Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:53pm

Angie38 wrote on Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:32pm:

Hi my husband and I recently opened a bank account and was asked to put 9000 euros in each and also persuaded to take out private health insurance as doing this would enable us to avoid any additional bank charges for "maintenance" if the bank card the supply you with. Be aware that when you set ...

...up an account you will have to put 700 euro in per month and adhere to the rules. It's very different to having a UK bank account. There are lots of hidden charges and lots of paperwork to sign on an electrical signature pad. Usually all in Spanish. We we told by a Spanish resident yesterday that TIE cards have to be registered at the bank or accounts will be frozen, not sure if this has something to do with Brexit or even just a rumour?

Thank you Angie for that info. I have heard Spanish banks are expensive. This forum has suggested having an online Spanish bank which is cheaper. I think this would probably be difficult to begin with if buying a property. 

Mary

Kimmy11

Posted: Thu Sep 9, 2021 10:03am

Kimmy11

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 6869

12554 helpful points

Joined: 8 Aug 2017

Posted: Thu Sep 9, 2021 10:03am

Mary54 wrote on Sat Sep 4, 2021 9:23pm:

Hi Kim, thank you very much for all that information.  I will definitely look for an online bank account and other comments on this site have been very helpful in this regard.  I will also need to find out how much the visa and health care is going to cost.  There are many costs th...

...at need to be taken into account before buying.

Hi Mary,

If the property is going to be a holiday home only, you don't need to worry about a visa or healthcare, although you will need to comply with Schengen travel zone rules, i.e. staying a maximum of 90 days in a rolling 180 days in Spain and any other Schengen country.

If you're a UK citizen and planning to move permanently to Spain, the financial requirements since Brexit for a Non-lucrative visa (which doesn't allow you to work and typically is the one which retired people apply for) is around €27,200 for the first person and around €34,500 for 2 people.  This amount has to be proved to be available for each year of the first 5 years of residency, following which you become "permanent" residents.  The visa has to be applied for at your nearest Spanish Consulate in the UK.  It lasts 3 months and 15 days, during which time you move to Spain and apply for residency, which must be done within the first month of moving here.  Your first residency permit will last 1 year, your second and third permits each last 2 years, at the end of which you'll have achieved 5 years' permanent status and won’t need to renew again.  The permanent TIE card lasts 10 years and will require renewal, but this is a relatively straightforward admin process and does not require further proof of income or healthcare.

Healthcare can be proven either by private health insurance (I'm 60 and mine costs €870 per year for mid range cover), or if you're State Pension age, you can obtain a Form S1 from the Overseas Healthcare Team in the UK, to transfer your right to free healthcare to Spain.  It's worth noting, though, that you may have to make a contribution to the cost of any medication depending on your level of income.

Regarding Angie's post about documents that have to be provided to Spanish banks, all foreign nationals have to do this - it's in order for the banks to comply with EU money laundering and tax evasion laws.  If non-resident, you have to provide your passport details every 2 years - the banks are obliged to provide a certificate to the Spanish authorities for each non-resident bank account holder - and they charge you around €40 for the privilege!  If resident, you have to provide your TIE card to your branch.  If you should renew either of these documents, you have to provide them to the bank again.  Failure to do so will result in your account being frozen.

In the "Spain Tips and Guides" section (there's a link at the top of the page), you can find detailed guides about much of what I've covered.  Some members have also been through the visa application process already, so their feedback is well worth a read and, of course, they should be able to help with specific enquiries you may have about the process.

Kind regards,  

Kim

GrahamLynn

Posted: Thu Sep 9, 2021 12:36pm

GrahamLynn

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2497

2357 helpful points

Location: El Raso

Joined: 9 Jul 2017

Posted: Thu Sep 9, 2021 12:36pm

Angie38 wrote on Wed Sep 8, 2021 10:32pm:

Hi my husband and I recently opened a bank account and was asked to put 9000 euros in each and also persuaded to take out private health insurance as doing this would enable us to avoid any additional bank charges for "maintenance" if the bank card the supply you with. Be aware that when you set ...

...up an account you will have to put 700 euro in per month and adhere to the rules. It's very different to having a UK bank account. There are lots of hidden charges and lots of paperwork to sign on an electrical signature pad. Usually all in Spanish. We we told by a Spanish resident yesterday that TIE cards have to be registered at the bank or accounts will be frozen, not sure if this has something to do with Brexit or even just a rumour?

From the amount you deposited in to your bank account, it seems as though you were non residents going for  residency as that was the amount required to have in your account  to obtain residency at the back end of last year.  Once you’ve got your residency you do not have to keep that amount in your account. It can be spent or put back into savings  etc . Rules differ slightly about money in the bank if obtaining residency via NLV but as the amount of money has required has increased , I’ll assume you applied for residency last year. 

You should have been advised by your bank, that once you became residents that you needed to register your TIE cards with them. Nothing to do with Brexit or accounts being frozen. Again if you draw money over the counter in your bank, you do it using your passport as ID, so once you renew your passport  you need to tell your bank. 

As in the U.K. the banks here will dangle carrots to enable you to get cheaper banking. But again as the U.K. It’s all sales talk  to get you to take on their products. You just need to find a bank that offers the service you require, with acceptable charges. 

The account  you opened would have been a non residents account. Once you register your TIE cards they will open a new residents account for you.  You should also find that your charges are reduced quite dramatically. As Kim mentioned the bank produce statements/certificates required for tax purposes, are different for non residents/residents.  As a resident you can just go into your on line banking and print off the statements required for tax purposes at no charge. 

Lynn

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