open a bank account without NIE

Absolutely NOT - it's not the bank, it's the law.

I opened a key card account with Sabadell. As yet I don't have an NIE, but I was able to open it with a passport in person at the El Campello branch. I was able to organise the preliminaries online, but you have to complete the application in person when in Spain.

N26 offer an online account without NIE. You only need a passport and a Spanish address to receive your debit card. The account has a Spanish IBAN and is fee free.

https://n26.com/en-eu

Thank you Peterpan

My partner also applied to Sabadell from the UK without an NIE number.

They have reserved the account but she has to go to the branch in person to sign off with her passport in the short term. 

Unfortunately no money can be put in the account sooner than 15 days before the appointment to sign off.

This is the problem because the whole reason for opening was to put the appropriate funds in the account and start making regular transfers as a belt and braces for the residency application.  She could of then just got the gesture to apply for residency without the need to get an NIE before the application.

So back to square one!

Think we may just have to take our chances and open the account mid November and partly use the Transferwise account to prove the funds prior to opening the spanish account etc. Nothing we can do. Just hope our Gestor can help.

Hi can i ask were you already in SPain when you applied?  If not which account did you apply for ? As i need either the NIE; tax ref or an Id ref? thanks

That bank looks interesting. I will have a look into it to and hope it's a financially secure bank and is covered under the fscs scheme.

Thanks for sharing.

I just had a quick look on the N26 for a Spanish bank account and it seems to suggest that you need to be a Spanish resident. Does anybody know or does it just let you join?

In addition to this I wonder if this bank could be used for proof of funds for the residency process for people?

Thanks.

Hi, you don't need to be Spanish resident, you just need a Spanish address to receive your debit card. We are non resident and had ours sent to the local delivery drop (newsagent), as our communal post boxes aren't very secure.

Unfortunately this account cannot be used for a residency application as the statements need to be certified. We have had to re-open a non resident account again but kept this one going.

.....it's covered upto €100,000 as per the european banking reg's.