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I read on here last week that several people use Wise instead of a spanish high street bank. We are non resident and have a spanish Santander account but would be interested in using Wise for all direct debits etc. We currently use Wise to transfer euros. How easy is it to set up direct debits for electric, water etc with Wise and would Santander move everything for us or would we have to move everything ourselves? Any advice would be appreciated.
Sarah67 wrote on Wed Mar 4, 2026 1:49pm:
I read on here last week that several people use Wise instead of a spanish high street bank. We are non resident and have a spanish Santander account but would be interested in using Wise for all direct debits etc. We currently use Wise to transfer euros. How easy is it to set up direct deb...
Read more...
...its for electric, water etc with Wise and would Santander move everything for us or would we have to move everything ourselves? Any advice would be appreciated.
I use Wise to pay all my direct debits, I don’t have a Spanish bank account. It’s fairly straightforward to set up the direct debit. If you login to your utility accounts on line you should be able to change your payment details or call them up. If I remember Hidraqua for my water was the most difficult but it was a while ago. I don’t think your current bank will do this for you.
Is Santander charging you for using your account? If not then stay where you are as they get good reports and you won't be restricted on withdrawals when you are here. The only thing you'd save on would be the biannual declaration of non residency.
If they are charging then there are very, very many posts on here about changing and some banks will automatically transfer direct debits whilst others won't or they'll change some but not others.
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 7:06am
Very helpful member
WISE can be setup for DDs but you need Euro account, if you jus have a WISE Sterling account setting up Euro is very easy, just transfer money to yourself in Euros and Wise will set it up, normally it set up in Belgium and gives you an European BE (Belgian) IBAN.
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 11:19am
Helpful member
Take Marcliffs advice,
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Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 12:09pm
Super helpful member
marcliff wrote on Wed Mar 4, 2026 2:30pm:
Is Santander charging you for using your account? If not then stay where you are as they get good reports and you won't be restricted on withdrawals when you are here. The only thing you'd save on would be the biannual declaration of non residency.
If they are charging then there are very, very many posts on here about changing and some banks will automatically transfer direct debits whilst others won't or they'll change some but not others....
Read more...
...
Interestingly, I am Wise user for all my DDs and SOs for my household bills etc.
However, I have opted - probably a fortnight or so ago, to set up an online account with Santander (Spain not UK) - this was the "free" online account. See here:
https://www.bancosantander.es/particulares/cuentas-bancarias/cuenta-online-sin-comisiones/
It's all been set-up, I've opted only to use the online banking rather than download the app (I already have far to many apps on my phone) and it seems as straightforward and intuitive as the Sabadell account I used to have.
I've only put a small amount of money in and will simply use it for easier cash withdrawals which are fee free as opposed to having to find a Kuxtabank each time.
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 12:35pm
Super helpful member
This post that was quoted has been deleted.
I won't be able to comment as a non-resident as that doesn't apply to me.
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 1:34pm
This post that was quoted has been deleted.
We use the spanish account for all our utility bill direct debits hence my question about Wise as we do pay a fee for the santander account!
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 1:39pm
This post that was quoted has been deleted.
We pay a monthly fee for our spanish santander account.
Posted: Thu Mar 5, 2026 2:04pm
Legendary helpful member
George55 wrote on Thu Mar 5, 2026 12:09pm:
Interestingly, I am Wise user for all my DDs and SOs for my household bills etc.
However, I have opted - probably a fortnight or so ago, to set up an online account with Santander (Spain not UK) - this was the "free" online account. See here:
Read more...
https://www.bancosantander.es/particulares/cuentas-bancarias/cuenta-online-sin-comisiones/
It's all been set-up, I've opted only to use the online banking rather than download the app (I already have far to many apps on my phone) and it seems as straightforward and intuitive as the Sabadell account I used to have.
I've only put a small amount of money in and will simply use it for easier cash withdrawals which are fee free as opposed to having to find a Kuxtabank each time.
Hi George,
do you know if you can withdraw cash from ATM's other than Santander free of charge? If not, any idea where the Santander ATM's are around the Los Dolses area?
I am a non-resident, if they do have a fee free a/c for non-res. then I might take a look. The only advantage (to me) would be the ability to get over 200euro's a month in cash, fee free.
Thks,
Aitch.
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