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Banking

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:59am
9 replies6 members subscribed
Joben2010

Posts: 23

5 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 25 Aug 2017

Hello all

We have a holiday home in Villamartin that we use a few times a year.  We were told when we bought that we had to have a Spanish bank account. 

We are currently with Caixa bank but are not really happy with a number of things including the fees, customer service and the very frustrating on line app 

Can someone give me a dummy's step by step guide to opening a Wise account or some other online cheaper alternative. We currently have a revolut card that we use in Spain.  Can Revolut be used to pay DD's does anyone know ? 

We have a number of regular direct debits that pay water gas electric community fees etc etc and I am a bit concerned with getting these changed over as I speak very little Spanish.  

Thanks in advance 

Darro

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 7:33am

Darro

Super helpful member

Posts: 1491

1305 helpful points

Location: Catral

Joined: 8 Sep 2021

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 7:33am

Not sure know how you can call the Caxia bank app 'frustrating', I find it extremely simple to use and in terms of basic banking operations it's hard to fault.

A Wise AC should serve your needs but in all honesty if you're struggling with opening one I would humbly suggest the problem may not be Caxias.

Here is a step by step procedure https://wise.com/us/blog/how-to-open-wise-account

Good luck!

Lukas

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:32am

Lukas

Helpful member

Posts: 202

161 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 22 Jun 2021

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:32am

Revolut does not support DD.

Stevec2x

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 4:24pm

Stevec2x

Super helpful member

Posts: 1860

1057 helpful points

Location: Playa Flamenca

Joined: 23 Jan 2020

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 4:24pm

Hi Joben

Wise suport direct debits in múltiple currencies.

If you managed to register with Revolut, then Wise shouldn't be too challenging.

It is free to register with Wise, though I think you have to deposit a small amount to complete the process. Just visit Wise.com and follow the instructions.

Regarding dd's - the utility companies all have websites where you can register using your NIE. Once done, you will be able to see your payment details and change the IBAN to that allocated by Wise. Don't close your existing bank before completing the process.

For community fees, you will need to tell your community administrators - if you email them in English they can easily translate it to Spanish.

Note that Wise will give you a Belgian IBAN - and that is the one you should use for dd's in Spain.

There are 1 or 2 wrinkles depending on which utility companies you use.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

Steve

Joben2010

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:00pm

Joben2010

Original Poster

Posts: 23

5 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 25 Aug 2017

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:00pm

Hi 

Thanks for your response. 

We haven't looked at the Wise application process yet and posted on here to get a feel for how people found it, or other online accounts

I agree the caixa app is very easy to use but the frustration arises when it doesn't work. For example being unable  to transfer to our key holder recently because they wanted us in branch to sign a form. A message popped up on the app saying we could view our account only and not make any transactions on it.  No notification from the bank or anything. 

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Joben2010

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:01pm

Joben2010

Original Poster

Posts: 23

5 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 25 Aug 2017

Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:01pm

Stevec2x wrote on Mon Nov 27, 2023 4:24pm:

Hi Joben

Wise suport direct debits in múltiple currencies.

If you managed to register with Revolut, then Wise shouldn't be too challenging.

It is free to register with Wise, though I think you have to deposit a small amount to complete the process. Just visit Wise.com and follow the instructions.

Regarding dd's - the utility companies all have websites where you can register using your NIE. Once done, you will be able to see your payment details and change the IBAN to that allocated by Wise. Don't close your existing bank before completing the process.

For community fees, you will need to tell your community administrators - if you email them in English they can easily translate it to Spanish.

Note that Wise will give you a Belgian IBAN - and that is the one you should use for dd's in Spain.

There are 1 or 2 wrinkles depending on which utility companies you use.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

Steve

Hi 

Thanks for your detailed response.

I've printed it off and will look into getting our Wise account set up 

ElaineR

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:01pm

Posts: 103

33 helpful points

Location: Gran Alacant

Joined: 23 Aug 2015

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:01pm

A wise account is ideal just set up an account & enter your direct debit information in 

petermaycock

Posted: Mon Dec 4, 2023 9:33am

Posts: 89

14 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 26 Sep 2019

Posted: Mon Dec 4, 2023 9:33am

Lukas wrote on Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:32am:

Revolut does not support DD.

I pay all my monthly dd's via Revolut

REH19

Posted: Mon Dec 4, 2023 10:09am

REH19

Helpful member

Posts: 205

129 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 10 Jul 2018

Posted: Mon Dec 4, 2023 10:09am

We use Sabadell for our main Spanish bank account, but also I have a Wise account which I use as a money transfer service. I have resisted using only Wise as they won’t let you open a joint account, a Wise account is not a Bank account for legislation purposes, and I do find the Sabadell app really good and their customer service ( on the phone 😂) believe it or not is very good.

A Wise account costs nothing to open ( at the moment) so why not open one ( easy on line) and start using it to transfer money etc and then decide later what to do about Caixa

BBB1069

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2023 8:58pm

Posts: 27

8 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 9 Apr 2022

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2023 8:58pm

Lukas wrote on Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:32am:

Revolut does not support DD.

I pay all Spanish dds through Revolut no issues. 

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