Another possible bank rip off

[BeachLife]

Got the same mail Dave. Dont think anything is changing just the branding.

I am really happy with TF Wise. Used if or years now, the speed of transfer into my BBVA account is almost instantaneous and NO charges incurred at all transferring from my UK Lloyds into BBV via Transferwise. The cost and closeness to that moment's spot rate are unbeatable having checked the competition

[puddy-woo]

Ive just received a letter from Sabadell with a statement of charges. €120 annual fee. €40 Admin and €30 for debit card. So without any extras it costs €190 pa to hold an account.  Outrageous.   They charged me .90 euros to check my balance !!

[John H]

I've just had my new (Transfer) Wise debit card come through, you can set up Direct Debits from your account....seems like a simple way to negate the need of an expensive Spanish bank account.
There is no charge for the card or for setting up direct debits.

Regards all

John

PS just noticed that my ATM free of usage charge allowance has been increased

[BeachLife]

That's outrageous I know it's a hassle but time to move bank.

I am with BBVA - not the best I know particularly when it comes to customer service BUT I have only a fraction of those charges - less than €20 for the year.

I am watching closely in case this is related to a Brexit thing (increased charges) but it shouldn't be as all my money comes in from Transferwise which as discussed before is classed as an EU transfer, not one coming from the UK

Spanish banks are desperate for money and they will, without doubt, do anything to skim money off their customers under the guise of "charges" - every time I have tried to do something to reduce my exposure to BBVA's handcuffs (ie trying to get away from their expensive BBVA Seguros home insurance) the obstacles placed in the way are designed to make you give up in the end

Ive just received a letter from Sabadell with a statement of charges. €120 annual fee. €40 Admin and €30 for debit card. So without any extras it costs €190 pa to hold an account.  Outrageous.   They charged me .90 euros to check my balance !!

[John H]

Just to add, my bank account with Transferwise is in Belgium.
It operates just as any other current account, with certain limitations, for example they don't issue loans.
I've used it for over three years, I transfer money into it with no fees and get the normal brilliant exchange rate, I've used the card with zero issues for three years, it didn't get used much last year, to pay for meals, petrol, hotels, withdraw cash with zero issues.
The app for the card is super, instant notification of use if the card, you can freeze the card from the app...as you would expect from Wise it's spot on.
It would be a great solution to ditching the bills associated with Spanish bank accounts

Regards all

John

[Blue and white stripes]

I'm amazed that your charges are only 20 euros a year Beachlife. I've been with BBVA since 2000 and my charges gradually rose from 32 - 100 euros in 2010 and then levelled out at about 100 euros for 2010-2019 until last year when they rose to 160 euros.
Time to move I think.

[Ron l]

I got received this today from sabadell

[Derek]

I'm amazed that your charges are only 20 euros a year Beachlife. I've been with BBVA since 2000 and my charges gradually rose from 32 - 100 euros in 2010 and then levelled out at about 100 euros for 2010-2019 until last year when they rose to 160 euros.
Time to move I think.

I am with BBVA and pay zero charges (just 26 Euro a year for the debit card).

Derek

Here is a link to sign up for Free BBVA banking
https://www.bbva.es/en/personas/productos/cuentas/cuenta-online-sin-comisiones.html

I see that they say only for new customers surely this supports my view of a rip off. However an account in your name or your wife's name or a joint account gives you three options of opening an new account. I pesonally would phone them and tell them where to get off. Free accounts or goodbye would be the message

[John H]

This might be of interest;
https://moneysaverspain.com/avoid-fees-spanish-banks/

About 15 years ago we recruited around 30 Spanish pharmacists, due to my "ties" with Spain I spent quite a lot of time with them, I remember how astounded they were, when we helped them set up UK bank accounts, that personal banking was free of charge, it was a new concept to them!!

Perhaps if UK banks made a charge for maintaining accounts they wouldnt resort to misselling PPI and other such dubious activities to generate a profit, just saying!!

Regards all

John

[Blue and white stripes]

Many thanks Derek.

[DaveG]

Hi B&W, I've been intending to open the account recommended by Derek but haven't got around to it yet; maybe now is the time. As part of the process you will need a Spanish mobile number and if it's a joint account a separate mobile no. for each account holder. We have phones with a dual sim holder so we both got a PAYGO sim before we left Spain' it's €10 / month for 1GB data, 3000 texts and 100mins calls. It's very handy to call a Spanish number from the UK as there's no charge.

Beachlife, if you're not already aware, by law, you have to give at least a months notice to cancel your house insurance - I tried with Sabadell last year with a couple of weeks before renewal and here is the rather brusque response: - You can find all the information on the attache document, please remember that if you wish to cancel the Insurance you should notified one month in advanced, your House insurance renewal is on the 25th of August so you are not in time.. I won't make the mistake this year, I can get a better insurance with Liberty Seguros for €60 less through a local broker.
 

[BeachLife]

Hi Dave.

BBVA went completely above and beyond to thwart my attempts over many years to move away from BBVA Seguros.

In no particular order.

# THREE monts notice
# Hand signed letter declaring that you want to change
# Presented IN PERSON - at your branch (no other branch)
# No emailed scanned or faxed copy allowed

So after years of trying I rocked up in September - letter in hand. passport (just in case) along with food and drink for the wait.

Bit of background I have a very small mortgage with them still so that I don't incur any penalties for early completion.

That's what did for me this time ... They wanted me to PROVE I had another insurance policy in place to protect "their" house !

I would have had to have had a policy with say Linea Directa running in parallel for over 3 months minimum to be able to prove that.

So I told him he was pretty useless and left (again)

Hi B&W, I've been intending to open the account recommended by Derek but haven't got around to it yet; maybe now is the time. As part of the process you will need a Spanish mobile number and if it's a joint account a separate mobile no. for each account holder. We have phones with a dual sim holder so we both got a PAYGO sim before we left Spain' it's €10 / month for 1GB data, 3000 texts and 100mins calls. It's very handy to call a Spanish number from the UK as there's no charge.

Beachlife, if you're not already aware, by law, you have to give at least a months notice to cancel your house insurance - I tried with Sabadell last year with a couple of weeks before renewal and here is the rather brusque response: - You can find all the information on the attache document, please remember that if you wish to cancel the Insurance you should notified one month in advanced, your House insurance renewal is on the 25th of August so you are not in time.. I won't make the mistake this year, I can get a better insurance with Liberty Seguros for €60 less through a local broker.

[DaveG]

Cheers Beachlife for the heads up, in case Sabadell didn't come completely clean with me I'll start a lot sooner this year than I had intended. Although it may be a moot point if I have closed the account before then.

[Derek]

Hi B&W, I've been intending to open the account recommended by Derek but haven't got around to it yet; maybe now is the time. As part of the process you will need a Spanish mobile number and if it's a joint account a separate mobile no. for each account holder. We have phones with a dual sim holder so we both got a PAYGO sim before we left Spain' it's €10 / month for 1GB data, 3000 texts and 100mins calls. It's very handy to call a Spanish number from the UK as there's no charge.

Beachlife, if you're not already aware, by law, you have to give at least a months notice to cancel your house insurance - I tried with Sabadell last year with a couple of weeks before renewal and here is the rather brusque response: - You can find all the information on the attache document, please remember that if you wish to cancel the Insurance you should notified one month in advanced, your House insurance renewal is on the 25th of August so you are not in time.. I won't make the mistake this year, I can get a better insurance with Liberty Seguros for €60 less through a local broker.

Hi David

Not true as you do not need a Spanish Mobile. I only have a UK mobile and it all works perfectly and I have had the free accounts for about two years.

Derek

PS I did go around all the Companies that I had direct debits with like Water, Electric etc and with my limited Spanish I was quite pleased with their helpful response.

I expect this could be done online but it gave me something to do whilst I was over in GA

[Blue and white stripes]

I'm with BBVA and their app works perfectly on my Virgin English mobile. 10 euros a month for a Spanish phone would defeat the object of saving 160 euros a year on charges especially as I 've got roaming.
I was happy to pay a couple of euros a week for my BBVA account. It's the fact it's gone up 50%+ that really pees me off.