bank account

[yamxj]

hi everyone my wife and i are here for a couple of months as we are hopefully buying a property later this year we need to open a bank account can we do this without an NIE number or do we need this first

[Johnrgby2]

hi, everyone, my wife and I are here for a couple of months as we are hopefully buying a property later this year we need to open a bank account can we do this without an NIE number or do we need this first

You can do it without an NIE number, I opened ours In August but did not get an NIE until October, the thing to remember is most banks offer different accounts to residents and non-residents, so when choosing a Bank bear that in mind.

[yamxj]

thank you do you have any suggestions i am a santader customer at home does that make it any easier

[Logitechtom]

Santander UK and Banco Santander are entirely separate banks.  The UK government insisted on separation when Banco Santander started looking at entering the UK market, so, in answer to your question, no, there is no benefit from banking with Santander in the UK and Fuerteventura.

The questions you need to consider are :
Location of the branch to where you want to purchase (car parking/bus route etc.)?
Do any staff speak English?
Location of cash points?
Bank charges?
Internet banking, mobile banking, phone app (remember you will need to manage the account when you are back in the UK)?

Not an exclusive list, but some of the points we had to look at.

Hope that helps.

Tom.
(Santander UK and Solbank Fuerteventura).

[Johnrgby2]

thank you do you have any suggestions I am a Santander customer at home does that make it any easier

We are with Sabadell { Sol Bank } I did some research before leaving The UK, and it appeared to me to be the best option, and We have had no real issues

[Windermeregolfer]

Agree with JohnR  re Sabadell we walked into the Caleta Atlantico branch, having done research on this site, with Passports and driving licences and 3/4 (three quarters) of an hour later walked out having opened an account, deposited 50â,¬,  with all the account details, online banking, a week later debit cards arrived in the post in the UK all very straight forward, highly impressed.

Can't praise the branch staff highly enough.

[MalT]

Also with sol bank and no problems and very efficient with English speaking staff

[yamxj]

thank you everyone that helps very much

[yamxj]

well an up date opening a bank account tried solbank at atlantico and caixa they both said we have to be residents either a contract of employment or contract saying we are in process of buying a property we thought it would be easier to get an account open before we started i dont get it

[Johnrgby2]

well an up date opening a bank account tried solbank at atlantico and caixa they both said we have to be residents either a contract of employment or contract saying we are in process of buying a property we thought it would be easier to get an account open before we started i dont get it

Strange, the rules must have changed, we arrived on 24th August opened a Bank Account with Sabadell on the 29th Of August, and got an NIE,s on the 13th of October.

[spitfire58]

When we agreed to buy we went to our solicitor to start the ball rolling on a short time scale, we had two days before we were due to fly back. They arranged quick appointments with the notary & took us to their local CaixaBank branch where they were obviously well known. All done in a couple of hours. No prior NIE or anything else. That was October 2016, might have changed since then.

[yamxj]

thanks for your in put i guess we have to leave it until we are ready to buy around september

[RVEEE]

When I bought my property in La Pared, my solicitor opened an account for me in La Caixa in Costa Calma for me.

There is also a branch of Santander in Calma, both have easy parking.

[Ducks]

well an up date opening a bank account tried solbank at atlantico and caixa they both said we have to be residents either a contract of employment or contract saying we are in process of buying a property we thought it would be easier to get an account open before we started i dont get it

No NIEs were required when we opened ours, but they did demand to see a deposit contract. You definitely need one or the other these days.

They took copies of the contract (stamped by the estate agent's office), and copies of the passports. We authorised the solicitor to apply for the NIEs as required for the closing, and got them when we came back. I actually don't know if the bank have a record of that or not now, but considering we're non-resident, it won't make any difference to our fees, so we're not botheredâ€" and they seem perfectly content processing transactions as it is currently, too.

For referenceâ€" I would recommend Sabadell over Caixa, based on both the agent and solicitor's recommendations of the former (and our admittedly brief experience with them), and the hassle our vendor had when trying to close up his account with the latter. Sabadell have a great online/phone system via English, which has made our business so far a lot easier.

[Lexeus]

The La Caixa branch in Costa Calma closed down I believe? Also banca marcha closed too. Banco popular are now owned by Santander and appear to be in prcess of being absorbed and maybe rebranded/closed so basically the only bank in costa calma is Santander now.

I opened an account with Bankia a few years ago on the idea of buying one of their repossessed properties. They wanted proof of source of funds which I used my UK employment contract from my old job, and they also wanted a NIE, even though it was a non-resident account, and although it did only take an hour or two to open the account, the process of doing anything beyond getting cash requires waiting and so always take atleast an hour. I would mot recommend Bankia, I pay atleast 30â,¬ a year for just the card and account and when I actually got the point of looking at getting a bankers draft from them to buy a house I found they want 1%!! In the end I never got that far as the bank repossessions for sale involves such a corrupt process not even the spaniards can get their hands on them