Direct Debits In Spain

greyteam1959

@teamgb
That's exactly why I am considering using Transferwise Borderless Account for the payment of my DD in Spain.

I am getting well fed up with the Spanish banking system after 16 years of of playing their 'charge you for everything' game.

I don't have a large amount of euro's a month ( in any form, pension or otherwise ) to pay in to get free banking, I don't want to take the bank's insurance, I don't want to finance a car & I am not under 26 years old.

So no free banking for me.

teamgb

Our annual D/D bills in Spain amount to about 1300eurs, 10% of that goes to the bank.


The exchange rate for small amounts with Starling is only 0.4% and it is instant which means I will keep a smaller amount in the account.


The account only took a few minutes to open. I was given second hand smart phone which you need to open and operate the a/c. I am 70 years old.

colsten

greyteam1959 wrote: »

That's exactly why I am considering using Transferwise Borderless Account for the payment of my DD in Spain.

The Borderless account isn't bad. But Starling is better IMO, not least because you get FSCS protection.

The only proviso I have is that with the Borderless account, you get an IBAN starting with BE (Belgium, EU and Eurozone). With Starling, you get an IBAN starting GB (not EU, not Eurozone). IBAN digits should, hopefully, not matter as we go forward - though I have already been asked for proof of account ownership before because of the first two digits of the IBAN being GB. Starling did provide that proof on request. Only the Gods know whether things will get more complicated with Brexit.

teamgb

Just to follow from my posts in December. I closed my Santander a/c in Spain, it took about an hour of my time and they charged me 32euros for doing so. Like we said they charge for everything and customer service is not a priority.

More reasons not to have a Spanish bank a/c, I am happy to be shut of them.

My Starling bank a/c is fully set up and working well.

greyteam1959

And to follow up on my post.
I have closed my  Spanish Bankia bank account after been advised of charges of 14 euro per month up from 5 euro per month.
No charge to close the account, but I had to look at the disgruntled Spanish lady who closed the account in about 5 minutes flat.
Set up all my direct debits with Transferwise on my Borderless euro account.

colsten

greyteam1959 said:

Set up all my direct debits with Transferwise on my Borderless euro account.

Just don't forget that you have no FSCS protection on your Borderless account. If that's an issue, you could use Starling.

greyteam1959

FSCS protection does not concern me but thanks for your concern.
I only keep a few hundred euro in the account.

Jonpolley

Bankia do not actually charge you anything as long as your nomina is going into your account on a monthly basis. 

greyteam1959

Jonpolley said:

Bankia do not actually charge you anything as long as your nomina is going into your account on a monthly basis. 

Yes l am aware of that.

Duncxn

greyteam1959 said:

And to follow up on my post.
I have closed my  Spanish Bankia bank account after been advised of charges of 14 euro per month up from 5 euro per month.
No charge to close the account, but I had to look at the disgruntled Spanish lady who closed the account in about 5 minutes flat.
Set up all my direct debits with Transferwise on my Borderless euro account.

Hi, I found my way onto here whilst googling exactly this problem. I have a property in Spain but live in the UK and currently pay my direct debits using my Banco Sabadell current account. The bank charges are ridiculous and their customer service is terrible. Can I ask, how did you go about setting up the direct debits from your new account? I'm terrified of any break in the electricity company getting their money, last time this happened (through no fault of mine) they ripped out the meter within one month - I'm not joking!

Any help/advice appreciated.