The best bank account for expats relocating to Spain
You need a bank account in Spain ?
A reliable bank account from a stable bank with no commissions, no requirements, great customer service in English, easy to operate online and that allow you to open your account from abroad ?
Banco Sabadell:
Great conditions, customer service and online banking in English
Sabadell – No fees, 3% back on utility bills. And with my special offer, no salary requirements and you can open it from anywhere. Anything else ?
Yes, you heard well:
- No fees, even for international transfers in Euro, apart from transfers to a country outside the Euro-Zone. With one exception: You will not pay any commission on transfers from and to the UK. We have a special deal also for my readers and clients with low multi-currency transfers.
- they give back 3 % on all utility bills, up to 20 € a month.
- Secure Online banking in English
- Customer Service in English: Marie-Hélène at The Miguel Angel Branch will make sure everything go well, they have contracts in English, and will call you when the cards are ready, or when something strange is happeining on your account,
They normally have two requirements, which are waived if you come asking for the Moving2Madrid special offer: your normally need 700 € / month sent to the account minimum, and you need to go in the person to the office. Not anymore, I asked for a better deal knowing that this is essential to people who are moving to Spain. Do check the conditions via this summary, and do not forget the special conditions to add to this: no requirements, ability to open an account from wherever you are and special discounts for international transfers.
Simple. Only one condition: Tell Marie-Hélène from Sabadell you want the special Moving2Madrid offer Pierre recommended, and enclose your passport
Just click on the button hereunder to send her an email easily with the reference to the special offer.
Remember to enclose your passport scan so they can open the account for you right away.
I want the special Sabadell offer for Moving2Madrid
This is the special offer for readers and clients of Moving2Madrid: you will not have to transfer 700 € every month on the account, and we can arrange to open the account before you even arrive in Spain. Both these things are normally impossible.
Well in this case, I have been voicing the needs of expats, and Sabadell was smart enough to adapt and improve their conditions, because they know that if the offer is good, newly arrived international people will come.
Total disclosure: I have no exclusive agreement with Sabadell, but yes, they do reward referrers like other banks, as ING for instance. I just think it’s the best, and my happy clients and readers think too ! Do check the conditions via this summary.
If you don’t live in Madrid, this offer is also valid and your cards will be sent to the nearest branch !
If you have “moving to madrid” questions, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail !
Yours madridly,
Pierre Waters – Moving2Madrid
Agree on the Banco Sabadell- Marie-Hélène in the main branch at Miguel Ángel 23 is a great French/English speaking contact. The Caixa isn’t bad either- they have lots of small branches (at the moment!) with mostly young staff who probably speak English.
Both banks (as far as I know) are pretty sound- good if you think about the crisis.
Totally agree ! Caixa is not bad in terms of serivce, but the top 3 banks are clearly (according to global ratings and rankings) Santander, Sabadell and BBVA. Caixa is going through some debt issues. But good service indeed !
I had very negative experiences with this bank. It took them three months to give send me my debit card, they subscribed me to a credit without my acknowledgment. Whenever I went to the bank they were very incompetent and rude. Oh and most of the branches are closed during the summer.
I’m moving to ING, they have been efficient and helpful.
ING is a very good bank, and very interesting if you have a Spanish salary, a NIE and speak Spanish. It’s in fact one of my 3 banks, with Sabadell and Evo.
And as always, bad experiences can happen. What I’m sure of is this: please contact Marie-Hélène RoucouMarieHelene@sabadellsolbank.com and tell her everything that went badly. She will try to make it up to you, she has an amazing sense of customer service, speaks 3 languages, and keeps me always in the loop. ING is very efficient via email, but a bit dodgy for speaking English and being personal – no dedicated agent.
Hope you find solutions to your banking needs !
Why should there be special treatment for bank customers moving to a specific region?
Hi Pepe,
I specify Madrid because customer servie differs a lot from branch to branch ! Therefore I recommend one specific branch in Madrid, where I know a specific person, Marie-Hélène, has the level of customer service I have with my clients.
And that’s very rare, and the only one I know in Madrid !
Then the bank is indeed the same all around Spain, apart from the specific deal I have got from them for the people I recommend to this branch. So all of this makes it quite location-specific !
If you have any question, just tell me !
All the best,
Pierre