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 fees, great customer service in English, easy to operate online and opened right away ?
Banco Sabadell:
Great conditions, customer service and online banking in English
Sabadell – No fees, 3% back on utility bills, very easy to open, great customer service. 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 fees on transfers from and to the UK.
- 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 happening on your account,
Simple. You only have to send an email with 3 things:
1) your passport scan
2) this Sabadell Form filled & sign (click to download)
3) copy pierre@moving2madrid.com to get priority treatment & the account opened before you arrive
Just click on the button hereunder to directly get a standard email easily with the reference to this special email process to get this account opened before you even arrive !
Get now the special Sabadell account with no fees nor requirements
If you do send your passport scan as well as the filled & signed form, with pierre@moving2madrid.com in copy, Marie-Hélène will start the account opening process right away, before you arrive.
By going through Moving2Madrid, and contacting Marie-Hélène who know deals with Private banking and opens normal accounts for Moving2Madrid, you get special treatment, Marie-Hélène will inform of the special offers they have for Moving2Madrid, your account will be opened quickly and before you arrive in Spain.
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 ! In the end, it’s a trustworthy account to start out in Spain, where you know you will be well treated and with no fees whatsoever. 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