Author Topic: How to open a bank accournt in Spain from the USA? (Read 3079 times)

florecita · « **on:** November 03, 2002, 01:25:00 AM »

Hello there,

I am ready to pack and leave to Madrid this 28 of december. I don\'t want to travel with too much cash with me though, Does someone knows how to open a bank account in Madrid from here? I live in Berkeley, CA USA. Or how to make a transaction or a safe way for your money to arrive to Madrid without carrying it with you? I will appreciate your help. [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_nod.gif\"] [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif\"] [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif\"] [addsig]

mlwalton · « **Reply #1 on:** November 03, 2002, 02:14:00 AM »

Hi florecita,

As long as an atm card/check debit card you can access your money and open an account when you get there. You can also check out [!-- BBCode Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.ingdirect.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]ING Direct[/A][!-- BBCode End --] there an online bank and it might be easier to transfer money with an on-line account. I\'ve had an on-line account with them for a year now. Hope this helps [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif\"]

Salud!

Michelle [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif\"] [addsig]

Lily · « **Reply #2 on:** November 03, 2002, 10:11:00 PM »

Hi Florecita,

I contacted the following banks so far, and they apparently allow you to open up a bank account abroad before you arrive in Spain. However, you may want to check into this from your hometown.

Barclays Bank

ING Direct

HSBC

Citibank

All the best for your move to Spain.

Lily [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif\"] [addsig]

florecita · « **Reply #3 on:** November 03, 2002, 10:43:00 PM »

Hello Lilly and Michelle and thank you so much for your help. It is really appreciate it. Hope to see you guys in Spain soon. I will maintain you inform you of all my adventure. God bless you. [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif\"] [addsig]

dimiterv · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2002, 02:11:00 PM »

Hi there, i currently have bank account i can manage over the internet on [!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.lacaixa.es\" target=\"_blank\"]www.lacaixa.es[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --], so just thought you might wish to check it out. Oh and one more thing, you can use your credit card or debit all over this country, so don´t worry about it. So get your cards and when you get here open an account and make an order for wireless transffer from you USA bank account to the local one. All the best and good luck.

[addsig]

FordhamMike · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2002, 03:32:00 PM »

Florecita,

I am interested in this option also. If I am accepted to business school I will need to transfer money. If you want you should try BBVA, Lacaixa o La Caja Madrid. They are all HUGE Spanish banks with offices and subsidiaries in the states. I know for a fact there are in NYC. Maybe you can contact them in the states first so they can wire your money to Spain. If you want the numbers contact the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce. Their number is available off their website. Just do a search on google, the site is like spanuscc.com or something. What are you going to do when you get to Spain in december? [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_nod.gif\"] [addsig]

florecita · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2002, 11:57:00 PM »

Hey all of you,

Thank you so much for all of your helpful information. I will try all of this and see which one works better.

Michael,

I am flying on the 28th to Paris, I am going with a group of friends from the USA. We are going to spend a few days in Paris, then we will go to London, after that to Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla and Granada. I will stay in Madrid and all of my friends will go back to Paris to fly back to the USA. I will probably settle down in Madrid until the end of January. I am taking the CELTA course on february, so I am planning to use the rest of the month to find housing and kind of get to know the city around. I promess you I will maintain you inform of my adventure, and I hope to see you guys there soon. Once again, I really appreciate your help. Take care and God bless. [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_love.gif\"] [addsig]

Candela · « **Reply #7 on:** November 09, 2002, 08:32:00 PM »

Hi Florecita, Great Question! I learned a lot from the replies. I am moving to Madrid on January 7th. My banking plan is to keep my current account with a big u.s. bank. I can manage it online and with the debit/atm card i can access my money at any machine in Madrid. It is true that I will have to pay atm fees, but the exchange rate in the machines is usually better than what you will encounter at a change place or in a bank. Also, if you take your money out in large amounts, you will pay fewer atm fees. Also, I am keeping my u.s. account because I am a freelance writer for a few companies stateside and my checks go right in there, I don\'t even want to try and figure out how to get them deposited in my spanish accounts.

I was planning on opening an account there when I arrive, but after all the above advice, I may try to do it before leaving. If this happens before you leave in December, I\'ll let you know how it goes. (and vice versa?)

Buena suerte with your move. And if you want to chat more or hook up in January when I arrive in Madrid, do stay in touch. I am [!-- BBcode auto-mailto start --][a href=\"mailto:candyleelaballe@yahoo.com\"]candyleelaballe@yahoo.com[/a][!-- BBCode auto-mailto end --]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice![addsig]

dkmarsh · « **Reply #8 on:** November 18, 2002, 06:25:00 PM »

I read a posting by Jer from February of this year, in which he said that it was fairly easy to open an account at a Spanish bank. Is this true? If so, what forms/ID are required? Is it also easy to obtain a credit card from a bank if I were a member? [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif\"] [addsig]

silo · « **Reply #9 on:** November 19, 2002, 04:50:00 PM »

I did it with a US driver\'s license and a US passport at Caixa Catalunya. Don\'t know about the credit card...don\'t believe in them. I would imagine that if you can get a bank account, a credit card wouldn\'t be any harder, but then again it\'s amazing how much harder the spanish make things than they need to be.[addsig]

dimiterv · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2002, 05:41:00 PM »

Everybody with a valid international ID can open a regular bank account in Spain. If you want to get a credit card from a spanish bank, you will have to wait a few months. If the money moving in your account qualified for their rules, yes you will obtain a credit card, if not, you won´t. However, there are different types of credit you can receive by the local banks, weekly or monthly, or whatever....don´t expect much though, be realistic.

cýaaaaaaa[addsig]

florecita · « **Reply #11 on:** December 08, 2002, 07:21:00 PM »

Hi there,

What I was trying to avoid is travel with too much money on me. I think I am just going to switch to citibank. They don\'t charge for using your atm overseas as long as you get cash from one of its branches. You can take up to 1000/day. They have plenty of branches all over Spain. Hope this helps. At the end, I think is better to just keep my money in the USA until I totally settle in Spain. Cheers everyone. [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_laughing.gif\"] [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif\"] [addsig]

Sibsie · « **Reply #12 on:** December 11, 2002, 12:39:00 AM »

It\'s really easy to open the account as a non resident foreign national. If you want credit facilities, credit cards etc., you MUST register for a NIF number. Without that you\'ll just have a withdrawl deposit accont.

Transferring money from abroad to your Spanish account is costly a real cause for complaint here. Also bear in mind that if you\'re moving about in the smaller places they really don\'t like credit cards and you can always negotiate a decent discount for cash. You will get a Maestro card with your account though, which is an ATM and debit card.

My account is with CAM who I\'ve found really helpful but I\'ve heard good things about BBV and SolBank as well.[addsig]

dkmarsh · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2002, 05:13:00 AM »

How do you apply for an NIF number? What are the criteria?[addsig]

Sibsie · « **Reply #14 on:** December 11, 2002, 02:36:00 PM »

[!-- BBCode Quote Start --][TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%][TR][TD][font class=\"pn-sub\"]Quote:[/font]

[/TD][/TR][TR][TD][FONT class=\"pn-sub\"][BLOCKQUOTE]How do you apply for an NIF number? What are the criteria?[/BLOCKQUOTE][/FONT][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]

[/TD][/TR][/TABLE][!-- BBCode Quote End --]All you have to do is go to your local police. There are three police forces here and it\'s the National one that handles this sort of thing. It\'s very straightforward. You need two passport photos, a copy of your passport along with the original. Pop along, fill in the forms then a few weeks later it will be done and registered on the computer so it goes into your bank info immediately. You really can\'t get much done without it if you want to buy a car, have credit or do anything like that.

Mine was done in around three weeks but in some areas it can take a couple of months.[addsig]

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Author Topic: How to open a bank accournt in Spain from the USA? (Read 3079 times)