Opening a Bank Account in Spain

Steps to open a bank account in Spain

Whatever your nationality, you have to justify your status as a resident or a non-resident if you want to open a bank account in Spain .

If you are a resident, you only have to go to a bank and show the resident ID to have an account opened.

If you are a non-resident, there are two options:

    a) The first option is to go to the Dirección General de la Policía (in Madrid , it is located calle General Pardiñas, nº 90) with your passport (as well as a photocopy) and ask for a “non-resident certificate”. You will have to go back there within about 10 days in order to pick it up.

Once you have this certificate, you can go to any bank with your passport in order to have an account opened. This account will be operative from the very moment of the opening and the deposited funds will be available immediately.

    b) The other option is to go to a bank with your passport and ask to open an account. In this case, the bank will have you sign an authorization to carry out the necessary procedures to have your non-resident certificate. They will charge you about €15,00. The account will not be operative until they receive your certificate and the deposited funds will not be available either.

There is no minimum deposit to be able to open an account in Euros. If you want to open an account in another currency, check out the minimum deposit.

Before you start any procedures, try to find out if there is a bank on your Spanish campus that has a special agreement with your host university. If this is the case, check out what documents they would ask you to provide; they might be willing to open an account without any certificate if you can show your host university student ID.

Remember that:

Banks usually have special discounts for people under 26.

Banks usually charge opening and maintenance fees.

Main Banks in Spain:

• BBVA ( Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria): www.bbva.es

Personal banking, accounts and services: http://www.bbva.es/TLBS/tlbs/jsp/esp/pusted/prodserv/index.jsp#0

• BSCH ( Banco Santander Central Hispano): www.gruposantander.es

Personal banking, accounts and services: http://www.gruposantander.es/particulares/parHome.html

• Caja Madrid ( Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid) : www.cajamadrid.es

Note about the Cajas de Ahorros y Montes de Piedad: Caja Madrid is one of the many Spanish savings banks. It only comprises Madrid and its region. There are other savings banks depending on the town or province you are. Here is a list of the main ones with their Web address:

For Asturias: Cajastur www.cajastur.es

For Badajoz : Caja de Badajoz www.cajabadajoz.es

For Córdoba : Caja Sur www.cajasur.es

For Extremadura : Caja de Extremadura www.extremadura.es

For Gipuzkoa y San Sebastián : Kutxa www.kutxa.es

For Huelva y Sevilla : El Monte www.elmonte.es

For Navarra : Caja Navarra www.cajanavarra.es

For Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja : Ibercaja www.ibercaja.es

There are a lot more. You can use our Google search engine and search “caja de ahorros y monte de piedad de” followed by the name of the town or province where you are going to.

• La Caixa : www.lacaixa.es

Personal banking, accounts and services: http://portal.lacaixa.es/home/particulares_es.html

• Banesto : www.banesto.es

Personal banking, accounts and services: http://particularesycolectivos.banesto.es/...

There are also some foreign banks in Spain , such as:

• Lloyds España (Lloyds TSB): www.lloydsbank.es

Personal banking, accounts and services: click on the “Productos” tag and then on the “Productos para particulares” link.

• Deutsch Bank España : www. deutsch e- bank .es

Personal banking, accounts and services: click on the “Productos y Servicios” link in the left menu.

If you did not find what you are looking for, try searching: