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MONEY

REVEALED: The Spanish bank accounts with no extra fees in 2023

Many Spanish banks charge 'maintenance' fees simply for having an open account. Here's the bank accounts with zero commissions and charges in 2023.

Published: 20 April 2023 16:57 CEST
REVEALED: The Spanish bank accounts with no extra fees in 2023
People withdraw money from a Banco Sabadell ATM in Barcelona. Photo: LLUIS GENE/AFP.

If you’ve lived in Spain, or had a Spanish bank account at least, you’ll probably known that Spanish banks have always had a reputation among locals and foreigners alike for charging infrutirating extra fees or ‘comisiones‘ for no clearly justifiable reason besides having an open account.

The most common charge is a so-called ‘maintenance fee’. These are usually charged per trimestre (financial quarter in English) and they vary but are somewhere in the region of €30 to €60 per quarter. This means that in Spain, often you have to fork out €200 or more every single year just to have a bank account.

Many banks also change extra comisiones for doing different services, such as making immediate or international money transfers. Maintenance fees and transfer commissions do not have a maximum limit established by Spanish law, so banks can literally charge you whatever they deem appropriate.

READ ALSO: The hidden costs of opening a Spanish bank account 

There are also administration fees, which can charge you for every move you make with your money, as well as card fees, such as when you use your card abroad.

Fortunately, there are several banks in Spain that offer commission free accounts, provided you meet some conditions.

Here’s the best of them.

BBVA Online Current Account

BBVA Bank offers an online account without any commissions. BBVA is one of Spain’s biggest and most trusted banks, and 700,000 customers already have the Online Current Account.

The only possible downside is that this account is 100 percent online, and the zero commission offer is only available to new customers.

Open Bank

Openbank is a Spanish online bank that offers (online only) accounts without commissions: 0 percent commissions, and 100 percent digital.

With your Openbank checking account thee are no opening, maintenance or cancellation fees. You can also make national and international transfers (within the EU) completely free of charge and withdraw cash to debit at more than 7,000 Banco Santander ATMs with the Open Debit debit card.

READ ALSO: Spain changes its laws on cryptocurrency holdings: what you need to know

ING: Cuenta Nómina 

The ING Cuenta Nómina (Payroll Account) has no commissions for either the account (so no maintenance fee) nor the cards, (debit and credit).

However, in order to qualify for the commission free account, you must have a regular income (into the account) of at least €700, whether it be through a salary, pension or unemployment benefits.

Unicaja Online Current Account

Unicaja’s current account is an online account with no fees with which you can get a free debit card without any maintenance or transfer fees.

However, this is a time limited offer, and in order not to pay commissions after the first year you will have to meet the conditions of Unicaja’s ‘Fee free plan’, which you can read about here.

Revolut Standard 

Revolut’s Standard account has no maintenance fees and zero card commissions, as well as no extra charges for making or receiving transfers. However, as Revolut is mainly an online bank, it is worth noting that some some plans do have limits on the number of times you can withdraw cash before a 2 percent fee is applied on withdrawals.

In fact, Revolut also offers a number of accounts that despite having maintenance fees, are considerably cheaper than the mainstream banks:

  • Standard Account: €0
  • Plus account: €2.99/month
  • Premium account: €7.99/month
  • Metal Account: €13.99/month

EVO Smart Current Account

EVO Smart is an online current account without commissions or conditions that combines a current account with a savings account at 0.6 percent APR.

N26 Standard

The N26 Standard account allows you to make purchases in physical and online stores, use your virtual debit card, and transfer money completely free of charge without any extra fees or maintenance commissions.

The only downside? You do have to pay €10 if you want a physical debit card.

READ ALSO: How to open a bank account in Spain if you’re not a resident

Santander Nómina Account

Santander’s online Nómina account is aimed at young people between 18 and 29 years old and has zero maintenance fees and there are no card fees.

However, as this is a ‘nómina’ account, you must have a regular income going into the account, with a minimum of €600 to keep the account commission free.

Sabadell Nómina Account

Sabadell also offers a commission-free online account with no admin or maintenance fees. The debit card is also completely free (without issuance or maintenance fees) and though there is no regular payroll requirement, if you do deposit your nómina into the account Sabdell will give you a €175 bonus.

READ ALSO: Can I close my Spanish bank account from abroad?

Member comments

  1. Cajamar is a cooperative, not a bank. You have to give them a 1000€+ capital deposit, but then it is a no-fee banking institution. Think credit union. Great app, all the typical bank stuff, but great! And real people to talk to!

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BANKING

Banking in Spain: Why BBVA’s takeover of Sabadell may never happen

The hostile takeover bid launched by Spanish banking giant BBVA for its smaller rival Banco Sabadell has sparked a political uproar in the country. However, the deal faces some key challenges before it can become a reality.

Published: 10 May 2024 16:57 CEST
Banking in Spain: Why BBVA's takeover of Sabadell may never happen

Sabadell refusal

BBVA is offering an exchange of one if its shares for every 4.83 Sabadell shares, a 30-percent premium over the April 29 closing price of both banks.

Sabadell has said this “significantly undervalues” its value. It accuses BBVA of breaching takeover rules since it provided “incomplete information that could affect the market”.

Spain’s fourth-largest bank has reported its concerns to stock market regulator CNMV.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila played down this opposition on Thursday, saying he had been contacted by shareholders in favour of the deal.

But Sabadell’s capital is held by multiple of investors, none of them holding more than 5.0 percent of the lender, making the takeover unpredictable since many players must be convinced.

Government opposition

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has warned his leftist government “will have the last word when it comes to authorising the operation” which he said would be “potentially damaging” for the economy.

Cuerpo did not detail what steps the government can take but Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said Spanish banking supervision law allowed it “to authorise or not authorise this type of operation”.

This hostile takeover bid, the first in the Spanish banking sector in nearly four decades, is “extremely risky” for the economy and against the country’s “interests”, she added.

READ ALSO: How would the BBVA takeover of Sabadell affect customers in Spain?

Regional hostility

The takeover bid has also come up against hostility in Catalonia, the northeastern region where Sabadell originated and has a strong presence, and the neighbouring region of Valencia where it currently has its headquarters.

They both fear a reduction in the number of branches, which they say would be detrimental to businesses and individuals.

Pere Aragones, a moderate separatist who heads the regional government of Catalonia, has said the takeover bid could “weaken the economic weight” of the region.

The issue has been in focus in the final days of campaigning for Sunday’s regional election in Catalonia, with parties across the political spectrum voicing concerns.

“For some time, there’s been a strategy to kill the Catalan banking industry,” former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, the head of hardline separatist party JxCat who led Catalonia’s failed 2017 secession bid, wrote on X.

The hostile offer “must be responded to with full force, with all the law and with all reason,” he added.

Union concerns

Spain’s two main trade union confederations, the UGT and Comisiones Obreras, have also sounded the alarm over possible job losses. Workers must not “pay the cost of this operation,” the UGT warned.

Asked about these concerns at a news conference on Thursday, BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila ruled out any “traumatic measures” for employees and highlighted the career opportunities the merger would create.

But he did not rule out any staff cuts.

BBVA employs around 121,000 people worldwide, while Sabadell has some 19,000 workers.

Supervisory rules

The main obstacle for BBVA lies with supervisors. The operation needs the green light from the European Central Bank, Spanish stock market regulator CNMV and the competition authorities in the countries where the two lenders operate.

The Spanish banking sector is already highly concentrated, with 56 percent of the market in the hands of three groups — Santander, BBVA and Caixabank.

This “rate would rise to 64 percent” if BBVA’s takeover bid is successful, which could lead to a “significant reduction in competition,” according to broker XTB.

The operation will take up to eight months to complete, according to BBVA.

“There is going to be a war of attrition,” economist Javier Santacruz told Spanish public radio, adding BBVA will have to do a great deal of “persuasion” to be successful.

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