Best Banks in Spain for American Expats (Local vs. Online)
Living in Spain as an American, one of the most important things you need to set up is a banking account. Banking in Spain is pretty simple to get up and running.
Banks in Spain are similar to those in America although they differ slightly.
There are two main types of banks in Spain you can use while living in Spain as an American. The first option is to go to the physical brick-and-mortar banks in Spain. The second option is to set up an online banking service.
Both options have pros and cons, but as an American expat in Spain, I suggest setting up at least one bank account at a physical location and a digital one.
Banks in Spain with physical locations
There are only a handful of bank choices in Spain with brick-and-mortar locations. Spain’s banks do not offer as many options as they do in the United States. As an American, there is no one bank that is the best for expats in Spain. Only banks with different options.
Here is a list of banks in Spain. The first four are the largest banks in Spain.
- BBVA Bank Spain
- Banco Sabadell Spain
- La Caixa Bank Spain
- Santander Bank Spain
- Bankinter Spain
- Spain HSBC
- Deutsche Bank Spain
- ING Bank Spain
The list above shows the most common banks in Spain. They are not in any particular order except for the top four being the larger banks in Spain.
We personally use Banco Sabadell Spain for our local bank in Spain. We have had a few issues with it, but nothing that did not get fixed except for our Bizum setup. That issue is because of what we initially set up. You should not have this issue if you choose to use Banco Sabadell Spain.
Other popular Spanish banks some of our American expat friends use are Caiaxbank Spain and BBVA Spain. And one friend uses ING Spain. From what they told us they all seem to have the same fees and no issues.
Basics of checking account in Spain
One of the differences between banks in Spain vs the USA is the fees. Most checking accounts in the USA have free checking accounts. That is not very common here in Spain. We have Banco Sabadell Spain and we pay a quarterly fee of 30 Euros (or roughly 10 euros a month paid quarterly).
Opening a bank account is pretty easy. You will have to go to the local branch of the bank of your choice. I highly suggest getting an appointment ahead of time. This will save you a lot of headaches and the dreaded waiting line. The banks in Spain have these lines too.
You will need to bring your passport and NIE card (or the paperwork that states you will get an NIE card). A document showing your place of residence, such as the Padron Certificate. And then about 50 euros cash for the initial deposit.
If you want to have a joint account you will need both persons to bring these documents.
Online banking options in Spain
If you prefer not to open an account with a physical bank in Spain or want something ahead of time you have some different options like digital banks in Spain faster. You could use a banking system such as N26, Revoult, Mercury, or one we use all the time, Wise.
Opening one of these bank accounts ahead of time can help you transfer money to Spain. Setting up one of these bank accounts six months in advance will prevent headaches later down the road. Especially if you use Mercury. We had some trouble getting our account set up with the Mercury platform, but afterward nothing too bad.
N26, Revoult, and Mercury are banking systems where you can open different currency accounts quickly. The downside is that you are at high risk of being locked out of your account (not that it is likely to happen but does). And you usually can not open a joint account.
The upside to using at least one of the online banking systems is that you will have access to your money much faster. And you will not have to worry about going to the bank if there is an issue. Most of these services offer customer service in English.
The best bank in Spain for foreigners
The best bank for expats in Spain is honestly any of these banks. If you use the local banks from the Spain bank list above (the top 4 banks), you may find it hard to find a branch in other EU countries.
The other banks in the Spain bank list above would have a better chance of finding a bank branch outside of Spain. These banks are more for those who want access to a branch if you are traveling in the European Union.
Transferring money to Spain
Transferring US dollars to Euros has become more accessible than in the past. In the past, you would have to use a bank wire transfer or related service. Or you could pay large fees at currency conversion stations at the airport.
If you need to transfer money to Spain regularly, I would open one of those online banks listed above for this sole purpose. We have used all the ones listed but now we currently use two of them constantly.
Revolut is the one we use for transferring USD to EUR for our teens. (But it does have some caveats.)
This is a simple banking account in euros that they use in Spain. It is great mainly for giving teens a bank account for allowance and transfer money. They get a digital card and a physical card they can use anywhere in Spain. But I would not recommend using this for transferring money to Spain as an American expat, as they have horrible reviews on TrustPilot and seem to have inconsistent and unreliable transfers. (A bit more on our Revolut experience is below.)
What we use for sending money to Spain
The service I recommend and suggest to everyone who needs to transfer money internationally (especially like us, who sends money to Spain monthly to pay our bills) is Wise.
Wise, which was formerly known as TravelWise, had a bit of a rocky start but in recent years has grown to be a very robust, reputable service- providing not only affordable international transfer services, but debit cards (virtual and physical), immediate currency exchange (great for traveling around Europe), and even travel perks and rewards.
The only issue we’ve really had with Wise was trying to set up our accounts. (Hints on the 6-month suggestion above.)
Wise has some of the cheapest transfer rates, so we are also able to pay for things in other currencies very easily. They transfer the funds from other accounts based on the best rate.
You can quickly open a new currency account in the app with just a few clicks- which was super helpful when we went to Switzerland and found out they didn’t use Euros.
It is not perfect by any means, but it is better than the other options. And does a good job.
Another great feature is the wireless pay ability. The Wise card has only failed us once when using it to pay compared to Revolut, Mercury, and N26.
We ended up getting an under-18 account with Revolut for our teenagers and their cards have failed numerous times when trying to pay for things at stores. Our oldest had the same issue with N26 before that, and we didn’t even finish opening our account at Mercury- the process was such a mess! (We also limit our transfers to Revolut to $50 at a time, so we don’t have to deal with many issues.)
Credit in Spain
One of the most surprising things when we first got here was that they did not care about your credit score. That is a USA system surprisingly, Spain does not care about your 720 score. They prefer to see your bank statements, and work contract or W2 to verify you have the funds needed. These are the types of documents used when you want to rent or finance something.
While financing things in Spain is a bit different, one of the nice features we’ve seen since moving here is the ability to split larger payments up into monthly installments. For example, Banco Sabadell sometimes lets you split a large bank charge into three payments, and when buying appliances (like a new washing machine) the appliance store had a service to split the amount into 4 payments for a flat fee of 10 euros. I think ‘credit’ services of this type are catching on and becoming more popular in Spain, and often have little or no interest, which is pretty cool.
Spain credit cards
If you use local banking in Spain, then you may get a credit card with an APR and a credit card without an APR. These work very similar to what’s offered in the US but with one big difference: You can set your repayment plan in increments of 3 months. This works great for those large purchases that you do not want to take a big hit on right away.
If you are using credit cards in Spain issued by your local Spanish bank, then you will have to set up a payment plan in your bank account and ensure the funds are there.
While there is often a credit limit on the card, there is no minimum monthly payment. It is more like breaking up the purchase into 15 months with a bit of a fee added to the monthly payment. And after 15 months of payments, you are done. If you have ever done a layaway servive (hello 90s Kmart shoppers), this seems to be something similar.
The credit card system works quite differently than in the US, so it’s something you’ll need to pay close attention to when signing up with your bank. You don’t want to become confused and accidentally find yourself dealing with a higher monthly payment than expected.
Credit score in Spain
Credit does exist here in Spain, but we still do not fully understand the credit system in Spain. From our understanding from our research, personal experience, and what our banker friends have told us, is that it is like a “naughty list” system as opposed to an actual credit score.
If you do not pay something you get put on a ‘did not pay’ or ‘debters’ list. Once you pay back the debt you are removed from the list, and your credit is okay again.
There is more that goes into the credit system, but this is the best way I can explain it based on what we know so far.
Paying for Monthly Payments or Bills
With banks in Spain, you open a checking account but do not get paper checks like you would with a bank in the States. You will get a debit card that you can pay for things, or you can pay using your IBAN number directly.
Your debit card mostly uses the NFC function on the card (wireless pay). More recently most people pay using Google Pay or Apple Pay.
IBAN System
When you need to pay an energy bill, gas bill, or rent you will usually set up a bank transfer. (This might blow your mind as an American living in Spain.) You just give them your account number.
Your account number is called an IBAN number, and is how you will pay for most monthly payments.
Your landlord will provide you with their IBAN and you use that to transfer the payment to them. There is no debit card or physical check. And for energy or gas bills, you provide them with your IBAN account number and they debit the charge each month, automatically.
You will also pay for school fees like this. You just transfer the money to the IBAN account number they give to you, and you’re done. Or if you need someone to pay you, you just give them your IBAN number. (Or Bizum, which I’ll explain below.)
If you are worried about the security of the IBAN system, don’t worry, so were we at first. (I definitely recommend doing your research if you are interested.) But we have learned that the IBAN is more secure than a regular bank account number used in the United States.
Side note, we have shared our IBAN number with all sorts of people and never had our account hacked this way. But in the States, we have had our banking accounts hacked at least four times. Things like this seemt o be fairly uncommon while banking in Spain.
Bizum Spain
Bizum is another rapidly growing way that people in Spain are using to transfer funds to one another. Bizum is a service that’s very similar to Venmo or Cashapp (or WePay), in that people can send money from one another quite quickly using a phone number. The payments can be quite small as well, which is convenient for things like pitching in for a teacher’s gift with all the parents from your child’s class.
Our current Spain banking account we currently have does not offer this service on this type of account, so be sure when setting your account up to ask if this is available. We do have access to Bizum with our Revolut account, and it seems to work just fine.
But the key takeaway is that Bizum is starting and continues to grow in popularity in Spain.
Conclusion
Adapting to the banks in Spain for foreigners can be a straightforward process with a bit of planning. While there are differences in fees and account types compared to the US, the core functionalities of banking in Spain remain similar. Our suggestion is to set up both a local bank in Spain and an online banking system. This gives you the best rates and the least amount of friction. Get the online banking accounts set up about 6 months before your move or visit.
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Hey people!!!!!
Good mood and good luck to everyone!!!!!
مرحبًا، شكرًا على المقال المفيد! عندي سؤال بخصوص فتح الحساب البنكي في إسبانيا. ذكرتم أن هناك حاجة إلى وثيقة NIE، ولكنني قرأت في موقع (website) أن هناك بعض المفاهيم الخاطئة الشائعة حول رقم NIE. هل يمكنني فتح حساب بنكي باستخدام رقم NIE الذي حصلت عليه من القنصلية الإسبانية في بلدي قبل السفر، أم أنني بحاجة إلى الحصول على نسخة جديدة من داخل إسبانيا؟ وشكرًا!
Hi! This is a great question. Different banks in Spain have different policies for whether or not you can open an account remotely (without being physically present). The key thing to keep in mind is that when you open a bank account remotely, most of these banks (such as Banco Sabadell, Santander, BBVA, and CaixaBank) will open a ‘non-resident’ account for you. If you did choose to do this, it’s important to make sure that your visa type will allow a non-resident bank account. Our non-lucrative visa (at the time we applied) did not require a Spanish bank account, so we were able to open our account after we arrived in Spain. Hope this helps! 🙂