Info on Banks in Spain

Living and Working in Spain with David Wright:
Your Essential Guide to Spanish Life   Unlock expert advice and practical resources for living and working in Spain with David Wright. Visit David Wright's official website to explore his NEW membership platform, offering personalized mentoring and guidance on all aspects of Spanish life—from residency and visas to work opportunities and lifestyle tips.  

David Wright is a seasoned author of six popular books, available on Amazon and Kindle, and has been featured on major media outlets like BBC News and Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun. With 22 years of firsthand experience living in Spain, David shares invaluable insights via his expert network and informational websites.  

Don’t miss The Wright Way, David’s live radio show, every Thursday from 2-4 PM on Almeria Gold 95.5 FM and every Friday at 4 PM on Almeria Radio 107.5 FM (Spanish time). Stay up-to-date with essential tips and discussions on everything from legal matters to cultural integration in Spain.   Join the thriving expat community by connecting with David’s Expats in Spain Facebook group, where you can engage with like-minded individuals and access expert advice on living in Spain.

  Tune in to David's podcasts and radio shows featuring top guests and actionable insights for making the most of life in Spain. Special thanks to our sponsors, USTaxesSpain.com for tax services for Americans in Spain, and IndaloTransport.com for sponsoring the show. Get your free quote today!  

Stay connected with essential hashtags: #LivingInSpain #WorkingInSpain #DavidWrightOnline #VisasForSpain #ExpatLifeInSpain #BritishInSpain   Special thanks to GeckoGrafix for creating David’s motorbike website.

Digital banking in spain great new way to manage your money in spain see here https://moneyjar.world/  

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wright-way-live-radio-shows-on-almeria-radio-and-almeria-gold--5461696/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Good afternoon and welcome to the Right Way with me
David Riot here on al Maria Radio or one O
seven point five FM. And a big thanks to John
Alex for keeping us entertain this afternoon. Thank you John.
Have a great weekend. Hopefully be joining you soon. Ou
on a motor bike. If i'll get my motorbike. I've
been waiting and waiting and waiting. Still it's a few
days more. I think I got to wait for the

(00:29):
registration and I shall be out on that new motorbike.
So living and working Spain. Tips and advice coming up
on the show today, and some great music, a bit
of rock and roll today as well. Got some nice
rock and roll music for you today. And yeah, I
got a little bit of news as well coming up
later on the show. So come and join me. The
comments section is open. House of the rising Sun, there
from the animals and that Friday feeling getting you into

(00:55):
the mood for the weekend. The comments section is open.
We add live to the DJ right now my our website.
And here he is the legendary David Ray. A good
afternoon to Sylvia. In the comment section, Danny, Gary and
John I lost g So the comments has reboot. You
come and say hi, Come and keep me company this afternoon.

(01:17):
Just got a package from Amazon. Unbelievable and ordered it
last night about eight nine o'clock last night, and I
got the package already, and I was just looking online
this morning. And Amazon are expanding all over Spain. They've
got extra delivery services in fifteen cities in Spain now,
and they're trying to get the service for Amazon Prime
customers down to twenty four hours or less. So yeah,

(01:39):
pretty good going here with Amazon. They're saying that it's
over seventy five percent of their digital orders now are
processed by the new systems, and they're going to try
and improve the delivery system here in Spain over the
next twelve months. So yeah, it's pretty good at the moment.
I did. I've noticed this last couple of weeks actually
getting some packages even in the same day, So yeah,

(02:02):
there's new delivery services all over Spain. What do you
think Amazon good or bad? Is it still like to
go out and actually look at the things, you know,
when you're buying them in the shops. I think we're
lacking that a little bit sometimes, But you can't beat
the Amazon delivery service and the products. And I had
a little product from them a little while ago and
there was a bit of a problem with it, sent
it back ever so straightforward, ever so easy. So can't

(02:24):
fault them. Really I should get a commission for recommend them.
But there you go. What do you reckon? Do you
use Amazon or do you find that they're good service?
I can't believe that. You know, within twenty four hours
you can order something and get it delivered to your door. Amazing? Okay,
So talking about services in Spain today, good and bad service?
How you find the service in Spain? You find it
pretty good? Do you find it bad service? What your

(02:46):
views on Spain? I'm going to give you some tips
and advice about deliveries and things like that today and
I was good. I just want to talk about Leo
and Merlin. I don't know if you've got a branch
where you are, but amazing a store. I suppose it's
equivalent to the B and Q of the UK. Here,
the leadway running French company. They do all sort of well,

(03:07):
it's pretty much the same sort of stuff as B
and Q in the UK. Really, but there is a
card you can get now, there's a green card it's
a discount card which anyone can get. And also there's
a Pro card and you get a Pro card. You
can sign up for that and you get extra points
and money back on things like that and special offers.
But something else as well. They've got in house VIP

(03:28):
service now where it's been out for a while. Actually,
I was building my health here during the COVID and
cauldn't get out. You just phone them up and place
your order. They give you a code to pay, you
pay over the phone, you pay the code and then
once they've got a confirment of that payment, which is
done pretty instantly, they send the delivery out and you

(03:48):
get that delivered to your door. So yeah, they do
this delivery service. Also, they got this VIP service where
when you're in the store you can go up to
one of their VIP customer cus some service representatives and
they can walk around the store and they can it's
like a personal shop if you like. They give you
help and advice on different products and you get some

(04:10):
extra discounts as well. So if you're not sure about
that going in and asking the Libro mullions for the
VIP service, that's a pro card, it's a silver or
platinum colored card, get lots of discounts on many products.
I've saved myself a few thousand euros in Leroy Mullins.
But pretty good service. So yeah, I get to know
you personally. You get their private number. So if you

(04:32):
want any help, or if you're gonna say you're gonna
buy some I don't know, some lamps or something like that,
you phone them out, tell them what you want. They
send you the link to it. If you pay for it,
you go there and just pick it up straight to
the to the cash out door that are cash out
door there where you don't have to queue up or
anything like that. So really, really good service. So I
must admit that this is one of the best services

(04:52):
I've had here in Spain. That's through Levroy and Merlin
and their VIP service. So yeah, check it out next
time you're over there. Also some bad service here in Spain.
I'll be telling you about it in a minute. Oh gosh,
Live David Right, David David David The Afternoon Show. Okay,

(05:13):
So yeah, banks, Sylvie, I cann't give you some tips
on banks here. I've been in the twenty three years
of I think I've been to pretty much. Most of
them had accounts with quite a lot of them here
and now. Years ago, when I first moved here, it
was very easy to transfer money, get out of an account,
get fantastic service here. I'll tell you a quick story.

(05:33):
I was a bank. It was called a Bank of
Popular then it was taken over. It's been taken over
by about three different banks by now, but it was
called the Bank of Popular back then, and I went
in to get I was buying a property here actually,
and I didn't even have an account. So I went
to the bank and I said, you know, I need
to open up an account. And the manager came out.
And I happened to know the manager because he was

(05:54):
actually in a building that I was renting apartment I
was renting in. I saw him in the the daytime
in the corridor and that he was in the same building.
So you know, I said hello and out and shook
his hand, and he said, oh, you're my neighbor sort
of thing, And he said, how can I help you?
So I said, well, I'm on buying a property, you know,
I want to put down a deposit. I've got all
the money being transferred over from England and it's not

(06:16):
arrived yet, but I need to put down three thousand
euro deposit on you know, with his tad agent. And
he said, oh, that's okay, you know, we'll help you out.
I said, well, I haven't got an account. I haven't
even opened account. And so he said, have you got
any money on you now? I said, well, I've only
got ten euros on me. So he said that I
do give me the ten euro So I gave him
a ten euros. He opened up an account and I said,
I'm sorry, I don't think you understand I need three

(06:38):
thousand euros, you know, to put down a deposit. And
I had no proof I had this money coming out
from the UK or anything like that at all. And
he sent me down. He said, don't worry, don't worry.
Sign here, signed now, and I mean, what's going on?
He said that's a credit card and I said, what
what do you mean. He said, well, I'm not a
credit card for you, and I said, yeah, but I
need the cash. I need the money. He said that's

(07:00):
and then all of a sudden signed another bit of
paper and he gave me three thousand euros. So, after
about twenty minutes in the bank. I walked out of
the bank with a credit card, a bank account and
three thousand euros in cash and all I did was
inverse to ten euros in the account. Unbelievable, it was
that easy. And yeah, a couple of days later the
money was transferred over from my house show in the

(07:20):
UK and I had the money. But that was what
it was used to be like here in Spain. Now
now it's trying to get blood out of a stone.
All the banks are saying they're in it for one thing. Obviously,
they're a business trying to make money. But every five
years I've always transferred my mortgage over to another company
to get the best deals. Here in Spain. It is
a bit of a fath to go to the bank

(07:42):
and cancel, and you have to pay some fees and
things like that, but you always get a better rate. Now.
A little while ago, when I was built in my
house here, we had the land. Once the house was built,
you have to change the mortgage from a land from
a building project to a completed house. To change the mortgage,
and my bank at the time would not give me

(08:04):
a mortgage with fixed rates. And I said to them,
but you know, this is crazy other banks of offering
me this deal. And they said, yeah, we can't help you,
but if you was the new person to come to
the bank today and open up, we'd give you a
discount and better terms than the customer that's already here.
And I said, that's ridiculous. So I closed the account

(08:25):
and I went to Santander and they gave me a
fixed rate mortgage for nine years as a new customer.
So we just transferred everything over to that bank. Now,
there are some charges, some fees involved in that, but
it was done within fifteen days and we've got a
fixed rate mortgage for I think it's nine years, nine
or ten years, and so we don't have to worry

(08:45):
about their interest or anything like that. And they gave
us some extra discounts. But all you need to do
is transfer over your light and electricity, your direct debits
with the bank. So yeah, if you're looking to get
a bank account here and you're a new customer, don't
go to your main bank, because they always give better
deals to new customers. Go to a new bank. Shop around.
It is a bit of a fuff to go to

(09:06):
these banks and sit down and talk to them, but
you get better deals if you're a new customer walking
into a bank for the first time. So Santander at
the moment they are the best. I'm not saying they
are the best bank here, but for me and my needs.
I was with Senten down many years ago and we
transferred to another bank because the other bank gave is
a better deal, and now I'm back again with Santander.

(09:28):
So yeah, for me, in my books, Santander are really
really good. Something else I like with them that they
do is when you do a transaction with a card
straight away, you get a message on your phone to
say that card's there, and there is a cancelation button
so you can freeze that payment if it's a problem
with that payment. So that's something I haven't had with
other banks, which I really like with Santander. So yeah,

(09:50):
at the moment, I recommend Santander if you're going out
to get a bank here in Spain. Okay. Artist of
the Week this week the Artist of the Week sponsored
by then You Are International and something Special into A
Artist of the Week this week is a faithless This

(10:10):
is It's Friday, Friday and Friday Feelings getting you into
the mood for the weekend. David Right help and advice
for living and working in Spain. You're listening to the
Right Way Right with David Right. A very good afternoon,

(10:32):
Rita and Carol Johnnys in the comments session, what's the
weather like where you are today? Overcast here today and
full cast is not too good for Sunday and Monday.
Looks like we're going to get some more rain. Okay.
So yeah, talking about service, and I've not really had
a bad service here in Spain, and I probably can
count a bad service on one hand here, but it's

(10:54):
not been that bad really. Years ago, I was at
a television problem and I took the TV back to
a company. It was a brand new TV. You got
a fifteen day guarantee with it, and they said that
they wouldn't take it back. I had to take it
to a supplier, a warehouse, and I had to go
and find the warehouse take the TV back. They had
it for a week and they couldn't repair it. So

(11:16):
I had to go back to the shop and they
gave me a new TV. So it was about two
weeks without a TV. Even though it wasn't my fault,
it was a fault with the TV. So that was
not very good service from the shop. Obviously didn't go
back there again. But that was really the only bad
service I've had here in all the years I've been
here until last week. So last week I've been using
this glass suppliers here to cut glass for me. Here

(11:39):
it's wholesalers. It is open to the public, but they
normally deal with tradespeople. And I've been using this guy
for about ten years or more. I've spent a few
thousand euros with a guy and he's always been a
bit of a miserable so and so anyway, I went
in the shop there to order some glass. And this
is a rather large piece of glass. It's a petition

(12:00):
between a kitchen and allowed It's about six foot long
by a two foot higher piece of glass. And I've
gone in there and I said hello to the guy
and he looked at me. He didn't really say hello.
Load he's in a bad mood again. And I said,
I'm on a piece of glass. I gave him them
and bore forced anything. He said, what's the measurements? And
I went, hang on, I say it, I want to

(12:20):
piece of glass. And I was explaining to what it's for,
and I told him the measurements. He wrote the measurements down,
and then I said, I just want to ask what
you recommend do I need it to be? And before
I'd finished talking, he said, what are you asking me for?
Am I supposed to know? I don't know what you
want it for. I don't know where it's going to go.
I don't know how big you want it. I went,
hang on a minute, Hang on a minute. I said,
I want to know if it's if I need it

(12:40):
to be laminated because it's indoors, or can I use
four milimeters or eight millimeters? Or can I get away
with three milimeters laminated glass? And if he shogged his
shoulder and said, oh, I don't know what you're asking
me for, and he was in such a mood, I
just said, okay, fine, I won't come anymore, and I
just walked out. That was it. So after years of
service to this guy, he's lost a good customer from
a really bad attitude. Maybe I don't think he's just

(13:03):
having a bad day, because I've remembered a few times
before that it was a bit of a miserable sign.
So anyway, but that is really just down to one person.
But yeah, it won't be going back there again. But really,
in Spain, I can't fault the service here. It's normally
pretty pretty good. But when I get bad service, you know,
I do moan about it, as we all do. So there, yeah, Ago,
was he having a bad mood or a bad day?

(13:24):
I think he was, but he won't be getting more
money anymore. Live David Right, David Right, David David David
The Afternoon Show. Okay, So talking about service in Spain,
good and bad service, and a little tip for as
well here we all want to get car insurance mightor
bike insurance. So I've been with Lina Direct for twenty

(13:45):
two years now. I've had some insurance with other companies
as well, but you can't get better quotes at the
moment for and deals than with Lina Director or direct
Line if you want to call it now. They do
have an English speaking hotline number as well, and there's
a little trick for it. It's something I've done for
the last ten years or more so many A friend
of mine used to a Spanish friend of mine used

(14:07):
to work for them, and he told me this little
trick and it seems to work every time. So I've
just done it again yesterday. Now I've got one of
my cars is a Citron and it's getting on a
bit now. But the insurance had a quote from an
email to say that the insurance coming out next week
and it's gone up to three hundred euros and it

(14:27):
was two hundred and seventy fully comprehensive. It's gone up
to three hundred. So got on the phone to him
yesterday and I said, look, you know what can we
do it? And I said, yeah, it's gone up a
little bit, it's three hundred rows. But you got the
got that breakdown covered everything, lawyer's fees. I mean, yeah,
I know all that. But I've had a quote from
somebody else. And he said who's the quote and how

(14:49):
much was it? And my Spanish friend told me to
say AXA because they can't check on their computer the
access system. So I said, yes with AXA, and it's
thirty euros cheap, and what you're quote to me? And
then he started to tell me about all the things
that they're going to offer me with their cover, and
you know they're not all covers are the same. And
I went, yeah, I understand that. You know, I'd really

(15:10):
like to stay with you, and I'm happy to pay
now on my card, you know, to renew it now.
But is there anything you can do? And they gave
me a little bit of spill, and then he put
me on hold, paid some nice little background music and
they come back to me, and so he said, I'll
tell you what we do. Sorry, I forgot to tell
you that. I told him that it was thirty euros
cheaper than the quote, and I had it written down
to the sense so it sounded original. And he said, well,

(15:33):
we'll do it for the same price. So it's thirty
euros cheaper. So my insurance has gone up, but it's
actually gone back down with my discounts. I've got it
thirty euros off fully comprehensive, so two hundred and seventy euros.
I'm happy with that. And this is something they need
to put on their computer because every year I do
this and every year I'll get a little bit of
a reduction. It's not a big a big deal, but
try it out. It's a little bit of a hassle.

(15:54):
My Spanish wife won't get involved with it. She said,
I can't be bothered to do all that, but thirty
euros is thirty euros. Next time you get your quote,
give you give your company a ring and see if
you can go through what I've done. Get a little
bit of discount. Deep purple smoke on the water down great,
I love that one. Yeah, just waiting for a phone

(16:15):
called to pick up one motorbike. I'm desperate to pick
it up and bought it last week and waiting for
the transfer papers and the registration plate to be put on.
But the paperwork here in Spain is ridiculous, said two
or three days. It's been five days already, still waiting.
That's it. It's something you have to get used to
in Spain. But trust me, after twenty three years you
still can't get used to it. Everything takes so blooming long.

(16:39):
That's just about it for another show. Thanks very much
everyone for joining me in the comics section. I have
for great weekend. Up next it's a five o'clock