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We opened an account with Deutsche bank or rather our solicitors did on our behalf. We don’t appear to have been sent any terms and conditions.
We recently transferred monies for the final payment on property we are buying and the bank have taken 0.4% as a commission.
We have contacted a representative of the bank and they tried to negotiate future discounted commission rates but we are not interested in this. Do we have any come back with our solicitor.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Unfortunately, have never seen this documented in all the research and reading we have done.
Thanks. Allyson
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Hi,
This seems very common, there are a few threads about bank charges on the main buying property forum.
The other thing no one tells you about Spanish banks is that they charge for EVERYTHING!
We bank with CajAstur and they charge us for spending our money, although I don’t think it is quite as much as 0.4%!
We have to pay to have debit cards, rather than just a book, I think its something like 20 euros a year maybe, We are renovating a property and whenever we do an electronic transfer to our builder, we are charged 0.2%…
A bankers cheque cost us 0.1% commision. A large cash withdrawl, nothing.
We have a standing order (or direct debit whichever one it is..) to pay the rent for the flat we are presently living in whilst our house is renovated and we have to pay a monthly charge of 1.30 euros for this..and this was a reduced rate as our landlady is vaguely related to the bank clerk..
However, we bank with CajAstur as this is the bank my husbands work uses and he was told that if he also banked with them, he would get his pay through quicker each month and wouldn’t be charged by the bank for receiving the money each month…it seems to be true so far!
Another things no one tells you: You pay utility bills here every 2 months and electricity is very expensive – our last bill was for 140 euros for a 3 bed flat!
Good luck with your bank. I have no idea if you have any come back with your solicitor but fees here are common.
Heather
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Hi Allyson,
These bank charges can be a really nasty surprise. It’s a shame you didn’t get to read the section I have written on overpaying before this happened.
http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/spanish_property_overcharging.htm#6
You won’t have a case against your bank. It’s your solicitors who failed to look after your interests in this case. They should have informed you of the bank’s standard charges or arranged better ones for you.
Nevertheless, I would threaten your bank with closing your account and taking your business elsewhere (and badmouthing them to anyone prepared to listen) unless they refund you at least in part. It sometimes works.
Regards
Mark
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Hi. I have been paying commision on amounts credited to my account with BSCH. I got a slight improvment on terms when I threatened to close account. Most of my Credits are from Gbp exchanged into Euros and sent to Spain. I have been told today that HIFX will guarantee that no charges or commisions will be deducted on receipt into Any Spanish Bank. Sounds good to me.
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Sorry, forgot to say that we used a currency broker recommended by Mark, who were great, very helpful and friendly service (Escape currency), BUT it actually worked out cheaper to pay the banks transfer fee than to pay this in advance through the broker.
We tranferred a few thosand pounds paying the transfer fee (as its a percentage of the money you transfer) but when we transferred the proceeds of our house sale, Cajastur told us it could be 100 euros to accept the transfer, which worked out less than the brokers advance.
In the end, CajAstur didn’t actually charge us anything to accept the money. So sometimes Spanish banks do something for nothing 🙂
Heather
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