Banca March - fees and charges?

[gsc]

I've been told Banca March is one of the best bank for low charges. Can anyone confirm this?

I need and account I can put euros into and pay a few bills, direct debits and maybe draw cash. I have no idea what charges to expect.

[Suej]

I've been told Banca March is one of the best bank for low charges. Can anyone confirm this?

I need and account I can put euros into and pay a few bills, direct debits and maybe draw cash. I have no idea what charges to expect.

I use Banca March and find them excellent I have never had a single problem with them! All the staff at LC branch speak good English and their online banking is simple to use and efficient you can even top up your phone in seconds! I´ll have a look and see what the charges are and post again. :)

[shirlthewurl]

I've been told Banca March is one of the best bank for low charges. Can anyone confirm this?

I need and account I can put euros into and pay a few bills, direct debits and maybe draw cash. I have no idea what charges to expect.


I opened a Banca March account when I first moved to Tenerife I was charged 95€ for the first year
25€ for service card- every letter/statement sent there was a charge for.
I used the one in Fanabe' always a long wait only one person on service desk,not very good English spoken.
I changed banks and much better charges NIL.

[moonlighter]

We are with Banca March in El Camison & have always found them excellent, (although I would never admit that to a bank :whistle:).
We use internet banking and there is an option to have all your correspondence available to download rather than them send you a copy which they charge you for.

[gsc]

Thanks all - Shirl - who do you use then if you have no charges? I didn't think that was possible.

[tina ann]

I've been told Banca March is one of the best bank for low charges. Can anyone confirm this?

I need and account I can put euros into and pay a few bills, direct debits and maybe draw cash. I have no idea what charges to expect.

Hi we have had an account with the San Blas office for over 7 years, they are always very helpful.

Regards the charges they are cheaper if you are a resident and if you dont have printed statements etc, just use the online account to check your bills etc.

At the end of the day, they are a Bank and the other week I saked my spanish friend the same question, which is the best bank etc? He said they are all the same, they are all thieves!!!!

But all I can say is that we have been treated well at the san blas branch.

[willowlily]

Thanks all - Shirl - who do you use then if you have no charges? I didn't think that was possible.

i know that in the uk santandar has an account where they supply a debit card and you can have so many direct debits, this is there basic current account and there are no charges, maybe its the same here in tenerife

[Suej]

From what friends say avoid Deutsche Bank at all costs! they always made mistakes on their account and once stopped all their standing orders/Direct debits which ended up with their water and electric being cut off while they were back home in the UK. The Bank never even notified them!

[gsc]

Hi we have had an account with the San Blas office for over 7 years......................But all I can say is that we have been treated well at the san blas branch.
Do you by any chance have an email address? I would like to send the forms in and get an account open before I arrive but I don't have a faxmachine.

[Suej]

Do you by any chance have an email address? I would like to send the forms in and get an account open before I arrive but I don't have a faxmachine.

I don´t think you can open a bank account on line or by email. They will want to take copies of your original passport and NIE! and want an original signature.

[Jackie]

Do you by any chance have an email address? I would like to send the forms in and get an account open before I arrive but I don't have a faxmachine.

If you definately want to open an account with Banca March here in Tenerife you can actually do it from the only branch they have in the UK which is in London. Before moving here I opened a bank account with them and it was all done by phone,post, email and fax, there are plenty of places around that you can send a fax from if you don't have your own. Once you have opened a sterling account with the London Branch you can request that they open an account for you here in any one of their branches, they already have your signature, copy passport etc. so there is no need for anymore copy documents to be sent.

They can open either a sterling or euro account here for you, or both if you want and then when you come out you just go to the branch with your paperwork that you will receive from London and sign the necessary papers here. I used to have money paid into the UK sterling account and then transferred to the sterling account here with one phone call and leave it in that account until the exchange rate was ok and then transfer it to the euro account. There are no charges between accounts in the same name and also when you transfer it from a sterling to euro account here you get a better rate of exchange.

The charges are 29 euros every six month for the running of the account and 60c for them to post you notification of any transactions on your account. You really don't need to have these sent as others have said their online banking is very good. Also there is a 20 euro charge for each debit card that is issued on the account which is payable when it is renewed, every few years.

I have only had experience with Los Cristianos where I have my account and the Fanabe branch. In Los Cristianos every member of staff speak perfect English but Fanabe is a bit hit and miss.

All of the accounts that I opened prior to moving here were done without an NIE number as I obviously didn't get that until I moved here,but I don't know if that has changed.

[F1 Chick]

Hi There, I'm not sure if your sorted yet but I moved here 3 months ago and opened a non-residential account with Santander in San Eugenio before moving over, I had to provide copies of my passport and latest P60 - I could access the account to transfer funds before I arrived. After I arrived I popped into the bank to sign the forms etc and received the debit card & bank book etc. There is a €15 annual charge for the card service etc but that is it. I was advised to obtain my NIE as soon as possible to change the account to a residential account as holding a non-residential bank account may have some tax implications. I can message you the contact details etc if you would like. I hope this helps.

[gsc]

Hi Jackie and F1 Chick

Many thanks for all that info. Very useful. I was expecting more charges than that to be honest.

I have accounts with CurrencyFair and RationalFX so I will use one of those for transfer as I will have builders to pay - I can mess around waiting for the best rate that way. Luckily they both use Barclays in the UK as do I so I can make same day transfers of GBP. RationalRX do same day transfers out for free and CurrencyFair make a small charge but you can get a slighly better rate it seems.

I'm going to email paperwork to Banco March today - I'm told the manager is very helpful. I'll keep you updated on how I do.

Sue, Surprisingly you can open it at a distance but do need to go in within 60 days to confirm things. I've now found the managers email address as I have no fax. Here is what it says for anyone else reading this and thanks again everyone for your help.


Advantages
An account allowing you to transfer funds before you arrive in Spain.
It can be opened quickly and conveniently from anywhere in your country, no visits to the bank are required for the first steps involving the opening and ordering of the first transfer.

Conditions
You must visit your new branch and sign the final contract within the next 60 days after the account opening.
No other products can be contracted until then. No withdrawals or debits will be permitted either.