Do you have any issues and charges with your Spanish bank account when getting paid for state pension?

Last Updated on October 25, 2023 by Bruno Bianchi

Question

I live in Gran Canaria and have a Spanish bank account with Caixa. I was told by the bank that if I had my pension paid directly into my account, there would be no charge for the account.i arranged for my state pension to be paid into the Caixa account and at first there were no issues.

Now I am being charged €60 a quarter. I asked the bank why. Was told that something had changed with the transfer and Caixa were not recognising the payment as a pension. I have spoken to DWP and they say their system has changed but there is nothing they can do about it. Anyone else had a problem with this?

Answers

These are the answers of some Facebook group members:

“My Bankia account recently changed to Caixa as part of the merger and I noticed that they had me down as a non-resident. After a chat online with their rep, and my uploading my TIE, it’s all sorted. Also check that the DWP pension is big enough to comply with their required monthly income for free banking.”

“Yes, we changed our Caixa account to a resident account last June to avoid fees and have regularly deposited €1000 a month to satisfy the terms to stay fee free. We haven’t been charged anything until this week.. €60 “service price” whatever that is? “

“We are with caixa, no problems and no monthly fees. Pension paid every month. Haven’t had any fees for around 4 years. “

“Yes. Same. Went in yesterday and complained about the 60 euro charge and they moved me to another account which is “just” 35 euros per quarter. Told them I would be looking to close the account. I’m going to change to Openbank.”

“CaixaBank IS THE WORST BANK. Had personal & biz accounts for almost 30 years (a/c started as El Monte in the 90’s) morphed into this “bank”. Customer service is a joke, unjustified fees & hijacking accounts for months to “update info” during strictly enforced pandemic restrictions. First time I’ve ever thought of & did take the time & effort to do an hoja de reclamaciones. The only way to send a message is to close your account, take biz elsewhere & let others know to stay away from them.”

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