I agree, it is a general situation not only related to the RU exposed individuals.
Quick sum up from my recent research:
- MBCP has become a pain since around Q4 2023. They randomly block incoming transactions, sending people to compliance, or to complete KYC or both, but whatever you do the outcome is again random, i.e. release, return or indefinite ‘analysis’.
- Novobanco is on top of the ‘bad guys’ list. They block accounts altogether or restrict heavily. RU or non-RU people does not matter to them, they can block anyone, because ‘power’
- Caixa Geral de Depositos, government bank… do I need to say more? I am in the process of opening an account with them. On my 3rd month waiting since the application…
- Activobank, sounds free and ‘modern’, but in practice impossible to open via the app or via ‘telechamada’. I had one good report from someone applying at the branch, but they don’t have branches where I live so I’ll give it a pass. And by the way, they are owned by MBCP which does not bode well.
- BPI, Spanish bank, some positive reviews in another thread here, also I personally had a very pleasant experience with them so far, they have like a 3-tier system of regular, Premier and Private bank accounts, which makes a bit of difference I guess.
- Santander, another Spanish entity, but have very poor reviews online similarly to MBCP or CGD. I have not tried them myself but heard mixed feedback. So let’s put them in the middle of our ranking together with Activo.