I have my biometrics appointment in March. Assuming I get my residency card within a reasonable timeframe (yes, I realize this is a big assumption), I’m wondering if residency will open up any additional options for me banking-wise in Portugal or elsewhere in the EU/Schengen.
I have an account with Millennium BCP and an account with Bison Bank (where my GV investment is held). The reason I’m interested in other options is because Bison Bank feels rather small to me and I had a horrible experience with Millennium BCP last year that convinced me to severely limit my exposure to their useless personnel (I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but I cannot overstate how much I don’t recommend them.)
So, I’m wondering if perhaps there’s another major Portuguese bank that others like or if there’s another EU/Schengen bank that will work with me as a Portuguese resident. I should also mention that I’m a US citizen. I’m interested in checking, CD’s and other FACTA-compliant investments.
The answer is yes, at least in relation to Portugal. There are some better banks over here than MBCP, and with a resident card things get smoother. Can’t tell nothing about the rest of the EU though.
For what it’s worth, Bison is (or at least was) offering good CD rates for a 1-year commitment (2.25% as I recall). Not bad for Europe. It had to be “new money” (at least partly) and did have a min of 25k. Not bad if you are parking funds here anyway.
I am interested to hear you Millenium experience - we are about to op n an account with them for our daily stuff (utilities, rent, local debit card, etc)
I have had a very good experience with Atlantico. I have a banker there who is very responsive on emails and have never had any issues. I don’t live in Portugal so I have no idea of what it’s like as a day to day user of the bank, though.
You really don’t use the bank on a day-to-day basis. Almost everything is done via an app or internet (payments, transfers, etc.). Most services (water, electricity, telephone/web package, etc.) are also automatically debited. The only time you need to go to the bank is to either obtain a document of some sort or to deposit cash. Also, really large transactions do require a visit to the bank, but they are relatively rare.
Yes you will have more options when you get residency. That said, don’t expect it to be easy. For some banks having a GV is a red flag and you can be stuck for weeks with their compliance department.
Yes, this happened to me with Millennium. I used to have D7 residency and was in the process of switching over to the ARI. I transferred a large sum of cash to my Millennium account and it triggered a review. When it was time for me to submit my ARI application and I needed the document from Millennium stating that the funds came from overseas, my account was in compliance purgatory for over a year before they coughed up the letter. One of the most infuriating experiences I’ve had in my life.