Can Activo and Caixa hold the purchase units/security funds from an investment fund? I haven’t heard of those.
FYI Rock Capital, an investment fund, that Bison and Banco Investimento Global are popular with US investors and allow remote account opening.
Can anyone advise monthly account maintenance fees of an account with Millennium BCP and Activo Bank? Any condition for exemption on monthly fees?
How long did it take to open an account with them? I am reading 3 weeks from above posts… anyone took longer than 1 month? Thanks
Opening a bank account hasn’t been a straightforward process. In my experience, contacting banks directly hasn’t been effective. What has worked is when a real estate firm (Pearls of Portugal in my case) referred me to a BCP Millenium agent in Porto, who has been extremely efficient in getting the paperwork ready.
The whole process for me will take more than a month because I’ve to get the account opening forms notarized and then legalized by the Portuguese Embassy here in Singapore. My documents are now with the Portuguese Embassy for legalization, and once I get them back I’ll send them back to the bank inS Portugal and then my account will be activated.
Happy to share the contact info of the agent I’m working with if you DM me.
Side note: Another real estate firm referred me to a different Millennium BCP agent based in Lisbon. She was absolutely terrible to work with - email responses would take 2-3 weeks. So the agent you work with makes a huge difference, even within the same bank. These agents don’t charge a fee, they work for the bank. Cheers.
Activo Bank is impossible to sign up to online unless you have a Citizen Card. Secondly - they do NOT have well located branches unless you are in Lisbon or the North West Coast - for the rest of Portugal - forget about it!
Many other banks insist on good Proof of Address if you say you are living in Portugal (not even Officially Resident - just giving a Portugal rental address). For me, two banks would not accept a Rental Contract as proffo of address but wanted a Utility Bill (which I can’t get because I’m renting with expenses included and all utilities are in the owners name)
Then the final blocking: One bank suggested I go to the local governement offices (Junta de Fregquesia) and get a Attestao de Residencia (Proof of Address, not official Residencio). So, I went there and they told me to go away and get two Portugese residents not related to each other to come with me to the Freguesia offices and certify that I am living in the apartment (where I am paying monthly rent and have a contract!)
What a joke! Definitely an example of crazy Portugese bureaucracy!
So, I am still trying to open a bank account in a city in the Algarve with about 9 banks in it … phew, the search and demeaning waiting goes on …
Don’t believe the people who say it’s easy - I am an EU citizen with lots of salary documents, proof of address in my home country, tax documents, passport, rental contract here in Portugal, and I HAVE an NIF number too - but still it’s not enough!!!
I phoned ActivoBank to ask about joining online and the agent on the phone just laughed (in a friendly way) and said: “No” I couldn’t join online without a Carto Ciudano (Citizen’s Card) - I should go to a branch (only 300kms away!)
Based on my experience, I think that the advise in this article is obsolete and needs a major update. I have got my NIF and am currently visiting Portugal. I tried to open a bank account at several banks. I started by attempting to apply online for a bank account at ActivoBank and found that this option is currently only available for Portuguese citizens. I visited a branch of ActivoBank and was told that according to their new policy, they now only open accounts for people with an EU citizenship or residency. I also visited branches for Millennium BCP and Novo Banco. Officers at both banks gave me the same message. The only banks that were prepared to start the account opening process for me were Banco CTT and PBI. I had all the documents listed in this article with me, but both banks asked for additional documents that I didn’t have. As a result, I didn’t manage to open the account during this visit to Portugal. I would have to fly back home to get the remaining documents prepared and fly back to Portugal if I am to open the account myself. Thus, I decided that I will seek the help of a company like [e-residence.com] or a lawyer. This will be cheaper (and more reliable) than another visit.
Thanks for updating the situation. It is so frustrating! I am due to visit Portugal in December this year and was planning on trying to open a bank account while I am there, your update makes it look like it would be easier for me to buy a ticket to the moon! Would you mind sharing the additional documentation they requested of you so that I can take it all with me and see how it goes? Grateful thanks
I visited ActivoBank, EuroBic and BPI branches in late July this year.
ActivoBank:
Not possible to open bank account without resident card (w.e.f. May 2022).
EuroBIC:
I brought following documents (all non-PT documents in English):
BPI:
Same set of documents as above.
As the client manager of the branch was on summer holiday, another staff made copies of my docs and asked for my intended transactions with the bank. In the end, I was told that the client manager would get in touch with me to follow up. So far I yet to hear back from them.
CTT asked for my national ID together with an authorized translation into Portuguese. They did not consider my passport enough and asked for this in addition to the passport. I didn’t expect this requirement so, I do not have an authorized translation of my national ID.
BPI asked for (all translated into either Portuguese or English):
How much does CTT charge for the account maintenance? The nomadgate article mentions CTT had a free account, but it’s probably outdated info as I could not find a free-of-charge account online.
I really appreciate your time, thank you so much
Just to add a correction to this article, in my experience Google Voice doesn’t work for receiving SMS from BCP Millennium, and without SMS you can’t access their app or online banking. Also joint accounts need to provide separate cell numbers for both named account holders, even if you’re married.
My overall experience with BCP has been very poor. You will get wildly conflicting info whoever you manage to speak to. We pay over 15 Euros p/m in fees for a ‘Prestige personal banker’ who till take days, sometimes weeks, to reply to messages. And the security theater is time consuming. Standard online transfers have low limits and will randomly require jumping through numerous intrusive security hoops with a live person. And even though our account is only a couple of years old they have twice threatened to shut it down unless we provide updated personal information. I used to think US banks were hard to deal with but they are a breeze in comparison. I’m not sure if other PT banks are any better but people need to go in with eyes open, and be careful about leaving large amounts in their account that might be seized.
FWIW and IME, a regular update of personal information is more the norm than not. Bison is the exception not the rule and frankly it surprises me. KYC rules matter. Wealth advisory banks like Bison may take a more relaxed attitude, but a regular retail bank I think carries more exposure. They want to ensure your existence, and that your tax status hasn’t changed.
I have . My reps expect to talk to me once a year to ensure my status and forms need to be attested. It’s just a thing. Of course on the whole I get decent customer service so it isn’t a big fuzzy, just a polite hey, it’s time, can you please do this, thanks.
This is a function of being American as much as anything. We simply aren’t all that welcome.
That doesn’t excuse poor customer service from BCP of course. But that’s just saying there’s good and bad banks. And like I have said so many times in this forum, “it doesn’t work there like it does in the US” and you can’t have the same expectations. People have to have their eyes wide open all the time and question all of their assumptions.
We’ve been with Millenium bcp for over a year and they’ve been fine. Have moved some very substantial sums to pay for house deposits/final amounts, plus a car, renovations, etc. Certainly they’ve checked with us before transferring - to me that’s a good thing.
Most times the confirmation is done via SMS, true. Invest in a proper Portuguese SIM card (and thus phone number so you don’t appear so “foreign = dodgy”). I use Vodafone PT EasyTotal: costs about 2€ every 60 days to keep it alive, receiving calls and texts is free. Have not tested receiving in the US, but I did get texts whilst visiting Canada.
I like that Millenium’s app and website offer English as an option, and you can get to an English-speaking person in their call centres.
Yeah I understand but I don’t think it’s a question of BCP following the rules and Bison being 'relaxed" (I bank with them too). I’ve held retail and investment accounts in the US, EU, Hong Kong and Australia as a dual US citizen for a number of years, so I’ve been around with KYC requirements - and I’ve not been required to update documents on an annual basis for any of them. Might just be a Portugal thing, and perhaps even a recent trend. But my experience with BCP systems is that they make a big show of complicated and uncoordinated security procedures for no real security gain. For example, I once had to change my phone number and was required to answer 10 security questions, go through a phone tree of entering various codes, and then had to have both numbers operating to receive confirmation messages on both. When the co-signatory called to change hers, she was told just to email it to our banker 
In my experience most international cell numbers will receive an SMS from BCP. We’ve had varying success with Portuguese numbers (MEO not Vodafone) while outside the country. The article is incorrect to say Google Voice numbers work - we tried and they don’t.
And yes BCP English phone support is a pro for the bank. Unfortunately we have been given incorrect information by them on more than one occasion when asking about fees, transfer limits, and security requirements. Luck of the draw but I’m glad you’ve had a positive experience with them.
Just to add to that experience, I use BCP and my USA cell phone number (T Mobile reseller) works fine for receiving SMS messages to validate transactions.
My banker is responsive (answers within a day or so) but if not, I can call. I’ve found them to be on par, if not better than my US banks, and I have used quite a few.
Well, there really is no help when a bank is simply obtuse. 
I don’t know if it is different for you because you’re a dual citizen or not. Can’t speak to that. I agree that yes, there was a day not so long ago when KYC wasn’t a big deal at all, and I view it as a recent trend.
Activo politely asks but hasn’t threatened me with closure such that I know of, and makes it pretty easy, such that it’s just not a huge fuzzy - walk downstairs to the safe once a year and take a pic of my passport and that’s it. Which to me seems a little obtuse since your passport likely does not change every year, but whatever. Sounds like a far better experience than BCP.
My other elsewhere-in-EU banker is far less formal about it - he just wants to speak to me every year and do a portfolio update, in the course of which he asks the questions - but doesn’t make me send documentation. On the other hand I have been dealing with this firm for 15 years including stopping in for dinner when I’m in town so they can afford to be pretty relaxed by comparison - but it’s still there. Actually, thinking about it, when I was last there (last year?) he actually pulled out an attestation form, apologized, asked me to sign it, and countersigned it himself. That was new. And as I said, these people have known me this side of forever. So maybe it is newish practice cross-board.
Interesting, and Activo is a subsidiary of BCP so you would think the procedures would be somewhat consistent. I suspect growing concerns about Russian money laundering in the EU (in Portugal especially given the Abramovich scandal) might be behind the growing paranoia over foreign account owners. I sent money to our BCP account from the US and months later the bank requested documents proving source of funds. Cost of being a nomad these days unfortunately.
I’ve updated the article to reflect your experience. I personally used a GV number for the first few years as a customer of ActivoBank (which is part of the BCP group). However, while it worked fine in the beginning, it started being a bit hit or miss a couple of years ago. If I recall correctly, I had to go into a branch to get it changed, so it’s better not to risk using a virtual number to begin with.
Thanks Thomas. Your work on this resource is invaluable 