Just sharing my experience. For Canadians like me, I was able to open an account with Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD) via their Toronto representative office. I had to setup an appointment for account opening and personally appear in their offices.
Their requirements for account opening are (as of Dec 2023):
passport
NIF
address in Canada (driver’s license or electric/hydro bill)
employment letter stating salary (payroll statement with company name is OK)
SIN in Canada
In the office, they inspected my documents, photocopied them and ask me to fill and sign forms. They asked me the purpose of why I would like to open an account (investment, retirement, expenses, etc.)
The procedure is that they will send all the documents to their office in Portugal for approval and processing. I will know within 2-3 weeks if my account is approved for opening or not.
I waited about 10 business days and my contact at CGD (the person who assisted me with the forms) told me via email that my account was approved for opening. Her email contained my Portuguese bank account number with a PT IBAN. I was told to wire or transfer at least EUR 200 to activate the account. Once the amount is received and verified, they will then send my debit cards to my Canadian address.
These all happened just very recently or a few weeks ago and I am now waiting to receive my debit card.
Overall, my experience has been positive. The account opening was relatively easy and I think this was due to the fact that a CGD rep office is present in Toronto and the staff are familiar with the procedures. I know CGD accounts are not fee free but this will be ok for now. I just need to get this part started so that I can submit an Golden Visa application this year.
Out of curiosity, what reason did you give for wanting to open the account? Did they let you submit the application and then the compliance department rejected it, or you simply weren’t allowed to apply?
I assume you’re not currently living in Portugal, but already acquired a NIF?
Do you also currently live in Latvia or elsewhere in the EU? There were some recent reports of non-EU residents being refused accounts. In that case, EU nationality wouldn’t be sufficient unless you currently live in the EU.
I currently live in EU (Latvia). At the moment I am in Portugal as a tourist (staying in a trailer park). The reason for opening account I gave - is property purchase. Today I went to 3 more banks including the official Caixa. At Caixa they told me that I need Portuguese residence card OR at least a rental contract to prove my address in Portugal. None of the banks excluding Millenium even let me apply. In Millenium I applied but was refused without stating the reason as it is usual :). So I’m still waiting if real estate agents will have any solution. Also I have a contact with local lawyer that told that she can open an account for me in Caixa for 200 eur. Not sure how they do it. She requires payslips, information about my job, name of my parents for identy, phone number to be associated with bank, my tax number in Latvia, ID.
Does anyone have experience with trying to open a Moey account as a resident non-citizen? The web site indicates that a Portuguese Citizen Card is required, but rumors suggest otherwise. Is it possible to open an account with a residence card?
I sent the question to their customer service email address, and promptly received an uninformative response. I think it may be some kind of simple keyword matching automation that responds with canned FAQs.