Hello.
I would appreciate any input you have about your experience with Portugal banks and whether you know a good option with no monthly fees? I currently have an account with Millenium but I like to avoid the fee if I can. I know Activobank is an option, any experience with that? I am currently a USA resident.
Thank you very much for the help
Do you need a local bank account? For having some euros on hand I think wise seems pretty good, but frankly I just use my USA credit card everywhere for payments so Iām not sure I see the need
I do need a local bank and I am currently with Millenium. We have bought an apartment in Lisbon which we will be renting out soon and we are a golden visa applicant so I think we do need a local bank. From what I am gathering Activo may be the only option with no monthly fees but you can only open an account with them if you have a European residency card/permit.
The solution is serviƧos mĆnimos bancĆ”rios (minimum banking services)
āMinimum banking services must be provided by all credit institutions authorized to receive deposits from the public, that is, banks, savings banks, central banks and mutual agricultural credit institutions and that make available to the public the services included in the minimum banking services.ā
ā¦
"Credit institutions may not charge for the provision of minimum banking services commissions, expenses or other charges that, annually and as a whole, represent an amount greater than 1% of the value of the social support index (IAS), that is, 4,808 euros according to the IAS value in 2023."
Quotes from O que sĆ£o | Portal do Cliente Bancario
My understanding is that the minimum banking services are subject to the condition that no other bank account is open for that account holder.
So if someone has an account with Millennium already they would not get another āfreeā account elsewhere as minimum banking.
Also not sure what @ramin means by needing a local bank account. Is Millennium not local enough?
Yes. The linked page describes conditions under which one cannot open a minimum services account.
The page also states " The documents used to open the basic bank account and convert the current account into the basic bank account should include the expression ābasic bank account (serviƧos mĆnimos bancĆ”rios)ā:" In other words, the OP can convert his Millenium account into a minimum banking services account.
The page also has a section labeled āRefusal to convert a basic accountā, which, in my opinion, would be clearer if the label was āRefusal to convert an existing account into a basic accountā.
Activo is fine. I use them. The only issue is that you will have to go to a branch and show them your residence permit. You will want a .pt SIM / number to use with the app since it does do auth that way and I havenāt seen that they will accept a US number. It costs very little to maintain a .pt SIM that, if you are going to the bother of having a bank account, there is any reason to not have the SIM as well and itās handy in other ways anyway. (even if your phone canāt do dual-sim, just find a cheap-ass phone and stick it in there.)
It is sometimes handy to have a EU-based debit card. US cards work much of the time but Iāve been wandering europe for > 25 years and while things have gotten better over the years, I can categorically state thereās enough cases where a US card wonāt work that itās handy to have one as a backup. (Gas stations are a good example. I just this summer drove Heidelberg-Brest-Karlsruhe. Which card worked in which pump was a crap-shoot. Granted if you go inside your US card will IME work fine but going into a French gas station at 21:00 in a small French town is generally NOT an option and they donāt all have a ātake Euro notesā machine option either. When your motorcycle has a 4 gallon capacity and youāre loose in rural France, These Things Matter. ) A chip-n-pin card from the US works in some of those cases but not everyone has access to one. Plus there is multibanco access which is handy for say paying your Vodafone bill or your SEF fees. But obviously YMMV.
Apart from Activo or Banco CTT you can try BNI Europa, which is an online bank that offers competitive interest rates and products. They have no maintenance fees, no card fees, and no commissions for transfers within the SEPA zone.
@jb4422 Jeff, did you have to apply in their branch? I am trying to apply the easy way via the app but keep getting an error msgā¦
I donāt know if I had to per se, but I did apply in branch, that seemed to be the surest route to success. It probably is required.