I’ve seen reports of many Portuguese banks charging high fees for transfers from brokerage accounts. Something about them assuming it’s capital gains or dividends and they charge a percentage of those.
Not sure if that’s the case with your transfer, but best not withdraw from brokerages directly to many mainstream Portuguese banks.
On the plus side, Revolut now actually started offering Portuguese bank accounts to residents (including MB way support etc). It’s a decent option for day-to-day banking.
I am using Revolute and have been successfully transferred to a PT50 IBAN account and MB way. The original IBAN still works. It is so much more straight forward with online help. It’s very nice.
It was not a capital gain and i did zero trading with IBKR. In fact it was a test transfer from a PT IBAN to my IBKR IBAN (my IBKR was opened in Asia, but they provide an IBAN of Belgium or something like that). And then I onward transfered to my MBCP account.
As I already have an Revolut account, i can not have 2nd one with Revolut PT.
Is anybody having issues with accessing Novobanco account online in last few days? When I try to log in, I see “Service unavailable” message, and I wonder whether it is the general issue with the service, or my account is fully blocked now…
I did all the KYC stuff through my lawyer first, and then they instructed me to send the translated / whatever files directly. Still very unsecure, but it eventually worked.
Wow… I got the email from Novobanco with the account statement with saldo=0 and short note that my account is closed:
Informamos que procedemos ao encerramento da Conta DO nº 0005 1416 8289, na data 20/01/2026, bem como de todos os contratos associados e suportados por esta conta. Este é o último extrato da sua conta no novobanco. Para qualquer esclarecimento adicional, ligue para Linha Direta 707 24 7 365 (atendimento personalizado das 8h00 às 24h00) ou dirija-se a um balcão novobanco.
I did not request the account closure. I did not have any notice about this in advance. My branch manager does not reply for several days, and I can’t use the hotline as the associated phone number is the one I can’t use from the country I’m in now… Also no idea I have where the money from the account is now.
It depends on what do you mean by “work this thing out”. My lawyer has contacted the bank, and the bank has informed that they simply closed all the accounts of people having Russian passports. With no advance notice, nothing. They are ready to transfer the money from that closed account to any other bank, but only upon my personal visit to their branch (which will not happen before October this year in my case).
By saying “Work this thing out”, i meant that you and your lawyer could find out what the bank needed and reserve their decision of closing your bank account.
But it seems to me that they want your originality to be not russian and it is impossible to change the originality i.e. russian passport.
I am having the same problem with portuguese bank. Although I am not russian passport holder and has nothing to do with Russia, they still closed my account!
Does your GV Investment Fund stay in the closed account? Or in a different bank account?
Well they wanted me to not have Russian citizenship, which is (1) not viable at this time point and (2) is not a desired position for me. Luckily my investment is in the real estate, thus no relationships with funds. In last months Novobanco was not really good in communication, so I really wish you much success in driving out from the situation.
I’ve come to hate Novobanco with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. I’ve had the same issues as the original poster and have just about reached the end of my tether. Is there any reason to keep this bank account open? For reference, I’ve had my biometric and am waiting on my visa. Which may or may not come in this lifetime…
Three days into the same issue with Novo Banco. Call centre said the account (held for 12 years) had been closed. And then proceeded to read out a spiel about Russians (which I’m not) and money launderers (again, not). Can’t be a (genuine) KYC issue since I have Portuguese citizenship, have lived in the same apartment in Portugal for 5+ years, and they have all my docs. Went to the branch yesterday: don’t worry, it’s just computer issues. Called the call centre again this morning: account blocked. Back to the bank: account’s been closed. Asked to see the manager: she could not care less if she was an amoeba. A few more calls to the call centre but clear they are truly useless and not worth the time. I guess that’s the end of me and Novo Banco. Any advice on how to make the break up as painless as possible for me (painful for them would be a bonus) would be appreciated.
I am still with Novobanco, and I have RU in my past history, though I hold a U.S. passport for over 40 years. I am surprised that they kicked you out after you became a Portuguese citizen! Anyway, we found Millenium BCP to be far more lenient and less intrusive, though a bit more expensive in terms of monthly maintenance fees. Also, one branch can radically differ from another, and so check with several before you find the one that works for you. One other trick: if you have the means, open an “executive” account with higher deposit value. This will get you a private banker, and a bit more of attention from the banking establishment.
Our account is locked. Have not been told it is “closed”. Novobanco holds the mortgage on our home! What a mess. We are US citizens and always provided the APIC department with everything they’ve asked for. Our account manager and branch manager have said they are working diligently to get it resolved.