If a bank won't open your account, what are your options?

Key rules

• Ordinary account: A bank can refuse an ordinary account without giving reasons, but never because of your nationality, race, sex or religion.
• Basic account decision: A bank must answer a complete basic payment account application within 10 working days, and a refusal must be in writing with reasons.
• Bank complaint: A complaint about a payment account gets a reply within 15 business days.
• Banco de España: If the bank rejects your complaint or stays silent, you can complain to Banco de España.

Why banks refuse or stall

Most refusals come from identity and money-origin checks, not from personal dislike. The usual triggers:

• No NIE, or an expired ID that the bank cannot verify.
• No proof of a Spanish address, such as a padrón certificate or rental contract.
• No proof of income, a job or where your money comes from.
• Non-resident status. Many banks limit what they offer non-residents, and some do not serve them at all.
• Tax complications, such as being a US taxpayer, or living in a country the bank treats as high risk.

Stalls usually come from document checks, internal reviews and appointment backlogs. Policies differ by bank and even by branch, so a "no" at one branch is not final.

What the law gives you

A bank must refuse an ordinary account if it cannot properly identify you.

The basic payment account is different. If a bank refuses that, the refusal must be in writing, with reasons, and tell you how to complain.

Your options, in order

1. Ask why. Ask the bank what was missing. Then try another branch or bank, ideally one with a desk for foreigners.
2. Try an online bank. Several online banks and fintech apps accept foreigners with a NIE. Availability varies. Some do not give you a full Spanish account or a Spanish IBAN.
3. Request a basic payment account (cuenta de pago básica). See below.
4. Complain. Use this if the refusal looks unjustified or the bank stalls.

A foreign account can bridge the gap.

The basic payment account

The cuenta de pago básica is open to anyone legally resident in the EU, whatever their nationality: people with no fixed address, non-EU nationals with a TIE, and UK citizens with Withdrawal Agreement rights and a residence document. Asylum seekers and people who cannot be removed from Spain can also apply, even without a residence permit. You cannot hold another payment account in Spain that gives the same services, unless you can show the bank has told you it will be closed.

Only certain banks must offer it. Banco de España publishes the list, which includes Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter, Unicaja, Kutxabank, Abanca, Ibercaja and Cajamar.

The total annual fee is capped at €3. People in a vulnerable situation or at risk of exclusion pay nothing. Extra transactions cost more. Requesting the account has no application fee and no government form; you apply with a written request. If you are still abroad and not legally resident in the EU, the basic account is closed to you; Opening a Spanish bank account before you move covers the non-resident account.

How to complain

Start with the bank's customer service. Send your complaint in writing, in person, by post or online.

If the bank rejects the complaint or does not answer, take it to Banco de España, normally online, with your complaint and the bank's reply. Its answer is a non-binding report, but it carries weight. Court action is still open to you. You have 15 months from filing the bank complaint to go to Banco de España.

Timeline and deadlines

• Send a written request for a basic payment account with your documents: as soon as you are refused an ordinary account

• The bank decides on your complete basic account application: within 10 working days of receiving it

• Complain to the bank's customer service if you are refused or stalled: after the refusal or delay

• The bank replies to your complaint about a payment account: 15 business days, up to 35 in exceptional cases; one month for any other complaint

• Complain to Banco de España with the bank's reply, if rejected or unanswered: within 15 months of filing the bank complaint

Documents you need

• Identity document: your passport, EU ID card, NIE or TIE (the foreigner identity card), to apply for a basic payment account.

• Asylum paperwork, if you are an asylum seeker and have no other identity document.

• A signed declaration that you hold no other payment account in Spain giving the same services.

• A written request for the basic payment account, made at the branch or remotely where the bank offers it.

• Your ID, a written account of the facts and any supporting papers, to send with a complaint to the bank's customer service.

• The bank's complaint reply, with your original complaint, to attach when you go on to Banco de España.

Checklist

• Ask the bank why it refused, and whether a missing document or proof caused it.

• Gather your NIE, proof of address and proof of income or source of funds before trying another bank or branch.