Selecting a Bank in Madrid

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have a bank account here in Spain at the Caja Madrid because it was the only place that would accept us without a NIE. Are you beginning to see a general theme here? Life is damn tricky here without that NIE (which takes a good few weeks to couple months to acquire). But as you see from our posts – there are ways around it!

Opening an account here for Will was simple. However, for me it wasn’t such a smooth process as I didn’t have IE backing me as a student. While my name was added to the account and I was given some access, I could not get a debit card until I got my NIE. In the interim I was given an online ordering credit card which before any order was placed the primary person on the account (in this case my husband) had to approve the order. That didn’t pair so well with my “we’re equals in this relationship” mentality…but it is what it is I guess. I am still picturing the glazed eyes of shopaholic wives happily sitting at home in front of their computers.

One important thing to point out is we can only do our banking at this one designated Caja Madrid at Serrano, 114 – 28006 Madrid. However, we can pull money with no fee from any Caja Madrid ATM. The staff at this branch are really nice and speak English – they’re even nice when the waves of new IE students come in to begin their accounts (all at the exact same time of day).

Pay close attention to banking hours because they’re almost absurd (actually this might drive you to new employment aspirations in banking in Spain). Hours are approximately from 8.30 to 13.00/14.00, Monday through Friday. Some are also open on Saturdays until 13.00, but they are few and far between.

Pay close attention to banking hours because they’re almost absurd (actually this might drive you to new employment aspirations in banking in Spain). Hours are approximately from 8.30 to 13.00/14.00, Monday through Friday. Some are also open on Saturdays until 13.00, but they are few and far between.

I have learned that many of the students from IE have subsequently switched their bank accounts to Santander due to the fact that it is more international.

For more thorough details on rates, laws and a list of Spanish banks please click here.