Banking in Portugal
3 recent examples ...
I have written before about the need for patience when living in Portugal. It is required for big projects like remodeling a house, or bureaucratic processes like exchanging your driver’s license. And it is definitely required when it comes to banking!
Multibanco
You may recall that it took us 6 weeks to get our ATM (Multibanco) cards1 when we first arrived. What I didn’t tell you was the process we went through to open the account. We were still in the US, it was during the pandemic … much of Portugal was locked down. A single worker was permitted in the branch office each day and others “worked from home”. After we had sent in our paperwork for the D7,2 Portugal added the requirement to have a funded Portuguese bank account. We weren’t sure if the new requirement would apply to us, so we were feverishly trying to open an account with the help of our relocation company.
I received an email from the bank with 4 documents that required my signature. I asked if they would accept an electronic signature and was told “No”. So I printed the documents, initialed the top of each of the 35 pages, and signed. I then received 3 more documents from the bank. Yes, I needed to sign these as well. After signing these, I was told that I should print these again and repeat the process for Denise. (Of course, each iteration was extended as there were only certain days our bank representative was “in the office”.) Why didn’t he just tell me this at the beginning? It is one of many mysteries when it comes to Portuguese banking. But ultimately I sent more than 100 pages of paper to Portugal via FedEx (cost $135). As our documents crossed the Atlantic, our D7 was approved.
When You Are an Offical Sports Club
If you have been reading along for a while, you know that we brought pickleball to VRSA. (And yes, as expected, pickleball is exploding in this country. If you want a current list of places to play, click here.3) We were told by the facility we rented, that if we became an official Portuguese Sport club we would no longer have to pay court rental fees. Denise began the process to become an official pickleball club in October 2022 and with the help of friends and fellow players we became an official club in December of that same year. However, we still do not have a bank account.
Denise, with the help of our Portuguese board member (Ana), has been trying to open an account for 7+ months. She has run into the serial process of signing this form and then coming back a week later to sign yet another form. She is working with a bank manager who has never opened a sports club account before so he opened the wrong type of account to start. The current hold-up relates to proving to the bank that the board members with signatory authority all have sufficient income so they won’t abscond with money in the account. Keep in mind, all of these people proved self-sufficiency to qualify for a D7 visa…but the bank (management in Lisbon) wants more documentation.4
Even Ana is frustrated…and she is a heck of a lot more patient than we are. She is thinking that we may need to start a whole new process with another bank. Please say it isn’t so!
Selling a House
Finally, permit me to share the story of our friends, who moved back to America and needed to sell their house in VRSA. It became clear that the closing of the house would not occur while they were still in Portugal; so they asked if I would agree to act under a Power of Attorney agreement (Procuração). The closing was a very smooth process taking only 30 minutes once we began…of course, we began 30 minutes late even though ours was the first appointment of the day.
I then went directly to the bank with cashier checks in hand5. The buyer, a very nice veterinarian from VRSA kindly accompanied me to the bank to make the deposit. Like all other Portuguese offices, you take a ticket when you enter. Ours was D4 (D for deposit I assume). D3 had already been called to desk 6…which was currently vacant. So it wouldn’t be long….right?
About 20 minutes later the clerk returned from shopping…at least she rushed in carrying a shopping bag. I assume she was on her morning break. The man standing behind us in line stepped in front of us and insisted that she deposit his money. The clerk did as he asked. I looked at the buyer and he shrugged. A few minutes later we were called to the desk and in 5 minutes the money was deposited. Easy-peasy. 6
That is until our friends asked that I assist them in moving the money to the US. With the Procuraçao in hand, I went to the local bank. Yes, the money was in the account, but I couldn’t assist them. The document I held had no authority with the bank. Had they given me signatory authority before they left (this can only be done in person at the bank) I would have been able to assist. But now, they were left with using the bank’s online banking program which limits the amount of each transfer and charges a fee for each transfer. (There is an important lesson here for anyone hoping to transfer funds to another country!)
So there you have it…three examples of banking in Portugal. Fortunately, if you are retired like us, once your account is established you have money sent to your account electronically on a regular basis and can easily spend it using the Multibanco system. We have not found frustration with either of these processes….
Até a próxima semana, beijinhos, tchau
Nanc
While waiting for our cards was frustrating, I want to reiterate that the Multibanco system is so much more than a way to withdraw cash from your account. If you are not familiar with this system please read this.
Please note some D7 requirements have changed. Please check other sources (VFS and Facebook Americans and Friends PT) for current requirements.
Please note, we are NOT responsible for all the clubs in Portugal. We may just do a better job advertising than some others …. I receive at least 5 emails a week from people asking me where they can play in Portugal, what the hours of play are in another city, and how to sign up. I try to be civil when responding, but I am just about done being civil. If you want to know where to play click the link.
At most, the account might ultimately have €3000 in it.
If it had been me I would have requested electronic funds transfer at closing. This is how we bought our house here. But the seller preferred a physical check.
I certainly do not begrudge the bank employee her morning break. What is frustrating is the fact that while on her break no one else in the bank is assigned to assume this responsibility. There were at least eight other clerks working during this time, and several did not have clients in front of them.
Your blog brought back memories.
Ah yes... we live on a continent that is trying to implement a circular economy, reduce waste, and encourage recycling. Yet our banks insist on clearing an acre (or hectare, maybe) of trees every time we need to make an administrative change. We've had similar experiences with our bank here. One time the account manager mysteriously went missing after we signed first ream of paper. So we had to do another one. Then when we moved to LIsbon, there was a slightly smaller stack to change address (most of it had to do with data privacy) and 5 months later our account is still not completely moved.
Patience. Tenacity. Wine. These things will get us through!
When buying my apartment I cunningly managed to end up with a lawyer who was born and raised in VRSA although he now lives in Tavira. Being a local, he knew everybody and went with me to CGD to set up my account so I didn't have to struggle. That's not to say I haven't had some problems in the bank from time to time but fortunately the online system is very good. Certainly bank "etiquette" is behind UK style too - the game is to play the old lady gambit like the locals.