Urgent: Banks need proof of ID

[El Gordo]

Just found this on SPI:

QUOTE:

Does Your Bank In Spain Have A Copy Of Your ID?

Spanish Property Insight Banks and Finance, Buying, Owning, & Selling 0 April 24, 2015

Your account could be frozen if your bank in Spain doesn’t have a copy of your passport before the end of April.
To comply with five-year old regulations on money-laundering Spanish banks are scrambling to get copies of ID documents for all their clients before the end of this month.
As El Pais In English in explains: “April 30 marks the deadline for banks to collect and digitalize up-to-date identification documents for all account holders, as per existing legislation. For Spaniards, this means the DNI national identity card; for foreign residents, their residency card or passport.”
Banks are obliged to contact customers where ID documents are lacking, so you should be able to assume all is well if you haven’t heard from your bank.
But what if your bank doesn’t have your correct contact details, as is known to happen? If your bank can’t reach you, and doesn’t have a copy of your ID on record, your account will be frozen on the 1st of May. That could be a pain for property owners relying on standing orders to make regular payments like community fees and mortgage repayments.
Accounts will be reactivated once ID is provided, but if three months pass by without ID, accounts become known as cuentas de orden, which are harder to reactivate, and recover money from them.
“Some sources talk about more than five million clients without an up-to-date ID document, although banking associations refute this figure,” says El Pais.
Banks like Santander allow clients to scan and email a copy of their ID document, so it is not necessary to visit Spain.
If you have a bank account in Spain it might be a good idea to check your bank has a copy of your ID on record. End Quote.

We Did this earlier this year.

[Sparky]

I have seen this subject on various sites. As i understand it you cannot open a Spanish bank account without these documents, so the banks must already have the info ...... or am i being a bit dense .

[pollensa]

Originally Posted by sparky

I have seen this subject on various sites. As i understand it you cannot open a Spanish bank account without these documents, so the banks must already have the info ...... or am i being a bit dense .

We originally opened our account about 15 years ago but were still asked for copies of latest passports recently. We had the option to email a scan if necessary but just went in & they took photocopies.

[Sparky]

Ah!! so is this just aimed at non resident account holders?.

[El Gordo]

Originally Posted by sparky

I have seen this subject on various sites. As i understand it you cannot open a Spanish bank account without these documents, so the banks must already have the info ...... or am i being a bit dense .

Not dense at all!!
We opened an account with my passport, before I had an NIE, which, unlike Spanish ID, changes each time you renew. So, may have to repeat the exercise when I renew again (every 10 years).

[lollipop]

Sparky, I think it applies to both residents and non. They need digitalised copies of info so might just be worth checking with your bank if you've had your account for a number of years.

[James]

I received a letter from my bank in the Port, BBVA, two weeks ago requiring voluminous copies of up-to-date documentation and a digital copy of my signature by 30 April or my account would automatically be blocked or cancelled.

BBVA have a branch on Eastcheap near where I work in London but they were unable to help very much and, unlike BBVA branches in Spain, do not possess the electronic equipment to record a digital signature.

In the end I had no choice but to get on a plane after work the Thursday before last and have a meeting with the manageress of BBVA's Port office on the Friday... so I'm hoping it's all sorted now - fingers firmly crossed.

The manageress of BBVA informed me that her branch has over 200 ex-pat accounts which are liable to being blocked / cancelled this week.

It's all required in order to comply with Spanish money laundering legislation but it turns out that the law was passed five years ago in April 2010! The banks have, however, been very bad in communicating it to non-resident account holders.

[Nick]

We got an email from Barclays.es requiring all this proof of earnings, copies of passports etc. last week. Nothing like leaving it late. I think we were told our banking would be restricted rather than closed but maybe different banks have different procedures?

Either way there's no escaping it and my fear is they will cancel my water and electric direct debits because that would be a nightmare.

[meg1973]

can any one tell me if you can still turn up and see the manager of the bank or do you need an appointment,im with la caixa , if so can anybody give me there phone number ?

[pollensa]

All the banks seem to be complying differently. At Targobank they just asked for photocopies of passports which we've done.

[Lorenzo]

All the banks seem to be complying differently. At Targobank they just asked for photocopies of passports which we've done

.

Yes, Barclays in the port just emailed me to ask for a scanned copy of my passport which I emailed to them - nothing more

[Major Tom]

This is the last day to get all your paperwork into your PP banks. I have finally
managed to get BBVA to send me the correct paperwork to sign to keep my
bank account from being blocked.

I know this is all in the name of money laundering but why oh why didn't the paperwork get issued in January so when I went to my apartment at Easter I could pop into the bank & sorted it out.

All very stressful and unnecessary or is it me getting old (like Victor Mildrew) ?

[lollipop]

I think you will find that they have extended the deadline, but am sorry cannot remember new date.

[Rangers1]

Originally Posted by plackeyman

This is the last day to get all your paperwork into your PP banks. I have finally
managed to get BBVA to send me the correct paperwork to sign to keep my
bank account from being blocked.

I know this is all in the name of money laundering but why oh why didn't the paperwork get issued in January so when I went to my apartment at Easter I could pop into the bank & sorted it out.

All very stressful and unnecessary or is it me getting old (like Victor Mildrew) ?

Money Laundering is a big issue around the world and can fund all sorts. Would you want your money going elsewhere? It defo is not unnecessary just a sign of the times and the world we live in.

[Major Tom]

Think you misread what I wrote Rangers.I utterly agree that Banks& money should be transparent.My frustration was that my Bank asked for Documents that didn't reach me until a few days before the 30 th April deadline.I was unable to fly out so asked my Solicitor to check all had gone through smoothly.Someone previously wrote that the Banks had known this Information was needed for sometime.The unnecessary stress I referred to was simply everything being left so last minute,at a busy time at home for me.Ironically we had 10lovely days early April in PP,when we could have strolled into the Bank anytime..Hey Ho.