Opening A Bank Account in Tenerife

If you are planning to live or carry out your business in Tenerife, first of all, you need to have a bank account there. Opening a bank account in Tenerife ensures:

• that you can dispose your personal funds and solve any financial issues and problems if occurred, it also means that your funds are secure;
• if you are an entrepreneur planning to have a business in Tenerife, you will need to open a bank account in order to form a share capital when registering the new company. Also, holding of a bank account can be a good solution in handling financial affairs, applying for financing of your business and making use of other financial services and products offered by the bank.

How to get a bank account in Tenerife? In Tenerife, like in all other regions of Spain, there are many Spanish and foreign banks represented. If you have some doubts concerning which bank to choose, it is wise to rely on an advice of a professional. Once you have chosen your bank you will cooperate with, you have to enter into agreement with the bank and the bank account number in IBAN bank account format will be created and assigned to you.

There are three main types of accounts in Tenerife that you can hold:

• A current account is convenient for your everyday life but it has very low interest.
• A savings account also carries a low interest but it offers cash card facilities.
• The third type of an account is a deposit account. Any interest that is earned will depend on the length of time you are prepared to deposit the money.

What do you need to open a bank account in Tenerife? Banks in Tenerife are ready to open accounts both for resident and for non-residents of Spain. To open a resident bank account the main document is residence permit. You will not be able to open a resident account whilst waiting for your residence permit to be processed.

It is more complicated to open a bank account for non-residents. Non-resident should know that it is not possible to open a bank account in Tenerife if you are not present in the country. For opening a bank account, non-residents will need a non-resident certificate that could be obtained at the main police station. The procedure can take about 10 days. However, if you acquire the residence permit, you must change a non-resident account immediately to a resident one. It should be noted that the bank account for non-residents in Spain is not taxable.

If you intend to open an account for your company – you will also need to take with you the CIF number, the actual original document and a copy of a company formation contract, some other documents if needed You have to clear it out before you go to the bank.

Currently, banks are very conscious of their reputation. Therefore, in case of any suspicion that a business is making illegal activities or finding any negative information about company’s representatives, banks can refuse to open an account or will apply additional strict control, especially for non-residents.