Non resident Bank account

Thank you for letting me know. Quick question, did you fill out the form in English or your attorney filled it on your behalf in Portuguese?

Thank you Johnny. In regards to BNI europa. Would this bank count as a Portuguese bank for D7 purposes ? and not a bank such as N26 - I ask this as this is an online bank. I am not sure if there are branches anywhere in Portugal except their headquarters.

Hi,

I opened a Portuguese bank account by going to the Millenium BCP office in London (an office not a bank branch) with passport, UK address, NIF etc. and they did all the paperwork there. i chose a branch/town in Portugal and ATM card etc arrived in the UK post a week later. I also opened another with another bank and after chose the one I preferred - that is other Portuguese banks seem to do the same. Just search using interweb search engine for their details and book an appointment.

I've opened a bank account with Millennium bcp I've found them very efficient. Just go onto internet and download their app

John

I did download the app but seems like it is only for portuguese citizens , not for non residents outside of portugal like me.

I have been trying banco montpio but the you can only contact customer service if you have a NIF. I do have a NIF but somehow the system does not recognize it as valid as it may be a non resident one.

Does anyone have experience with ActivoBank? I believe it's a subsidiary of Millennium BCP and I like the idea of an online (paperless) bank. Just wanted to know whether they provide decent customer service.

Made an appointment at the branch, showed all the documents and the account was opened pretty much there and then Cards and Online banking followed after a few days.

I hope this helps (depending where you are)

@Jk1976,

Activo Bank, part of Millennium BCP but no sharing of data/accounts. Activo you'll be blocked from opening an account if you just use the web or app and are accessing it from outside Portugal BUT you'll not be told this so hours of "amusement" with your failed online or app application.  In country they have a few offices where you can go with documents and open an account (DuckDuckgo search reveals their locations) with non Portugal address and they hand the ATM card + PIN to you then walk you to one of the many in-office ATM to do the card stuff and change the PIN. Make sure your non-Portuguese mobile phone number is written in a Portuguese accessible format or you'll never get the authentication code so will never be able to change your phone number nor send Activo a message saying you don't get any authentication codes. My experience was a month and half ago.

what about millennium bank as I want to open multiple currencies with one account

also easy to use online and English support

do they have a good interest saving rate and good offers for cashback and credit cards

as I prefer to pay by credit

and is there better than millennium bank

I care about multiple currencies as my account in egypt with dollar and euro and want to save money with this currency and exchange some with pound and franks

but if there bank better in interest rate without multiple currencies maybe I think to have account in it

I care about

Millennium bcp has nice internet banking and very nice mobile app, but there interest rate is very bad.. almost useless. If you opened the account in Prestige branch you will get a free cards and reduced monthly fees and other benefits. and you can open it even without having NIF

if i want another bank with the best interest save rate in dollar and euro only which one will be

which one is better in bonds and CD to go with as I want to invest in one year only

and have an advantage if i get a credit card or account

I do not prefer to invest for more than a year for any type of investment except metals

Interest rates are a very old-fashioned thing 😉 I hold dollar stablecoins which I stake at 6% (flexible).

Other than that, there are very stable stocks such as Nestle, electric utility companies and oil producers that pay good dividends.

Bank accounts for me are only to facilitate payments.

what about Santander  bank is good

santander bank will not let non residents open bank account if not in Portugal at the time of opening the account. So is the case with ativo bank I think.

I will open it when I go to Portugal and I will have a D7 visa so is it will be enough

as I see it is better one

I see. but which bank did you open your account with - as you do need to have one before applying for D7 visa though.

no, any bank account I will open will be after getting D7 Visa

I will open it after applying for a visa and get the NIF number

so is Santander bank better than Millennium bcp

as it is low in TAN and Global Effective Annual Rate

also what about banco best  and N26

I prefer Santander bank for there are multiple currencies with one account to make a profit by changing currency and it is essential for me

also, the bank which I prefer must have excellent online banking with English support

MilleniumBCP and Santander are good options.

BancoBest is online banking. N26 can be a good complementary banking option in Portugal, but is not valid for visa requirements.

As per my 2,5 y experience here, Millennuim bcp is the best so far in Portugal as well as international banking. All work well, friendly people, good normal service.

Horrible experience with CTT, would not open an account for me unless I had Portuguese residency or a D7 visa (I am EU (Romanian) and Canadian citizen and entered Portugal using my Romanian passport). They asked for a ton of documents from Canada and in the end declined opening an account unless I have some sort of residency permit or a visa.

I opened at about the same time an account with novobanco without any issues at all.

about novobanco, is it safe to open an account with them? they were some issues with Novobanco  pre pandemic.

I am leaning towards bnieuropa but the question that I have is, does it have branches in Portugal or at least one branch like atlantico or is it simply an online bank like N26?

i will open online account banking at N26

but I need traditional banks to transfer money from my country as police in my country online banking is not good

so which one be best till now I may go for MilleniumBCP and Santander

if there is a better one than this plz mention it

nowadays in Egypt, they will approve online banks so I hope to open before I leave Egypt

Check Activobank, no annual fees. good luck

I had to use Bordr.io to open a bank account for me. I had no choice in choice of bank. They signed me up with Millennium BCP. It was a complicated process & involved a zoom account with a lawyer. However Bordr support was excellent and they guided us every step of the way.  They do charge several hundred dollars t do this for you. We are in the USA and I could not find any other way to open a bank account and we needed the account for our D7 visa.  

I was kicking myself as we were in Madeira in 2021 and I could have opened an account then directly but I waited until the last minute and it was too late.

I have to say the support I get from a personal banker at Millennium is great and much needed until we actually arrive.