CaixaBank Reviews 2,814

#CaixaBank is the most useless bank in Spain.

I wrote a similar post a year ago, but nothing has changed.

I took out a mortgage with them, but every year they block my account and ask for the same documents, as if I change my passport every day. They also ask for pay slips. The fact that I have a Spanish work contract, vida laboral (employment history), and all the official records in order doesn’t matter to them—they need a piece of paper that I could easily forge if I wanted to.

But the biggest problem is that nothing can be done online. They just blocked my account without any notification or explanation. No one called, no one wrote. To resolve the issue, I have to go to the same branch where I got the mortgage, even though there’s an office near my home. This time, I had to go there three times in one week because they themselves don’t know what they want from me. And I’m not even sure this is the end of it.

-My bank isn’t working.
-We need your pay slip and passport.
(The same passport I used to take out the mortgage? WTF?)
-Can I send them?
-No, in person. We have to scan them, and you need -to sign on the tablet.
[Brings documents]
-Great, go home and wait.
[Waits. Gets a call.]
-We need proof of residence.
-I already gave you my EU citizen residence (Certificado U.E.) card—it includes that.
(You can't even get this card without proof of residence!)
-We need proof of residence.
-Can I send it?
-No, you have to bring it in person.

This bank is a complete mess! I have an account at another spanish bank, and there's none of this nonsense there. Honestly, Estonian banks are amazing—cards and payments work much better than in Spain. The only downside is that you can’t get a mortgage with them...

I don’t recommend #CaixaBank to anyone—if you need to do business in Spain, stay far away from these idiots.

Absolute robbers! You have to pay fees for everything, purely for having an account, for not having a salary paid to it, for owning a card. And the customer service is terrible. Try to book a meeting with your advisor and they will just not turn up. Think twice before choosing this bank.

They do not accept my new document via internet, for their own technical problem, and, for this reason, they ask me to go to Spain to fix the problem. they never sent me notifications about that, they just blocked my card and then my account, i cannot add money to pay recurrent bills, and my balance is now negative. they are asking me money and interested on card , despite i had money in the balance and regular documents to provide. besides, they have been shamefully unefficient when once i had asked help for the purchase of a house. Stay away, there are spanish banks much more efficient and close to the customer

I withdrew forty euros from a cash machine in their bank in Malaga. They charged me almost £12!!! For a transaction that equated to £33. The charge on the screen that I accepted was 4 euros and 32, so how they think it is okay to steal three times that amount is crazy! I tried to contact them but their online form will not process without a national identity card number which I dont have because I am British. Just be careful you don't use their machines if you travel in Spain. They are everywhere.

One star is excessive. Staff are untrained and unsupervised. “Help Line” staff either don’t reply or reply as follows” if you have a problem it’s your fault”. Staff are allowed keep dormant accounts open for the purpose of charging fees for no service at all. Staff can also set fees solely for the purpose of retaliating if you complained.

Literally the worst bank ever. Lied to me about mortgage terms and interest. Despite a fixed-rate mortgage and the fact I satisfy all conditions for a discount on the interest rate, they have suddenly increased the mortgage interest rate without warning. They say it's because no salary has been transferred into the account, but funds clearly have been transferred into the account. I have an email from the guy who sold me the mortgage stating that the interest rate discount would apply whether funds were transferred in as a salary or if I transferred them in myself from another of my accounts. Now they are claiming that's not the case. So the guy who sold the mortgage lied. He lied about lots of things including the monthly cost of life insurance and the % of house insurance coverage I had. I've spent all morning trying to lodge a formal complaint only to find their complaint form doesn't work, and gives an error in the field when I correctly select my province. Do not trust this bank!

This bank took 25 Euros for a 150 Euro withdrawal. I needed the cash so had to put up with a completely fraudulent exchange rate and to add to the injury they slapped on a 2.95 Euro fee! Companies like Caixa gives banks a terrible reputation and that is all Caixa deserves! Disgusting behaviour, will never withdraw money in Spain again. I ordered a Wise currency card!

I cashed in some USD at the Albunol branch when I was buying a property a few months ago and it was available immediately. This time I wanted to cash in some USD because I'm going on vacation at the end of the week and now they tell me it takes 2 weeks before the money appears in my account. This is not the first time this branch changes the rules. Last year they suddenly told me they don't cash cheques after years of cashing them, so I spent 2 months chasing down my customers in the US to arrange an alternative.. Unreliable the the best description of this bank...

Over all, the service and acknowledgement of their customers are excellent. I was served by two different gentleman on the 2nd and 4th of December but unfortunately, I was not able to get their names. Both of them are very professional, patient with me on not being able to speak spanish (my spanish level is intermediate) and they were warm and accommodating.

On the 9th of December, I was finally approved and given the notice to open my bank account and Susana Andrés Sacristán was the one who assisted me. She is adept and skillful. I can attest to her exceptional customer service and went way beyond to assist me even on my very first transaction. The receptionist was polite in all the occasions of my visit to their branch - Store Puerta de Alcalá-Serrano.

I give one star to this bank because I am unable to give it zero stars. The treatment received by one of the offices in Premia de Mar store 0317 was arrogant and condescending, deplorable customer services. Instead of resolving the issue, they gave me a Spanish phone number to call. The email address for complaints, (that is the one that starts servicio cliente but I am not allowed to post here) is also unmanned and complaints go unanswered. My issue being that they require ID to be sent over email and they force the client to send this with no password or encription. Totally unacceptable in this day and age where everyone is exposed to cybercrime. Possibly the worst bank in Spain to bank . Avoid if you can.

Open Complaint Against CaixaBank

I am deeply shocked and outraged to discover that fraudsters issuing fake invoices, allegedly from courts, have managed to open accounts with CaixaBank! Upon verifying the BIC, I was horrified to confirm that this bank enabled them to operate.

All documents related to this case have been handed over to the police.

How does the bank verify its clients? Why are fraudsters able to open accounts with one of Spain's largest banks? Your customer verification processes raise serious concerns.

I am determined to pursue justice at every level to hold not only the fraudsters accountable but also the bank for its negligence in allowing such activities. This is completely unacceptable!

CaixaBank, why do you allow your reputation to be tarnished by providing fraudsters with the means to operate? We, as clients, deserve answers and immediate action!

I wrote to the CEO but have not had the courtesy of a reply

Caixa branch in Salobrena: We have had an account at the Salobrena branch of Caixa for over 10-years. The service over this time has always been extremely poor. We persevered with this because we only needed limited involvement with them. The trouble really started when we needed to close the account and cancel the building insurance with them, because we had sold our house in Salobrena. They completely botched up the cancellation of the insurance, took out multiple incorrect deductions from our account and are refusing to close the account. The manager at Caixa bank Salobrena ignores all communications and is hopelessly incompetent and rude. Appeals to the CEO of Caixa bank are also being ignored. Avoid this bank at all cost, especially the Salobrena branch.

Хрень полная, на карте лежат деньги а я не могу купить на них товар, и так очень часто, буду менять банк на другой

7 euro to take money out lol. No thanks ya scammers

Stay away! Never even consider this bank! Operator Maria Obregón Zabeguina at La CaixaBank Benalmádena is a SCAM!

More than a bank Caixa is a mafia of thieves
I am sorry I open an account here. I agree with others' comments about "shame on the central bank of Spain for allowing this scam of a bank to continue operating. The bank employees are unprofessional and have a horrible attitude towards their customers." They not only do not help you but hurt you. They took a lot of money from my account for no reason and without notice. They do not respond to my questions about where the money is. All they say is they are investigating, but do not say what. Of course, it is illegal to take money from a customer account regardless of the investigation. Did they expect that I did not notice? I wonder how much money they are taking from customers. Please report them to FIN NET / Banco de Espana and the European Commission if they also act shady towards you!

It's a nightmare. When I arrived in Spain I had to open an account in this bank to hire a health insurance. My first surprise was when I got a job with health insurance provided by the employer and I tried to cancel my insurance at Caixa Bank. I discovered that it was a 3 years contract and you simply cannot cancel it during this period. Nobody from the bank had ever mentioned this before. I had to keep paying it for several months event though I had another health insurance from my job. My second surprise was a year later when the bank started to charge me a second bill with the same amount of the insurance. I was very clear when I opened my account that I wanted a free of charges account. But they said that my account is only for free as long as I have services billing on it, but their own health insurance doesn't count as a "service". It just stoped being for free from nowhere. I tried to talk to someone, but it's impossible. And that is when I had my third surprise: they simply changed my account to an office in the other side of the city. It took me half a day every time I had to go there and stay in a huge line to talk to someone. They never help you. They don't cancel the "services" and just keep billing your account as much as they want. I took all my money to another bank and jut lei it go with Caixa Bank. I hope someday they'll cancel the services they don't provide but keep charging.

I was calling due to a fraudulent charge on my card.

The agent who assisted me sounded almost asleep and she proceeded to tell me I can pick a new card in some store in my city.

I asked about having a confirmation regarding all the info and processes taken by the bank according to her understanding of the policies.

The only way to know what bank to pick up my document is by writing it down. We argued for various minutes until she put me on hold.

She came back and simply said: ok so we are not going to send you anything and you can pick up your card in 5 days where I told you.

Disgraceful service and rude agent.

I’ve never heard of a bank that doesn’t give confirmations by email, sms or whatever.

Honestly it feels like she just put me on hold and told me to take a hike after not having spoke to any supervisor.

In case she did and this is the way they do business. Then on either term take your 1 star you deserve it.

So, what every normal European Bank does - do not expect CAIXA to do it. SOME TIPS:
1) Possibility to have a negative balance: Any bank in Europe offers the possibility to have this liberty (normally one salary worth). Not so CAIXA - you have to request this and it's limited in time (three months) and to a small amount (20% of salary). While they offer you huge credit online within 5 minutes (6 times worth the salary). DO NOT FALL INTO THIS TRAP. I organised now, that the 1.000 EUR negative balance is constant. I do not use it - it's only for emergencies.
2) Purchases made with my simple Meastro card are debited always 3 days later and it is offered to pay in "rates". DO NEVER USE THIS POSSIBILITY - it's a trap and you can accumulate huge debt without knowing it and interest is VERY high. Another point is, online banking might not always tell you the exact amount of your account as there might be pending payments not yet debited. So check for movements to have the exact balance.
3) Credit card: Useless, limit is a laugh (I got 20% of my salary) and they use a new form of credit cards - not like the regular Visa card.
4) Savings: I never had a bank, where you can only save 1.000 EUR as a minimum and in one go. Saving 500 is not possible. The interest for savings does actually not exist - I received 0,3 % annually.
5) Incoming transfers: Are sometimes held back for some days (salary!!). So, when all my colleagues received the salary as per EU rule within one banking day (and by chance this day is a Friday) you can be sure that the amount will be credited only on Monday - while the bank uses the money in their own interest over the weekend (and I was working in a stock office for 4 years so I should know).
6) The online program is a nightmare. It does not include limits, banking details, daily limits of use, limit of credit card, limit of negative balance... a lot of essential information is missing - even address, email, etc. and not even BIC or IBAN are mentioned.
7) Making international transfers is complicated. I went to the bank to encode automatic transfers now at the end of the month - not to worry any longer.

To make it short: Use this bank only if you are always in positive balance, never take a credit, ask a second credit card from another bank (with reference to your account and income), savings: I put them in the situation to either accept amounts I want to save or I would give my savings to another bank. The only good thing I can say about this bank is, that from time to time they have special offers. As I have no car or transport, I was able to buy a scooter - and pay including insurance (full cover) 100 EUR month. So I can move. That was a good deal. Although they should have taken a model a little better (only a small price difference, but ok). Up to 100 KM I can use it - but would not go with it to Madrid (300 KM) except no other choice. As you can see, CAIXA did not even answer ONE time to all the reviews made on Trustpilot. But ok, I can always change to another bank. I was in Spain for 6 years now, had two banks - and due to my job had accounts in many countries: Germany, Belgium, Montenegro, Chad, South Sudan, Kosovo, France etc. Spain is concerning banks - the worse. You can see this on Trustpilot.
Good:
At least the staff is friendly and helpful - but I suppose this concerns only the little branch in the small town I am living in. For the moment I will not change - I try to organize around.
The banking book - it contains all movements and you can make all transfers with it (cash money, pay in, pay taxes etc.) Backside - it costs 2 EUR and is filled quickly (2 months for me).
BAD:
On the other side: They will send you request to evaluate the bank - but this will fall back on the person responsible for you. I gave them a bad evaluation and was called by my responsible. So I corrected it - because SHE is very helpful. This as well is completely non-sense. Either I evaluate the bank or the person who is serving me.