Our family moved to Spain from Norway some 8 years ago and one of the fascinating sides of this country is its banking system. I do not know if it’s the same in northern Spain as in Andalucia or Costa del Sol, but we have had a lot of fun.

We started off with Bank Inter as this was recommended by our lawyer. We set up accounts and all OK. In our business we had quite a number of international transfers into our account. The transfers went through some kind of clearing account in Madrid which was manually managed. One transfer arrived in Madrid, but we did not see it on our account. I went to the branch and they called Madrid. Yes all OK the money had arrived and would be deposited on our account. Two weeks later still nothing and money still in Madrid. The woman managing the clearing account had not had time yet. So we decided to change bank.

A friend of ours had Solbank so we thought we would give this a try. In Solbank they gave us check books. Wow, fantastic. I was setting up an office so thought this would come in handy. I went out shopping for office furniture. I was amazed when none of the shops I went to accepted checks. I went back to my bank and asked why and they said it was because checks in Spain can be cancelled by the issuer up to 21 days after signing. Wow.

Some time later we were looking to buy a place to live. We had about 10 mill pesetas at that time and asked the bank manager for a loan. Our finances were ok, but they could not give us a loan because they did not know us !!!!. When we had paid our telephone and electricity bills for some time then they would know us and give us a loan !!!

I had another business with some friends and we had a company account also in Solbank in Los Bolichas this time. I was the only person with authorization on the account. Once one of our employees received a check from one of our clients and he went to the bank and tried to deposit the check. Wow. This was highly illegal and Solbank closed the account. I tried to understand this, but promised that I would try to stop people depositing checks into our account.

Paying bills in Spain is a joke in itself. Everything is paid by direct debit. And if you do not have funds on your account that day you are in big trouble. My bank, Solbank, does not accept cash payments. So you have to go to a bank where you can pay the bill. You must also pay with cash. No debit. Well go off to one of the banks on the list. Wait in line for 45 minutes only to be told that you can only pay bills cash on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 8 and 10 in the morning !!!. (You really have to love this country). The big companies you usually get bills from like Telefonica, Movistar or Sevilliana do not even have an account number on the invoice !!! Think how easy it would have been if you missed your payment you could just open your computer at home and transfer the balance. They do this in the rest of the world ! And now you can. Her are the account numbers for two of the above: (just remember to put your phone number as reference)

Telefonica bank account : 0182 1300 15 0010920671

Movistar bank account : 2100 2931 96 0200013229

Once a client arrived in Marbella and paid me with an international bank check. This is a check which has been paid by the issuing bank and is as good as cash. Happy with the check I took it to Solbank for deposit. I asked them how many days it would take before it was valued on my account. 6 weeks they said !!! Wow again. 6 weeks. I tried to tell them that this was as good as cash, but they had to send the check by post to the issuing bank and then wait for their transfer. I could not believe this and called my old bank manager in Norway and asked him how many days this would take in Norway. 2 –3 days was his answer.

We love this country and understand that things do not happen to quickly. We have to accept 20 year old banking systems and in stead enjoy the sun, the wine and the food.

But as I say to friends in some areas the Costa del Sol is more like Africa than northern Europe.