Best EU BANK account for citizen that is traveling around EU

[fcs2525]

Hi guys, I know there is already a lot of posts about similar questions, but nothing that'd actually help me to decide/ learn about my actual options.
I'm in search of a solid bank which I can use as my primary - So preferably not "Revolut" style.

I've heard of Openbank, but their first requirement is Spanish residency, and ING but I only knew the NL branch - and my colleague from the UK had a lot of issues opening an account there even before Brexit.

What I'd expect:
- Account in €
- Low fees for standard banking operations
- Instant transfers in €
- App that is not complete trash (e.g. Unicredit)
- No absurdities like Sparkasse charging an absurd fee of 3% on non€ transactions (at least for EU currencies)

I know some banks like tax numbers - so I have mine in Croatia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Slovakia. I'm asking because I travel EU on weekly basis and in my country of residence we have 3 big banks that are milking clients on every occasion and the rest that is seriously doing EUR bank transfers in 3 days without any shame, with Online banking that is like we're in 2002...

Any suggestion highly appreciated.

 

[205]

@fcs2525 I know Revolut gets a lot of hate but it works great for me. I really cannot fault it. I travel every week within Europe and have never had any issues.

 

[fcs2525]

@205 I never had my money frozen but from all the Reddit stories I'd not sleep well at night if I use Revolut as my main bank.

 

[aditemonroe15]

@fcs2525 Revolut have he’s issues ofc but generally works well when he frozes account mostly it’s because you moved a lot money and asks you for a proof if you send them where the money came from will attach that to those movements and problem solved

 

[ggg17]

@fcs2525 paint bake subtract elderly ghost imagine deranged degree deliver violet

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

 

[doawk1993]

@fcs2525 Wise

 

[miamour]

@doawk1993 In my experience Wise is worse than Revolut when it comes to surprise suspensions.

I would like to add Bunq to OP’s list. Although I’ve criticized past versions of their app, they’ve never suspended my account or caused other serious issues.

 

[thomasmagda47]

@miamour Had Wise account for 5+ years and no suspensions. Is there any specific & common excuse they give as a reason for suspension?

 

[miamour]

@thomasmagda47 No reason provided. It was unsuspended after providing some typical KYC papers. Easy enough, but I don’t like that they suspend first, then ask for info. Especially as other banks don’t seem to do that.

 

[jerrysu]

@miamour The only time I ever had an issue with Wise I was able to open the app and unfreeze my card. I travel between England and both Irelands pretty frequently as well.

 

[christianscientistamerica]

@doawk1993 Wise is fantastic but OP should be aware of the ATM withdrawal limits before additional fee kick in. It varies slightly based on which country you set as your residence but I think it’s around 2 free withdrawals before a small set fee and ~€300 a month before a 1.75% surcharge on the amount.

 

[resjudicata]

@fcs2525 Unicredit it's the best. Don't pickup online bank or virtual bank (like Revolut, Wise, N26, etc etc). With those you cannot always activate SDD (for example if you need Vodafone WiFi you need a physical bank) and you cannot have credit cards. So choose a major one

 

[fcs2525]

@resjudicata I'd like to switch from Unicredit as they're known to have profits and yet they don't pay their employees nor invest in the experience for clients. I have gold account with them and I'd say they're the best "offline" bank. I'd just mention the latest update - they started to charge 20 cents per SMS notification while they offer none within their app and they are sending email notifications which is ridiculous.

But nevertheless having 3months travel insurance is good and they also offered me 130k loan when Sparkasse approved me for just 16k
But the app is very bad and it often takes 2/3days to send money on another Euro account which is a problem for me.

 

[resjudicata]

@fcs2525 But where did you read these things? I have several friends who works at Unicredit and no one has ever had any problems. Not to mention the fact that they are the second largest bank in Italy and the twelfth in Europe. It's impossible you don't pay your employees If these are the reasons, don't change. Also what would a "Gold" account be? There is no Gold account in Unicredit

 

[jeremiah3133]

@resjudicata Well, Italian companies pay among the worst in Europe, so if they're raking it in, that is kinda scammy, haha.

 

[resjudicata]

@jeremiah3133 Let's hear, where did you read this? I know people in Unicredit who get 10k a month...Then what does this have to do with what we're talking about? Do you have a benchmark of salaries from Italian banks?

 

[fcs2525]

@resjudicata E.g. https://www.forbes.sk/zamestnanci-u...duju-navysenie-miezd-ktore-zohladni-inflaciu/

 

[fcs2525]

@resjudicata Sorry i just realised I didn't respond, I call it good account because of the color of the card

In reality it's called TOP account and here is the link to it https://www.unicreditbank.sk/en/obcane/ucty/ucty.html (I'd however take it with a pinch of salt they have a lot of old / misleading info on the website)

Ofc they DO pay their employees but I was referring to the fact they pay below the market rate and I often get their employees at branches complaining to that fact. I guess lower the wages and older the electronic system is - the bigger the profits are at the end of the year

 

[resjudicata]

@fcs2525 This is a product present only in Slovakia, Italy - it is not available in Italy

 

[jackerbee4]

@resjudicata Unicredit is one of the worst banks for investing in fossil fuels, so I would choose a bank that is not funding our doom