If you are moving to Portugal or even just buying a property in Portugal then you will want to open a bank account. We’ve rounded up the best banks in Portugal for you here today and highlighted the best things about each one.
ActivoBank
My preferred option was ActivoBank because they are mainly an app based bank and have branches in Lisbon with English speakers (I went to the Baixa Chiado branch). It has been extremely easy to set up and use and they offered me a credit card within 9 months of banking with them. In my opinion, it’s definitely one of the best banks in Portugal.
Novobanco
The Novobanco app lets you manage your account wherever you are, with fast and secure transactions on your Android or iOS devices.
Novobanco has a great range of deposit products, with very good interest rates available. It provides the market’s best savings accounts, including a special product providing an attractive rate without having to pay tax on your deposits.
Its chat support is the best in Portugal, providing quick answers to all your questions. You can get through to them via their website or app. It’s available every hour of every day of the week.
Millennium BCP
Millennium beats its competitors by offering brilliant service overall, including :
- A top notch, fast and widely available network of ATMs
- Great customer service
- You can get in touch with its team via chat, call or by email.
Millennium BCP has the best prices among Portuguese banks offering similar products.
Banco BIC
Banco Bic provides a positive buying experience to their clients, offering an attractive rate when buying foreign currency, with the ability to make purchases outside normal opening hours.
Banco Bic has a long history and high expertise helping Portugal’s citizens and foreign people moving to Portugal, and is popular with expats for this reason.
Caixa Geral de Depositos
The biggest bank in Portugal that has a culture of starting new projects. They have Oporto Digital, one of the most innovative banking concepts worldwide.
Caixa Geral de Depositos are growing very fast and looking for developers to grow with them. If you pick this as your primary bank you will make a great choice as their offers are well rounded and they have a huge amount of cultural benefits.
Banco Santander
The oldest bank in Portugal, their offers are very simple and they try to make your life easier with tasks like paying for your water bill or managing social security payments. Although this isn’t indeed an ethical reason to choose this bank, it’s good to know that you don’t need strong stances for it to be a good bank, as the most important thing for them is trust. They have a decent mobile app and a solid online service, with some limitations.
N26
The N26 digital bank is a startup focused on making your life easier and smoother. They offer a great mobile app where you can set up direct debits and make transfers without any fees.
They have a solid online service, every possible banking feature and they are growing very fast as well as placing emphasis on innovation. Their rates might be low but that is because they will only give you the basic offers and they will charge additional fees for anything that isn’t.
Further Reading on the Best Banks in Portugal
If you found this article on the best banks in Portugal helpful then you might also like to read:
1 thought on “Best Banks in Portugal”