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I think all you need is your relative documents that show you have the right to work here, ie work registration certificate, and your passport/id card.

This is something i must do myself soon, i have the relative document now, just need some time off work to go to a bank and try to open an account, although like you i dont know which bank is best, so i will just choose the closest one to my house, BRD...

Oh, pretty much all of the big banks here in Romania have a section all about requirements for opening an account on their websites. Its best to look on one of those for the exact documents, i just listed from memory above and i might have missed something.

Hi daz90!

Thanks a lot for your help

Armand

Typically the only document one needs to open a bank account is a simple foreign passport. Of course some bankers (the uneducated ones) sometimes ask for "residence" papers or "work permits". Frankly it's none of their business, and a foreign passport or EU-ID card is suficient to open an account.

If you want to pay lots of fees, and you enjoy being "scammed" on banking transactions please do go to BRD. They are known to be one of the worst banks on the market when it comes to banking fees for everything (depozit/transfer/ATM/debitcard).

You can easily run close to 1000 RON (225 EURO) per year in fees if you choose to bank with banks like BRD/BCR/Raiffeisen if you regularly pay bills, withdraw money in RON or foreign currency etc.

The only bank one should choose is Intesa San Paolo. Al though they dont have many branches, it should not matter, as ATM fees are free of charge at any ATM of any bank in Romania or abroad. The same counts for cash withdrawals at the counter (if you really need foreign currency or RON), they do not charge anything. Also banking transfers in RON and EURO (!) are free of charge. Intesa San Paolo is connected to SEPA which allows it to transfer money in EURO within the EU without those silly SWIFT and transfer costs that other banks are charging.

The 0% comissions on withdrawals at the branch or any ATM applies for amounts upto 30.000 RON or 8000 EURO per month. More than suficient, I would assume.

The only downside: a administration fee of 4 RON (1 EURO) per month. (But internet banking is free, no charge for debit card or partner debit card and no other silly fees or comissions)

Thanks Mark; very useful info about banks....

Hi,

Not difficult to open a bank account if one has a resident permit for non-european.
I will recommend Citi Bank, and they provide personalize service, including performing any transaction online and through free phone service 24/7 in English language.

I did not have to go to the bank actually to open my account, a Citi bank representative recommended by my company came to my office, and fill all the necessary forms after verifying my papers.

Regards
Vishal

For citi bank then do you have to pay any extra fees?  Like for opening the account, monthly fees, transferring money, taking money out etc.?

My wife and i opened a Raifiesen bank account about a month ago, we pay an account fee of 9 lei per month, and as far as i am aware that covers all charges. We dont plan on using it much anyway, just a place to keep some savings in and to accept our babys money entitelment from the state. We have a debit card, but dont even bother taking it out of the house. Anyway, i still use my English bank account on a regular basis, we just have to send some money back occasionaly

Thank you all for your contribution!

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Thanks for your help daz90.  also congratulations on your baby.  I for one am going to just stick to citi bank because for a debit card you dont have to ever pay any fees-even when someone sends you money or when you transact or anything you can really think of.  I also feel more secure with an American bank because I am American I feel they will know how to deal with me better than other banks.  Unfortunately they only have banks in Bucharest and Constanta.

Hey Daz,

Be careful when you apply for a new card for your UK account because (according to my bank - don't know if it applies to all banks) you're only allowed to have a UK bank account if you're a UK resident. I have mine registered at my mum's address. It's just a bit of a pain when I need a new card or something.

Also, some UK banks, if they suddenly see a cash withdrawal in a foreign country (esp. Romania or Bulgaria), will block the card until you confirm that it is actually you using it. You should inform them that you'll be using the card abroad just to be sure.

Maykal wrote:

Hey Daz,

Be careful when you apply for a new card for your UK account because (according to my bank - don't know if it applies to all banks) you're only allowed to have a UK bank account if you're a UK resident. I have mine registered at my mum's address. It's just a bit of a pain when I need a new card or something.

Also, some UK banks, if they suddenly see a cash withdrawal in a foreign country (esp. Romania or Bulgaria), will block the card until you confirm that it is actually you using it. You should inform them that you'll be using the card abroad just to be sure.

Hi Maykal.

I have HSBC account, and informed them i am living here when i came here over a year ago, i have my Bucharest address listed with them, and have had no problems with them blocking my card, the only thing that happened last year was that they told me i am not allowed to have an ISA savings account anymore because i have a foriegn address now, not a problem though because there was no cash in it anyway.

However in December i intend to change banks, i currently have an HSBC advance account, which means i am paying £13 a month, i am tired of that and i will attempt to stop that when i am in England this december, if they say they will close my old current account too, i shall just open a Natwest account. Its very handy for my English family to have a way of paying money into my account, and for me because i can still save money in it.

Romanian banks are not as good at this, too many charges for everything.

Aha, maybe it's just Barclays then.

Yes, I like to keep my UK account for similar reasons. It's also handy for things like Amazon which won't seem to work in Romania unless you use a credit card (don't have one). I use Amazon to send gifts to people back home - saves on postage costs and less risk of it disappearing on route.

I have three accounts in Romania. A high-interest savings account (interest not so high anymore though), a current account, and a Euro account. I think I pay about 3 Euro/month for admin. Most things like withdrawing money, doing transfers, etc cost about 0.5%. The thing that annoys me is being charged to withdraw cash from ATMs belonging to my bank. Don't use the bank that much anyway.

How's the job going, Daz? You must be tanning up nicely!

The job is ok, but i was bitten by a dog three weeks ago, the dog bite has damaged some nerves in my hand and the fingers dont work very well. I am undergoing some physiopheripy and excersises to get it back to normal, its a slow old job, but it is improving now, i am back at work on the 16th though, light duties if the fingers are not normal by then!

Apart from that life is good, i will just say one thing though, its a bit bloody hot! but being English i wont moan too much...

Ouch, sorry to hear about that mate. Similar thing happened to a mate of mine back in the day but it was a broken pint glass in a pub brawl that severed three nerves in his hand. Took him a while but not he's more or less got 99% normal flexibility back and he now plays bass for a band.

Yeah, bit bleeding hot. I think I'm getting used to it (should be after 13 years in hot countries!) but I still couldn't live here if I didn't know I was coming home to my lovely AC! I expect your house is a bit cooler. What are the walls made out of? Brick or stone?

Brick walls, so in the daytime our house is much cooler than outside, but by about 6 or 7 pm we are better of outside in the garden, its time now to open all the windows and doors to let the cooler air in, although having watched the wheather report its going to be 23 degrees tonight anyway, thats a good temperature for England right now, never mind a nightime temperature.