Changing banks is often delayed by recurring bills: electricity, insurance, salary and rent. Spain has a regulated, free service with fixed deadlines that makes both banks move those arrangements. You request it only at the new bank; all holders sign. It is free between providers in Spain, and the completion date cannot precede six business days. The weak spot is billers, who must update your account.
- Legal basis and cost: Royal Decree-Law 19/2017 on basic payment accounts, switching and fee comparison, and Order ECE/228/2019 transpose Directive 2014/92/EU. The Bank of Spain says switching “no te supondrá ningún coste” between entities in Spain or within the same provider.
- Deadlines: New bank asks old for data in two business days; old sends in five; new has five to activate standing orders, prepare direct debits and communicate the change. Minimum: six business days, counted differently under decree and order.
- Company updates: Once notified, billers must change your IBAN “de forma inmediata”; the new bank is not liable for their delay or the debit remaining on the old account.
Requesting the switch and choosing the date
The application goes to the destination bank, which starts the process. Under article 9, the receiving bank begins the switch “a petición expresa del cliente”; it is free. Spain exceeds the EU minimum: Directive 2014/92/EU requires free access to direct-debit data and information passed to the new bank (article 12) and allows “razonables” charges for the rest; the Spanish Order makes the full service free. Each bank must offer a form in branches and online; internet banks must allow remote requests.
On the form you choose the date for receipts and periodic transfers; which receipts, incoming periodic transfers and standing orders move, all or part; each bank’s tasks, such as whether the new bank alerts companies or you do it; and whether the old account closes or stays open. It does not close unless expressly requested (article 11.3). All holders must sign.
Bank timetable, balance and the old account
Business days run 2, 5 and 5: the new bank asks the old for information within two; the old sends within five; the new has five from receipt to set up standing orders, prepare receipts and communicate the change (articles 10 and 11). Data covers periodic transfers received and debits collected in the previous 13 months, catching annual insurance.
The minimum date is disputed. Article 13.1 counts six business days from the new bank receiving the old bank’s information; the Order counts from delivery of the signed form. Leave two or three weeks and set the date after the month’s large bills.
Until that date, the old bank cannot block cards or other payments. On the date, it transfers the balance and closes the old account if asked. Exception: it may refuse the balance if enforceable unpaid obligations are charged to that account (article 12), and will not close it while they exist; it must notify you immediately.
Companies, compensation and what remains outside
The weak link is companies. Billers must update your IBAN; the new bank is not responsible if they fail. After communication, beneficiaries must act “de forma inmediata” (article 10.4), and the receiving bank is not liable for delay damages:
“ni, en particular, del mantenimiento del adeudo en la cuenta cuyo traslado se solicitó.”
You can claim expenses or fees from the company. If you notify them, the new bank must provide model letters with account data and start date (article 10.3). If either bank breaches its duties, it must reimburse “a la mayor brevedad posible” financial harm, including costs and interest (article 14), except exceptional or unforeseeable circumstances outside its control. Cards are new, so re-register them in online shops and Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay. Closing the old account yourself is allowed anytime, the Bank of Spain says, and must be done within 24 hours; it is free if the contract is indefinite or a fixed term over six months has elapsed. For another EU country, the Spanish bank must give free the list of standing orders, direct debits and charges from the previous 13 months, transfer the balance and close if requested, on a date at least six business days after your request.
Spain’s regime looks strong: no cost, tight business-day limits and banks obliged to move the plumbing. The gap is billers, where failure is likely and responsibility ends with “you can claim.” Keeping the old account open for two months with some balance is cheap insurance against a bill nobody updated.