News: Pins costs money in and outside of Spain

Users of the so-called debit and credit cards must pay commission in Spain if one pints at another bank.

If the Spaniards pegs at their own bank, withdrawing money from the cash machine is always free, within Spain and within Europe. But what costs pins as a Spaniard at another bank pint or abroad.

This article is mainly aimed at the readers who live in Spain and have their banking affairs there, including the bank cards. Since 2016 it is permissible to charge a certain commission in Spain if one pints at a different bank than their own bank. If you do this at your own bank, it is always free, but if you go to another bank, that can cost you money.

The amounts range from 0.65 to 2 euros per transaction. It is even more confusing because banks have also made agreements about the use of their cash machines. If transaction costs are required for debit card payments, this must be stated on the cash dispenser with a sticker and this must also appear on the screen before pinning.

It is important to know that these transaction costs are in principle not directly charged to the customer, but to the bank. This can then determine what they do with it, or pay the costs themselves or pass it on to the customers, where that amount may never be higher than what the bank has to pay.

An overview of these costs can be found HERE.

Abroad

But what if you as a Dutch or Belgian have a Spanish bank account with Spanish bank cards and you travel to the Netherlands or Belgium and want to withdraw money from a Dutch or Belgian bank. What are the costs in the case of a debit or credit card?

These costs appear to be quite different with sometimes nothing being asked for commission and sometimes a fixed amount or a percentage. We are talking here about Spanish bank users who pay abroad who pay the following:

ING - debit card 2 euro - credit card 2 euro

BBVA - debit card 4% - credit card 5%

Caixabank - debit card 4.5% - credit card 4.5%

Santander - debit card 0.20% + 1.30 euro - credit card 3.9%

Sabadell - debit card 0 euro - credit card 4%

Liberbank - debit card 4.5% - credit card 4.5%

In this case, therefore, it is always about debiting ATM's at ATMs and not in stores when paying with the debit card.