BBVA asking for €250 “insurance” to open an account - is this normal?
Hi! I’m a newly arrived student in Barcelona and I’m currently at a BBVA branch trying to open a bank account.
The employee told me that I need to pay €250 for some sort of insurance/guarantee because the account supposedly needs to remain open for a minimum of 1 year. She said they’ve had people closing their accounts earlier, so BBVA now takes this €250 amount.
This was explained to me verbally, and I’m a bit confused because I wasn’t expecting to pay €250 just to open a basic bank account.
Has anyone else opened a BBVA account recently and been asked for this?
Is this actually a BBVA requirement?
What exactly is the €250 payment?
Is it refundable after keeping the account open for a year?
Is this something specific to opening an account in a branch, or is there another type of BBVA account that doesn’t require it?
I’m still at the branch right now, so any advice would be VERY appreciated 😭