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Spanish Credit Cards: All Pain and No Gain? |
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People may choose to reside in Spain for various reasons – the food, the heat, the phenomenally beautiful locals and, of course, the addictive, chilled-out quality of life. In fact, if you've only just shown up in Spain, you will undoubtedly be asking yourself why it took you so long make the move. Having said that, when dealing with managing your money, you might actually find yourself wishing that things were a lot more like the home you just left. |
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| Author: Matt Davies |
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Once you start to adjust to the new start in balmy Spain, perhaps having moved to that dream villa on the Med or finally been able to get that new job appointment you've been desperate for, one of you priorities will be to arrange an account at a local bank.
You´ll qualify for an account for either Non-residents or Residents depending on how up to date you've been with the administrative papers, but either way you'll quickly see certain details that you're not used to: Yearly charges. Exorbitant transfer fees. Extra charges solely for carrying a debit card in your purse/wallet. Regretably these are the standard realities of virtually all bank accounts in Spain, and disappointing though that is, when it comes to getting bang for you buck, credit cards are a great deal worse.
To begin with, with regard to interest rates, there is virtually nothing to seperate the various credit cards on offer in Spain. And the rates themselves are high. Expect to pay an unpleasant 18 to 21 interest rate deals then prepare to be disappointed. So prepare yourselves! In Spain it´s impossible to work the system and move balances to a new card every so often.
In fact, unwaveringly high interest rates mean that any carefree, rampant spending on Spanish credit cards would be lunacy. If you do decide to apply for a card in case of those unexpected emergencies, prepare to rid yourself of any 'buy now, pay later' tendencies you have brought with you froma past life. Eliminate your debts promptly every month or be stuck with a rapidly increasing balance.
So when it comes to credit, what is it that makes Spain so disimilar to other places like the UK and US? Well, a lot of it can be attributed to social differences. Debt is simply not as socially acceptable or common as it is in other parts of the world. Obviously many Spanish people do use credit cards, but they are, generally speaking, extremely diligent with their repayments, and, most probably still would be if even if rates were cut in half.
The lack of demand for large amounts of credit means that Spain never sees the kind of credit madness that is familiar to most of us. The idea of carrying more than one or two credit cards would be very peculiar to most Spaniards. As a consequence of this, banks do relatively little to market their products. A regular approach used by credit providers is 'No Annual Fee', which for those of us used to the 'Pay Nothing Until Januuary? type of sales pitch, is about as sorry-sounding as it gets.
For those of us used to nine months interest free offers landing on your doorstep every morning, this can be both baffling and frustrating, particularly if casual credit card spending has become a part of your lifestyle.
Some people are suggesting that attitudes are shifting and the next few years will see substantially more credit card spending in Spain, which in turn should mean better options for the the general public. Until that day comes those of us living in the country will just have to wait patiently – and considering all the other profound pleasures that Spain has to enjoy, that shouldn't be too hard to achieve, should it?
About Author
Matthew Davies is a resident of Spain. He runs many websites, including the Spanish language site http://www.zonacredito.com which provides information related to credit cards in Spain, particularly how best to mangage credit card debt.
Article Source:
http://www.1888articles.com
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