The hidden face of the hooks that banks use to capture customers

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In an environment as competitive as banking, marketing has become a fundamental tool to shine above the competition and win customers. Thousands of free ATMs, zero commissions, gifts, unbeatable returns ... All are advantages when it comes to opening a checking account in a new bank. But everything that glitters is not gold, what do the main hooks used by the bank to seduce new customers hide?

Zero commissions ... are you sure?

Many banks make the absence of commissions from their checking accounts the center of their commercial communication. After all, it is a great advantage for the customer , since it allows you to save hundreds of euros a year. However, the exemption of commissions on many occasions is accompanied by an extensive small letter : direct debit of a minimum amount payroll, direct debit, hiring a card with a minimum consumption, etc. If these conditions are not met, the account may lose its advantages and the client could end up paying commissions for services that he thought were free.

So you can't hire a free checking account without linking us? The truth is that yes. Online banking and fintech banks offer free checking accounts without mandatory linking that allow you to make free transfers, withdraw money at thousands of free ATMs, sometimes even abroad, and hire a free debit card. Some traditional banks, such as Bankia with the ON Account , Abanca with the Clara Account , BBVA with the Online Account or Cajamar with the Wefferent Account also free their customers from the commissions without forcing them to bond, but, generally, these accounts are reserved for customers who have a digital profile: hire the account remotely and do not operate through the offices.

On the other hand, we must be careful with temporary promotions. Some entities free their customers from the most common commissions without having to comply with conditions, but only for a certain period of time. Then, to continue enjoying the same advantages, it is usual for the bank to require several linking requirements.

Gifts in exchange for permanence

This is a classic hook. Before the bank welcomed its new customers with cutlery, crockery or small appliances as a gift. Then the fashion was to replace the household items with technological gifts such as smartphones , tablets or televisions. Now, many banks give away money directly (they pay into the account) or gift vouchers for a certain amount to buy what the customer wants in reputable stores like Amazon.

However, behind these promotions, with honorable exceptions, it is customary to hide a commitment of permanence that, if not fulfilled, entails a penalty (the bank owes the customer the value of the gift). By accepting the gift, the client can end up tied to the entity for several years with the obligation to meet a series of requirements during that time, such as the charge of a minimum number of receipts or the entry of a monthly payroll.

Also, if the gift is a tangible asset, the promotion bases, which we do not always read before accepting the gift, may specify that it is the customer who is responsible for the shipping costs. Nor can we forget that gifts are taxed and that the bank does not always take over. Thus, if they give us a television, they will probably take away from our account the part corresponding to taxes. If the gift consists of cash, we must check whether the bank's publicity figure is gross or net.

Unbeatable returns

Another aspect that usually attracts the attention of customers and that banks use to earn faithful is profitability. Although classic savings products today have rickety remuneration, because of the current context of official minimum interest rates, banks still use this hook in their current accounts. You get to pay up to 5% APR. But, once again, there is trick. These returns, stratospheric if we compare them with the average interest of the accounts and deposits (0.04% in both cases according to the Bank of Spain), only apply over a limited maximum paid balance, which in the best case It may be 12,000 euros, so in the end the profits received by the customer are reduced.

Also, to aspire to those many percent, a strong relationship with the bank must be assumed. Typically, the entity requires the direct debit of a payroll, the charge of several receipts and a minimum consumption with any card associated with the account. But, as the experts of the financial comparator HelpMyCash have been able to verify, sometimes the bank goes further and requires links such as having a balance of more than 30,000 euros in savings or investment products, making contributions to pension plans, contracting insurance , etc.

Today, two of the most competitive offers in the field of super-negotiable accounts are the proposals of Bankinter and Ibercaja. Both the Bankinter Payroll Account and the Ibercaja Vamos account , both for new clients, do not have commissions and rent at 5% APR the first year and 2% the second. Of course, for a maximum paid balance of 5,000 euros in the first case and 6,000 in the second. Bankinter requires a payroll of at least one thousand euros, load three receipts per quarter and three card purchases per quarter. Ibercaja, on the other hand, requires the holder to direct a payroll of at least 600 euros, owe at least six receipts per semester and record six movements with a card per semester.

Thousands of free ATMs ... with limits

Except for the main banks in Spain (Banco Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank), most entities allow their clients to withdraw cash from other networks. For example, Banco Mediolanum, ING and EVO Banco give their customers the possibility to get free money from all ATMs in Spain .

Some banks limit free withdrawals at external ATMs to those of specific banks with which they have reached an agreement.

On some occasions, these cash withdrawals without commissions are conditioned on the terminal being located in a province where our bank has little presence or a specific number of monthly withdrawals at no cost or at a minimum amount (if a lower amount is withdrawn , then the bank passes to the client the commission that the owner of the cashier transfers to him).

For example, ING customers can withdraw money without limitations at any of their own ATMs, as well as those of Popular, Pastor, Banca March, Targobank, Euronet and Cashzone. In the rest, it is necessary to get at least 200 euros for the extraction to be free (at Bankia ATMs the minimum is 50 euros). Banco Mediolanum, meanwhile, does not limit the amounts, but the number of withdrawals: its customers can get free money 52 times a year at any ATM in Spain and the world.

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