Banking on the slow life

We had returned to Portugal (hopefully for the last time before we move officially) to open up a bank account and get a lease on an apartment.

This would be a our third visit to Portugal in seven months, it was a whirlwind trip for sure. We were pretty hard focused on getting the bank and lease figured out, and along the way we learned a lot about patience.

We decided before we left that we'd get a bank account at BCP Millennium, since I'd seen on many comments in the Americans & FriendsPT Facebook group that it worked out fairly well. And I'd read it was one of the more respected banks in Portugal, others being sub-prime banks. I found one near where our visa consultants were, next to Parque Eduardo VII, so we decided it would be a nice walk to go over there on the Friday morning after we arrive and get that sorted.

I'm glad we went with all documentation I could think of taking before we left the United States. After reading others' experiences I knew it would take some time, and I knew that I'd need to be patient. I wasn't even sure we'd be able to pull it off, having heard others had been turned away from setting up an account.

We worked through it just fine with a lovely lady named Lucia, who we chatted with about life and the world while she meticulously went through the process. I got on the wifi while we sat and emailed over the documents she requested from our Google Drive. I felt so accomplished and organized, thinking it would make this go so smoothly. Well, it did go, but it did take some patience and time. Lucia and I talked of comfortable shoes, aging and the weather. Having been not around people for two years like so many because of COVID, I was mentally patting myself on the back for handling the small talk.

They asked for a fair amount to get an account setup:

• Social Security Cards

• Drivers License with current U.S. Address

• Passports

• Income statement (showed them our client contract)

• Our Business license showing we owned the company, since the contract/income showed our LLC

We filled out information for us both on income, verified our email and cell phone numbers which all correspondence would go through, and our address where the cards would be sent.

About two hours later, we were to await for some magical documents to be 'approved', I still to this day don't know what the approval process was, but she let us know if we'd like to come back a bit later we could. She said they closed at 13:30 but it seemed we'd be able to get them sorted that day, or Monday, she said. We got an email from her at about 13:20 but we were enjoying a very sunny lunch a few blocks down, so opted for Monday to come in and sign to finalize the account.

This is just one account, one simple checking account.

On Monday we went back to the bank, this time we sat with Claudia to help us. Lucia was out that day. I mistakenly thought it would be a signature or two, I think it was more like 20 or 30 items we had to sign through. Finally, right before we began to make jokes about them needing a vial of blood, we got it sorted.

We started getting texts with access information to download the app on our phones.

There were two very important access codes sent to us that we'd need to later keep to access our accounts one in text, one in email, hence why making sure your email and cell are correct.

User Code is what you get in email. Keep it.

The Multichannel Code is what you get in text. Also keep it. The Multichannel Code is what helps you get access to the app. I took a screenshot of it and saved it to the Google Drive. There was also something about ordering online that I didn't quite understand, but I'd already resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably be using my Wise account for daily things, not this one.

This account, we'd agreed at that point, was to pay rent and present proof of funds in Portugal for our visa applications and SEF, that was it.

We also received our pin numbers for our cards in envelopes, which I need to see if they are in the mailbox. I rarely check the mail.

Shayne asked what it would take to setup a savings account and apparently, even though we have an account we'd need to go through the same process ALL OVER AGAIN. So use something else if you are a multi-bank account fan.

All and all it was fairly painless, just took a long time. We successfully moved money from our Wise accounts into the brand new account while still at the desk, to Claudia's surprised. I talked up Wise accounts and showed her how easy it was. We both marveled at technology, how it had changed so much, etc.

So, about five hours total of time spent between the two days we got our account setup. We felt so accomplished we went and had some vinho verde, then collapsed into a deep nap until dinner.