Spanish retail bank, CaixaBank, is allowing non-residents to apply for a mortgage online through its new platform, HolaBank.
The service, intended for Western European citizens with interests or property in Spain, enables them to complete the sign-up process in English through the bank’s website in six steps.
With a video identification system and the signing of the contract carried out through SMS, new customers can have an HolaBank account within 48 hours and can sign up to CaixaBankNow online banking. They can also receive transfers from abroad, make transfers within Spain, pay bills by direct debit, translate documents, and gain assistance with moving house or relocating, in addition to other services. Once the online process is completed, new clients will only have to confirm their identity in a physical branch within three months.
The new digital on-boarding comes in addition to MortgageNow, a digital mortgage application service for non-residents in Spain and international real estate brokers. This service allows potential international buyers of property in Spain to apply for a mortgage from their country, in a fully secure way and with a feasibility response in 48 hours.
The platform includes the lists of documentation customised by country and the type of occupation in the customer’s language and enables the registration of the documentation required to carry out the mortgage study, with no need to translate it into Spanish. In addition, there is a private space for real-estate brokers who can manage all their applications with the guarantee of a fast feasibility response.
To use the MortgageNow program, it is not necessary to be a CaixaBank customer, but just to live in Europe and have an interest in purchasing a property in Spain.
In Spain, more than 62,000 property purchase agreement operations were carried out by non-residents in 2019, according to data from the Spanish Land Registry. This represents 12.5% of the national total, with major importance on the Mediterranean coast and islands.
SEE PowerPoint:
http://www.britishchamberspain.com/files/noticias/docs/holabankcabk-research-20200217.pdf