Just messaged Bankera to check this. Yep, happening soon. Emptied my account and have messaged to ask how to close the account, doesn’t seem to be an option in app unless it’s very well hidden.
Got their confirmation a little while ago and have asked them to close the account.
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Yep, saved me quite a bit on cash withdrawals abroad but I won’t save €60 per year either.
Shame really. I think it likely marks the beginning of the end of Bankera.
Must have another look at BoursoBank .
Ps and Santander expat.
Let me know if you manage to persuade Boursobank to overlook the residency requirement.
They didn’t have those requirements when I first looked at them a year or more back but they’re wanting a RIB from a French bank now so probably not a runner anymore.
Someone here managed to open the expat Santander account which seems to be the option to go for: https://www.bancosantander.es/en/particulares/cuentas-tarjetas/cuentas-corrientes/cuenta-online-con-pasaporte
Bankera closed so an overnight deal by the look of it.
PS No physical card for the Santander account unless you have a Spanish address 
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The other option used to be Ma French Bank (by La Poste) but that’s unfortunately being closed to new applications now.
Which leaves (I think) Credit Agricole’s Britline, which is as legacy French as they come but well thought of:
(The application includes a telephone interview which might put some off!)
I’m just waiting for Wise to decide it’s too difficult to provide an EU IBAN to UK customers and then will probably have to look at CA for my French direct debits.
I had Britline when we lived in France and it was a real pain as Credit Agricole aren’t joined up across France and our main account was in CA Pyrenees.
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Coming back to HSBC HK- another benefit is that Hong Kong’s Faster Payments is cross-compatible with Thai PromptPay QR payment, meaning I barely have to touch cash anymore when I go on a Thai holiday. Last time, between card and QR, I only needed a tenner’s worth of baht in physical cash for the airport train into Bangkok and a couple of street stalls that didn’t have QR codes. It also helped me buy Steam credit there for cheaper games (for developers that participate in region-based pricing).
What do the virtual cards look like?
Based on this post, same as UK:
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I’ve been quite happy with my Santander Spain account. I don’t like that it doesn’t have a physical card but I use Apple Pay or link it to Curve just in case. I don’t get notifications on incoming payments which is alright I guess.
Painless to open (for me) and free. What else could I need.
Why don’t you get a UK account?
Closed my Santander UK account back in 2017.
I didn’t like Santander back then, was just handy as they had a branch in my university. Maybe I would like them now, but I’m happy with HSBC.
Oh I just meant as you can use the UK one as you would the Spanish one and it’s the same style app etc.