Setting up our banking in Portugal gave me a good introduction to the country’s bureaucracy.
Tons of paperwork. Every page initialized. Lots of stamping going on. Multi-layers. A few things surprised me.
1. Credit card lifestyle is pretty much non existent. Meaning, no incentive plans for travel, no points to accumulate, and very little credit allowance given. Basically having a credit card is like having a 3 week extension on your debit card, because the balance gets paid off every month automatically. Our max amount is about 3K. The upswing, to my understanding, is that no one in Portugal is walking around in debt, which is fantastic. No one is living beyond their means.
2. There’s loads of paperwork upon signing up – it goes to Lisbon for approval. Several weeks after opening an account, hopefully your bank card and another piece of mail containing your ‘code card’ will eventually arrive, both of which are attached to your account and phone number. Loosing your phone would be a nightmare.
3. The security system seems to be good, with lots of hoops to jump. To demonstrate: If I want to get into my account online, I get a text message on the bank’s phone app to respond to – I have a minute – to verify that it’s me. If I want to make a bank transfer on my computer, (the equivalent of an e- or interact transfer, but good for all of the EU), after filling in the amount and recipient’s IBAN number, I’m given three questions to answer connected to my code card – what is the 1st number for 2A, the 2nd number for 6C, the 3rd number for 3F? After that passes, I get another notification on the phone app and have 1 minute to verify that I want the transaction to take place. When that is approved, I can download the proof of the transaction. (When in Ireland one summer, the internet connection was poor – so after a minute my “time was up”, and I had to go back and start all over again. This went on for too many times, until I got wise and drove to a café in town with a good signal, and did our banking there.)
4. At the bank you can buy insurance for your house, health, or car.
Once again, time and patience is called for. There’s usually lots of steps and documentation required to do anything in Portugal – it’s part of the cultural fabric. You just have to go with the flow, and appreciate that people are just doing their jobs, and their job matters.