What to do if your bank is closing your account in Portugal
This guide is for people whose bank has sent them a letter saying their account will be closed, or has closed it without warning. Below, in order: where to find the letter itself, what to do on the very first day, how to get the closure cancelled in writing, where to move your payments, what a basic bank account is and how to complain if none of that helps. How to open a new account is covered in a separate guide, ‘How to open an account with a Portuguese bank’.
First, check whether a closure letter has arrived
The letter doesn’t arrive where you’d expect it. Since 9 June 2026 Caixa has been putting it in the Caixadirecta app, in the digital documents section (Menu → Documentos digitais), and only sends an SMS to your phone saying a new document is available. Not everyone gets it by email, let alone on paper. Check that section even if you haven’t received anything: people have found out about the closure on the day the account was closed.
The letter itself gives no reason. It contains a general reference to the Condições Gerais de Abertura de Conta (general terms for opening an account), the date from which the account will be closed, a request to return your cards and cheques and a line saying that the remaining balance can be withdrawn at a branch. There is nothing in it about nationality or sanctions.
Verbal reassurances at the branch don’t count. Several people went to the bank, were told ‘everything’s fine’ — and the account was closed on the set date anyway. Only a written reply counts; there is a separate step on that below.
“Dear Customer, We hereby inform you that, in accordance with the General Terms for Opening Accounts and Providing Services, the account identified is being closed with effect from 14-08-2026. On the same date, any related accounts will also be closed and all associated services cancelled. Please return to Caixa any unused cheques, as well as the other means of operating the account and any related accounts, in particular bank cards. Any credit balance remaining in the account may be withdrawn at any of our branches.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkchatporto09.06.2026
“Same story here. Got a text in June saying they’d close the account in 2 months. Went to the bank and asked. They said it’s all ok, no problem. Said I’d just need to update my details next year. I was relieved. Over the weekend they closed the account. Went to the bank to find out, they said no reason given. They’ll transfer the balance by IBAN. That’s it! Like something out of a comedy sketch.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal18.08.2026
What the 19th package actually bans — and what it doesn’t
Banks point to the European Union’s 19th sanctions package. This is Regulamento (UE) 2025/2033 of 23 October 2025, which amends Regulation 833/2014. You can read the text yourself — here is what it actually says.
Article 5.º-B doesn’t ban ‘an account’ but three things. First: accepting deposits from a Russian national if the total at that bank comes to more than €100,000. Second (this is what the 19th package added): issuing means of payment, that is bank cards, accepting payment transactions and providing payment initiation services. Third: crypto-asset services and issuing electronic money. That is exactly why a bank that can’t give you a card prefers to close the whole account.
Paragraph 3 of the same article lifts all three bans for nationals of a European Union country, the European Economic Area and Switzerland — and for anyone who holds an autorização de residência temporária ou permanente (temporary OR permanent residence permit) in such a country. Two conclusions follow, and they are worth knowing by heart.
The first: an ordinary residence card is enough; the regulation doesn’t require permanent status. When Santander writes that under its policy Russians need a permanent residence permit, that is the bank’s policy, not a requirement of the sanctions.
The second: a D visa and proof that you have applied for a residence permit are not in the text — it specifically says residence permit. That is why branches have stopped accepting the application receipt. Some banks read it more broadly: Nickel’s letter explicitly lets you use a long-stay visa as proof.
The bank itself answers the question in exactly these words. Below, someone quotes the reply from Caixa’s compliance department in Portuguese; in English it means: ‘Under the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which amends Regulation 833/2014, you need to have a residence permit (European Union or Switzerland).’
“When you opened your Nickel account, you stated that you have Russian or Belarusian nationality. So, to keep your account active, you need to be resident in a European Union country. To prove this, simply send one of the following documents: a valid temporary or permanent residence permit; an identity document from a European Union country; a long-stay visa. Without one of these documents we will not be able to reissue your Nickel card, and once it expires your account will be closed. This measure follows the European Union’s 19th package of sanctions against Russia, adopted on 23 October 2025, and the related sanctions against Belarus.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal30.06.2026
“Caixa’s compliance replied, word for word: ‘Conforme 19º Pacote de Sanções Contra a Rússia, que vem alterar o Regulamento 833/2014, é necessário ter Autorização de Residência (União Europeia ou Suíça).’ Seems to me that if they’d wanted you to be registered as self-employed in Portugal, they’d have asked for a document showing that.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal16.04.2026
Letter arrived? Take your residence card in and put it in writing the same day
This works: dozens of people have had the closure cancelled. The approach is always the same, and you need to do both things at once, because on their own they tend to fall through.
First — the branch. Go in with your residence card and passport and make sure the card is scanned and uploaded to the system while you are there. Not ‘we can see you’ve got everything’, but an actual scan and upload: people went in twice and found out that the first time the member of staff had done nothing and hadn’t told them the truth. If your branch refuses, go to another one or to head office — they all have access to your file.
Second — a written request. At Caixa this is the ‘Contacto On-line’ form on cgd.pt (Ajuda → Espaço Cliente) or a letter to your account manager. Attach a scan of your residence card, your passport and the closure letter itself. Keep the text short; in Portuguese, something like: ‘Recebi o aviso de encerramento da conta a [date], creio que por falta do título de residência no registo. Anexo o título atualizado (n.º …, válido até …) e o passaporte. Peço que atualizem os dados e revertam o encerramento. A conta é essencial para receber os meus rendimentos.’ In English: ‘I have received notice that my account will be closed on such-and-such a date, I believe because there is no residence permit in your records. I attach my current residence permit (number …, valid until …) and my passport. Please update my details and cancel the closure. I need the account to receive my income.’
Ask specifically for the closure to be cancelled, not for your ‘details to be updated’: the bank can update your details and still close the account under its original decision.
“Sharing my experience of Caixa closing my account, in case it helps anyone. Like lots of people here, I got a letter from Caixa on 8 June saying my account would be closed from 14 August. I opened the account in December with my passport, got my residence permit in February and never showed it to the bank after that, so they didn’t have it in the system. Went to my branch in Estoril where I’d opened the account. They said they knew nothing about it and couldn’t help, it was head office’s decision. I insisted they scan my residence permit and upload it to the system. The same day I also sent a message through the form on the website ([link] attached a scan of my residence permit and the closure letter itself. The text of the message I wr”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal03.07.2026
“After getting the closure notice I went to two ordinary branches. First I went to the branch where I’d opened the account — the woman there said my residence permit was already in the system and refused to do anything. As it turned out later, that wasn’t true. At the second branch they uploaded the permit but refused to check the rest of my details. They also said I needed to send a registered letter to head office asking them not to close the account. On Friday I went to CGD’s head office as well. The manager explained how it works: the bank decided to ‘clean up’ its customer base, and the notice went out to everyone CGD, for one reason or anot”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal22.06.2026
Get it in writing that the closure has been cancelled
A manager’s word is worth nothing, but a reply to your request is a document. In it the bank states plainly that the closure procedure has been cancelled and the contract remains in force. Such replies have come both by email and on paper, usually two or three days after the request or a visit to head office.
These replies also show how the bank itself explains what is going on. In one letter Caixa wrote plainly that the decision to close the account had been taken because of the 19th sanctions package and because the residence permit wasn’t in the system, and that once it had been shown, the case was reconsidered. Another letter doesn’t mention sanctions at all — only Lei n.º 83/2017 (the anti-money-laundering law) and Aviso n.º 1/2022 do Banco de Portugal (a Banco de Portugal notice), under which customer information has to be kept up to date.
Keep this reply. If your residence permit runs out soon, bear in mind that banks tie the deadline to the date on the document, and once that date passes, the whole thing may happen again. Bring in your new card straight away, without waiting for a letter.
“I got a paper letter from Caixa today too. It says the decision to close my account was taken because of the 19th sanctions package and because my residence permit wasn’t in the system. After I provided my residence permit, the bank carried out a fresh assessment and decided to stop the closure process.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal03.07.2026
“Thank you for contacting us and for setting out the situation in detail. We understand your concern, given how important this account is for receiving your income and running your professional activity in Portugal. Following our review, we have established that, after you presented and we registered the documents, namely your residence permit, the situation of the account in question was reassessed. We can inform you that the account closure procedure has been cancelled and the closure referred to in the letter sent previously is no longer planned. We therefore confirm that the account will remain open.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal06.08.2026
While the dispute goes on, move your payments and open a backup account
Even if the closure is cancelled, two months of uncertainty is unpleasant, and if it isn’t, you’ll be left without a card in a country where you pay for almost everything by card. So straight away, work out what is linked to the account.
Débito direto (direct debit) — electricity, water, gas, internet, insurance, the gym. Each direct debit is unlinked through the provider, not at the bank: in your EDP, SMAS, Galp or MEO online account. If you don’t manage to unlink a direct debit in time, the bill simply won’t be paid once the account is closed, and late-payment charges will follow. Anything you can’t move quickly, switch to paying by bank transfer or through Payshop; insurers usually let you pay for a quarter or a year in advance.
Your salary, recibos verdes (freelance invoices) and tax refunds go to the IBAN you gave your employer, your clients and the Portal das Finanças. Change it in advance.
And open a second account without waiting to see how things turn out. People whose closure letter was withdrawn still opened a backup account — and moved money into it. Transfers between Portuguese banks are instant and free.
If you are expecting a transfer from Russia into this account, bear in mind that while the dispute with the bank goes on, the incoming payment may simply not be credited. How such transfers work and what to do if the money is frozen is covered in a separate guide on transferring money from Russia to Portugal.
“I got a letter from Caixa, I filled in a request and updated my details at my own branch, they told me verbally it’s all ok and they won’t close it, I asked them to email me at least an official notice that everything’s ok, but never got one. As a backup I opened an account with Millennium. Residence permit until February. At the branch in Almada they literally took a few documents. NIF Residence card Atividade Then they asked me to send my IRS as well. Not in 3 days like they promised, of course, but in 3 weeks. Didn’t have to put anything into the account to activate it. Just now installed the app and moved some money over from Caixa to Millenniu”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal14.08.2026
“We had Médis our first year here, and to pay for it we got Nickel as the only Portuguese bank option available at the time) You can arrange with a friend or someone you know to give their IBAN for the débito direto and pay them in cash — that’s exactly what the insurers recommended to us when we didn’t have an account) Or yes, email the insurer, ask for the bank details and pay a few months in advance by transfer (I think quarterly was an option), pay through a bank/papelaria”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto29.06.2026
A basic bank account is your right, not a favour from the bank
Conta de serviços mínimos bancários — a basic bank account — is a set of services laid down by law that every bank taking deposits must offer. The main law is Decreto-Lei n.º 27-C/2000. Here is what it says, word for word.
What’s included: opening and maintaining the account, a debit card, cash withdrawals and deposits, paying for goods and services, direct debits, access through cash machines in the European Union, through online banking and at a branch, unlimited transfers within the bank and up to 48 transfers per calendar year to other banks in Portugal and the European Union, plus five transfers a month through apps such as MB Way of up to €30 each.
What it costs: no more than 1% of the IAS a year, that is €5.37 at the 2026 IAS value. The bank may not demand a minimum deposit into the account or that you buy other products, and may not ask for any documents beyond those needed for an ordinary account.
Who is entitled: anyone who has no other current account with a bank in Portugal — or anyone who has already been notified that their account is being closed. The second is written into the law, and that is exactly your situation if the letter has arrived. If you already have an account with the same bank, it can be converted into a basic account free of charge.
Time limits: once your application is complete, the bank has 10 days to open the account, convert it — or refuse.
The bank may refuse in only two cases: if you refuse to sign a statement that you have no other current accounts or that you have been notified of a closure — and if the bank knows that you do in fact have another account. Nationality is not on that list. The refusal must be given to you free of charge, on paper or another durable medium, stating the reason and explaining where you can complain.
Print out the Banco de Portugal page on the basic account and take it with you to the branch: staff often don’t know these rules and say, for example, that a basic account is only for Portuguese citizens. That is not true.
“Print out this page [link] and take it to any bank. If the staff dig their heels in, jab your finger at the relevant lines. If the staff member is stubborn, write a complaint, you can do it right there in the branch, ask for the livra de reclamações.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal19.08.2026
“A bank employee told me the basic account is only for citizens. So much for staff knowing the law”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal11.06.2026
The honest truth about the basic account: you’re entitled to one, but not everyone gets it
We can’t promise anything here, and we won’t pretend otherwise. People with residence permits have been refused a basic account at both ActivoBank and CGD, and their complaints got brush-off replies. There has been pure hair-splitting too: a member of staff tells you that you are of no interest to them as a customer and they won’t open an account, and when you write in the complaints book, replies that they never refused you.
One explanation for the refusals is lawful. A debit card is a means of payment, and sanctions forbid banks to issue means of payment to a Russian national without a residence permit in the European Union. Yet a card is a compulsory part of the basic account. So a bank really can’t give such an account in full to someone without a residence permit.
But if you do have a residence permit, the sanctions don’t apply to you at all, and the bank has no lawful grounds to refuse. So push for a written refusal stating the reason: without it you have nothing to complain about, and with it your complaint has substance.
“Two attempts to open a basic bank account with a residence permit but no job, passive income, registered at the job centre. Refused at Activo and at CGD. After the refusals at CGD I wrote in the complaints book - got a brush-off - we won’t change our decision. Filed a complaint through the LIVRO DE RECLAMAÇÕES with a copy to the Bank of Portugal - no reply since March.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal22.06.2026
“They just told me they weren’t interested in me as a customer. They’ll close the normal account and won’t open a basic one. I wrote in the complaints book that the employee had refused to open a basic account. She read the complaint and said she wasn’t refusing. So I asked her again to open a basic account, and she started telling me again that they weren’t interested in me as a customer.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal11.06.2026
Complaints: first the complaints book, then Banco de Portugal
Complaining is free, and there are three ways to do it. The electronic complaints book at livroreclamacoes.pt — this is also your route to Banco de Portugal: the complaint goes to the bank and to the regulator at the same time. The paper complaints book at the branch — they must hand it over as soon as you ask. And directly to Banco de Portugal by post or through its branches.
The time limits are the same: the bank must reply to you within 15 working days and send a copy of its reply to the regulator. You can follow the progress of your complaint on the Portal do Cliente Bancário.
What a complaint achieves. Banco de Portugal looks into the bank’s conduct on accounts, cards, transfers and direct debits, demands explanations, takes action against the bank and tells you whether or not the bank has met its obligations.
What it doesn’t achieve — this matters, so that you don’t expect the impossible. Banco de Portugal doesn’t make the bank perform the contract and doesn’t award compensation for losses: for that you need a court or an out-of-court dispute resolution service. Nor does it handle complaints about firms that operate in Portugal without a branch of their own — and that is most foreign digital banks; with those you have to go to the regulator in the country where the bank is registered.
Complaints do help, but not overnight. In 2022 a stream of complaints with written refusals attached ended with Caixa starting to open accounts for Russians. Replies along the lines of ‘that’s a matter for the bank’ come too — all the more reason to attach a written refusal with the reason, not your own account of a conversation.
“Or a flood of complaints ‘account closed by the bank without being given a chance to update compliance details’ in the Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico (LRE).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal11.06.2026
“Went into Santander (I have a residence permit and a Russian passport). They turned me down straight away without even considering me, because of my nationality and the type of permit (family member of an investor). I complained to the Bank of Portugal and in the complaints book. Santander replied that they have the right not to consider me as a customer, and this lovely letter from the Bank of Portugal confirms that complaints are pointless altogether.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal14.07.2026
If the account is closed after all: the balance, deposits, mortgage, cards
A bank closing an account on its own initiative must give at least two months’ notice, by letter on paper or another durable medium, and only if the contract gives it that right. Caixa’s round of letters kept to that: letters dated 9 June, closure from 14 August. If your account was closed sooner than that, it is a breach, and exactly the kind of thing to complain about.
The balance. It is paid out in cash at a branch or transferred to an IBAN you give them. In practice the payout dragged on for weeks: people were given a declaração de saldo à data de encerramento (statement of the balance on the closure date), and the money arrived much later. Ask for this statement straight away and ask in writing when you will be paid.
Deposits. If the bank is parting ways with you as a customer, it closes a fixed-term deposit early itself and transfers the money to your current account or pays it out by cheque. The terms for early closure are in the bank’s general terms and conditions.
Cards and cheques. You don’t have to return a valid debit card: under Banco de Portugal rules the bank must cancel the card and any unused cheques itself, with your consent. The demand in Caixa’s letter to ‘return your cards’ doesn’t comply with this.
Mortgages and loans. Closing the account doesn’t end the loan agreement. You are entitled to name another account for the payments to be taken from — and you must do so in time, or you will fall into arrears through no fault of your own.
And one more thing: a bank may not charge a private customer a fee for closing an account.
“please advise Caixa is going to close my account soon (the bank refused to accept the rescheduled aima appointment) I have a deposit with the bank, Caixa Tecnologia outubro 2027, under its terms the money can’t be taken out before the deposit term ends I’m at a loss… When I opened the deposit I was a bank customer without a residence permit Very soon I’ll stop being a customer of the bank (as I wrote above: the bank refused to take into account the paper from aima I gave them) How do I get my money out of the deposit now?”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal03.08.2026
“You need to find out whether they’ll close the current account or say goodbye to you as a customer altogether. If it’s the second, the bank will close the deposit early itself and transfer the money to your current account or give you a cheque. The terms for early closure are on the caixa website. 12. Following termination of the contract by either party, and taking into account the consequences of such termination set out in paragraph 4 of this article, the accounts associated with the main account shall be wound up as follows: a) The balance of notice deposit accounts, fixed-term deposit accounts and special-regime accounts shall be cred”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkbanksdeportugal03.08.2026
What changed
- 28 August 2026 — added a link to the guide on transferring money from Russia
- 28 August 2026 — added a link to the guide on the complaints book (Livro de Reclamações)
- 27 August 2026 — moved out of the account-opening guide into a separate one
What to bring
- If you have had a closure letter: the letter itself from the Documentos digitais section, and scans of your residence card and passport — you take these to the branch and attach them to your written request
Where people most often trip up
- Caixa puts the closure letter in its app, in the Documentos digitais section, and only sends an SMS to your phone about a new document. Not everyone gets it by email — check the app yourself.
- A verbal ‘everything’s fine, we won’t close it’ means nothing: people were told this at the branch, and the account was closed on the set date anyway. Only a written reply will do.
- Ask for the closure to be cancelled, not for your details to be updated: they will update your details and close the account under the original decision.
- A member of staff may say your residence permit is already in the system and do nothing. Insist that the card is scanned and uploaded while you are there.
- The sanctions don’t require permanent residence — a temporary permit is enough. Santander’s demand for permanent residence is the bank’s policy, not the law.
- A D visa and an AIMA appointment record are not mentioned in the sanctions text, so branches have stopped accepting them. Nickel is the exception: it accepts a long-stay visa.
- Banks tie your residence permit’s validity to the date on the card: when it is about to run out, a closure letter may arrive again. Bring in your new card straight away.
- Direct debits are unlinked through the service provider, not the bank. If you don’t do it in time, the bill won’t be paid, and late-payment charges will follow.
- You don’t have to return a valid debit card: the bank cancels it itself, with your consent.
- Closing the account doesn’t end your mortgage — you are entitled to name an account at another bank for the payments.
- Refusing a basic bank account on grounds of nationality is unlawful, but in practice it happens. Push for a written refusal stating the reason — without it you have nothing to complain about.
- Banco de Portugal won’t make the bank open an account and won’t award damages. It checks the bank’s conduct and tells you the outcome; for money, go to court or to out-of-court dispute resolution.