Power of attorney: do you need another person to carry out a banking procedure on your behalf?

17/08/2021

As in other areas, for certain banking procedures to be performed on behalf of another person, a power of attorney specifying the delegated powers is needed.

The bank may require you to provide a power of attorney if you wish to authorise a trusted person to carry out certain banking procedures such as: cashing an order cheque on behalf of a third party resident abroad, opening or closing a bank account or requesting probate services from the bank.

This power of attorney should be formalised before a notary public and should contain the specific powers and the quantitative and operational limitations you decide to place on the person acting on your behalf.

Once the power of attorney has been presented, the bank will proceed with the acknowledgement of powers (bastanteo, by its Spanish name), in order to verify the identity of the person representing you and the powers that you have decided to grant them. The bank may charge you a fee for this verification process.

You can thus rest assured that you have been correctly identified and that no unauthorised third parties will act on your behalf. The bank will be able to duly justify any transactions performed with its customers.