Refusing a basic payment account

If a bank denies a customer the possibility of opening a basic payment account, the Banco de España shall consider this decision to be in line with best practice when:

• The customer has failed to provide the information requested by the bank.
• The bank considers and shows that there is an effective and real risk of money laundering or terrorist financing by the customer applying for the account. In this case, it is not enough to refer in general terms to the grounds provided for in the rules on money laundering.
• The same bank has severed business relations with the customer in the two years preceding the application for the basic payment account, provided this was due to failure to comply with the obligations deriving from the rules on money laundering.