The Portuguese Multibanco Debit Card

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In Portugal, many banks, solid and often state owned are
willing to give out plastic debit cards to both their nationals
and to foreigners, asking that you deposit a minimum of œ50
with which to open a bank account. Cheque books are also
available if required. The name of this plastic debit card is the
Multibanco.

In Portugal this card can be used in more than 95% of shops
and restaurants, payphones, road tolls etc, and this one
system covers the entire country and its banks. Because the
Multibanco is a debit card you must have enough funds in
your bank account to honour payments, which will be debited
instantly, similar to the Switch debit card system in the U.K.

Money can be withdrawn from over 2,300 ATM's (Automatic
Teller Machines), or cashpoint hole-in-the-wall machines in
Portugal. Because of the Multibanco's involvement with the
rest of Europe, the Multibanco can be used for withdrawing
cash all over Europe. In the U.K., the Link ATM system, used
also by the Abbey National Building Society and other
financial institutions will accept the Multibanco card.

On opening a deposit account from a bank in the Multibanco
system, you will be given a plastic card on the spot. The card
does not have your name embossed on it as do British
cards. There is a signature strip on the back of the card
under the dark magnetic strip for you to put a signature on -
your signature or any name you wish to use. Because there is
no embossing of personal details, there is no expiry date on
the card either, so that the card will remain current until it
requires replacing due to actual wear and tear. Each card is
issued with a PIN number which you can change whenever
you like by following instructions when inserted in a ATM
either in Portugal, the U.K. or wherever a Multibanco or Link
machine can be found.

The Multibanco card is also available with a Visa or
Mastercard facility built in, to customers who have conducted
their account in an acceptable manner after a period of time,
but in keeping with the rest of the world Visa or Mastercard
system, your details and references would be required, as in
the U.K. The PIN number is sent to the address that you give
the bank about 7-10 days after the issuing of the Multibanco.
Therefore the address could be an accommodation address
either in Portugal, the U.K. or wherever; the address of a
trusted friend, or your hotel, assuming you will be in
residence when the PIN number arrives, or even collected
from the bank when available. Remember, you are not
required to show identification when opening an account,
other than your passport so that the name and address will
be whatever you have told the bank, to fit in with your need
for secrecy. Obviously, if you show your Passport, you will
tell the bank your name as it appears on the Passport, but
you are not required to sign the Multibanco in front of the
cashier. If you are wanting to deposit money into your new
deposit account and then withdraw it later when needed from
an ATM, the signature does not matter. If using the card to
purchase services and goods, remember that the signature
you use on the payment receipts must match whatever you
have put on your Multibanco card signature strip.

Not all banks adhere to this system: some will issue only
personalised Multibanco cards i.e with the name that
appearson your passport embossed onto the card. This is
true of all banks that are owned by international banks. A
suggested bank for unpersonalised Multibancos would be the
BPA, or Banco Portugues Atlantico.

Once you have the Multibanco you must use it once in
Portugal. If your card came from the Banco Portugues
Atlantico, and you use the card for the first time in an ATM
belonging to the BPA, it will not work, nor will it work if you
use the card for the first time in an overseas ATM. For the
card to latch into the system you should first use the card in
Portugal in an ATM not belonging to the issuing bank. From
the second transaction onwards the card will work both in
Portugal and abroad in any Multibanco or Link ATM.

Do remember, outside of Portugal, the Multibanco can only
be used for withdrawing cash (up to œ200 per day subject to
the money being in your account). In Portugal it can be used
for withdrawing cash and as a debit card to pay for goods
and services. You can deposit funds into your Multibanco
account by either paying in cash or cheques in person at
your branch in Portugal, or by wire transfere from a bank or
by mailing a cheque to your bank in Portugal. As ever, you
must ask yourself why you need this type of account, and
remember that asking your U.K. bank to wire funds to your
Portuguese account will be traceable, as will certain cheques,
i.e. they leave a paper trail which an investigator might pick
up on. The simplest way is to take cash over when next you
visit, or if this is not possible, use money orders, travellers
cheques that are not traceable to you in the U.K. (See our
publication on moving money confidentially).

Earlier we talked of opening an account by showing your
Passport as a form of identification. Both Portugal and the
U.K. are members of the European Union, and many EU
foreigners can go to Portugal without a Passport. What do
they do to show identity? They will often have a national I.D.
card to show. We in the U.K. do not have such a document,
but depending on the particular bank we hear that it is
possible to open an account by showing, for example, a
British Rail Season Ticket I.D., complete with photograph or
similar type of identity. After all, the bank only wants to know
that you have some official or semi official identity: a
photograph linked to a name.

A final suggestion is to have a local lawyer, trusted friend or
third party open the account for you if the showing of your
passport may be a problem. It is not usual for Portuguese
banks to open accounts by mail, but what about branches
outside of Portugal? There is a large ex-pat population in
Paris, where most of the Portuguese banks will have
branches, but in keeping with French banking requirements
your card would be embossed or personalised and your
passport details taken.

To conclude, the Multibanco offers you the opportunity to
legally open a deposit account without having to provide bank
and personal references as you would do if the account were
opened in the U.K. You have only to show your passport or
some form of semi official identity. Funds deposited into your
account can be withdrawn in the U.K. from a Link ATM. There
is no connection to your U.K. address or your U.K. banking
persona.