You can see literally dozens of TV commercials for banks where they talk about friendly staff; plenty of posters of smiling bank staff, but I can honestly say that the crew at the Avenida de Andalucía branch of the Caja Rural in Almuñécar really are a friendly bunch: Miguel, Raul, María and Cristela.

Now, this was a farmers’ savings bank that has never lost touch with its roots and it’s not like the other cajas because the Caja Rural is a co-operative enterprise where account holders are effectively members of the co-operative. Yet, despite this grass-roots emphasis, it works internationally, with a British building society, for example. You can use your normal debit card abroad, too – I do when I’m back in the UK. Another international touch is their excellent – and I mean excellent – webpage. You can even open a bank account via the Internet, if you have an electronic ID.

The Manager, Miguel, and the Head of the Credit Control, Raul, both speak excellent English. Add that to the barrage of genuine smiles that come over the counter from María & Cristela and you have a friendly and efficient bank. I’m not saying this because they advertise with us, but because I have my bank account with them, so I’m literally putting my money where my mouth is!

Visit there webpage here, which is in English and even contains a finanical English/Spanish glossary