Can anyone tell me their experiences with either of the following banks in Belgium:

ING
Fortis
Citibank (I have bank accounts with them in the US and UK)

Does anyone have any other suggestions for banks that cater to expats?

Thanks.

Don't see that anyone replied to your message so here's my input in case you are still wondering.

When I arrived in Brussels in 2007, I went to ING to open an account and was told I had to make an appointment. Fine. Waited a few days and went to the appointment and was then told that they couldn't do anything for me until I had received my Belgian residency card. This isn't what I'd heard from other people so I enquired at Fortis Bank.

At Fortis (like at every other institution in Belgium, it seems) an appointment was also necessary. This time, however, they were willing to open an account before I had my residence card provided that I had goverment-sponsored ID with an address from my former country. So they took that and opened the account right away. I received the cards quite quickly and they were also good about issuing a Visa card.

I have to say that I like Fortis and you can get most services in English if you want. Their current accounts cost EUR2,30/month, though (for the Easy Pack, anyway) (and I think this might be increasing soon) whereas the Lion Account from ING is free. But ING seems to be increasingly discouraging customers from using bank services which require staff help.

Don't think that you can still use this info but maybe some other new members can.

We moved from the Netherlands and sought some info on banks on the web. Besides being Dutch, the ING looked good and was one of the best represented on the web and also has a special expat dept.
First we were awed by the service etc, but when it was time to deliver it was a different story.

Some of the things that happened:
- the rendez-vous that was made at the expat centre was made at a wrong address. Confusion ensued.
- the arrangements we asked for in a special form that was sent to us, such as two credit cards etc. etc., were not taken into account.

The reception at the local small branch was quite polite and friendly. Not very knowledgeable though.

My final opinion of the ING is based also on the fact that I heard this used to be the Banque Bruxelles Lambert. This bank seems to have been very much in need of renewal. ING has simply renewed the logos. However the infrastructure and the state of the bank as a whole including personnel is still the old situation. Very archaic. This also means that you cannot use their terminals with an EC pass from another bank. Also the self-bank terminals are slow and not very user friendly.

Since ING has good computer banking facilities and lots of English-speaking staff at most branches, I don't think their expat service is necessary for day to day banking and saving - frankly I think their expat service is a bit of scam. When I consulted them they advised me to take the current account with the highest fees, while I was staring at a computer ad for the free Lion account (which I got and have had no problems with, either in Belgium or while using it abroad). And the interest rates on their online savings account are good.

Fortis, in comparison, is expensive to use - high fees - and also incredibly frustrating. Clerical/informatical errors at that dump, both over the current account I closed and with our current house insurance, have cost me 80 euros over the past year or so - and absolutely no breath of compensation, or even apology! It's been appalling, and also very difficult to resolve - Fortis has really made us run around as we try to correct ITS mistakes. We can't just take the 80 euro loss and move on with our lives because the clerical error has to do with our address, which means that they don't send us our bills, which means that we risk not paying them, which means that we risk being referred to the huissiers de justice (collection agency) AGAIN (and I'm enough of a snob to be appalled at being chased by a collection agency).

And yes, you've read the situation right. They've managed to get our address wrong on bills for our house insurance. You know - insurance for the house where we live. Our address. And this follows repeated attempts over the phone and at the branch to make them use the right address. And incidentally, it follows being overbilled for nearly half a year on my current account with them, which I've now closed.

I'd avoid Fortis like the plague.

But for other banks, any of which would probably be an improvement, the problem for expats in Belgium is that how good your bank is here is really tied to how good your branch is. Things are decentralized here in terms of how good the service is, how good the facilities are, how competent the staff is. So I can recommend to you, absolutely 100%, the branch of ING Jardin du Roi on Avenue Louise (http://www.ing.be/private/searchBranches.jsp?menopt=bra|kan) - but a colleague had a bad time at the branch just up the street at ING Louise (http://www.ing.be/private/searchBranches.jsp?menopt=bra|kan). It sounds silly but you should look for recommendations at the local, branch, level.

Hello

Been a US expat here in Belgium for the last 5 years.
I use Fortis...very happy with it. The cost is about 3.20 Euro's per month but worth it.
The internet site is in English so it is easy to use.
I can transfer Euro's to my US account with min. cost to process the transaction.

Regards

Jim

Hi there,

I'm now looking at ING as a potential bank, and have been in touch with their Expat Team - the "Green Account" seems pricey at €30 per year, PLUS €20 for a Visa, or €125 for a Visa Gold! I know it may not be like-for-like, but in my current back in Ireland I don't pay any annual fees, or pay a credit card fee. Is this "Expat" service of ING a rip-off, or are there other banks that will offer basically the same service, without such high annual fees for what are the basic components?

Any recommendations of a bank to try based on current deals etc?

Any hints/tips are appreciated.... thanks!

Regarding the various EXPAT services offered by banks in Belgium, I'm just plain suspicious. I think they hear the word "expat" and they think the person works for the EU and makes gobs of cash. I'm an expat and I certainly don't take home lots of money (thank you Mr. Belgian Tax Man), so there's no way I'm willing to join one of these expat banking plans and pay the crazy fees they want. It hurts enough to pay an annual fee at all for my credit card (€11!).