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Multibanco & Online Shopping

11/9/2017

 
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​When we packed up our possessions to be shipped overseas, there was a finite amount of space so a few items were put into the estate sale. One of these was Jana's computer monitor, and we also needed to buy a microwave (micro-ondas) as there was not one included with the apartment. The thought of wrestling them into the back of an Uber or a taxi was not that attractive, so Jana did what she does best: order these online to be delivered directly to our new home.
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A visit to one of the Worten's bricks and mortar stores proved that we could source what we needed from them, so after some hunting online she found a Dell monitor and a Samsung microwave, both at reasonable prices. The delivery charge was about €7 (a little over $8). As she completed the order—this is where Google Translate comes in handy—she  finally reached the payment section. Though we still have a U.S. credit card, we didn’t want to deal with the exchange rate so she chose Multibanco as our payment option. 
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​So what’s this Multibanco? Fortunately, Portugal has one of Europe’s best banking systems and their ATM density per inhabitant is the second highest in Western Europe. Multibanco machines are everywhere, and they offer options not usually found on stateside ATM machines. Where in the States the process is rather speedy, here you’ll find people standing in front of the machine with papers in hand, clearly doing more than extracting money. If you need to pay your taxes or Social Security payments, there is a selection for that. Pay household and utility bills? Check. Transfer money between accounts or other financial institutions, buy minutes on your mobile phone, tickets for the cinema or a concert? You’re good to go. And, of course, get cash.

Fortunately there are plenty of machines so you don’t usually need to stand in line for very long. The Multibanco system works with banks all across Portugal, allowing you to do a number of online activities. Or, if you prefer, via a smartphone app.  

Once Jana chose the Multibanco option for the Worten order, here’s where the process became interesting. After checkout, she received a text message with three numbers: the first indicated the store she'd ordered from was Worten, the second was a reference number for the order, and the third the amount due. What this amounted to is that they’d sent us a truncated electronic invoice and given us twenty-four hours to make the payment or the order would not proceed any further.

At this point we could have gone to the nearest ATM, input those three numbers, approved the transfer and the funds would have been credited to Worten's account. In our case, we did the same online. Unlike IKEA’s checkout process, Worten never sees our financial details, only the payment. Once that payment is received, we received another text letting us know that transfer was successful and that they’d get back to us to finalize delivery details.
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Just WOW. That pretty much shuts down any hackers breaking into Worten’s server(s) and making off with your financial information, which is sadly far too common in the States. So far, the times we’ve used this process it’s been painless. We’ll definitely be using it in the future as our respect for the Multibanco system continues to grow.
 

Fiona
11/11/2017 06:06:18 pm

I am very interested to know how your cat has adapted to the move and also the flight?
We are planning our move to the Algarve and want to take our cat, but am concerned about her adapting as we will first rent an apartment while we look for a home to buy. Although she is very much an indoor cat, she does have the freedom to go out in the garden.
Any tips would be appreciated.

Jana
11/11/2017 07:33:22 pm

We'll be happy to offer our thoughts on that move. Dali adapted much better than we planned. She's most at ease with my husband--she picks up my worrying--so he flew over with her rather than me. We moved from our house to an AirBnb, then a hotel room, then to another AirBnB before settling into the apartment. To make things as consistent as possible, we ensured that her food and litter box were in his bedroom no matter where we stayed. Once she was in the flat, we gradually moved those items to the kitchen and she's fine with that. She still sleeps with him, though. We've learned to shut the door to the living room at night because if she wanders around in there, she tends to yowl at the middle of the night. I can't imagine she's lost her way in this small of a place, but who know how a cat's brain works. By keeping her in a smaller area, she seems content. Of course, each cat has its own personality so yours might be different.

We'll be covering the necessary paperwork and steps needed to move a pet from the U.S. to Portugal in our next blog post. I also discuss the sorts of things we did to keep her as stress free as possible.

As to the outdoor thing, I do note there are owls, even in Porto, and that the lady who lives in the ground floor apartment (she has probably eight cats) has a mesh netting over the cat's outside play area. Since there's no way the gatos can get out, I'm guessing it's to keep flying predators away.

Fiona
11/12/2017 04:54:19 pm

Thanks Jana. I have liked your Facebook page so will see the next blog post and hopefully get some tips.

carl
11/23/2017 08:58:57 am

thanks for sharing your experience. We play n
to relocate to Portugal too.
Initially we want to rent you did recommend
a real estate guy in Lisbon at REMAX. Tried
to track him down atRemax - no luck so
far. -- Do you mind letting us have his
EM address
And since I am on it, you praise the
Multibanoco card. What bank did you
select (presumably they have some
English web presence. --
Thanks in advance
Karl Philip
at Singapore on the way to Lisbon

Harold Buehl link
11/23/2017 10:22:06 am

Carl,
Thanks for your blog comment.

I'm sorry you are having difficulty connecting with Miguel. He gets very busy and can sometimes take several days to reply.

We use Millennium BCP as our bank in Portugal.

I have sent some additional information via e-mail.

Good luck on your transition to Lisbon. It is a very beautiful and exciting place.

DAVID MELITA
3/11/2018 02:59:10 pm

Hi Jana,

Thank you for a fantastic and super informative read. I was wondering what your experience with Millenium BCP has been thus far and what advantages they have over other banks. Also, what other banking institutions would you recommend. Thanks, David

Harold
3/11/2018 03:26:20 pm

Hi David,
Jana is away from the computer for a bit so I thought I would drop a quick reply. Millennium BCP has been a fantastic choice for us and they have been super responsive and supportive in everything that we have done. Like everything in Portugal, there are always a lot of steps and paperwork, but they were there for us every step. There are definitely less expensive options, we DO pay a monthly fee, and we get no interest for the money in our account. Savings account interest rates in Portugal are on the order of 0.002% anyway due to the ECB monetary policy. We get our bank card, credit card, health insurance and renters insurance all through them. We are very pleased with the insurance rates that we pay.

They also have an iPhone app that ROCKS. The App and the website has an English option for most features.

For other institutions, I would say look at ActivoBank (part of Millennium BCP), Santander, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Best Bank, etc. I think personally I would stay clear of Novo Banco, which is a bank that was cobbled together after the economic downturn and stuffed with some troubled mortgages. They do have a large footprint, however, and with the recovery they are doing much better and may be worth another look. Hope this helps.


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    Harold is a former software engineer. Jana is an author. Together they're exploring their new life in Portugal.

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