What is the Bank Account Certificate?

The bank account certificate is the document that certifies and identifies us as account holders. It is an official document issued by your bank, which can be obtained at the bank branch itself and increasingly online. Regarding the cost, it must be said that with the new scenario of negative interest rates, a fee is starting to be charged for this service; in both cases, it will depend on the entity with which we work, and the conditions may vary considerably.

It is important to emphasize the official nature of the certificate, which must comply with certain standards and always be signed and stamped by the bank itself.

Therefore, the following will not be valid:

• A receipt.
• An invoice.
• A contract.
• A screenshot of our account positions.

It is a very common mistake, but none of these means are officially recognized because they are considered easily manipulable.

When is it necessary?

• To settle the inheritance tax, the average account balance certificate for the last year and the account balance certificate as of the date of death of a family member will be necessary.
• For public administrations: Grants, Scholarships.
• Direct debits to contract services from energy companies, supplies.
• When applying for a bank loan.
• The bank account certificate is becoming even more common as a result of Law 10/2010 of April 28, on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. The Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences Commission is the highest authority in this matter in our country. The obliged entities to collaborate with the Commission are those individuals or legal entities that carry out commercial, financial or professional activities, whose structures or activities can be used to launder money, among which are credit institutions. INVERSA has contracted the services of PAYMÁTICO, an entity registered with number 6861 in the special register of Payment Institutions of the Bank of Spain, which provides greater security and, at the same time, a series of obligations such as having to provide a bank certificate when opening an account. Both companies and investors will therefore be obliged to prove account ownership as a requirement imposed by the Bank of Spain on Paymático.

What should it include? Certain information, such as:

• The name of the bank in question.
• Account opening date.
• IBAN number.
• Bank identification code (BIC).
• Name of the account holder, accompanied by their respective identification document.
• Entity's signature and stamp.

Therefore, the Certificate should not be confused with a simple Bank Receipt, as the latter will not always be valid. In other words, although almost the same data can be justified through documents or through a bank statement, the signature and stamp of the entity will be necessary to certify authenticity in an official manner.