You have valuable objects at home and would like to find one safer way to keep them? Well then, the solution may go through rent a safe at a bank. In fact, this is one of the safest ways to keep goods of some value without actually being money. Even so, this is a solution that few people are familiar with or even unaware of. On the other hand, can represent high costs and therefore requires a careful assessment of the situation. Then we explain why, the advantages and disadvantages as well as the precautions you should take.
Why should you rent a bank vault?
As already mentioned, renting a bank safe to store valuables (or even money) is the safest way to protect your valuables. In practice, you are transferring to your bank the responsibility of keeping your valuables. Let’s say that what’s yours is protected by a highly secure system and the good news is that you don’t need to take care of it as the bank takes care of doing it for you. justifies taking this measure. First of all, to rent a safe you have to contact your bank and ask to make a safe rental agreement. Then the bank will ask you several documents and must necessarily be system certified. As it should be, this process will have costs. Thus, you can expect to be charged various fees and commissions.After renting the coveted safe, you are given the precious key. You’ll need it whenever you want to access your “treasure”. Anyone can rent a safe, but there are banks that require whoever makes the contract to have an active current account at the bank and others that only rent to their customers who subscribe to certain financial products. Also read: Bank overdraft: what is it, what are the costs and precautions to be taken
What is the cost of renting a bank vault?
Well, this service is paid and is not exactly cheap. In other words, will have to pay:Commissions;Deposits;Fees;Annuities;and even access to the contents of the vault. Therefore, analyze and do the math well. As long as you have the economic possibilities to do so, it’s always worth it! Let’s take a closer look at the costs you should consider.
Commission for signing the contract
In some banks, as soon as you sign the rental contract, you start paying at a rate. It’s like a “gift” in the bad sense, to start this process.
security deposit
Then, after the paperwork is signed, comes the famous collateral. This is the amount you have to pay to receive the key. Still, as the name implies, if all goes well, this amount is returned to you when the contract ends.However, if you lose the key to the safe you can consider this value as lost. So, take good care of your key, keep it religiously! In some cases, if you lose the key and want to have the safe opened for you, you may have to pay a burglary commission.
Annuity
In addition to the costs already mentioned, renting a safe at the bank also implies the payment of a fixed annual amount – the so-called annuity. This value varies depending on the institution and the size of the chosen safe.
visiting commissions
But the costs are not over yet! That is, there are some more commissions to pay! This is because, the bank will require you to pay each time you want to access the safe’s contents.Even so, some banks only charge this commission after “X” number of visits in the same year. Finally, in addition to all the costs already listed, you can also count on the current account maintenance costsalmost always required for the conclusion of a safe rental contract.
Renting a safe at the bank: examples of current tariffs
By now, you should have realized that, renting a bank vault can cost you several hundred euros a year. On the other hand, as already mentioned, prices vary from bank to bank and according to the size of the safe.Next, as an example, we indicate the prices in force for renting a safe in 4 of the main banks in Portugal. to the prices indicated below, plus VATnamely in: Mainland (23%); Madeira (22%); and Azores (16%):BPI – Quarterly rentalSize (dm3) 0 to 20 – costs 25.00€21 to 50 – costs 37.50€51 to 100 – costs 50.00€101 to 200 – costs 75.00€1842 – 424.00€3045 – 623, 50€ Deposit – costs 130€ (plus stamp duty – 0.6%)Visits – costs 5€Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) – Annual leaseSize (dm3)0 to 20.99 – 55.00€21 to 30.99 – 77.00€31 to 50.99 – 110.00€51 to 130.99 – 165.00€131 to 180.99 – €220.00181 to €600.99 – €330.00601 to €1699.99 – €792.00over 1700 – €1,900.00New contract signing – €5.25 Deposit – €175 (plus stamp duty – 0.6%)Visits – €5.00Millenium BCP – Annual LeaseSize (dm3)0 to 20.99 – 47.50€21 to 30.99 – 62.50€31 to 50.99 – 93.75€51 to 100.99 – 125.00€101 to 130.99 – €156.25131 to 300 – €250.00 Deposit – €200.00Visits €5.00Santander – Annual LeaseSize (dm3)0 to 10 – 47.00€10.01 to 20 – 49.00€20.01 to 30 – 64.00€30.01 to 40 – 92.50€40.01 to 50 – 100, 00€50.01 to 75 – 122.50€75.01 to 100 – 138.50€100.01 to 130 – 187.50€130.01 to 180 – 247.50€180.01 to 300 – 260, 00€300.01 to 450 – 280.00€450.01 to 600 – 320.00€600.01 to 750 – 375.00€750.01 to 1000 – 500.00€over 1000.01 – 720, €00 Security deposit – €180.00 (plus stamp duty – 0.6%) Visits – €5.00 In short, as you can see, prices vary depending on the bank and the size of the safe. Note that, in some banks the rent is quarterly while in others (most) it is annual. The cost of visits is the same in all banks, with the remaining costs varying according to the banking institution. Finally, it should be noted that, of these four banks as an example, the only one who charges a contract signing fee is CGD.Also read: How to avoid account maintenance fees?
Benefits of renting a bank vault
It cannot be emphasized enough that renting a safe at the bank is important whenever you want to keep something of great value.
Greater security
In fact, when you have valuables at home, at any time something unforeseen may happen and suddenly we’re left with nothing. For example, there could be a theft, a fire or a natural disaster. How would you react if it happened to you? Banks, given the responsibility they are in charge of, are better prepared to deal with an unforeseen event such as those listed above. Buildings are more secure than any of our homes. Here everything is safer.
confidentiality
Furthermore, in a bank also ensures the confidentiality of your belongings. Nobody here will ask you what’s in the safe, not even the State has that right! After all, what’s inside the vault is secret.
safe size
Finally, another advantage of renting a safe at the bank is the size they can have. That is, in the bank you can have a safe much bigger than the one you would have at home. However, in these cases the annuity is higher. Still, it is always preferable and always more worthwhile than buying a safe of the same size and installing it at home.
Disadvantages of renting a bank vault
Like almost everything in life, not everything is just advantages. So, Renting a safe deposit box at the bank can also have some cons.. That’s what we explain next.
The localization
One of the main problems is the localization. This is because banks do not have safes in all branches. As a general rule, banks concentrate all their safes in the same establishment. Thus, in some cases, you may have to go to a specific counter whenever you want to store or access your valuables (and it may not be that close to your home).
low offer
Another disadvantage to consider is the limited offer. In other words, banks have few safe deposit boxes for rent, and it may be the case that there is only one safe available that is larger than you need. In that case, you can count on an increase in the annuity. There are even cases in which banks do not make safes available to the general public. That is, they reserve the safes only for customers of other banking products.
It’s not 100% safe
Finally, it is important to point out that renting a safe at the bank does not mean that your assets are 100% safe. That is, in fact, there is not even a deposit insurance for what is kept in the vaults. This happens because banks don’t ask what we keep in the safe. So, if you are unlucky enough to have a theft or other incident of the kind, you could lose the belongings that were stored there. than any banking institution. Last but not least, pYou can authorize other people to access the safe, by complying with the rules stipulated by the bank. This may involve presenting identification documentation and collecting signatures at each visit. It should also be remembered that, since June 2021, banks are required to transmit to Banco de Portugal monthly data on customers to whom they rent safes. The measure arose within the scope of the new rules for the prevention of money laundering. Also read: Extract of commissions: what is it, what should it contain and how to reduce costs?