ActivoBank レビュー 

uma autêntica vergonha o atendimento on line, como não sabia que o atendimento ia ser tão mau nao tomei nota do nome, na parte final quis saber o nome para reclamar, simplesmente desligou me o telefone numa atitude cobarde

Mario Santos

Un desastre. Me gan dejado un mes sin tarjeta, sin poder operar, comprar, sacar dinero, realizar operaciones por internet, etc. Y no me dan ninguna solución ni ellos, ni banco Sabadell de quién dependen. Te van pasando con diferentes operadores y nadie hace nada. Evidentemente, me cambio de banco.

Para quem acha estranho só haver reclamações em inglês aqui vai 1 em português. Dia 31/07/2025 a minha conta foi atacada. Recebi um telefonema (tardio) do ativobank a perguntar se era eu que estava a fazer transferências (3 de valores consideráveis). Respondi que não, e como o 1º titular da conta também não estava, o banco bloqueou a minha conta. Acontece que só à 4ª tentativa é que bloquearam a conta e foram-se mais de 8.ooo €. E o pior é que o banco permitiu que liquidassem uma conta poupança para depois fazerem então as transferências. Tudo isto sem que eu recebesse qualquer SMS/email a pedir autorizações/confirmações ou acedesse sequer
à aplicação. Queixa apresentada na PSP e comunicações feitas pelo ativobank para os bancos para onde foram feitas as transferências ficámos à espera de nova comunicação por parte do banco, conforme nos tinham dito que fariam. 1 mês depois sem sermos contactados pelo banco questionámos o ativobank, que vem responder que fizeram o que estava ao alcance deles e que foram dadas autorizações do meu número de telemóvel, sem que eu nunca as tenha dado. Existe obviamente uma falha de segurança do banco que: 1º permitiu que fosse liquidada uma conta poupança sem me informar ou pedir confirmação;2º permitiu que fossem feitas logo de seguida 3 transações de transferência de valores avultados e só à 4ª tentativa agiu;3º não quer assumir a responsabilidade na falha de segurança quando eu não tenho no meu telemóvel qualquer comunicação do banco a pedir qualquer autorização de qualquer dessas 4 transações efetuadas; 4º não responde às tentativas de contacto; e por último quer fazer-me aceitar que a responsabilidade é minha, quando lhe confiei ao seu cuidado as minhas poupanças e as perdi sem apelo nem agravo, demarcando-se da situação. É a total desresponsabilização do sistema bancário e o descrédito das instituições bancárias.

I was robbed in Brazil and had my phone stolen. The criminals got into my ActivoBank account and cleaned it out with over 50 irregular transfers in two days! The bank did not manage to detect any fraud, email me or reach out to my husband who’s a co-owner of the account. I only discovered the fraud 2 days after the robbery and upon our return to the U.S. What’s even more egregious is that the bank allowed more illegal transactions to go through even after I called them. We have been waiting now for a week to get more information. The bank does not update us. When we try to call, we never get past the frontline service reps who can’t do anything (and often offer contradictory statements). You would think a proper bank would be sending us daily updates to keep us in the loop. We have no choice but to hire a Portuguese lawyer to pursue the bank. Portuguese Decree Law 91/2018 requires a bank to restore a depositor’s money after it’s been fraudulently removed within 1 business day of learning about the fraud. ActivoBank actively engages in non-compliance with the law.

Publicidade enganosa inclusive activando os banner. Embora o atendimento telefónico foi gentil é vergonhoso o motivo dado pelo banco para não cumprir com a publicidade. Sem dúvida uma desilusão dado o trabalho que da mudar o banco. Não recomendo.

ActivoBank is definitely the worst banking service I've ever used and I have used a few over the year, including bad ones. Their customer service is often not helpful, and even unfriendly. In one occasion they even lied straight to my face. Two incidents of interest: When I opened my bank account in person at their service center, I was asked if I wanted to stay on the free plan or if I wanted an upgrade to a paid plan. The paid plan offered benefits, like a discount on fuel in a specific brand of gas stations. The person I was talking to assured me that the monthly discounts amounted to the same as the monthly fee, so I agreed. It turns out that the discount is kind of a scam (5 cents per litre over fillings up to 40l, on five different occasions). Are we kids collecting football stickers? ActivoBank seems to think so and their employees are so desperate to sell that they won't even tell you how this works. Absolutely ridiculous.
Another incident: I had to make an urgent payment the same day, usually it is an instant operation. This time it didn't go through immediately, but I didn't expect it to take longer than that day. I had done it at noon approximately, on a Friday. Just shortly before the end of the day I get a phone call from them, asking me to confirm some security details about the operation. I got suspicious and declined. They even agreed that many customers feel uncomfortable with this practice but it was necessary if I wanted it to go through that same day. They offered me to call the bank so be certain that I was actually talking to them and not some fraudster. So I did that immediately but the bank told me they would close in about 5 min and they couldn't put me through to the initial caller anymore because they were out of office already. I had to repeat the procedure on the following Monday before my transaction was finally executed. So I was almost three days late on that payment thanks to this completely unusual and unnecessary security requirement (I have done thousands of transaction with other banks I never had to answer some security questions speaking to some random person calling me).
Bottomline: Look for alternatives, this bank is just hassle

Verdadeiramente vergonhosa a tática utilizada para cativar novos clientes:
Uma campanha que dá um crédito de 300 euros se se domiciliar o ordenado e débitos directos numa nova conta à ordem. Mesmo cumprindo os requisitos, foi-me dito que não tinha direito porque não "activei um banner"! Também só me foi dito isso da segunda vez que contactei o apoio ao cliente. Da primeira vez estava tudo bem mas só teria de esperar.

I got scammed paying for the rental of an appartement. 1 transaction was with my parents account in Slovenia, the other 2 with my ActivoBank account. When i noticed, that it was a scam, i went to the police and then with the report to the bank.
My father could manage to ask the Slovenian bank to require the Portuguese bank (scammers account) to return the money free of charge (on the international level, with a PORTUGUESE police report), while ActivoBank wants to charge me 75€ per transfer (2 trasnfers) fort the same service (on the national level). Making money with a victim - such an honorable work you do! Makes me sick to the stomach.

Best of the banks in Portugal.

They also can provide everthing in English (including customer service) which is a massive plus for someone learning the language.

The app is also decent and always improving

If I could give minus points I would. I have had two separate time periods of being blocked out of my account or not having access to my funds and it taking weeks, phone calls, ATM visits, and a three-hour round trip to a bank who could do nothing to unblock my access to my money because another department don't work on Saturday so I have to come back again because your SMS, bank in-person visit and their access to their department on the phone plus an ATM visit all had to happen simultaneously. I am not even exaggerating. It was not believable how stressful or circular and illogical it was and how little anyone cared. Now this time my SMS notifications just suddenly stopped working and so I could not pay for a vehicle because all forms of transfer or payment online or in app or over phone including all instant transfers ALL require SMS verification or push notifications. The 'system' wouldn't let anyone change my account to push notifications so it defaulted to SMS. No one knew why. When my SMS notifications stopped working suddenly I was informed the issue must be my phone (it wasn't). I phoned three different people over 72 hours none of whom would escalate or try anything to fix it. Finally the fourth mysteriously did something they said they wouldn't tell me what it was at the 'backend' of their system (their word, but honestly appropriate) and push notifications suddenly mysteriously worked. The department who were apparently fixing it still have not called me for over 72 hours because it was Saturday I first had issue (apparently the call centre could only send messages to them but not put me through to nor talk to them themselves). It randomly works right now for no clear reason but I am told the system could automatically choose SMS again for any transaction at any time based on mysterious calculations by the system in which case it will be blocked again. How is this even legal? It has taken me weeks of stress on two separate occasions now to regain access to my own money. This is apparently not considered urgent or unusual by bank staff. Do NOT use this bank. Especially if you are an immigrant without full integration into Portuguese systems yet (like Portuguese SIM). You will lose all autonomy over your own money.

I’ve visited Activo Bank multiple times and, overall, most of the service was smooth and efficient. However, my encounters with one staff member named Debora have consistently been disappointing.

Back in April, I had an appointment but was kept waiting for over an hour. After that, I was asked to email my documents, only to be kept waiting another 30 minutes. She then told me I'd be contacted the following week, but I received no response. After following up via email, I was asked to return and resubmit everything again.

A few days ago, I accompanied a friend who had already completed most of the account setup online, except for the video verification. Without even checking the account, Debora stated that my friend had to speak English, which felt dismissive and unfair.

Today, I returned to apply for a credit card. The process was rushed—she took my ID, asked for a signature, and sent me away, simply saying I’d receive an email. No explanation, no clarity.

Sadly, these repeated interactions have made me feel that immigrants are not being treated equally. It’s discouraging to face such treatment, especially when others are receiving much better service.

I tryed to change my verification phone number with them because î'm not in Portugal anymore, i'm abroad. They told me to come especially in an activobank branch in Portugal for doing it, the same process for closing the account. In 2025, these kind of operations can be done online with a serious bank for helping and satisfying the customer. My money was blocked during 6 months, i wrote them a letter without receiving any answer from them..
I clearly would say, if you want to open a bank account in Portugal, This bank is to be avoided without hesitation.
Even reading the other comments, one realizes the widespread dissatisfaction of its users in general. I'm just adding my contribution to drive the point home. Avoid this bank !

Worse bank ever

They made me loose so much time, I couldn't access my bank account for a year or so, I wasn't living in Portugal anymore and didn't get the OTP on the phone. I came back, got a new Portuguese number and they told me that the account was blocked and that they would reopen it. I waited a lot, had to provide my NIF and ID and then I activated a prepaid card at their ATM with the agent who was helpful. Then he told me that I could get a debit card and that I would have to come back the next day to get both cards because they had to wait for the ID control. For me the Filiale was very far, in Almada forum, there are only two in Lisbon as far as I know, and I was loosing my holiday time back and forth there with bad public transportation. The employer told me that he wanted to check if my app was working but that we had to wait until the next day, I asked if I could use my Italian number to receive the OTP and he said yes -the customer care on the phone always gave me different answers, they said yes that they changed the number but was not working, called again and they said it was only possible with a portuguese number. I go back the next day and another employer who didn't know about my case was there, she didn't give me the card I activated, only the debit card and when I told her she left to look for it and came back with a new prepaid card that I would have to activate on the next day..again...I asked about the app and changing the number to the Italian and she said that she sent a code to my Portuguese number, but I didn't had the sim card with me so I couldn't proceed. She told me to call the customer care or come back the next day...I was so pissed. I went home and got no SMS in my Portuguese number. But I got another code on the Italian one, so the issue wasn't my phone. I called the customer care and my user code was not working (probably they changed it with the new account and maybe that was the code I should have received by SMS), the assistant just kept asking me for the code, she knew I reopened the bank account and that I couldn't get a code by SMS, but she just kept telling ne that my code was wrong and that she couldn't proceed. I told her that she was behaving like AI, not helping me, and she said that it was my problem, that I wasn't using the right code....I decieded to close the bank account and I had to pay 7€ to transfer my money to another bank account from another country. The employer made me sign a paper, but she showed me only the second page, but I wanted to see the whole document and I saw that she crossed as a reason for the closure family problems, so I crossed "service" and "dissatisfaction". Very badly organised structure and lazy employees who try to make their work easier, maybe because not paid enough? Zero trust for me if I cannot access my bank account.

This is the worst bank ever. I’ve tried to open an account, but they’ve already rescheduled my appointment five times. When you call the call center, they can’t help you because you’re required to complete the process online

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. Their telephone support is incredibly useless, they don't want to help and don't seem to care at all about their customers, can't ever get any issue resolved with them, besides their fees are really high.

A disaster
I just wanted to open an account, but the experience was a disaster. Missed video calls even though I was connected early, rude customer service, wrong instructions (told to answer on the app even though I chose computer), got hung up on, and then couldn’t reach anyone again. All I wanted was to become a customer. In the end, I gave up. I’m taking my business elsewhere.

URGENT- My company has today been subjected to a scam. Whereby email hackers have set up fake email and hacked our accounts. They have set up a fake bank account with Activo Bank with the following details :

IBAN: PT50 0023 0000 45791984265 94
BANK NAME: ACTIVO BANK
SWIFT CODE : ACTVPTPL
BANK ADD : Av. Dom João II Loja 0063, 1990-083 Lisboa

I have called for urgent assistance with this matter and no help. Criminals appear to be targeting this bank due to weaknesses. I should have assistance in this matter when it’s been used for criminality and fraud.

I need an urgent response from ACTIVO Bank on this matter. You need to close the above account immediately- police report to follow.

pela primeira vez em 5 anos o ActivoBank tem a audácia de obrigar a atualizar dados de identificação pelo App, mesmo que o governo tenha prorrogado validade de título de residência para Junho e depois Outubro. Ao tentar fazer transferência como de costume, o App solicitou digitalização de documento de identificação. Depois envia SMS a dizer que o documento foi validado com sucesso. De seguida ao tentar fazer a transferência o App diz que um gestor de conta vai entrar em contacto comigo para validar a transação, usando "segurança" como desculpa. Respondes perguntas pelo sistema automático de atendimento, a perguntar se tens cartão de crédito, se tens conta de poupança, se tens empréstimos pendentes. Tudo cheira a ação de marketing para venderem serviços. Depois a tal gestora faz as mesmas perguntas novamente. Digo que não percebo estas perguntas e o bloqueio da minha transferência. Nunca precisei falar com ninguém para fazer minhas operações. Depois pediu uns minutos e disse que a transferência foi liberada. Depois recebo mas duas ligações do ActivoBank provavelmente a repetir todo o processo e depois um SMS que tentaram contactar para autorizar a transferência (que já tinha sido autorizada). Amadores. As técnicas de marketing chegaram num nível absurdo de estupidez, a causar transtornos, na tentativa de venderem produtos do banco fazendo perguntas que não dizem respeito a ninguém como "qual é o motivo da transferência?" se isso se repetir vou ter que trocar para um outro banco digital.

Não consigo entender como é que este banco é eleito o melhor banco. Estamos mesmo mal de bancos em Portugal. Só pode. E ainda nem fui a nenhum balcão, sei que a aplicação funciona mal, o atendimento ao cliente é péssimo, não tenho nada positivo a dizer deles. O que seria dar-lhes o meu dinheiro?!

I've been a satisfied ActivoBank customer for over 20 years, and it continues to be one of the best banking experiences I've had. The account comes with minimal fees, and the homebanking service is by far the best I've used — fast, reliable, and user-friendly.

ActivoBank offers a fully digital experience without sacrificing quality or support. For anyone looking for a modern, efficient, and low-cost banking solution, I highly recommend it.