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Portugal’s largest bank, Caixa Geral de Depositos, has begun warning clients with Russian citizenship about the closure of their accounts starting August 14, 2026. Caixa account holders told Novaya-Europe about this.
What happened. Many clients received a mailing from the bank saying that their accounts and related services would be closed “due to general conditions.” Such notifications were sent both by mail and via SMS starting at least on June 8.
Who was affected. As Novaya-Europe’s sources said, notifications about account closures were received not only by Russians without a residence permit, but also by some clients with a valid Portuguese residence permit. Several clients also said that the bank had previously asked them to update information about their migration status.
“They didn’t explain anything to me at all. I just got an SMS: the document about the account closure is available in your personal account. Congratulations!” Denis, a marketer who opened an account in the fall of 2025 on a D visa, told Novaya-Europe. He later received a residence permit but did not notify Caixa about it.
As RBC writes, such notifications were also received by Russians who work for European or Portuguese companies.
Another Novaya-Europe source, blogger Roman, said that in 2025 he personally went to the bank several times to update his residence permit data.
When he came to the bank in June after receiving the account closure notice, Caixa employees promised to look into the situation and send a request to the central branch to update information about his legal status.
“To be honest, I’m not expecting anything good. Considering that it is almost impossible for Russians to open accounts in other banks in Portugal at all, and that the same Revolut can easily ban you, there is no sense of financial security at all,” Roman told Novaya-Europe.
What bank branches are saying. Several Russians said that bank employees are explaining what is happening by citing new internal instructions from the central office. At the same time, clients are being offered the chance to submit residence permit documents again and send a request for the decision to be reconsidered.
“The employee said that it was not up to them and that it was initiated by the bank’s central office, which in turn is being pressured by the EU. He updated the data from my residence permit card once again and said he would try to stop the closure process, but without guarantees. He promised to send the results by email,” programmer Sergei, who also received a notice about his account closure, told Novaya-Europe.
Possible reason. In October 2025, the European Union approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia. Among other things, it included banking restrictions. After that, the online bank Revolut began notifying Russian clients who do not have an EU residence permit or citizenship about account closures.
Later, the European Commission separately clarified that restrictions on issuing bank cards and making payments do not apply to holders of temporary residence permits, permanent residence permits, or citizenship of EU, EEA, and Swiss countries, as well as holders of long-term D-type visas.