Large foreign banks offer various options to non-resident clients, private individuals and corporate entities. Most often, foreign bank accounts are opened with the purpose of protecting and diversifying personal and corporate capital or alternatively, of entering the international market. How can you make the right choice when looking for a foreign bank to open an account there?
If your choice of the banking institution is wrong, you will have to wait for a few months in the best case. In the worst case, services will be denied to you, which means that your efforts will be wasted and you will lose money too. The money that was frozen while you were waiting for a decision could have earned you some income…
Before you start choosing the country and the bank where you want to open an account, you have to answer a very important question. Are you prepared to visit a foreign country or would you like to set up a bank account remotely?
We have to note that a personal visit to the foreign country where the bank is located will improve your chances of setting up a bank account. Besides, you are going to have a wide choice of banks in this case.
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with seasoned professionals on international banking and where it is best to open non-resident corporate accounts.
Jurisdictions most popular for banking:
- USA;
- Canada;
- Switzerland;
- United Kingdom;
- Portugal;
- Hungary;
- Poland;
- Turkey;
- Montenegro;
- Serbia;
- Latvia;
- Estonia.
Please note that applying for banking services with the assistance of a trusted introducer will increase your chances for success. The introducer will know all the nuances and subtle factors, which is highly important when opening a non-resident bank account.
If you cannot pay a personal visit to a foreign bank for some reason, some offshore and midshore banks open accounts for non-residents remotely. Every such bank will have its limitations and restrictions. In particular, the nationality of the prospective client may play a role.
If the bank account is opened remotely, the bank administration is going to scrutinize the application documents with great care. As a rule, you have to supply notarized copies of the application documents and sometimes apostilles are required as well. You have to bear in mind that the bank’s Compliance Department is not going to limit itself to studying only the application documents. You will have to supply proof of your residential address and confirm the legality of your sources of income.
Even if all the application documents are in good order, some indirect factors may have a bearing on the bank administration’s decision. For example, the Compliance Departments will find out about you on social networks if you are opening a personal bank account. If you are applying for a corporate bank account, the information about your company’s clients/ partners is going to be important. This is why there is no guarantee that the bank account will be opened for you even if the bank administration takes a long time to process your application.
The PRE-APPROVAL procedure allows filing applications for services to several banks at a time. This is a way to request provisional consent of the bank to process your application. When applying for application pre-approval, you don’t have to submit the full package of application documents.
Payment systems and neobanks
There is an alternative to traditional banks, however. Namely, you can consider opening an account with a payment system or a neobank. These institutions normally don’t have physical offices, which lets them economize on the operational costs and offer financial services at lower prices in comparison to classic banks. A personal visit is not required to set up an account with a payment system. Client identification is performed via an online application or a video interview or with the help of a ‘passport selfie’.
User-friendly mobile applications allow opening accounts with payment systems in a fast and easy manner and their tariffs are attractive. In addition to that, payment systems do not mind providing services to companies working in such spheres as IT, gaming, gambling, cryptocurrencies, and consulting. Salary projects, mass payments, processing services are only some of the options that you will get if you open a corporate account with a payment system or a neobank.
Please contact our experts if you would like to open a foreign bank account or set up an account with a payment system. We always respond to queries promptly!
10 November 2023 