All countries where it is possible to open an offshore bank account
Offshore banking is ideal for customers, whether they’re individuals or corporations, who are facing challenges imposed by banks in their home country.
- Usually, there is a need that is not being met the domestic bank in the home country, which is the reason why customers look for international solutions.
It is not possible to open an offshore bank account in every country, as most banks around the globe requires ties to the country where the bank is located.
- However, banks in nearly 25% of the world globally offers an opportunity for international customers looking to bank overseas, to open a nonresident bank account.
Which means, customers looking to open offshore bank accounts, do not need to have any relations with the foreign country where the bank is located, and banks are still willing to open application bank accounts for international customers, as long as they are a desirable customer for the banks.
Everything You Have To Know About Offshore Banking
If the main purpose is to have an bank account outside of the country where you are located, then that is a simple solution.
While most offshore banks offer the 3 main currencies (USD, GBP and EUR), other banks have the option to offer additional currencies if requested, provided they are available.
Debit and credit cards are also available with Visa and Mastercard with certain banks.
For customers that are looking for specific services or options that comes with an offshore bank account, this is where additional consideration must be made.
Offshore banks offer different services, depending on what customers are interested in.
- Nearly all banks offer SWIFT transfer protocol, which is the go-to for international transfers.
- Customers that are looking to transfer internationally, but within the same region such as the European Union, they may want to consider banks that can offer SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) which is the preferred method for transfers within the EU.
- Businesses and individuals with frequent transactions to the United Kingdom, may want to open an offshore bank account that have access to BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services), FasterPay and CHAPS, which are the UK’s main transfer protocols.
Normally, to have access to these local payment protocols, also known as payment rails, customers need to open a bank account in the same country where these banks are located. However, with international offshore banks, many offshore banks have the ability to offer these payment protocols.
Why Open A Bank Account Offshore
While every customer have their own reason to bank internationally, the most common reasons for opening the bank account include:
- Convenience is a major factor as it is not necessary to fly to the country where the bank is located, in order to open the non resident offshore bank account.
- Offshore banks are secure. Offshore banks are likely to have larger amount of Asset Under Management than your home country, if you’re coming from a developing nation where banks are not stable.
- Security deposit insurance is also offered by offshore banks, ranging from $50,000 to $250,000.
- Spread your assets across multiple banks and benefit from each bank’s security insurance and secure 100% on your deposited funds.
- Financially and economically secure banks in the world’s most stable countries, allows you to minimize the risk that you take when depositing funds with a foreign bank.
- Accessing features not offered by your local bank, such as purchasing and selling cryptocurrency.
- Obtaining a dedicated IBAN number instead of a shared pooled account.
- Opening an Omnibus / Client’s money / Client’s funds to manage deposits that customers need to make to your company for investment purpose, that are separate (or segregated) from your company’s operating funds.
Lowest Minimum Account Balance to open offshore account
The below country’s welcome international customers with no relations to the country for opening both international personal and business offshore bank accounts.
Which means:
For private clients looking to open a personal account:
- It is not necessary to have an ID card issued from where the bank is located, nor is it necessary to hold a visa/residency permit issued by the country where the offshore bank is located.
- There is no need to live in the country and have any residency proof, such as apartment rental contract, power pr water bill.
- No need to hold a job in the country where the bank is located.
- Not needed to study in the country where the offshore bank is located.
International companies looking to open an offshore corporate account for their business use:
- It is not necessary to have any suppliers or customers in the same country as the offshore bank
- There is no need to register a new company in the country where the offshore bank is, the international bank can accept your countries your current company license.
- Not required to rent an office in the name of your offshore company, in order to open a bank account in the same country where offshore banks are opening licenses for corporate entities.
- Foreign corporations do not need to register their legal entity with the local government and obtain any form of identification number, in order to open an offshore bank account in the below countries.
Countries that can open offshore bank account easily for non residents businesses and individuals
| Country | Business or Personal Account | Investment or Transactional Account | Minimum Account Balance | In Person / Remote Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andorra | Both | Investment | $500,000 – $1,000,000 | Remote |
| Antigua | Both | Both | $25,000 – $1,000,000 | Remote |
| Armenia | Both | Both | $20,000 | Remote |
| Austria | Both | Investment | $1,000,000 – $2,000,000 | Remote |
| Bahamas | Both | Both | $0 – $5,000,000 | Remote |
| Bangladesh | Both | Both | $0 – $5,000 | Remote |
| Belize | Both | Both | $5,000 | Remote |
| British Virgin Island (BVI) | Both | Both | $20,000 – $100,000 | Remote |
| Bulgaria | Both | Both | $1,000 | In Person |
| Cambodia | Both | Both | $0 | Remote |
| Cayman Islands | Both | Both | $0 – $500,000 | Remote |
| China | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | In Person |
| Comoros | Both | Both | $2,000 – $200,000 | Remote |
| Cook Islands | Both | Investment | $250,000 | Remote |
| Curacao | Both | Both | $1,000 – $10,000 | Remote |
| Cyprus | Both | Both | $10,000 – $100,000 | Remote |
| Dominica | Both | Both | $0 – $25,000 | Remote |
| France | Both | Both | $200,000 – $3,000,000 | Remote |
| Georgia | Both | N/A | $50,000 | In Person |
| Germany | Both | N/A | n/a | In Person |
| Gibraltar | Both | Both | $0 – $600,000 | Remote |
| Greece | N/A | N/A | n/a | In Person |
| Guernsey | Both | Investment | $150,000 | Remote |
| Guyana | Both | Both | $1,000 | In Person |
| Hong Kong | Both | Both | $0 – $2,000,000 | Both |
| Hungary | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | In Person |
| Isle of Man | Both | Both | $0 – $300,000 | Remote |
| Jersey | Both | Both | $50,000 – $6,000,000 | Remote |
| Kazakhstan | Both | Both | $1,000 | In Person |
| Laos | Both | Both | $0 – $1,000 | In Person |
| Latvia | Both | Both | $6,000 – $100,000 | Remote |
| Liechtenstein | Both | Both | $200,000 – $2,000,000 | Both |
| Lithuania | Both | Both | $0 – $10,000 | Remote |
| Luxembourg | Both | Both | $250,000 – $5,000,000 | Both |
| Malaysia | Both | Both | $0 – $500,000 | Remote |
| Mauritius | Both | Both | $5,000 – $500,000 | Remote |
| Monaco | Both | Both | $1,000,000 – $5,000,000 | Remote |
| Montenegro | Both | Both | $600,000 | Both |
| Namibia | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Remote |
| New Zealand | Business | Both | $10,000 | Remote |
| North Macedonia | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon |
| Oman | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Remote |
| Panama | Both | Both | $5,000 – $50,000 | Remote |
| Poland | Business | Transactional | $100,000 | Remote |
| Portugal | Both | Both | $5,000 – $250,000 | Both |
| Puerto Rico | Both | Both | $0 – $100,000 | Remote |
| San Marino | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon |
| Seychelles | Both | Both | $25,000 | Remote |
| Serbia | Both | Both | $0 | In Person |
| Singapore | Both | Both | $200,000 – $5,000,000 | Remote |
| Slovakia | Both | Both | $0 | In Person |
| Sri Lanka | Both | Both | $1,000 – $5,000 | Remote |
| St. Kitts & Nevis | Both | Both | $10,000 – $100,000 | Remote |
| St. Lucia | Both | Both | $5,000 | Remote |
| Switzerland | Both | Both | $5,000 – $6,000,000 | Both |
| Taiwan | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon |
| Thailand | Business | Transactional | $5,000 | In Person |
| United Kingdom | Both | Both | $25,000 – $4,000,000 | Remote |
| United States | Both | Both | $200,000 – $25,000,000 | Both (Remote & In Person) |
| Vanuatu | Both | Both | $10,000 – $100,000 | Remote |
| Vietnam | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | In Person |
Points To Consider When Opening Offshore Bank Account
While offshore banks open non resident bank accounts for international individuals and business is not domiciled in the same country where the offer bank is located, these international bank still consider various factors when determining whether the offshore bank account will be opened as part of the bank’s risk appetite.
Factors considered by offshore banks when include:
Business Accounts:
- Business activity of the company, whether it is low risk or high risk as per the bank’s risk appetite.
- Business profile of the company, including the countries where the business plans to conduct business to and from, including the location of suppliers and customers.
- Corporate structure of the company, whether the business is owned by an individual or another legal entity.
- Nationality of the business owner.
- Purpose of the bank account to be opened.
- Certain banks only offer investment accounts which are not suitable for transactional purpose for the company’s daily operations.
Personal Accounts:
- Countries where the account holder needs to send payment to and from.
- Account holder’s nationality.
- Account usage purpose.
- Bank accounts open in some countries can only be used for investment, with a small number of transactions available monthly for transactional purpose.
- Country of residence.
How To Prepare Documents For Legalization?
Most banks would require the documents to be legalized in the client’s home country, as well as in the foreign country where the bank is located, prior to the documents being accepted as part of the onboarding process.
Process to legalize the documents can be accomplished by:
- Notarization – A process where the company the clients documents are certified by professionals such as lawyers, accountants, bankers and similar job titles.
- Apostille – Clients originally from countries that are part of the Hague Convention can follow this process.
- Legalization – Available in all countries, where the process requires the documents to be verified and certified by various government agencies, including:
- The embassy or consulate of the country where the documents are intended to be used
- Home country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country where the documents are to be used.
How BUH consulting can assist
With banking relations in more than 65 countries with 200+ banking partners, BUH Consulting is an industry leading company for offshore bank account opening for business and personal accounts.
Our team will work with you to understand your requirements, eligibility criteria and apply for your business and personal bank account with the most suitable banks, and assign relationship managers from various that can onboard your account for your company virtually, without the need to visit where the bank is located in order to open the offshore bank account.
There are many reasons why it is beneficial to open a bank account overseas, please get in touch to discuss the different options.
Contact information
For a tailored solution, contact us to discuss about your requirements.
Email: – sam@buh-consulting.com
Phone: +971585086656
Whatsapp: +971585086656
Telegram: BUHConsultingAE