What Banks let Foreign companies set up a Bank account?

[BerlusconiSchmidt]

I'm not talking about EMIs here.

What real banks let foreign companies set up a Business bank account in the country?

For example: Company in Ireland/SG/HK and a Business bank account in Italy/New Zealand/Spain, etc...

My business has a revenue of $1m NZD a year, and clients are in: Italy, New Zealand, Ireland, USA, UK, Canada and other European countries so there are some reasons to get a local bank account there (to receive payments from clients).


I heard Switzerland can do this, but which banks? and do they offer multi currencies as well?


If that helps, I'm a Dual New Zealand and European citizen. I already have business and personal accounts in New Zealand and one European country I cannot mention.

 

[wellington]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
I'm not talking about EMIs here.

What real banks let foreign companies set up a Business bank account in the country?

For example: Company in Ireland/SG/HK and a Business bank account in Italy/New Zealand/Spain, etc...

My business has a revenue of $1m NZD a year, and clients are in: Italy, New Zealand, Ireland, USA, UK, Canada and other European countries so there are some reasons to get a local bank account there (to receive payments from clients).


I heard Switzerland can do this, but which banks? and do they offer multi currencies as well?


If that helps, I'm a Dual New Zealand and European citizen. I already have business and personal accounts in New Zealand and one European country I cannot mention.
Click to expand...

If they can understand your business - most mainstreet banks will offer, if they can't then EMIs

 

[JohnLocke]

When you already have a bank in New Zealand, the easiest way is to go through them when you want to set up a bank account in Europe.

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[BerlusconiSchmidt]

wellington said:
If they can understand your business - most mainstreet banks will offer, if they can't then EMIs
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Even without a local address and local ID?

 

[Forester]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
Even without a local address and local ID?
Click to expand...

Yes, why not ...

JohnLocke said:
When you already have a bank in New Zealand, the easiest way is to go through them when you want to set up a bank account in Europe.
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly ”“ on condition that you have an account with some international bank.

Anyway, some fundamental questions arise:

1) What are the reasons / the purpose to get local bank accounts?

See, if it was just because of to receive payments from clients locally, as you have mentioned, then it would be much more efficient to open an account with some (one) EMI that offers a network for local payments, it's exactly the business that some EMIs are very good in, no bank can beat them. If you have an account e.g. with Currenxie, Airwallex, Interpolitan Money, WorldFirst (just to name a few, there's more), you are able to collect payments locally in many countries (and mostly pay there locally, too) and in the same time, control everything from the one place...

Of course, if it was e.g. because of diversification, it would be another story...

2) What is the background of your preference of banks over EMIs?
(Yes, in some cases the bank is the only solution, of course; but sometimes not or even the opposite, see above.)

3) What is your business? (Not all businesses are welcome in all financial institutions ”“ banks or EMIs as well...)


Particularly re: Switzerland ”“ the majority of CH banks (just local banks only exceptionally) can do this but usually they expect a remarkable amount to deposit (~ >1M) and they are in many cases not much open to serve with transactional banking, just with wealth management.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[BerlusconiSchmidt]

Forester said:
Yes, why not ...

Yes, exactly ”“ on condition that you have an account with some international bank.

Anyway, some fundamental questions arise:

1) What are the reasons / the purpose to get local bank accounts?

See, if it was just because of to receive payments from clients locally, as you have mentioned, then it would be much more efficient to open an account with some (one) EMI that offers a network for local payments, it's exactly the business that some EMIs are very good in, no bank can beat them. If you have an account e.g. with Currenxie, Airwallex, Interpolitan Money, WorldFirst (just to name a few, there's more), you are able to collect payments locally in many countries (and mostly pay there locally, too) and in the same time, control everything from the one place...

Of course, if it was e.g. because of diversification, it would be another story...

2) What is the background of your preference of banks over EMIs?
(Yes, in some cases the bank is the only solution, of course; but sometimes not or even the opposite, see above.)

3) What is your business? (Not all businesses are welcome in all financial institutions ”“ banks or EMIs as well...)


Particularly re: Switzerland ”“ the majority of CH banks (just local banks only exceptionally) can do this but usually they expect a remarkable amount to deposit (~ >1M) and they are in many cases not much open to serve with transactional banking, just with wealth management.
Click to expand...

most EMIs (Except Wise, Airwallex and currenxie) do not provide actual local bank accounts, they provide general SWIFT or General IBANs.
And I cannot rely only on 3x EMIs. On top of that, I'd like to have 1x solid bank in a safe jurisdiction to keep some funds in.


Do you know any other EMIs that have LOCAL bank details for ALL their currencies like Wise does? So far I only know Airwallex, Wise and Currenxie do this.

 

[diatessaron]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
most EMIs (Except Wise, Airwallex and currenxie) do not provide actual local bank accounts, they provide general SWIFT or General IBANs.
And I cannot rely only on 3x EMIs. On top of that, I'd like to have 1x solid bank in a safe jurisdiction to keep some funds in.


Do you know any other EMIs that have LOCAL bank details for ALL their currencies like Wise does? So far I only know Airwallex, Wise and Currenxie do this.
Click to expand...

Moneycorp and OFX. OFX gave me a really hard time so I don't suggest you use them, just mentioning it as they are one of the few that have local bank details.

 

[Forester]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
And I cannot rely only on 3x EMIs. On top of that, I'd like to have 1x solid bank in a safe jurisdiction to keep some funds in.
Click to expand...

Of course, this is an understandable intention. So, a) What do you consider to be a safe jurisdiction (it is pretty individual)? b) What amount are you able / willing to deposit? (Without this information, it is impossible to give some reasonable/well founded advice.)

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
Do you know any other EMIs that have LOCAL bank details for ALL their currencies like Wise does? So far I only know Airwallex, Wise and Currenxie do this.
Click to expand...

Can you specify what particular currencies do you need for operations? Not all EMIs handle all currencies (e.g. from the already named, Currenxie, although generally very good, cannot offer local NZD payments).
In the meantime, you can check already named Interpolitan Money and/or WorldFirst, they offer really a broad spectrum of local payment options...

UPDATE: I now see what @diatessaron has posted simultaneously: Yes, e.g. Moneycorp also worth checking, definitely. But it really all depends on what currencies do you need...

Last edited: Apr 27, 2024
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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[daniels27]

There are many countries where it is possible and many, where you are out of luck due to regulations. For example Australia requires ISIC registration (an ABN alone is not sufficient). Afaik, Canada is the same case at least on PayPal. China has changing regulations for about 6 years, it is no longer possible while it was previously, although with some restrictions.

Most former soviet countries are possible, but fees are not zero.
US is possible
Europe is possible
Hong Kong is possible
Singapore is possible

Apart from the former soviet countries, where the banks charge appropriate fees to cover their expenses, you will find it quite difficult to get somebody willing to help you, Hong Kong and Singapore are generally more open but charge onboarding at their cost.

Your best luck in general is to go through international banks, like ANZ etc. in your case. For example ANZ has a good network in Asia, but then again for example in Vietnam, they probably won't onboard you without subsidiary to meet local regulations. In the US and Europe, there are no laws against onboarding as I have also mentioned here:
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/emi-with-us-bank-accounts.35428/page-2#post-302543However, you need to understand that the onboarding is a potential risk to the bank and comes at a higher cost to them. If you have New Zealand company, you have good chances that the New Zealand bank overseas will offer such service to you or if not then at least if you are already a local customer in New Zealand. Otherwise, it normally comes down to whom you reach and whether they are interested in helping you with an account at their own discretion.

 

[JohnLocke]

diatessaron said:
Moneycorp and OFX. OFX gave me a really hard time so I don't suggest you use them, just mentioning it as they are one of the few that have local bank details.
Click to expand...

Well, have o check them out they seem useful.

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[Forester]

JohnLocke said:
Well, have o check them out they seem useful.
Click to expand...

If you mean Moneycorp then I can confirm that people there are using their brains. No own experience with OFX, though.

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[daniels27]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
Do you know any other EMIs that have LOCAL bank details for ALL their currencies like Wise does? So far I only know Airwallex, Wise and Currenxie do this.
Click to expand...

Have you checked ebury?

 

[BerlusconiSchmidt]

diatessaron said:
Moneycorp and OFX. OFX gave me a really hard time so I don't suggest you use them, just mentioning it as they are one of the few that have local bank details.
Click to expand...

What's your country or residency and country of business? We opened a OFX account months ago in a blink of an eye, they almost begged us for having it, but we never used it because they didn't really provide local bank details for all their currencies, or maybe they now do?

daniels27 said:
There are many countries where it is possible and many, where you are out of luck due to regulations. For example Australia requires ISIC registration (an ABN alone is not sufficient). Afaik, Canada is the same case at least on PayPal. China has changing regulations for about 6 years, it is no longer possible while it was previously, although with some restrictions.

Most former soviet countries are possible, but fees are not zero.
US is possible
Europe is possible
Hong Kong is possible
Singapore is possible

Apart from the former soviet countries, where the banks charge appropriate fees to cover their expenses, you will find it quite difficult to get somebody willing to help you, Hong Kong and Singapore are generally more open but charge onboarding at their cost.

Your best luck in general is to go through international banks, like ANZ etc. in your case. For example ANZ has a good network in Asia, but then again for example in Vietnam, they probably won't onboard you without subsidiary to meet local regulations. In the US and Europe, there are no laws against onboarding as I have also mentioned here:
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/emi-with-us-bank-accounts.35428/page-2#post-302543However, you need to understand that the onboarding is a potential risk to the bank and comes at a higher cost to them. If you have New Zealand company, you have good chances that the New Zealand bank overseas will offer such service to you or if not then at least if you are already a local customer in New Zealand. Otherwise, it normally comes down to whom you reach and whether they are interested in helping you with an account at their own discretion.
Click to expand...

I guess HSBC is the only option since it operates in NZ/AU and also Europe and Asia.

Last edited: Apr 28, 2024

 

[daniels27]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
What's your country or residency and country of business? We opened a OFX account months ago in a blink of an eye, they almost begged us for having it, but we never used it because they didn't really provide local bank details for all their currencies, or maybe they now do?
Click to expand...

Yes, they do for quite some countries.

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
I guess HSBC is the only option since it operates in NZ/AU and also Europe and Asia.
Click to expand...

Which countries do you need back accounts and for what entity?

 

[JohnLocke]

daniels27 said:
Yes, they do for quite some countries.
Click to expand...

Do they provide for European countries or less than that ?

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[daniels27]

JohnLocke said:
Do they provide for European countries or less than that ?
Click to expand...

Yes. EUR, USD, CAD, AUD, GBP, SGD, HKD.

https://www.ofx.com/en-ie/business/global-currency-account/

 

[Forester]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
I guess HSBC is the only option since it operates in NZ/AU and also Europe and Asia.
Click to expand...

To be honest, HSBC is the last major bank that I want to deal with (some quite bad experience in the past). There is e.g. no Standard Chartered, Citi or Barclays in NZ/AU? (I admit I am not oriented there.)

daniels27 said:
Which countries do you need back accounts and for what entity?
Click to expand...

I second this question (as already said above). Just speaking generally about countries and “all currencies” does not yield much productive answer, I am afraid...

JohnLocke said:
Do they provide for European countries or less than that ?
Click to expand...

daniels27 said:
Yes. EUR, USD, CAD, AUD, GBP, SGD, HKD.
Click to expand...

Well, there is a lot of european currencies missing, as I see. Just EUR, no Nordic, no Central European...

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I am just a simple countryman. Anything I say is only a personal opinion, not a certified advice 🙂

If you think it makes sense, you can like it; if opposite, please, tell me, why I am wrong...

 

[daniels27]

They are only few EMIs providing European non-EUR IBANs. But must of the cross border business is done in EUR or they have access to EUR bank accounts.

There normally is a solution for everything. And for everything there are all the backs and all the EMIs. Each one of them serves a purpose, they would be bankrupt otherwise. If we do not know the purpose, we cannot tell you which ones may be better to deal with.

 

[diatessaron]

BerlusconiSchmidt said:
What's your country or residency and country of business? We opened a OFX account months ago in a blink of an eye, they almost begged us for having it, but we never used it because they didn't really provide local bank details for all their currencies, or maybe they now do?
Click to expand...

EU business with EU directors. Opening an account was as easy as counting to 3, problems showed up later on, there were so many delays and push arounds on every single transfer we made, it got very tiresome at some point.

With Moneycorp however there's a completely different story. They have someone with a brain on the other side of the screen, much more understanding.

 

[JohnLocke]

diatessaron said:
They have someone with a brain on the other side of the screen, much more understanding.
Click to expand...

What people are they?

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