A non-EEA, non-AEOI/CRS, specific country resident seeking for a SEPA account – brainstorming

[tokilopov]

Assignment: Opening a personal Multi-Currency Account with IBAN in a SEPA Country

Case Description:

• I am not a citizen nor a resident of any EEA countries, and my home country‌ is not on the CRS list. Furthermore, my country does not have sanctions against Russia,‍ and it is generally not considered a strong partner of Western countries.
  
• I am looking⁠ to open a personal functional multi-currency account with IBAN in a SEPA country. The account⁤ should allow for both a plastic and a virtual card. The account will primarily be⁣ used for income payments from third parties, specifically from Swiss and EU-based companies. These payments⁢ will typically be in € and will amount to up to 20 transactions per year.︀ The total sum for all transactions will range from €50k to €100k annually, with each︁ individual transaction being less than €10k. secondary use will be small outgoing transaction and card︂ payments in EEA.
  

I have several key supporting documents and credentials available to facilitate the︃ process:

• E-citizenship in Estonia
  
• An active company registered in the EU.
  
• A company registered in︄ my home country.
  
• Very good Proof of funds (showing the legitimacy of the income and︅ capital flow).
  
• Bank statement from main financial institution from my country and business EMI account︆ (Paysera)
  
• Willingness to start with smaller amounts initially, transferring funds from a home-country-based account in︇ my name, to build trust with the financial institution.
  

Given my profile and documents, I︈ am looking for insights and advice on:

• Which financial institutions are most likely to accept︉ customers with my profile, considering my country of origin and status outside the EEA?
  
• What additional documentation or steps may be required to open such an account?
  
• How to approach︊ the process of establishing trust with the financial institution?
  
• Any potential challenges or hurdles I︋ may face when trying to open this type of account?
  

PS maybe it seems like︌ an easy or already covered topic (partly yes, I agree) but keep in mind that︍ I have already applied in non-EEA friendly countries - Cyprus, Slovenia, Italy, Swiss, Hungary and︎ Spain and have been rejected by 50+ banks. Also, I have been rejected by 30+️ major EMIs too. I didn't just show up at the bank, I built trust with‌ emails and phone calls before going to the bank in person, I speak 3 of‍ the 5 local languages of the states mentioned. So far, the biggest progress I have⁠ made with Dukascopy is that they allowed me to use their trading account and after⁤ 6 months, they finally opened a bank account for me with strict limits of 3k⁣ USD and a max. of 5 transactions per quarter, and only from my two accounts⁢ mentioned above.

 

[daniels27]

Maybe, we can help. But do you know what is the reason they do not‌ like you? Are you from Serbia? Any ties to Russia?

 

[dany]

What neobanks you tried to open an account with if any ?

 

[tokilopov]

No ties with Russia, but all financial institutions suspect that there are connections. There are⁠ about 400k Russian refugees in Serbia and about 13k registered Russian companies (12k registered in⁤ the last 3 years!), basically, the state has become the Russian trade representative. I work⁣ in IT, as half of those Russians and their companies in Serbia, so... I'm registered⁢ as some sort of freelancer in Italy and Serbia, both companies with law taxes but︀ many limits, and both are registered in last 3 years. All this together is probably︁ the first reason.
The second one can be Serbia in general, I checked in "our"︂ similar forums and basically nobody has account abroad if don't have resident permit abroad. Everything︃ starts with state permission to open account abroad, central bank is the body in charge,︄ and its very hard to get (I have it), so maybe also that is it︅ reason why many people don't even try, so, in some way, we are not present︆ on that market.
Third reason is probably the nature of the potential transaction - I︇ ask for personal account where I should get money from companies based in Swiss and︈ Luxembourg. Contract with both of these companies is with my "freelance" company form in Serbia,︉ where I'm not obligated to have business account and I have a permission to open︊ account abroad.

 

[tokilopov]

I tries with more than 30 "major". Many of them are not available‌ in my region, but this available are very limited. For example, Paysera accepted to open‍ account, but without even international card in USD (where expensive to use in euro zone,⁠ btw) and for beginning, payments are allowed only from and to Serbia, exactly what I⁤ don't need. This was the best experience with big players.
I'm currently trying out some⁣ alternatives, such as Sikirapay
Must add about neobanks that if I present with temporary address⁢ (from Booking), local phone number from the same country and only documents about my Italian︀ based company, they are open to work with me even if they are not present︁ in my country, so actually I have Revolut business account despite that they technically don't︂ operate in Serbia. Obviously, I cant use that or similar account for my Serbia-based company.︃

 

[kalikex]

try payset

 

[Forester]

A little bit late to this party (although I was aware that it had started‌ 😉 ), sorry...

@tokilopov, my sympathies are with you.

A few questions and food for‍ thought (I conclude that you are located in Serbia):

1) Do you really need this⁠ SEPA account as a personal account? Can't it be an account of your Serbian company?⁤ (If yes, your situation will be remarkably better.)

2) What is your business? I mean⁣ especially the business that will generate income payments from third parties, specifically from Swiss and⁢ EU-based companies. It's probably crucial.

3) In general, on many occassions it is not so︀ important how the issues really look but how you present them. Opening a bank account︁ is an exact example of this. It means, in many cases a good introducer (who︂ knows what bank monkeys want to hear) can help you a lot.

4) Are you︃ able and willing to deposit some remarkable amount (high 5 figures min.) of money with︄ the bank? (It would also help you a lot.)

If you share the aforementioned information,︅ you can expect some more founded advice...

(Well, not to finish without leaving some particular︆ tip(s) as for this moment – knowing nothing more so for the worst case 😉:
– I know that LT EMIs went crazy in the last time; but have you︇ checked Verifo?
– It's not the excellent option in general (IMO) but Kingdom Bank (advertising︈ here) onboards Serbia and perhaps is able to offer SEPA...
– Have you checked Paywiser︉ /a Slovenian EMI/?)