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Seeking Recommendations for Personal Bank Accounts in Serbia for Non-Residents

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Lekstadt

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Jun 5, 2021
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Hello everyone,

I'll have the opportunity to visit Belgrade soon, so I'm currently exploring options for opening personal bank accounts in Serbia as a non-resident and would appreciate any recommendations or insights you may have. If there's already a comprehensive thread on Serbian banks, I'd be grateful if you could point me in that direction.

The bank should offer a personal checking account that can receive funds from overseas business entities via SWIFT, support multiple currencies (Euro and/or Dollar) and include at least one debit card.

Could anyone provide insights into the complexity and length of the process of opening a bank account with any of the potential candidate banks? Does the process typically require legal assistance or official translations or is showing up with your passport generally sufficient? Will being there one or a few days be good enough? I'm also curious if Serbian banks or the Serbian tax agency inquire about income sources or impose any charges on non-resident accounts.

Additionally, would it be advisable to explore opening a business account for a US LLC in Serbia, or could that potentially complicate matters with the IRS?
 
Raiffeisen Bank may indeed be hungry for new private customers with lot's of money. Otherwise‌ you need to setup a company in Serbia or have some good connections.
 
What about this post? Need offshore banking personal use for eu resident

I did call‌ Raiffeisen Bank and they mentioned that you need to have a work contract as a‍ non-resident, which is what everyone said in this forum, but then there was that post⁠ from 2022 I posted the link to above. Any Serbian locals can share their insights,⁤ please?
 
If you do Raiffeisen Private Banking you don't need to have a work contract, but‌
you have to invest more money
 
Yeah, that's not gonna‍ happen, specially given the current situation in that area.

Either way, all these banks seem⁠ a little sketchy to say the least, not gonna lie. Not because they're unregulated, but⁤ because whoever picks up the phone just says whatever they feel like.

For example, Erste⁣ Bank Serbia offers an account called FX payment account on their English version website. It⁢ literally says that it's available for non-resident foreigners (with legal and business capacity). So I︀ send an e-mail asking more information and they legit told me they don't offer accounts︁ to non-residents unless you are married, work permit and so on. What the actual hell...︂

I called Banca Intesa and some old lady picked up the phone and told me︃ that in order to open the account as a non-resident, I need a residency certificate︄ and that the hotel registration document isn't enough. I asked about if they were giving︅ out cards and she said they are, but I am pretty sure it's all incorrect.︆

And then there's that post from 2022 I linked above, where a user claimed Raiffeisen︇ gave him an account "in 10 minutes" with minimal paperwork.

At this point I am︈ probably gonna have to either consider Zenus or do something really unorthodox.
 
Any trustworthy Serbian law firms for‍ this purpose? It would be great to get some recommendations. I don't think there's any⁠ on Resources here, but I might be wrong.
 
non-resident banking is nowadays non existent in North Macedonia,
sat down with Central Bank rep‌ they don't want that lol

from my personal poit of view these exercises non-CRS don't‍ work out anyway,
for example OP asked for a bank account and be able to⁠ make SWIFT transfers.

Ehhmmm SWIFT sits in Brussels Belgium in a CRS country lol.
 
Really ?

What does this than mean ?

https://www.kb.com.mk/content/General-conditions-non-residents.pdf
https://kb.com.mk/content/Documents-required-for-opening-of-non-reresident-account.pdf
https://y-tax.al/opening-a-bank-account-in-macedonia/

Stopanska banka

“for a non-resident – a valid travel document or a valid identity card⁣ if the person comes from a EU member state or from a state with which⁢ the Republic of North Macedonia has concluded a bilateral agreement for cross-border travel of citizens︀ of both countries, from which the permanent place of residence abroad is identified. If the︁ permanent place of residence abroad is not indicated in the travel document or in the︂ identity card, the Bank shall supply this information with a statement signed by the non-resident︃ in which the permanent place of residence is indicated abroad or through reliable and independent︄ sources. The written statement shall not be accepted for non-residents from the neighboring countries of︅ the Republic of North Macedonia, and they shall be obliged to submit a copy of︆ the last utility bill with the address of the place of residence abroad.”

https://www.stb.com.mk/en/individuals/accounts/payment-accounts/

https://thebanks.eu/articles/offshore-banking-in-Macedonia
 
Non-resident in North Macedonia is alive and well.

SWIFT isn't in scope for CRS.
 
Does anyone know if any banks in North Macedonia support remote account opening, or is‌ an in-person visit required? Additionally, can anyone clarify what happened in Serbia? It seems they‍ used to allow non-residents to open accounts without any local ties, but that no longer⁠ appears to be the case. Did they face external pressure or regulatory changes?

On a⁤ different note, it puzzles me the way Erste Bank Serbia advertises their "FX Payment Account",⁣ allegedly availble for non-resident foreigners. It seemed marketed to nomads and people that spend a⁢ lot of time abroad, yet when I asked about it, a support agent informed me︀ that all accounts are only available to residents or legal ties to the country (spouse,︁ kids, work, etc.). I wonder if they were misinformed to be honest. These Serbian banks︂ are all unregulated, so they offer services at their own discretion, why would they do︃ this...
 
Non-face-to-face account opening in this region‍ is very rare unless you're VIP, known to the bank already, or have someone vouching⁠ for you (introducer).

They still allow it, but they are pressured to decrease the risks they⁢ take. Account opening face-to-face is considered far less risky than non-face-to-face.

It's the same thing︀ all over the world. The difference lies in how risky the regulator deems non-face-to-face to︁ be and how well the regulator believes its licensees manage that risk.

Front-line support often has no idea how things work beyond the day-to-day banking services︇ that 99% of the bank's customers need. You might need to go via an introducer︈ of some sort, or arrange an in-person meeting with the bank.

What do you mean by "unregulated"? Do you not recognize︋ the sovereignty of the National Bank of Serbia and the licenses it issues? What kind︌ of alternate timeline are we on here?
 
As expected, I only asked just in case they happened to offer that possibility, because I‍ really want to avoid traveling to North Macedonia.
I actually found a Serbian bank with︀ a competent support agent who kindly explained everything I needed to know. They just ask︁ for the passport and the police registration paper. He was even kind enough to provide︂ me with the name of the document in his language, just to make sure he︃ wasn't talking about some residence certificate.

I'm not fully convinced about certain aspects of the︄ accounts they offer, but at least they're a large international group. It's certainly a better︅ option than using crypto ATMs. If they can do it, I don't see why others︆ couldn't. I will continue searching for more options before I travel.
I simply meant that there shouldn't be any obstacles for these banks︊ to open accounts for non-residents. However, some appear to impose barriers even without strict regulatory︋ requirements.
 
It's ultimately just all about risk. If a bank thinks you pose⁠ too much of a risk, they are required to not proceed with account opening.

Applying for a bank account in Serbia on a non-face-to-face basis without any connection to Serbia⁤ makes you a higher risk applicant than someone who appears in person and/or has a⁣ connection to Serbia. To a bank, the former reeks of tax evasion and money laundering⁢ risks. The latter at least has been had their identity verified in person and/or has︀ a reason to bank in Serbia.
 
Any one has more info about Raiffasen Bank Serbia?
How much we are talking about?‌ Any restrictions?
Any alternative from other Banks?
 
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