Free Professional Advice On Choosing A Foreign Or Offshore Bank Account
Please go directly to the FREE CONSULTATION WITH AN INTERNATIONAL BANKING PROFESSIONAL online application form here We suggest however that to get the most out of your free consultation, you should read the information below.
Offshore-Pro.com is the leading service provider for company formation and non-resident banking and asset protection in the offshore industry, and we offer far more than just information about setting up offshore companies and offshore bank accounts. We are also your strategic partner. Our goal is to work together with you to find the very best solution to meet your requirements.
You can open offshore bank accounts remotely without having to visit any of the banks we work with. You are advised to open several foreign bank accounts via Offshore Pro Group to ensure diversification of risk.
You will need to take your current and future requirements into consideration, and choose the right banks and accounts that will be able to meet your requirements. It is almost impossible to do this without the assistance of an experienced professional. Offshore banks that offer online account opening prefer to work with professionals like Offshore Pro to set up new accounts, rather than dealing directly with unknown clients from the internet.
Offshore Pro is always ready to help you to achieve your goals and plans with our offshore bank account opening service. We work closely with over 200 banks and financial institutions around the world. We always ask the right questions when it comes to selecting banks and accounts that are right for you.
The offshore banks want to avoid negative publicity amongst the business community, and they do not want to have to deal with clients making applications for an account which is subsequently refused. For you it could mean that you have wasted money and time on organizing couriers, the notarization of documents and even a visit to the country where the bank is located, only to be turned down.
Banks have target clients: they will accept clients that fit certain profiles, and reject others. Sometimes banks make this information freely available, but more often than not it is given informally only to trusted contacts. Our job at Offshore Pro Group is to understand our clients and recommend them to banks that fit the right profile.
At Offshore Pro Group we work closely with the banks and we know what they are looking for. We can help you to open accounts with banks that will help you to achieve your goals. Our experienced consultants can help you with whatever account that you want to set up including corporate, personal, investment, brokerage and merchant accounts for non residents.
In order for our professionals to help you choose the right bank account, we invite you for a FREE online consultation that includes answering the questions below, which are based upon international banking standards. Once we have received your responses, we will analyze them and then select the most appropriate financial institution that will be able to match your goals and plans.
In order for us to provide the optimal choice of personal or corporate foreign or offshore bank account, it is essential that you provide us with answers to the following questions:
If you require further clarification and explanation on any point, do not hesitate to send us an email.
FAQ About Corporate / Non Resident / Offshore Bank Accounts
What if I just need a Savings or Nest-Egg Account?
If you just need an account to protect and grow your assets, a kind of “savings” or “nest-egg” account, then everything is relatively straightforward. Every bank likes it that you deposit funds and leave them invested because this puts you in a low risk category.
Why Should I Consider Mid-Shore Jurisdictions?
But if you require a corporate account to run an active business, with tens, hundreds or even thousands of transactions per month, then you not only need to consider the “classic” offshore jurisdictions but also think outside the box and include what are known as midshore jurisdictions. You need to think about this very carefully, so we strongly recommend that you contact us for our professional advice for a fee.
Whatever you choose to do, the registration of an offshore company in tandem with an account in a good onshore or offshore bank, you need to understand that the banks will require particular details from all customers. You will need to provide detailed KYC information about the planned business activities of your company.
What Kind of Questions Will I Be Asked During Account Onboarding?
The main questions that will be asked are:
- What is the citizenship and tax residency of the signatories to the account (includes directors, owners and the ultimate beneficiaries)?
- What is the association of your business to your country of tax residence and with other countries?
- The place of residence/incorporation of your clients, providers and partners, and the banks where they have accounts?
- The planned turnover for the first year and the average planned number of transactions per month?
- A detailed description of the planned business activities (we can help you prepare this in a bank-friendly format once we understand your business).
What is needed to open an Offshore Personal Bank Account?
When you open a personal account the bank will just ask you to confirm that this is to be used for receipt of your salary, sale of personal property, the payments of living expenses and debts etc.
Our friendly team of specialists has decades of experience in the business and will help you to open your accounts as soon as possible, and provide all of the information regarding the banking services available. All you need to do is pick up the phone, WhatsApp us or shoot us an email.
How long will it take to open an offshore bank account?
Most of our clients don’t want to wait a couple of weeks to open their accounts – they want them open yesterday! Whilst having an account opened yesterday can be a reality with a ready made company and bank account, we have a reputation to live up to so we like to be brutally honest with our clients. And the reality is that it is not usually possible to open these accounts in less than 14 working days or sometimes longer. There are several factors that attribute to this.
Firstly, to open your offshore bank account you will need to provide a number of official documents to us. Our team of professionals will then check the documents, and work as fast as they can to provide the documents to the selected banks on the same day that they are received.
Secondly the process of due diligence for each client by the banks will take time. In some cases this can be a few days, where in others it can take up months. The more prestigious the bank, the longer they will take to perform their due diligence on your documents.
And finally there is the mailing of the required original documents (personal and corporate) to the bank. Although some banks are 100% digital, there are still some old-school banks that will not allow you to complete any transactions until they have received hard copies of these documents. You may be able to deposit funds in your bank account, but you will not be able to make any outgoing transactions until the entire process of opening the account is completed.
So if you require an account to be opened quickly then please don’t delay and contact us right now [email protected]
Can I use a Personal Bank Account for Business Payments?
No. Personal non-resident bank accounts are only suitable for personal payments. With a personal account you can receive a salary or fees from a company, as well as dividends etc. You can also accept loans from other people or companies. When you open a personal account, the bank will ask you how you intend to use the account. Your answer should comply with the normal practices associated with operating personal use foreign bank accounts. You will not be able to run a business using a personal account. You can always open a business account later on.
The only exception to this rule is an account for individual entrepreneurs, also known as a DBA account. These accounts operate like normal corporate accounts.
When And Why Should I Pay A Minimum Deposit?
If you want the bank to treat you as a serious prospective customer then you need to understand that they will assess your character based on a number of factors. For example, you may be a very well known person or own a well known group of companies or have a serious website. If you do not have any of these things then they will assess you based on your deposit funds.
When you want to open a corporate account and you desire a good working relationship with the bank, you will need to demonstrate that you have money. Therefore you will need to know the minimum deposit that the bank requires you to invest in your new account. You will earn further respect from the bank based on your annual turnover that will take place through the bank. The bank is in the business of collaborating with clients to make profits. If the bank does not see how they can make money from the relationship, they won’t open the account – simple as that!
Why Foreign Banks Want to Understand the Plans Of New Corporate Clients
Each bank will specialize in a different type of customer. For example, there are banks that work with start ups, and there are banks that will only work with established large companies which only want to acquire investment products.
As a general rule, if you have a large number of small payments then taking this to an expensive and respectable international bank is not advisable. The use of a foreign bank account should be where you have a special transaction level, and you do not mind paying the fees for international transfers and admission fees for non residents. For small transactions it is better to use a service such as PayPal or one of its equivalents. Many foreign banks will be quite open and tell you that they do not want to handle lots of small transactions. If you do not use the services of professionals like Offshore Pro Group, this may sound like the bank is refusing to open an account for you.
It is important that you state your initial deposit and planned turnover. You must remember to ensure that the planned transactions will conform to these amounts.
In addition, if you are not confident about receiving funds from a particular jurisdiction then do not include this in your plan. This is particularly important when it comes to planned payments from the United States. You need to be prepared to provide details about all of the transactions that you are expecting including contracts, invoices and the explanation for these (e.g. the source of the funds is venture capital). You can use a corporate account as a personal account if you immediately declare this as not being for a business.
Please bear in mind that transactions in US Dollars may be seen as risky due to events of recent times. It will not be seen as a good idea to use this currency for your corporate account or personal savings. More and more banks are feeling the strain of processing transactions that involve US Dollars. This is due to the tightening of the regulations by the US Government. The United States has declared war on all banks who do not agree to abide by their rules. The first to suffer from this were offshore banks. It is highly recommended that you choose a more stable and politically independent currency for your business account and personal savings.
The Importance Of Citizenship And Country Of Tax Residency
If you have a US passport or a permanent residence (green card) in the United States then you may experience a lot of difficulty when it comes to opening a foreign bank account. This is due to FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which requires significant overhead on the part of the banks. Unfortunately this means that a large number of foreign banks refuse to open accounts for with US persons.
But don’t worry – at Offshore Pro Group we do know many banks that accept US accounts, and indeed we also open accounts in the USA for non-resident individuals. Contact us to find out more.
Languages Spoken With The Opening Of Foreign Accounts Online
Not all foreign banks and jurisdictions that are allowed to operate bank accounts with non residents will provide support for your native language. For example, if you are choosing Singapore to open a corporate account then you will need to be prepared to speak to the bank in English.
Remember that the reasons for going offshore are to make you feel secure about your money and maintain an international business. Do not settle for offshore schemes that have not fully understood and satisfied the requirements of your specific case. We look forward to receiving any questions that you have at [email protected] about choosing a foreign bank.