Opening a Bank Account for an Estonian Company

As a rule, local banks open accounts for companies that operate at least partly in Estonia. It means the company sells or buys goods or services, have employees and pay them salaries. 

To open a bank account, KYC purposes require a somewhat time-consuming and bureaucratic process.

Estonian banks require at least one in-person visit for compliance reasons. Even if the bank is visited in person, opening a bank account is not guaranteed. This especially concerns companies with foreign shareholders and board members. At the same time, if all the conditions for opening an account by the bank are met and the bank opens the account, future banking operations will be very smooth, customer-friendly and fast. 

Main banks in Estonia are: SEB BANK, LHV Bank, Swedbank, COOP Bank, Luminor Bank.

In case the company has no activities in Estonia, banks usually refuse to open an account.

Almost all companies are accepted as clients, and accounts have been opened with Fintech companies like Wise, Payoneer, Revolut, Paysera.

There are many more fintech companies that offer their services. However, even though their KYC procedures are less burdensome, it might still take at least a few days (sometimes even weeks) to receive a positive answer, which is not guaranteed.

We suggest opening accounts with several fintech companies. If one service provider blocks an account, which sometimes happens, you can use another account.