Our company has very strong relations with more than 7 banks in Belarus: some of these banks are private and some of them belong to the government. We successfully help our clients – individuals and corporations – to open bank accounts in Belarus – both private and corporate. Below you can find more information on private bank accounts opening services in Belarus.
Private bank accounts in Belarus
When we onboard Client who wants to open a private bank account in Belarus we ask him the following question first – What is the purpose of the bank account in Belarus and how you are going to use it?
Why we ask this question – the answer here is very simple: different banks have their own internal policies. Some banks, for example, don’t open bank accounts for investment purposes but some of them – do. So it is very important to understand initially what kind of transactions you are planning to make using your bank account in Belarus.
Second question is the currency. In Belarus you can open bank accounts in different currencies – USD/EUR/GPB/RUB. Usually we open accounts for our Clients in 2-3 currencies.
Question number 3 – do you want/need a debit card connected with your new account?
Normally banks in Belarus offer Clients personal bank accounts with personal debt card of different level. It can be standard debit cards (VISA Electron) and MasterCard or high level cards like VISA Infinite and MasterCard Black. The level of the card is only affected by the withdrawal percentage and some additional service such as
- a personal manager in the bank;
- priority pass;
- priority tickets booking/discount programs/insuarances.
Usually premium cards require you to keep some minimum balance on the debit card – for example, 25 000 USD. Again, it depends on the bank.
To get a high-level card with 0 withdrawal fees (0% means that your card will only be charged the fees of the local banks where you withdraw money) usually cost 3000 EUR and the banks provide you with 5-6 high level cards.
How the passport/citizenship can influence on the bank account opening in Belarus
You should know that the passport you own is an important condition for private bank account opening in Belarus. Sometimes compliance department in the bank doesn’t want to deal with citizens of a country with an unstable economic situation or a country with high risk. Our team has extensive experience of cooperation with Belarusian banks, so sometimes we have the tools to lobby the needs of our Clients. We can also advise you if your passport will be accepted by the bank or not.
The personal account can be opened when the Client is presented in Belarus or remotely.
If you are in Belarus and you decided to open bank account with us we will ask you to provide us:
- official translation of your passport into the Russian language (we can also arrange a translation);
- your personal visit with our lawyer to the bank. We are working only with private and VIP managers in the banks, so you will not wait at the bank, everything will be arranged in advance.
Open bank account in Belarus remotely
If you want to open an account remotely, we need to receive from your side several documents that will be officially approved and apostilled.
To open a bank account remotely, we need:
- power of attorney, which is notarized and apostilled;
- passport copy, which is also notarized and apostilled.
Please note that on the stamp or seal of the notary must be information about the country where the notary acted.
Another important thing is what to do if your country is not a part of the Hague Convention and you cannot put an apostille on your documents. In this case, you need to come to any nearest Belarusian or Russian Embassy and make there an official translation of all documents into the Russian language, after the documents bear the seals of the Embassy you need to send them to us by courier such as DHL, UPS or FedEx.
All the documents that you will send to our company must be in the original and in the paper version, Belarusian banks do not an approved digital apostille!
How fast we open private bank accounts in Belarus
Normally it takes us 48 hours to open bank account in Belarus. Sometimes banks request additional documents for bank account opening in Belarus. In this case it can take additional 48 hours. Usually in practice we open bank account within 24 hours.
Individual Internet Banking (IB)/E-banking
Individual Internet banking is usually provided through a mobile application or web browser on your laptop. It must be connected to the Belarusian mobile number (some banks allow to use your foreign number for this). This is the two-factor authentication that banks use (they send the SMS code to confirm any account transaction or change some information).
We always recommend our Clients to but a sim-card in Belarus to be able to operate bank account without any problems.
There is no minimum limit for making a deposit to your personal account and it is tax free to deposit money to your account in Belarus, only one thing is the bank can ask – the sources of your funds. Our team has an extensive experience about bank account opening in Belarus so we will advise you on the best ways and practices how to prove your funds in Belarus.
What I can do with my account in Belarus
Nowadays banks offer many different services for their clients in Belarus. The most popular services are deposits (savings) and investments (management of your funds). Usually the terms and conditions of both services you can find on the website of each particular bank.
Starting from 2020 banks in Belarus started to offer Premium banking services for their Clients. Each bank has its own conditions for this – normally you have to keep some amount of money in the bank (for example, 100 000 USD – depends on the bank) OR you have to pay some fee for this service. Premium banking in Belarus usually has some advantages (comparing to standard package):
- you have your personal manager in the bank;
- special exchange rates;
- full remote management of transactions;
- no need to wait in the queue if you decide to visit an office of the bank;
- premium visa/mastercard.
How to open a private bank account in Belarus in 2023
In 2023 banks in Belarus still open bank accounts for foreigners in the same way as before. It became a little bit more strict to open bank accounts for the Clients remotely so we normally advise our Clients to visit Belarus for 2-3 days to open bank account. Comparing to private bank accounts business bank accounts take much more time – between 1 and 3 months.
How to reach us
If you want to open a private bank account or business bank account in Belarus, please, contact us:
Mobile: + 375 29 366 44 77 (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber)
Email: info@spex.by
