Our step-by-step guide for non-residents on how to open a bank account in Georgia
Table of contents
Foreigners may need an account in a Georgian bank for various reasons: for conducting business activities and mutual settlements with counterparties, savings on a deposit. But most often the reason for a visit to the bank is the need for non-cash payments: transfer money, pay with a card, make purchases on the Internet. How to open a bank account in Georgia, we will tell you in our step-by-step guide.
Who can open a bank account in Georgia?
In Georgia, not only citizens, but also foreigners can use banking services. But in recent years, Georgian banks have tightened requirements for them. Due diligence is more thorough. There are a number of sanctioned countries that are denied opening an account by default. These countries include Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and other countries that are under international sanctions. For citizens of Russia and Belarus, refusals, of course, occur, but rarely. Residents of other countries get accepted almost all the times. With the correct submission of all the necessary documents, an undesirable verdict of the Bank can be avoided.
If a foreign citizen has a residence permit in Georgia, then this greatly simplifies the opening of an account, and also increases the credibility of the bank. If for the first time a refusal is received from the bank, you should not despair. It is necessary to apply to several financial institutions and even branches, with a high degree of probability one of them will agree to open an account.
Types of accounts in Georgian banks
- Settlement account – with its help you can make transfers around the world without restrictions, exchange currency, pay bills. You can make transactions and deposit funds in three currencies: GEL, USD and EUR. Entrepreneurs and legal entities open a current account in a bank of Georgia to conduct business.
- Deposit account – savings, the owner of such an account receives profit as a percentage of the amount on the balance sheet. You can withdraw the received funds every month or at the end of the contract, depending on the conditions of a particular bank.
- Card account – is a familiar plastic card that non-residents need for comfortable payments and purchases.
Requirements for opening a bank account
Foreign citizens can personally visit the bank branch and open account with a not very complicated procedures, which takes around 30 minutes. If this is not possible, you can issue a power of attorney for a representative who will go through this procedure on your behalf. The power of attorney and a photocopy of the passport must be notarized.
Foreign citizens who have lived in Georgia for 183 days become tax residents, which significantly increases the chances of being approved by a banking institution.
Step-by-step procedure to open a bank account remotely
Find a proxy who will go to the bank on behalf of you
There’s only one way to open a bank account without visiting the bank. And that way is to issue a power of attorney to someone who will visit bank on your behalf. The power of attorney is the document in which you give all the rights to represent you in front of the bank. This document needs to be notarized (and in some cases also apostilled) and sent to Georgia in the paper form. No digital power of attorney are acceptable by the banks unfortunately. On top of this, banks will require from you the notarized and apostilled copy of your passport.
The power of attorney must be drafted in a way that is acceptable in all the banks in Georgia. There are certain rules for how the power of attorney text should be drafted. For example, if you give the power to a proxy to just open a bank account then the proxy will be able to open a bank account but he or she will not be able get access to the newly opened account. Banks will not give the usernames and other keys to him/her. Subsequently he/she will not be able to give those usernames to you. And in this case, you will need to go through the process of notarizing the Power of Attorney all over again. There aren’t quite a number of these details that should be taking to taking into consideration before notarizing the power of attorney.
You should also consider date when the power attorney is expired. The date is very important. you must choose the date between the one that is not too long so that you don’t give your proxy too long time for managing your account and at the same time it shouldn’t be too short. The date must be just enough to open a bank account.
Notarize and apostille the document
After the text of the power of attorney is drafted the important step is to notarize and apostille the document. In different countries different state organization put an apostille on a notarized document, but the golden rule is to approach a local notary, to ask to notarize the power of attorney (the text that was already drafted) and then ask the notary to assist in the apostille process.
In certain countries and in certain situations the apostille and notarization process is complicated. However, there are number of online notary solutions where you can notarize an apostle your power of attorney without leaving your house. The process takes about 30 minutes. It is very efficient way to start the process of bank account opening in Georgia. One of the most reliable and efficient online notarization service providers that we work with are at Scribbe Seal. They provide
- U.S. Online Notarization Worldwide
- U.S. Apostille Service
Any documents including POA and the copy of the passport notarized and apostilled by Scribble Seal is accepted by the banks in Georgia.
Another mandatory document to submit to the bank before opening bank account is notarized and apostilled copy of the first page of the passport. This document can also be notarized and apostilled the same way we notarize the power of attorney.
Send the documents to Georgia to your representative in Georgia
Once an certification of the documents is finished you will need to send the documents to Georgia to your proxy. Using the fast post like DHL FedEx and UPS is the best way because documents will not be lost and will be delivered in time. As we mentioned above the time is very important for opening a bank account. We need to put the date of the expiration of the power attorney just enough to open a bank account, not more not less.
If you used the online notary to notarize your documents, they will send the documents directly to Georgia. You don’t have to bother yourself with organizing the Courier services.
Translate and notarize the document and KYC procedures
Once the documents arrived to Georgia the foreign language documents needs to be translated into Georgia and the translation needs to be notarized by the local notary. This will take about one or two days.
Before submitting to the bank a list of documents required to open a bank account, uou will need to go through the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure.
In the process of the KYC you need to disclose three different numbers to the bank
- Source of your wealth
- Source of your income
- Expected turnover on the newly opened bank account
Please note these are numbers that you need to indicate but banks in most cases will not ask you for the proof of any of the numbers that you indicate. Moreover Georgian banks are among a very few banks worldwide who do not require proof of you address till now. So they just ask you where your address is they will not ask you to prove that by utility bill, lease contract or anything similar.
If the bank approved the questionnaire (assigned a low risk level to the non-resident. And in the most cases if you come from the non sanctioned country you will be assigned a lower risk level and will not be denied to open a bank account) you move to the next stage to actually open an account.
Submit documents for the account opening
The exact list to submit of documents in most banks are:
- notarized and translated into Georgian power of attorney
- notarized in translating it to Georgian copy of the passport
- filled KYC questionnaire
However, depending on the requirements of a particular bank the list of document may increase:
- Confirmation of the legality of the origin of income, for example, an employment contract or a real estate lease agreement;
- Documents confirming the ownership of real estate, assets and other property;
- Bank statement for the last six months;
- Information about the place of residence with supporting documents: lease agreement, utility bills. For some banks, information about accommodation in a hotel or registration address in the country in which the client is a citizen is sufficient;
- For citizens of America – IRS (an account in the tax service that complies with US legislation on the taxation of foreign accounts);
When opening an account, a Georgian bank usually issues a debit card and access to Internet banking to the client.
Within 1 working day, the bank will check the documents. There’s nothing left to do but wait. If the verification was successful, then your proxy will receive a notification from the bank in which you will be invited to receive account details, otherwise you will receive a refusal message (very rare).
Get your account details
During a second visit, the bank will give the proxy a copy of the contract, details, connect online banking. You can ask the bank employee to set the desired language for SMS notifications. And what’s more important you will get a contact of the relationship manager in the bank.
The proxy will then need to send you the username password to set your phone number on the bank. The person you chose to represent you in front of the bank should then organize all the procedures required for you to receive full control over the bank account you opened.
Checklist summary
- Find the proxy person to whom you will issue a power of attorney (POA)
- Draft the text of the POA according to the requirements of the banks.
- Notarize and apostille the POA and the passport.
- Send the documents by the fast post to Georgia to your proxy.
- Wait for the verification of your application
- Activate your internet banking and get a complete access to your account
Best Georgian banks to open a bank account
Bank of Georgia
the largest financial institution in the country. Bank of Georgia is one of two banks who control over 90% of the Georgian market. The stocks of the Bank of Georgia are listed on London Stock Exchange. This leads the bank to have one of the most sophisticated accountability procedures. The annual reports of the bank is available online and anyone can check the financial stability of the bank. The financial ratios are extremely attractive and there is no even tiny sign of Bank of Georgia having a problem which is extremely important in the rest recent global banking crisis.
Solo Bank
Bank of Georgia has also the premium banking with the brand of Solo bank. They provide a personal relationship manager and a visa platinum debit card with several advantages. The price is around a 200 U.S. dollars annual fee. One step above SOLO, there is the package SOLO International with the main advantage of getting commission-free ATM withdrawals.
TBC Bank
Is another big player of the Georgian banking market. The TBC bank shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and their annual reports are published every year. And as with the case of the Bank of Georgia, the financial of this bank is also extremely attractive. All the important financial ratios that determine the health of the bank finances are in a very good shape. TBC too has a premium banking the brand of the TBC premium is called Concept. It also comes with the premium debit card with many advantages and a personal relationship manager. TBC as well, offers a premium option under the name Concept 360, offering a debit card with commission-free ATM cash withdrawals.
Liberty Bank
Liberty Bank has an extensive network of ATMs and offices. Accounts are opened for non-residents if they have documents confirming the origin of funds, a bank statement, information about working in Georgia and the purpose of opening an account;
Tera Bank
Terabank is popular due to the simple procedure for opening an account. It’s one of the few banks in the region that has has an UAE ownership. The bank is not large but has a very advanced Internet banking infrastructure. And having a bank account in Terabank is very convenient if you need to manage your account remotely.
Summary of main Georgian Banks
| Bank | Highlights |
|---|---|
 | – Sophisticated accountability procedures – Attractive financial ratios – High financial stability – Advanced internet banking |
 | – Premium banking option of Bank of Georgia – Personal relationship manager – 200 US dollars annual fee – Commission-free ATM withdrawals – Premium debit card (Visa Platinum) |
 | – High financial stability – Premium account option (TBC Concept) – Personal relationship manager – Premium debit card (Visa Platinum) – Commission-free ATM withdrawals |
 | – Extensive network of ATMs and offices – Low commissions on account maintenance |
 | – UAE ownership – Simple procedure to open a bank account – Advanced Internet Banking – Easy remote management |
How you can open a bank account remotely with the help of PB Services
Our consultants are specialized in providing you remote support to open a bank account,
We will guide you through the whole procedure from the beginning till the moment you start using your account.
- We will draft the power of attorney for you.
- The consultant will guide you through the process of notarization of the documents. We will offer you several different options for the notarization and you can choose the easiest one.
- Then you will need to send us the documents to our office. Once you receive the documents we will make sure to make you updated on the progress as we make.
- Within three days we will open your bank account and then the next day after the bank account is open, we will make sure to give you all the keys all the account numbers to you so that you will be the only one who will have the full access to your bank account.
- We will assign you a personal relationship manager in the bank. The relationship manager simplifies your interaction with the bank. You have a personal banker to whom you can talk anytime. But nevertheless, whenever you need a help, our service does not finish with opening a bank account. Anytime you have any simple issue with the bank, you can feel free to contact us and we will make sure to do everything we can to solve your problem as soon as possible.
Takeaway
Opening an account in Georgia for a non-resident is a procedure that, is simple and quick for those who follow the steps described above. You can count on the period of 2-4 weeks from the deciding to open an account to the moment when you get full access to your newly opened bank account.
If you need to increase your chances of approval and speed up the process, you can book a free consultation with us, and find out how our local professional mediators can help you opening a bank account.
