The change in Georgia's bank account opening policies began in September 2019 and became a common rule in 2020 and 2021. One should even speak of a single business-account opening policy because today, all banks have, to a few verbal nuances, the same business-account opening policy owned by foreigners. A standard policy showing the distorted play of banks in Georgia, which under the guise of a competitive market, rules as if the Georgian financial market is a monopoly restricted to a few players.
If your business is not registered in Georgia, you will no longer be able to open a business bank account. There is no longer an offshore account.
If your company does financial consulting, financial trading, cryptocurrency or other financial-related activities in general, then no bank in Georgia will open a business bank account for you.
If your business is registered in Georgia, then you can request a business bank account opening in Georgian banks that are not obliged to accept you and that do not even have to justify their refusal.
In theory, it is possible to open a corporate bank account remotely, but the chances of success are slim, it is recommended that the company director moves and be present when requesting the opening of an account, even if it is done with the assistance of a service provider. When applying for an account, you will be asked to fill out a KYC (Know Your Client) questionnaire where you will have to present your business, its activity and the people who compose it. Once your request has been filled out at the bank counter, the "compliance" department will contact you by email and ask for further information.
For this, we recommend you prepare in advance:
In addition, the bank may ask you to complete an Original Statement of Funds (SOF) and an Original Statement of Wealth (SOW).
After your case has been reviewed, by the Compliance department, your account opening request may be completed or rejected. You will be notified by email of the bank's decision. We advise you to apply for opening a corporate account in several banks in Georgia.
If your application is rejected, do not panic, a company in Georgia is not required to have a bank account in Georgia, and you can operate very well otherwise, for this read our article:
If your company bank account is open, we advise you to use your account only to receive and issue payments and avoid any credits and other banking products that, in Georgia, are out of price.
