Open a Singapore corporate bank account – even with a difficult passport.
You need a bank account for your Singapore company without living in Singapore, and a fintech account alone is not a full replacement for a bank. A traditional bank will probably contact your resident director as well, and some banks want the resident director at the account opening. We get the bank’s view of your file before you apply.
What we open
A fintech account now, a traditional bank when the file is ready
We recommend a licensed fintech first, while the traditional-bank file is built. Singapore banks want to understand the business: a plan, expected payment flows, the customer base, ideally something real in Singapore – an office or staff. By one Singapore provider’s estimate, applications from foreign directors who cannot show proof of a Singapore address now succeed in fewer than one case in three. The resident-director (nominee) service has two tiers, and only the bank-attending tier takes part in opening a traditional account. Costs are on the Singapore formation page.
Licensed fintech
Licensed fintechs – payment institutions licensed by MAS, Singapore’s financial regulator – open remotely in days, with multi-currency accounts and PayNow, Singapore’s instant-payment system. Your money sits at partner banks and has no deposit insurance, and ATM cash withdrawals are not supported. At least one platform closed an account that took payments from individual customers (B2C) without its approval. Check the platform’s policy first; for card payments from individuals, use a PSP (see the PSP card). Even so, a fintech account keeps the business running while a traditional bank reviews your file.
Traditional Singapore (SG) bank
A traditional account at DBS, OCBC, UOB or another major bank gives the full set of bank services: credit lines, deposits, trade finance, international wires. It is harder to open: most banks want to meet the majority of directors and signatories, in person or by video call, and some also want the nominee director there. Companies with real operations in Singapore have better chances. DBS wants you and the nominee at a branch in person, while an OCBC account can be opened online.
Payment processors (PSP)
You need a PSP only when individual customers pay you by card. The platform collects those payments and pays them out into your fintech or bank account; it does not replace that account. Each PSP runs its own KYC (identity and business checks) and applies US sanctions rules.
Find your passport tier
How Singapore banks read your passport
Your passport is the biggest factor – though not the only one – in which Singapore account opens. Singapore banks are at least as strict on KYC as Hong Kong banks, and they may also contact the nominee director. These tiers match how the banks read you. They are built from public sanctions and FATF listings plus what we see banks do at onboarding. Where a passport can be obtained by investment or naturalisation, the tier is indicative: some banks also check the place of birth. Find your country below to see which account types are realistic.
These countries are not on FATF or sanctions lists, so SG banks and fintechs open these profiles with standard KYC. A source-of-wealth file and nominee-director coordination still apply to every passport.
Banks verify the source of funds. SG banks open these profiles with enhanced due diligence and an introducer, and fintechs apply their standard checks.
Banks run enhanced due diligence. SG traditional banks ask in detail about the source of funds and the operations in Singapore, and many decline without a strong introducer, a party the bank trusts who vouches for your file. Profiles in this tier often open more easily in Hong Kong than Singapore.
These countries are under targeted sanctions, or in a conflict severe enough that banks stop handling their payments. SG mainstream banks decline these passports, and licensed fintechs decline them by default. Options exist for founders who live outside these countries, and these options depend on the company structure and proof of residence.
These countries are under comprehensive OFAC or UN sanctions programmes, or a FATF call for action. No account opens in Singapore for these passports.
How we work
Your file reaches the bank before your application does
Scope call
In thirty minutes we go through your passport and business. You learn whether a traditional bank is realistic now or a fintech account should come first, and what your resident director will have to do.
Profile and documents
We then prepare the file: the business described in the terms a bank uses to assess it. For a higher-risk profile, source-of-funds evidence goes in before any bank asks for it.
Pre-application introduction
Before you apply anywhere, we show the profile to the bank. If the answer is no, you learn it at this stage. A positive answer means the application is worth filing; the bank makes its decision only after it reviews the full application.
Director visit (or remote KYC)
Most traditional banks want to meet the directors, and some want the nominee there too or insist on a branch visit; we group what the bank needs so the trip stays short. OCBC’s online path for Singapore-registered companies is the exception. Fintech and PSP accounts are opened fully remotely, so this step does not apply to them.
Common questions
A Singapore account without living in Singapore
Can a non-resident open a Singapore bank account without a resident director?
No – every Singapore company needs a director who lives there, and the standard answer for a foreign founder is a nominee from a corporate service provider. There are two nominee tiers. A statutory nominee only fills the resident-director role and takes no part in banking, so with this tier only a fintech account is realistic. A bank-attending nominee joins the account opening when a traditional bank requires it. If you would rather avoid the nominee coordination, a Hong Kong company needs no resident director.
Do I need to fly to Singapore for the bank meeting?
At some traditional banks, yes: they want you and the nominee director at a branch in person. Others accept a video call. The exception is OCBC: an account for a Singapore-registered company can be opened online, without travelling – OCBC bankers have confirmed this to us directly, and an existing banker relationship speeds it up considerably. Fintech accounts are fully remote from the start.
How long does it take from first call to live account?
A fintech account opens in days. For a traditional bank, we first prepare the file and show it to the bank; how long that takes depends on your documents. From application to approval, a simple case then takes about 3–5 business days; a high-risk profile needs 4–8 weeks, sometimes more.
My passport is Tier 3 or Tier 4 – is there a realistic SG path?
There is a path, and it is narrow. Tier 3: fintechs decide case-by-case – some accept after extra checks, others decline by default; a traditional bank usually needs an introducer plus visible operations in Singapore. Tier 4: mainstream banks decline outright. A few fintechs accept such a file after enhanced checks; these options are for founders who live outside their passport country. Tier 3 and Tier 4 profiles often open more easily in Hong Kong than in Singapore.
What happens if a fintech account closes?
A fintech can close an account without warning and without giving a reason. One platform closed our own account; the balance came back only after more than two months and a formal complaint. So do not run the business on a single fintech account: keep a second account open, at another fintech or at a bank. If it has already happened to you, start with our page on frozen accounts.
Some work we decline, whatever the passport. We do not open accounts for payments that have no goods or services behind them, or for sanctioned people or companies. We also decline structures whose purpose is to work around the checks, and running your business through a third party’s account: Singapore regulation does not permit it, and we will not build it.
Tell us your situation. We’ll tell you which account is realistic.
Show us the case before any bank sees it. We check it against what Singapore banks expect and pick the bank where the first application should go.
Book a free 30-minute call