Open a Singapore corporate bank account – even with a difficult passport.
You need a real bank account for your Singapore company – without living in Singapore, and without ending up with only a lightweight “virtual account” your counterparties may not take seriously. The bank will screen your resident director as closely as it screens you. The first thing we get is the bank’s view of your file – the application comes after.
What we open
A fintech account now, a traditional bank when the file is ready
The usual order is 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. Foreign-director applications with nothing in Singapore behind them now clear in fewer than one case in three. The resident-director service also splits here: only the bank-attending nominee tier takes part in opening a traditional account – costs on the Singapore formation page.
Licensed fintech (Virtual bank)
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. No deposit insurance (the money sits at partner banks) and no cash – ATM withdrawals are not supported. Payments from individual customers (B2C) need the platform’s written approval in advance; without it, the account gets closed. Still the account most companies start with: it works while a traditional bank reads your file.
Traditional SG bank
A traditional account at DBS, OCBC, UOB or another major bank gives the full toolkit: credit lines, deposits, trade finance, international wires. Entry is the hard part: most banks require a personal visit with the nominee director present, and they favour companies with real operations in Singapore – DBS wants you and the nominee at a branch in person, while OCBC can open online.
Payment processors (PSP)
Only one situation calls for a PSP – individual customers paying 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 runs its own KYC (identity and business checks) and applies US sanctions rules.
Which passport tier are you?
How Singapore banks read your passport
Your passport is the biggest factor – though not the only one – in which Singapore account opens. Singapore’s MAS framework is materially stricter than Hong Kong’s. These five tiers match how the banks read you, not how you see yourself. 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: banks will read the place of birth. Find your country below to see which account types are realistic.
No FATF concerns, no sanctions. SG banks and fintechs open these profiles with standard KYC. Source-of-wealth file and nominee-director coordination still apply – both are universal to Singapore, not passport-tier specific.
Source-of-funds verification required. No structural barrier – SG banks open these profiles with enhanced due diligence and an introducer; fintechs onboard standard.
Enhanced due diligence required. SG traditional banks impose full source-of-funds and substance interviews; many decline outright without a strong introducer – a banker-trusted party who vouches for your file. Profiles in this tier often open more easily in Hong Kong than Singapore.
Under targeted sanctions, or conflict severe enough to cut the banking chain. SG mainstream banks decline categorically; licensed fintechs carry these countries on default-decline lists. Options exist for founders residing outside these countries – but structure and residency docs matter enormously.
Comprehensive OFAC or UN sanctions programs, or a FATF call for action. No US-correspondent bank will process the chain, so no account opens in Singapore.
How we work
Your file reaches the bank before your application does
Scope call
Thirty minutes on your passport and your business: is a traditional bank realistic, or is fintech-first the honest answer for now – and what your resident director will have to do along the way.
Profile and documents
Next the file itself: the business described the way the bank reads it, and – for a higher-risk profile – source-of-funds evidence prepared upfront, before any bank asks.
Pre-application introduction
Before you apply anywhere, we put the profile in front of the bank. If the answer is no, it lands now – before fees and paperwork. A positive read means the application is worth filing – the decision itself still comes after.
Director visit (or remote KYC)
Most traditional banks want the directors – nominee included – at the meeting in person; we group what the bank needs so the trip stays short. OCBC’s online path for Singapore-registered companies is the exception. Fintech and card-processor (PSP) accounts skip this step entirely: fully remote.
Common questions
What founders ask before they book
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. Nominee service splits by what the nominee will do at the bank: the statutory tier takes no part in banking – with it, fintech accounts only; the bank-attending tier joins the opening when a traditional bank requires it. If avoiding this coordination is the priority, Hong Kong is structurally simpler.
Do I need to fly to Singapore for the bank meeting?
At most traditional banks, yes – and the resident-director nominee attends the same meeting, though some banks accept a video call instead. 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. At a traditional bank, a simple case takes about 3–5 business days from application to approval; a high-risk profile needs 4–8 weeks, sometimes more. Both timelines start after the pre-screen – your profile goes to a bank before any formal application, so the clock only runs on an application with a real chance.
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 – the work goes through the fintechs that will read the file after enhanced checks. The honest comparison: these profiles often open more easily in Hong Kong than in Singapore.
What happens if a fintech account closes?
Without warning – that is how it happens. One platform closed our own account; the balance came back only after more than two months and a formal complaint. The working rule: never run the business on a single fintech account – keep a second account, fintech or bank, alive at all times. If it has already happened to you, start with our page on frozen accounts.
Some work we decline, whatever the passport: flows with no goods or services behind them; sanctioned people or companies; structures whose purpose is to work around the checks; 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 expects and pick the bank where the first application should go.
Book a free 30-minute call