December 5, 2018 - Do you want to open a bank account and are not a Montenegrin citizen? Here is some necessary information that should be helpful if you need a bank account as a private person or have founded a company, so your bank account is one of the prerequisites for your business.
As a foreign citizen, you can open an account with your name. As a bank account holder, you can freely raise or pay in their account cash in EUR or foreign currency that is convertible into Montenegro in unlimited amounts. Also, you can receive payments to your account and perform non-cash payments and transfers, following foreign exchange regulations.
There are more bank account options for private persons: current account (to receive payments), current account (general purpose - for personal payments), savings account and foreign currency account. A current bank account is required for a customer to pay transactions in Montenegro, while a foreign currency account is used for international operations (inflow and outflow from abroad).
As a non-resident, you must come to the bank's branch and provide your passport for the opening of all these types of accounts. A worker will ask you for some extra information that is not available on your passports, such as the exact address of your home or contact information. This is how the procedure is completed, and you have opened an account in only a few minutes.
Account maintenance fees vary from bank to bank and range from 0.5 EUR.
Most of the banks now include a whole range of products under a single tariff. Within the package offer, SMS service is available to the client on cash flow and withdrawal from the bank account, but also permanent orders, e-banking, and mobile banking, VISA and MASTER debit cards, credit cards.
With the help of e-banking and mobile banking (a phone application that is easily downloaded from the Apple Store or Play Store), you are able to pay for services, transfer funds within your accounts and other accounts within Montenegro. Also, this helps you convert currency, blocks debit and credit cards in the event of a loss, draws account traffic reports and in situations when abroad.
For time deposits Montenegro offers competitive interest rates compared to other countries of Europe and in the region. In this case, the profit tax is smaller for non-residents than for the local population and is 9%. Montenegro's Deposit Protection Fund guarantees the amount of up to EUR 50,000.
If you come here, for example, with a Russian ruble, you will not be able to convert it into euros. Convertible currencies in Montenegro are:
USD - American Dollar
CAD - Canadian Dollar
AUD - Australian dollar
CHF- Swiss Francs
DKK- Danish Krona
NOK- Norwegian Crown
GBP- British Pound
BAM- Bosnian Convertible Mark
RSD- Serbian Dinar
SEK- Swedish Crown
HRK- Croatian Kuna
You can check the exchange rate at any time on the websites of local banks or on the site of the Central Bank of Montenegro.
To open a bank account on behalf of a company, you must provide the company's status documentation and the passport of the owner of the company and/or the executive director. Together with the Bank's Officer, you will complete the Request for Opening Account and the Card of Dismissed Signatures, after which all conditions for opening the account are met.
And for companies, there is e-banking and product palette (SMS notification, e-mail, business card-debit, and credit). For a business in Montenegro, you initiate an account in the domestic payment system, and for foreign operations with a foreign currency bank account. Foreign currency accounts, as well as for private persons, may be in currencies for which the bank is doing the exchange deals.
