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Practice area 03 · Banking & Payments

Bank Account Opening

Applications to banks and EMIs whose risk appetite matches your business, prepared as a complete, consistent onboarding file that answers the questions their compliance teams will ask. Account opening remains the institution's decision.

Typical deliverables

  • Institution shortlist with rationale
  • Bank-ready onboarding pack
  • Business model and flow-of-funds narrative
  • Compliance summary for bank due diligence
  • Log of due diligence questions and responses
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Overview

Why it matters

Banks and EMIs assess gaming, crypto, forex, payments and other high-risk businesses with extra caution, and many decline without explanation. The usual reasons are predictable: an ownership chain that is hard to follow, a business model that is not clearly explained, gaps between the licence and the actual activity, or a compliance framework that exists only on paper.

We identify institutions whose appetite fits your business, prepare the onboarding file the way their compliance team reads it, and support you through due diligence questions and the periodic reviews that follow. Account opening is always the institution's decision; our role is to make the file complete, consistent and credible.

Scope

What we do

  1. 1.

    Institution shortlisting

    Banks and EMIs matched to your sector, jurisdictions, currencies and volumes, with a candid view of their likely appetite.

  2. 2.

    Onboarding file

    Corporate documents, ownership and source-of-funds evidence, a business model narrative and compliance summaries in one consistent pack.

  3. 3.

    Due diligence responses

    Answers to follow-up questionnaires and interviews that stay consistent with the file, the licence and your website.

  4. 4.

    Account structure

    Operational, safeguarding and client money accounts separated in line with regulatory and contractual requirements.

  5. 5.

    Periodic reviews

    Support with KYC refreshes and periodic reviews so that accounts, once opened, stay open.

  6. 6.

    Restrictions and exits

    Responding to account restrictions or closure notices, and preparing a stronger file for replacement accounts.

Considerations

What banks focus on

  • Transparent ownership, up to the ultimate beneficial owners.
  • Consistency between the licence, the website and the actual activity.
  • Source of funds and source of wealth for the owners and the initial capital.
  • The quality of the AML/CFT framework and the people who run it.
  • Expected volumes, currencies, counterparties and jurisdictions.

Jurisdictions

Supported across jurisdictions

Bank account opening is one of the services we support across the jurisdictions in our directory. What banks and EMIs require differs by jurisdiction, institution and sector, and account opening always remains the institution's decision.

Europe18
Asia & Middle East4
Americas & Caribbean11
Africa & Indian Ocean6

Industries

Where we apply it

Questions

Frequently asked

Can you guarantee that an account will be opened?

No. Account opening is always the institution's decision. What we can do is present a complete and consistent file that addresses the risks the institution will focus on, which materially improves how it is received.

Our bank has closed our account. Can you help?

Yes. We review the reasons given, if any, and the file the bank held, address the weaknesses and approach replacement institutions with a stronger file. Where a closure notice sets a deadline, we plan the transition of payments and balances against it.

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