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When We Can
Open Up A
UAE Business
Bank Account
With No
Hick Ups
OPEN A BUSINESS ACCOUNT WITH ANY ONE OF THE UAE's TRUSTED BANKS SPEAK TO OUR BANKING SPECIALIST TODAY
The easy part is getting your UAE business license. But what no one tells you is that once you have your legal documents and Emirates I.D., the process of getting a UAE Business Bank account ''open'' is very tricky business indeed, and that you will need professional help and the right industry contacts, to ensure you get your business bank account open successfully.
How long does it take to get a UAE Business Bank Account Open?
In most straight forward cases, business bank account opening is achievable in 7 days. However, using a reputable consulting representaive like us to successfully open the account on your behalf, and to over see your application as it move along the bank internal channels is definitely required, With our long reach and access into the banks internals.we are able to get a fast turnaround. for our clients. especially when the application is of a complex nature and needs to get past stickly hurdles. As your 'go to person' handling your application, and with a thorough understanding of the workings of the UAE bank system and excellent troubleshooting experience, we can put you ahead of the queue.
'UAE Business Bank Application processing' can be challenging for most applicants and having a 'go to person' to monitor your application as it goes through the banking processing protocols can make a huge difference when it comes to avoiding stress and wasted time. We offer an efficient and cost effective service with a solutions approach to getting your business bank open for your business for hyour convenience.
Don't have these documents?
Want to set up a business in the UAE?
Need to get your UAE business/Trade license?
Get in touch. Speak to our Business Licensing team.
What documents you typically need for a UAE corporate business account application will depend on a range of factors.
Your business status, specific risk benchmarks, your business operations and category, residency status, finances and nationality, amongst other criteria checks. These are all factored in and used to qualify whether you are eligible for a UAE corporate account. For straightforward applications, you will require the following
Most items from the secondary list will be required, however, the selection will depend on the nature of your business, for instance, whether you are a new start-up with no trading or business data, or an existing business able to show historic evidence of your business activities.
Once you have obtained all your necessary business documents, the next step is to choose the ‘’right fit corporate’’ bank account.
With 22 local and 30 foreign banks in the region, you can either research the bank's offering yourself and choose one that works for you OR chat to one of our specialists, who can speedily help assist you in selecting the right bank for you.
Why is my application taking so long to process?
Your application's processing speed will depend on several factors: the professionalism of the banking agent handling your application, their contacts inside the banking departments, and the frequency of queries flagged up during your application process and interview. Suspicion over dubious financial backers or client dealings, for instance, can manifest and quickly halt your application. So getting past the dark hole of Compliance is a grey area, and no matter whether you're an offshore mainland or Free zone company, if you get stuck here, banks may stall or reject your application with no feedback, no reasoning and no opportunity for clarification, whatsoever.s. Making sure this does not happen to our clients application is what we do.
New Changes in the UAE are making the Business Bank Opening more difficult.
Since, 2018, the UAE banking institutions have seen major changes, which have made bank opening in 20 minutes, with great solution orientated and efficient friendly customer service, with no costs attached - a distant memory of past times. Nowerdays, the reality of opening a UAE corporate bank account especially for Expats, is nothing short of a painful drawn out process.
The Dubai Chambers of Commerce reports, ''opening a bank account for a start-up in the UAE, could take up to a year. And according to a recent study, up to 65 percent of the country’s entrepreneurs report, the process of getting a business bank opened, in the UAE; has by far been their biggest business setup challenge!''. Source: DCCI & MOE, 2018.
Post Covid, compliance and banking regulations isn't looking to improve, unfortunately. With tighter regulation approximately 50% of new expat businesses are finding their application are being rejected, leaving them and their business vunerable without a much needed business bank account. Source: Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the UAE Ministry of Economic, 2018. Although such cases are extreme, they are not uncommon, and many business owners, failing to get access to business bank account are forced to consider less desirable alternatives in order to operate within the UAE but which come with their own complications,
The UAE's FATF Grey listing is also adding to the challenge of opening a UAE corporate bank for specific nationalities, seeking to set up business in the UAE - placing some nationals into a ''high risk'' category
High-Risk Applicants: What you should know
Some countries are on the FATF's (The Financial Action Task Force - the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog) black and grey list. If you are a national belonging to a grey-listed country, this could pose more challenging hurdles during your application phase.
With The UAE also on the FATF (The Financial Action Task Force - the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog) grey list, means that the growing internal pressure on banks requires them to be extra vigalent when dealing with individuals with nationalities belonging to flagged countries with high security concerns, fraud, money laundering, and alerts to certain business activities, will naturally extend the detailed checks and processes which require lengthier complex procedures and a greater degrees of authorisation in order to accurately assess and qualify new business setups. This will make business bank account opening harder, and more challenging but not impossible for us.
We have helped many of our high risk clients to open up bank accounts - and are great at finding loopholes to ensure our client applications pass each hurdle, by networking behind the scenes - to guarantee we find solutions to any obsticle as and when they arise. It may take a little longer to get through all the stages, but we do get there eventually.
Even though. for some of our high risk client applications we help them to get through the complication, the heavily scrutinised, overcome the hurdles of internal banking compliance scrutiny, and guide our client on track to ensure their application does not end up in the dark abiss where many applications go astray and never to be seen again.cealso
Regulation, Regulation, Regulation
Increasingly stringent regulatory standards, designed to combat illegal activities along with discriminatory attitudes towards UAE startups in general, are contributing to many applications getting rejected and with little to no justification.
Being a Startup or SME in the UAE doesn't help
Banks generally hold an unattractive view towards new and emerging companies. In the UAE, SME's are perceived as 'poor performers' with regards to business revenue generating. Banks consider small business set ups as 'commercially unattractive', compared to other more established consumer driven segments. And this, coupled with low initial business volumes and the scepticism that SME's are more likely to fail, rather than survive and expand greatly contributes towards business applications for new accounts to get rejected, putting smaller medium sized businesses into jepardy.
Banks may not even justify why they are blocking your access to a corporate business account. (Source: Arabian Business
the account applicants (or the owners of companies) are literally screened from head to toe. And then, after months of correspondence with the bank and the submission of numerous documents, the application to open a bank account is increasingly rejected. Reason? – Non! Or the succinct reference to the “Compliance Department” (to which the customer has no access and may not even know the name of the employee responsible for rejecting the application).
This applies not only to offshore companies with apparently dubious financial backer, but increasingly also to reputable entrepreneurs and investors with an impeccable reputation and many years of business activity in the UAE. Some banks are now even rejecting (the opening of) bank accounts for free zone companies in general – on suspicion, so to speak.
“Original and with an innate understanding of their customer’s needs, the team at Love Nature are always a pleasure to work with.”
Jane Miller
QUESTIONS?
Whether you’re figuring out what corporate bank account you need, or need assistance opening your business bank account, we’re here to answer any questions.
Get in touch!