Help opening a personal or company account: without PESEL, for non-residents, for an sp. z o.o. and after a bank refusal
We help foreigners open a bank account in Poland: personal, sole-trader (JDG) or for an sp. z o.o. company. We also take the harder cases: no PESEL number or residence card, you have not relocated yet, or a bank has already turned you down. The law itself does not require a PESEL: under art. 36 of the Polish AML Act a date and country of birth are enough. Everything else comes down to each bank's internal rules, and they differ. So before the visit we check your documents against the chosen bank's requirements, book an appointment at a Warsaw branch and attend it with you as interpreter. A company account is then reported to the tax office so that it appears on the white list of VAT taxpayers. Our fee starts at 800 PLN. The decision to open an account always rests with the bank, and we cannot guarantee it.
The needs differ, so the right banks differ too. There is no universally "best bank".
The easy case: you walk into a branch with your passport and card and the account is live the same day. Our job here is to pick a bank with free maintenance, an app in a language you read, and sensible foreign-transfer terms - rather than whichever branch is nearest.
The law does not forbid it: under art. 36 of the AML Act the bank records a PESEL number or, where none has been issued, your date and country of birth. Each bank still draws up its own list of accepted documents, so a passport with a visa is enough at one bank while another asks for a residence card. Before the visit we find out which of your documents the bank accepts and book you where the pack fits. That saves two or three wasted trips.
Technically a sole trader may operate from a personal account, but in practice that is a dead end: personal accounts never reach the white list, so counterparties in deals above 15,000 PLN will decline to work with you. We open a proper settlement account with the VAT sub-account attached for split payment.
Here the bank scrutinises properly: articles of association, KRS extract, NIP, ownership structure, beneficial owners, source of capital, actual address and nature of business. We build the pack so the AML questions are answered before the visit. A separate task is the account for the share capital (from 5,000 PLN): in an S24 company it can only be a monetary contribution, due no later than 7 days after the KRS entry.
Opening an account without visiting a branch is legally possible: the Polish financial regulator (KNF) has published rules on video verification for both individuals and companies. But the AML Act treats onboarding without physical presence as a higher-risk factor, so each bank decides for itself who is offered the remote route. A foreigner with no PESEL and no Polish address should expect a branch visit. We find out in advance whether remote opening is realistic in your case and, if it is not, prepare the pack for a single trip.
An open account is only half the job. A sole trader reports the account number through CEIDG-1; a company does it through NIP-8 (within 21 days of KRS registration, and within 7 days of any change). Only then does the account appear on the white list of VAT taxpayers and payments into it become safe for your counterparty.
Personal account: 1-3 days. Business account: 3-10 days depending on the bank and the complexity of the structure.
We establish your residence status, whether you hold a PESEL, whether you need a personal or business account, your expected turnover and currencies, and whether split payment and multi-currency matter. That produces a shortlist of two or three banks whose requirements your documents meet.
We assemble the pack against the chosen bank's requirements: passport, residence card or visa, proof of address and, for a company, KRS/CEIDG, NIP, articles, beneficial-owner data and a description of the business. Weak spots get closed in advance rather than at the counter.
We book a specific branch and a specific officer who handles foreign clients. We attend with you and interpret both the conversation and the AML questionnaire - the stage where unassisted attempts tend to fail.
We set up online and mobile banking, attach the VAT sub-account, arrange the card and, where needed, add accountant access and multi-currency sub-accounts.
We report the account through CEIDG-1 or NIP-8 and verify two or three days later that it is visible on the Ministry of Finance white list. You get a dated screenshot - your evidence for counterparties and your accountant.
The precise list depends on the bank - you get a personalised checklist once we have scoped the case.
Banks rarely give a reason, but their logic can be read from the Polish AML Act and the regulator's guidance. Here is where foreigners' applications stall and what we check before the visit.
Art. 36 of the Polish AML Act expressly covers a customer without a PESEL: the bank records the name, citizenship, date and country of birth, and the series and number of the identity document. Nothing in the Act bans opening an account without a PESEL, so "PESEL first" is the internal rule of a particular bank. The practical point: a refusal at one bank says nothing about the next. We establish the requirements in advance, and where a PESEL can be obtained quickly we advise starting with it.
The Act requires an "identity document" but gives no list (art. 37), so every bank sets its own catalogue. A passport is rarely a problem, and legal stay is shown by a residence card, a visa or an entry stamp. Temporary documents are harder: in 2026 the Polish Ombudsman wrote to the regulator about banks rejecting the temporary identity certificate issued to foreigners. If a bank cannot verify a customer, the Act forbids it from opening the account (art. 41), so arguing at the counter changes nothing. Before the visit we confirm that the bank will accept your particular document.
The bank must record your citizenship (art. 36), and it sets the risk level of each customer itself, looking among other things at the line of business and country risk - that is how the regulator describes it. The AML Act lists the warning signs: cash-heavy activity, an unusually complex ownership structure, links to high-risk countries or to countries under EU or UN sanctions (art. 43). The higher the assessed risk, the more detailed the questionnaire and the more documents the bank asks for. This check cannot be sidestepped. It can only be passed, with a complete file and answers that match the documents.
The bank has to understand why you need the account and, where justified, examine where the money comes from (art. 34 of the AML Act). In practice these are questionnaire items: where you work, who will pay into the account, what amounts you expect. An employment or service contract, a client agreement or a statement from your previous account backs the answers up. As for the address, the Act has the bank record it if known, yet without a correspondence address in Poland a bank may refuse even a basic payment account (art. 59ic of the Payment Services Act). We advise always bringing a lease or a registration certificate.
For a company the bank establishes the name, legal form, address, NIP and the details of its representatives, plus the beneficial owner and the ownership and control structure (arts. 34 and 36 of the AML Act). In its position on verifying corporate clients the regulator lists what a bank may rely on: a current KRS extract, the articles of association, NIP and REGON confirmations, and certificates from ZUS and the tax office. Where a shareholder is a foreign company, a certified extract from its home register is needed. Under joint representation every signatory is verified. A bank may not rely on the beneficial owner register (CRBR) alone and must note any discrepancies, so we file the CRBR entry before the bank visit.
After the KRS entry the clocks run in parallel: 7 days to pay in the share capital in money and file the board's statement (arts. 158 and 167 of the Commercial Companies Code), 14 days for the CRBR filing, 21 days for NIP-8 with the account number. The first is the tightest: if the capital is to arrive by transfer, the account is needed within the first week. There is no basic account that a bank must open for a company, and no single deadline for handling a company's application. So we prepare the bank pack before the company is registered and book the visit for the first days after the entry.
Fixed fee per account. Account maintenance on basic tariffs is usually free at the bank.
* Banks usually do not charge for opening or basic maintenance. Possible bank costs: card issuance, SWIFT transfers, currency conversion, low-turnover fees. Sworn translations of foreign documents, if the bank demands them, are billed separately. We cannot guarantee the bank's decision - it rests on their AML procedures - but we select so that your case passes.
A personal account or a business account for a sole trader (JDG) starts at 800 PLN, an account for an sp. z o.o. at 1,200 PLN, and an account without PESEL or for a non-resident at 1,500 PLN. The fee covers the case review and bank selection, a checklist and document check, the branch booking, attendance at the meeting with interpreting, and online banking set-up. For a business we also report the account through CEIDG-1 or NIP-8 and confirm that it shows on the white list. Sworn translations, if the bank asks for them, and the bank's own charges are paid separately. The decision to open the account is the bank's, and we cannot guarantee it.
Tell us whether you hold a PESEL, what your residence status is, and whether you need a personal or a business account. Within 30 minutes you will have a shortlist of banks whose requirements your documents meet and an end-to-end quote - white-list registration included.
