Opening a bank account in another EU country: your rights, the documents, and the IBAN nobody may refuse

Two rights, one limit

The Payment Accounts Directive gives every consumer legally resident in the EU the right to open a basic payment account, with a card and online payments, in any member state where they live, regardless of nationality, income or credit history. A bank may refuse only for anti-money-laundering reasons or if you already hold such an account in that country. The SEPA regulation adds the second right: once you have a euro account anywhere in the EU, no employer, landlord, utility or shop may refuse to pay into it or debit it because of its country code.

The limit is the word resident. If you do not live in the country, you have no right to an account there. Banks may still open one, and many do, but on their own terms.

If you are moving there

Register your residence first; the registration certificate or address registration is the document banks want most. Then apply for the basic account or an ordinary one. Expect to show an identity document, proof of the address, and in most countries a tax identification number, either the local one once you have it or your home country's. Banks must open a basic account within ten working days of a complete application and must offer it free or at a reasonable fee. If refused, the bank must tell you why in writing unless the law forbids it, and you can complain to the national regulator or ombudsman.

If you are not moving there

A non-resident account is a commercial decision for the bank. Branch banks in the Netherlands and France are cautious and often decline or ask for a local address; some accept property owners or cross-border workers with a demonstrable reason. The practical route is an app-based bank licensed in one EU country and serving residents of many: with a banking licence your deposit is guaranteed, the IBAN is a normal euro IBAN, and onboarding takes minutes from any address in the EEA. The IBAN's country code will not match your country of residence, and under the SEPA rules that must not matter.

The documents

Passport or national identity card, valid. Proof of address: a registration certificate, a rental contract, a utility bill, less than three months old. Tax identification number, because banks report account holders' tax residence under the automatic exchange of information and need to know where to report. Sometimes proof of income or employment, more often for a full account than for a basic one. If any document is in another language, an app-based bank will usually read it; a branch bank may ask for a translation.

Tax reporting

Under the common reporting standard, a bank in one member state reports the balances and interest of account holders resident in another to its tax authority, which passes the data on. An account abroad is not a way to hide interest; it is a normal account whose existence your home tax office knows. Some countries additionally require you to declare foreign accounts on your return; France does, with a fine for omission. Check your own rules.

“Residence gives you the right to open. SEPA gives you the right to use. Between them sits the paperwork, which no directive removes.”

Using it

Give the IBAN to your employer and your landlord; if either objects to the country code, cite the SEPA regulation and, if needed, the national regulator, which enforces it. Set up direct debits the same way. Expect card payments in the local currency of the account to be free of conversion, and payments in other currencies to carry the bank's mark-up. Keep your home account for a while if you are moving; closing it before the new one is fully working is the mistake people regret.