Opening a foreign bank account online: the countries where you can do it without travelling

Opening a foreign bank account online without boarding a single plane: today that is expressly permitted in most of the major banking jurisdictions. The anti-money laundering laws of the EU, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Singapore all provide a way to verify your identity remotely. The real hurdle lies elsewhere: the law permits remote identification, but each bank decides for itself whether it takes on non-residents that way. Anyone who wants to know where opening an account abroad without travelling actually works has to keep both levels apart: what the state allows and what the institution makes of it.

The general course of an accompanied opening is described in opening a bank account abroad. The question before that is: which identification routes exist, and in which countries do they work?

Three ways a bank can identify you remotely

Every account opening starts with the same duty: the bank must establish who you are. At the counter you show your passport. Without travelling, three routes essentially remain.

Video identification. A trained employee checks you and your identity document live in a video call. You tilt the passport in front of the camera, read out the serial number, confirm a one-time code. In Switzerland, for example, this legally counts the same as a visit to the counter.

Electronic identity. Instead of a call, the bank reads a state-issued electronic proof of identity, such as a national eID, or it works with a qualified electronic signature.

Certified documents and power of attorney. The classic route at many banks outside the EU: you have a notary certify your passport copy and signature, add an apostille to the certificate and send it in, or an authorised representative completes the opening on site for you. Which route is open depends on the country and on the institution.

EU: remote identification is the law, not the exception

The basis for all 27 member states lies in the anti-money laundering directive. Under Article 13(1)(a) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 the bank may verify your identity on the basis of documents, data or information, expressly including electronic identification means, trust services under the eIDAS regulation or any other secure remote identification process recognised by the authorities. Annex III of the same directive only lists non-face-to-face business relationships as a factor for higher risk where exactly these safeguards are missing.

From 10 July 2027 this becomes more uniform still. The anti-money laundering regulation (EU) 2024/1624 then applies directly in every member state. Its Article 22(6) recognises two routes of identity verification: presenting a passport, identity card or equivalent document, or electronic identification means at the assurance level "substantial" or "high". Which technical conditions the new EU anti-money laundering authority proposes for this is broken down in customer due diligence at account opening from 2027.

The Nordic countries: the national eID, and where it stops

For readers in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, the electronic route usually means the national eID. It is designed to cross borders: under rules agreed between the EU and EEA countries, a national eID can be used to log in to digital services in other EU and EEA countries. MitID, the Danish eID, says so itself, and adds the limit straight away: only eIDs that are technically integrated can be used, and not every eID or service supports it.

The Danish case also shows how the national eID treats people from outside. MitID can be created with a passport or a foreign identity card even without a Danish CPR number, using an 8-digit P code entered in the app instead. But according to MitID, most self-service solutions currently require a CPR number, and a MitID created with a P code cannot access them. An eID opens the door only as far as the bank on the other side has built it. For an account in another country that usually means: video identification or documents, not your home eID.

What this means for an account in another EU country

The legal basis exists in every member state; the offer does not exist everywhere. Which documents a bank accepts in the video procedure, and whether it requires an address in its own country, it decides for itself. For readers in Sweden, Denmark and Finland there is one more point: an account in another EU state is subject to the same EU bank recovery and resolution directive 2014/59/EU as the account at home. Opened online it is quick, but a second footing outside that regime it is not. For British readers it is the other way round: an EU account sits outside the UK's own resolution regime under the Banking Act 2009 and inside the EU one.

Switzerland: video and online since 2016, newly regulated from November 2026

Switzerland was one of the first financial centres to allow remote identification. FINMA Circular 2016/7 treats video identification as equivalent to appearing in person and online identification without a call as equivalent to a certified copy of the identity document. According to FINMA's press release of 8 October 2026, a partial revision has applied since 1 November 2026: it brings the Swiss e-ID as a means of identification, puts identity documents with a QR code on an equal footing and adds liveness detection, a check that a living person sits in front of the camera and not a picture. What that means step by step is set out in our piece on opening a Swiss account online under the FINMA rules.

Whether a Swiss institution takes you on digitally without Swiss residence is a matter of its business policy. The legal framework for it is in place.

United Kingdom and Singapore: permitted, but in the bank's hands

In the United Kingdom, under regulation 28(19) of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, information counts as coming from a reliable, independent source if it was obtained through an electronic identification process that is secure from fraud and misuse. Regulation 33 only treats a non-face-to-face relationship as higher risk where these safeguards are missing. Legally, then, remote identification is everyday practice. Whether a British bank takes on customers without an address in the country is its own call, based on its risk appetite. For British readers these are also the home rules: they are what a UK bank applies when you open an account at home.

Singapore takes the same path. MAS Notice 626 for banks requires, in paragraphs 6.27 to 6.29, specific policies for non-face-to-face business relationships and due diligence at least as stringent as for an in-person appointment. That does not rule out remote opening, but it shifts the decision entirely into the bank's risk management. The more clearly purpose and source of funds are documented, the more likely this route is to work.

Countries where a power of attorney opens the way

Beyond the major financial centres there are banking jurisdictions whose institutions run accounts for non-residents as their core business. There the opening often does not run by video but through certified documents and a power of attorney. Legally this works because the states involved are parties to the 1961 Apostille Convention: a British, Swedish, Danish, Finnish or Norwegian document with an apostille is recognised there without further legalisation.

One example is Georgia. According to the status notifications of the Hague Conference, two states objected to Georgia's accession and later withdrew their objections; the UK and the Nordic countries were not among them. Between Georgia and these countries the Convention has applied since 14 May 2007, the day it entered into force for Georgia.

How much preparation such a route needs depends less on the country than on the quality of your file: a power of attorney replaces the journey, not the checks. The bank looks at your documents just as closely as at an appointment in person. And where a bank offers none of these remote routes, only the appointment in person remains, whatever the country's law would allow.

Opened online does not mean invisible

The channel of opening changes nothing about the reporting duties. Under Annex I, Section IV of Directive 2014/107/EU a reporting bank in the EU must obtain a self-certification of your tax residence for every new account; the Common Reporting Standard provides the same for its participating jurisdictions, the UK and Norway among them. Whether you open by video, by eID or by power of attorney makes no difference. What is reported and where is explained in CRS explained. Opening and holding a foreign account is legal; its income belongs in the tax return of your country of residence, in the UK on your Self Assessment return.

Frequently asked questions about opening without travel

Is a national identity card enough for video identification, or do I need a passport? Video and online procedures check the security features and the machine-readable zone of your document. Which documents a bank outside your home country accepts is its own decision; with a passport you are on the safe side everywhere. The UK has no national identity card, so British readers use the passport anyway.

Can a company open an account by video? Not directly. By video the bank identifies the natural persons acting for the company, such as directors or authorised signatories. The company itself is verified from its register extract and corporate documents; under the UK Money Laundering Regulations, for example, the bank must obtain and verify the company's name, registration number and registered office address.

Is opening by power of attorney weaker than an appointment in person? Legally no, as long as the bank can check the documents under its anti-money laundering law. The apostille ensures that your certified documents are recognised in the bank's country without further legalisation.

Does the EU anti-money laundering regulation of 2027 change anything for me? From 10 July 2027 the EU has uniform routes: an identity document or electronic identification at least at the substantial level. Banks outside the EU, British banks included, stay under their own law.

What to prepare for an opening without travel

The less contact the bank has with you, the more your file has to speak for you. This list has proved itself:

• Passport with machine-readable zone and hologram. Video and online procedures check exactly these features.
• Proof of address in your name, recent and consistent with every other detail. Why that need not be an obstacle without a classic home address is explained in nomad banking: the address problem.
• Source of funds: payslips, sale contracts, inheritance documents, matching the planned deposit.
• Tax residence with the tax number of your country of residence for the self-certification.
• For the power of attorney route: notarial certification and apostille. Allow time for this, depending on the notary and the apostille authority.
• Stable technology for the video: good light, a quiet setting, a mobile number or email for the one-time code. If the image quality does not allow a check, the bank stops the procedure; the AMLA drafts for the EU from 2027 require exactly that.

The most common reason for failure is not a ban but an application at the wrong bank. An institution that handles non-residents only on the side rejects a remote opening faster than one for which it is everyday business. If you want to know which location with which identification route suits your profile, the free consultation is the shortest way to a reliable assessment.