Diversify Your Assets: Take Advantage of Serbian Banking

Serbia is a European country that has the status of an EU candidate, and it is developing at a tremendous speed. Belgrade is turning into an international business hub little by little, and the banking sector is doing its best to be attractive for non-resident individuals and legal entities – and it succeeds in doing so! We recommend Serbian banking as you will get European-quality banking services at much lower fees than on average in Europe! Prices may go up when Serbia joins the EU, but you can take advantage of lower rates right now. There are many local and international banks here where you can open multi-currency accounts for your needs.

We would like to invite you to our portal where you will find more info on Serbia, including such aspects as relocation, starting (or re-domiciliation of) your business, opening personal and corporate accounts, living standards, real estate, and much more. You can book an initial session with our specialist (that will cost you nothing) to discuss your needs and decide whether Serbia will meet them – or find another jurisdiction that will be more suitable. We have a local office in Belgrade, and we can help you with account opening or any other administrative issues. Get in touch with us for a smooth experience!

Opening a Personal Account in Serbia: Advantages

Serbian banks are quite advanced when it comes to the range of services they provide, so you are sure to find what you are looking for. As the Serbian economy is rapidly developing and foreign investors are active here, Serbian financial institutions have considerable experience in dealing with local and non-local account holders.

Let’s look at the main benefits of opening an account in Serbia:

• You can open an account in RSD and other currencies
• Your deposit up to 50,000 euros will be reliably insured (Serbia is not an EU member and it has its own system for bank deposits insurance)
• You will be able to seamlessly receive and send payments to foreign and local bank accounts
• Transfers are available in the most widespread currencies: CHF, USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, RUB, NOK, SEK, AUD, and CNY
• Serbian banks issue debit and credit cards to make payments and cash withdrawals convenient
• You will get your personal manager to address any financial issues you may have
• You can use SWIFT and Eurogiro to transfer the funds from foreign accounts to a Serbian account
• The bank will give you access to a convenient online platform and a mobile app to manage your account from any place in the world

Documents to Submit

The documents you will need to provide to open a personal bank account in Serbia are basic:

• A copy of your passport or any other ID document
• EU citizens or residents can provide a residence permit or an ID card
• Proof of residence address (a utility bill/bank statement no older than 3 months is usually enough)
• Proof of the legal origin of funds
• Bank forms you will need to fill out on-site in English and Serbian (if you don’t know Serbian, our representative will accompany you and help you)

Additional documents will be requested if the bank wants to know more about you as a potential customer.

You will have to visit Serbia to open a bank account, so you need to agree on the date and time of your arrival at least 10 working days in advance to make sure our representative is available.

We will give you recommendations on how to fill out the bank forms and answer the questions asked by bank employees to reduce the risk of being turned down to a minimum. However, we cannot give a 100% guarantee as the final decision is made by the bank.

Dealing with Serbian Banks: An Important Feature

Most Serbian banks will be happy to onboard you. However, you should be prepared for their increased attention in the first month as this is the time when they take a meticulous look at your transactions to make sure you are a reliable client. Once they’ve made this decision, you will not be under such scrutiny anymore!

It practically means that you are required to keep in touch with the bank all the time during the first month. They may call you and ask you to provide explanations and/or supporting documents on your transaction, and you will have to comply within 24 hours. Otherwise, the transaction may be frozen, and you will have some more questions from the bank before you can proceed.

We know very well how frustrating it may sound to busy people, so we have a service you are sure to appreciate. You can specify our office in Belgrade as a second point of contact, and if they fail to get you on the phone, they will reach us. We will answer their questions and keep up your reputation as a reliable customer. 

The first few transactions are usually the most critical ones, and we will cover them for free! However, if you want to extend the service, we will be happy to continue providing it at a modest fee.

Bank Fees

Let’s look at how much Serbian banks charge for their services. This is an approximate estimate, but you can get in touch with our experts to find out the exact figures:

• You will need to pay a monthly maintenance fee of RSD 50 (for a foreign currency account) or RSD 250 (for an account in RSD)
• Transfer to a business account within Serbia will cost 0.1% of the amount (at least RSD 200)
• Transfer to a foreign currency personal account in another Serbian bank will cost 0.3% of the amount (at least RSD 300)
• External transfer will cost you 1%
• Transfers abroad will cost from 10 to 30 euros depending on the amount
• The money received from abroad is subject to a fee that may vary greatly (from RSD 20 to RSD 5,000) depending on the amount

Opening a Serbian Account: Procedure

• Get in touch with our experts to make a final decision
• Pay a fee for our services
• Collect the documents and submit them to our experts for a final check
• Agree on the date of your visit to Serbia
• Fill out the forms on-site and wait for the bank’s decision

Interested in keeping your assets in a safe place? Click on the above link and discuss the issue with us right now!