The Best Digital Banks for E-Residents Seeking an Estonian Bank Account

UPDATE February, 2024: Wise has has confirmed to have re-opened onboarding of Estonian businesses (including ones created by e-Residents)

Are you an e-Resident researching the intricacies of obtaining an Estonian bank account? A common misconception is that you must have an Estonian bank account for your Estonian-based entity. However, since 2019, the share capital can be paid in with any European payment institution that can provide the required certificate. Consequently, there are limited scenarios where an e-resident’s company would need an actual Estonian bank account.

Digital bank accounts, often referred to as fintech solutions, are becoming increasingly popular. This is primarily because a digital bank account can be set up entirely online, eliminating the need for any direct ties to Estonia.

In this article, we’ll delve into some of the top digital banks that e-residents can consider for their Estonian bank account needs.

Key Takeaways:

• Pros and cons of various fintech companies.
• Silva Hunt’s top recommendations.
• Note: These aren’t traditional banks, so there are certain limitations, such as the inability to get credit cards, earn interest on savings accounts, obtain loans, or have overdrafts.

Payoneer: Your Global Payment Solution

What is it known for?

Looking for a versatile and efficient way to manage international transactions? Payoneer might be your ideal choice. Renowned for its ability to handle multi-currency transactions with competitive foreign exchange (FX) fees, Payoneer stands out in the global financial landscape. It’s a go-to for businesses, freelancers, and online sellers needing to send and receive payments worldwide.

For e-residents and international businesses, Payoneer offers an attractive proposition. By using our special link – Click here to sign up for Payoneer – clients can enjoy enhanced terms, including a reduced 1.8% withdrawal to bank fee and a 0% loading fee for all bank transfers.

What can you do with the Payoneer Business account?   

• Virtual IBAN in 10+ Currencies: Get a virtual IBAN within one business day, facilitating easy international transactions.
• Global Swift WIRE Account: Receive payments in USD, Euro, and GBP from over 200 countries.
• Marketplace Integration: Seamlessly receive payments from 2000+ global marketplaces.
• Supplier Payments: Conveniently pay suppliers, contractors, and individuals in over 200 countries.
• Multi-currency MasterCard: Access a Payoneer Multi-currency MasterCard, free of commission.
• Support for Crypto tech development: Payoneer supports companies dealing with crypto technology or marketing related to Crypto/high risk businesses
• FINRA Insurance: Each account is insured by FINRA, offering full coverage of up to $250,000 USD.
• Tier 1 Bank Partnerships: Ensures reliability and security in transactions.

Limitations:

• Payoneer does not support earning interest on account balances.
• Certain types of transactions, such as cash or cheque payments, may not be supported.
• Does not support cryptography currency or transaction of crypto

Costs:

• No monthly fees for maintaining a Payoneer account.
• Enhanced terms for clients using the affiliate link, including lower withdrawal and loading fees.
• Competitive FX fees for currency conversions.

Payoneer emerges as a robust and flexible financial tool, especially for businesses and individuals engaged in international trade or services. Its ability to handle multiple currencies, along with its crypto-friendly stance and strong security measures, makes it a compelling choice for a wide range of financial needs.

Wise: Your Digital Alternative for an Estonian Bank Account

What is it known for?

Want to make transactions with multiple currencies up to 6 times cheaper than traditional banks or 19x cheaper than Paypal? Then you should consider Wise, formerly known as Transferwise. Wise is well known for their mid-market exchange rate policy for all transfers, which makes their conversion fees one of the lowest. Furthermore, Wise is more transparent about their fees than any other fintech solution. You can find out exactly what their fee consists of here.

You can open a business bank account easily and integrate it with Stripe or Paypal with direct debits to your native accounts.

What can you do with the Wise Business account?   

• Pay in the share capital for your Estonian OÜ and get a certificate that proves it.  
• Get a local bank account number without having a local address in the USA, Australia, UK, Hungary, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore and Europe (Belgium IBAN).   
• You can hold up to 50 currencies on your account. 
• Possible to get a debit card (backed by Mastercard). Find out if your desired country is on the list.
• Manage your finances with a user-friendly mobile app.  
• Wise API lets you connect your company account with your business tools. 
• You can set up direct debits.  
• Get fast customer support.  

Limitations  

• Doesn’t support cryptocurrency. You can’t send money to a cryptocurrency platform. You can receive money to your Wise account from a platform that deals with cryptocurrencies — as long as the platform is regulated and/or supervised in the EU or UK.
• Your money is protected and safeguarded, but not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
• Wise doesn’t accept cash or cheque payments to your account.  

Costs

There are no monthly fees to maintain a Business account with Wise. For an Estonian business, there is only a 50€ set-up fee to get an IBAN number and the possibility to withdraw money from platforms like Shopify and Stripe for example.  Sending money to another Wise Business account is free. However, sending money to a non-Wise account will always be charged, even for domestic transfers.  You can withdraw money from an ATM up to 200£ /month without being charged, over that + 0.50 EUR per withdrawal.

If you transfer money to another currency the conversion fee starts from 0.35%.

Read about the prices in more detail here  and sign up here.

PS! Thresholds and fees to hold EUR have changed from 18.th Jun 2022:

• It’s free for businesses to hold any amount of EUR funds on the account.

Revolut: An Alternative to Estonian Bank Account With a Supreme UX

What is it known for?

Another Fintech company that has rapidly grown is Revolut. Similarly to Wise, Revolut also offers cheap currency transfers. It is especially well suited for people who travel a lot and send money to other Revolut accounts. Revolut is often praised for their supreme user experience on their app. Compared to Wise, Revolut has many additional whistles and bells in their app, having especially great features for budgeting.

 What can you do with the Revolut business account?  

• Get a local bank account in EUR (LT IBAN) or GBP.  
• Hold more than 30 currencies on your account and spend money abroad at the real (interbank) exchange rate.  
• You can track your spendings and categorize them in their mobile app.   
• Their premium package provides Global medical insurance.    
• Open API to automate payments and connect to platforms (like Xero & Stripe).  
• You can set up direct debits.  
• You can trade in cryptocurrency, stocks, commodities, gold etc.   
• They have a bank licence, which means that your holdings are guaranteed up to 100 000 EUR.  

Limitations  

• Can’t pay the share capital as they don’t provide a certificate to confirm payment of share capital to a registration court.  
• Higher transfer fees on the weekends.  
• No cash or cheque deposits are accepted to your Revolut account.  
• Because Revolut has a banking licence it is harder to open a business bank account than with Wise. More documents need to be presented and it might take a longer time than expected. They can decline your application if their compliance department finds your business too risky.  

Costs

Unlike Wise and Paysera, Revolut charges business accounts based on a monthly fee not based on a percentage fee with each transfer. Which can make Revolut much more expensive, especially if you don´t have a lot of transactions. Revolut´s business package offering starts from 25 EUR a month.

Of course, you could try the free package, however, a big drawback is – you won’t be able to connect your business tools with the Revolut API, do bulk payments or manage team members permissions. You can get a more detailed overview of their prices here.

Revolut has a neat feature for traders. As an investor you will have access to commission-free trades – Metal users can access unlimited commission-free trades a month.

When it comes to local transfers you can do a certain amount of transfers for free (depending on your package), if you go over you´ll be charged +0.20€ per local transfer.

Be aware that Revolut adds  +0.5% to currency exchange fees on weekends. This is added to all major currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD, NZD, CHF, JPY, SEK, HKD, NOK, SGD, DKK, PLN, and CZK). So you should plan your transactions more if you want to avoid this fee.

Paysera: popular for online shop owners

What is Paysera known for?

Paysera is often used by e-shop owners as it provides a great payment gateway API.

They seem to be quite innovative and ambitious, for example, you can collect payments with premium-rate SMS messages. You can get an idea about how it works here.

 In order to open a bank account for your business, you need to have a personal account with them first.

What can you do with Paysera?  

• You can pay in the share capital.  
• You will get 2 different IBANs – an IBAN in BGN and an IBAN in EUR.  
• SEPA Instant transfers in EUR.  
• Provides payment gateway API.  
• Collect payments with premium-rate SMS messages.  
• You can set up direct debits.  
• No charge for currency conversions inside your account.  
• Hold up to 30 currencies on your account  
• Make money transfers to over 180 countries.   
• You can deposit cash to your Paysera account by going to any EasyPay office or via a B-Pay ATM.  

  Limitations

• Doesn’t support cryptocurrency  
• If you keep money and make payments in non-euro currency, the funds are automatically converted into euro.  
• Paysera payment cards are issued to all countries, however, the delivery is only possible to the EEA countries.  
• Your money is protected and safeguarded, but not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).  

Costs

Transfers in euros: when a payment is done to another Paysera account in the EU the transaction is free. When the transfer is done to a bank account in the EU the fee is 0,20€.

Transfers outside of Europe cost 1€ for businesses. You can see other currency fees here.

If your company is registered in Estonia the business account set up is for free.

Intergiro: Tailored for Businesses

What is Intergiro known for?

Intergiro focuses only on providing accounts for businesses.  They give you a highly customisable API, which is great for digital businesses who want to build their own banking service.

This digital bank doesn’t use chatbots and likes to keep the customer support personal. For this reason, their clients really like their smooth onboarding process.

What can you do with Intergiro?  

• Can support 10 currencies.  
• You can pay in the sharecapital.
• Multi-currency accounts are available in USD, GBP and EUR.  
• You can build a customised payment solution for your product. Choose custom expiry dates for your MasterCard.  
• Onboard fast in a more personal way.   
• You can trade with licenced cryptocurrencies.  
• Intergiro helps you to get PCI compliant.  
• You can control your employees account permissions and limits.  
• Your IBAN receiving bank details will be Swedish.  

Limitations 

• Doesn’t have as many currency options yet as others on this list.  
• Their SEPA IBANs can accommodate SEPA credit transfers only, but not Direct Debit for the time being.   
• Your money is protected and safeguarded, but not guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).  
• No cash deposits are accepted.  

Costs

Opening an account is free. Getting an account with multi-currency IBAN price starts from 30€ a month the package is called Growth. With this package the multi-currency payments cost 1%. ATM withdrawls cost 1.50€ each.

For large or complex businesses, they have a custom package. You can see their services in more detail here.

The fintech market is brimming with solutions, but only a handful stand out as reliable alternatives to a traditional Estonian bank account for e-Residents. This article has highlighted the pros and cons of these fintech platforms, aiding you in making an informed decision based on your requirements.