Bank Accounts - why so difficult

Hi,
It can be easy or it can be difficult to open a bank account in Malta.
If you are an EU citizen residing in Malta you will have applied for an ID card to be issued (takes about 1 week).With the ID card application you declare to be a resident of Malta with all the consequences ( you cannot drive a foreign registered car, might have to pay taxes and so on)
With your ID card it is fairly easy to open your new bank account with HSBC for example.You just go to the bank and ask for a new bank account to be opened and pay in a minimum amount of money.

Without the ID card you go to the bank and will have to wait for a whole confirmation procedure through your home/previous bank.That takes time and might be difficult , depending on your home bank passing out the information.

If you from a non EU country it is basically the same procedure but more difficult as you need your residency permit to apply for the ID.And residency for non EU citizens is only granted under certain conditions and can take time to process.For that you go to the Dep.of Immigration and Citizenship in Valletta and apply and produce all the requested documents.

I think it is difficult in any country to open a bank account as a foreigner, not only in Malta.

Ricky

Ricky,

Thanks for that.

It seems to be different in all countries.  I have an account in Spain for which all I needed was my passport.

I am English but its much more complicated to open an account there....hehe
Thanks again

Jules

HSBC offer a service from various countries to set you up a new account in a country you may be moving to.  I used it from the UK and found it good.  I have heard of people using it from other countries (eg Canada) too.  There may be a charge for this service, and it may help if you're an HSBC customer to start with.

I also e-mailed Bank of Valletta from abroad.  They sent me a helpful message about what forms I would need to fill in.  I didn't take this forward, but I was impressed with their initial response.

Hope that helps.