UAE Bank Accounts, and Getting One
Forming the company is one process. Getting it banked is a different one, decided by different people, and it is the step that stalls most often. Picking the wrong account is the other way it goes wrong — quietly, and usually three months later.
The account types you can actually hold
Most people ask for "a business account" and are sold whatever the bank is pushing that quarter. The type matters more than the brand, because the type is what determines whether you can be paid the way your customers intend to pay you.
AED current account
The working account — cheque book, debit card, local transfers, standing instructions, direct debits. Every company needs one. Some entry-level packages are this and nothing else, which is the trap described further down this page.
Multi-currency current account
AED alongside USD, GBP, EUR and others held as separate balances rather than converted on arrival. Essential if you invoice or pay abroad, because it stops you paying an FX spread twice on the same money.
Call and savings accounts
Interest-bearing with instant access. Used to hold surplus that would otherwise sit earning nothing in the current account, and sometimes to meet a relationship balance requirement.
Fixed deposits
Term deposits at a set rate. Frequently used as security against a facility, a credit card limit or a bank guarantee rather than purely as an investment.
WPS payroll account
Salaries routed through the Wage Protection System to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. Required once you sponsor staff on mainland and in most free zones. Not every account is WPS-enabled — check before you hire.
Merchant and payment gateway
Card acquiring and online collection. A separate application from the current account, with its own underwriting, and often the long pole for an e-commerce business.
Escrow accounts
Ring-fenced accounts for property developers, project-based contracting and transaction completions. Specific banks, specific documentation.
Offshore and foundation accounts
For RAK ICC companies and foundations, which have no UAE licence and no visas. Far fewer banks will open these, and the ones that do apply more scrutiny. Possible, but not quick.
The major banks, and roughly who each suits
This is not a league table. Which bank says yes depends on your activity, your shareholders' nationalities and residence, where your money comes from and where it is going. A bank that is excellent for one client declines another on the same day.
Emirates NBD
The largest Dubai bank, with the branch network to match. Strong for mainland trading companies and established businesses. Onboarding is thorough rather than fast.
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)
The largest UAE bank by assets. The natural home for larger corporates, government-linked work and Abu Dhabi operations. Thresholds are higher than most.
ADCB
Competitive SME packages and a well-regarded digital platform. Read the product restrictions carefully before signing — see the SmartStart section below.
Mashreq
Long-standing SME focus, with NeoBiz as the digital route for smaller companies and conventional corporate banking above it.
RAKBANK
Historically among the more accessible banks for small free zone companies and first-time founders. Still a common answer for a one or two-person consultancy.
Commercial Bank of Dubai
A solid mid-market SME offering with decent digital tooling. Often overlooked and worth including on a shortlist.
ADIB, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic
Sharia-compliant equivalents across current accounts, deposits and financing. Same scrutiny, different product structure.
HSBC, Citi, Standard Chartered
International banks, generally for larger businesses or those connected to an existing group relationship abroad. High minimums, and they will usually say so early.
Digital banks
The digital banks have changed what a small company can expect. Onboarding measured in days rather than weeks, pricing published openly, and an application you complete from your phone. What you give up is the branch — cash handling, cheque clearing at a counter, trade finance and meaningful credit lines are either limited or absent.
For a services business invoicing clients electronically, that trade is usually worth making. For a trading company handling cash, cheques and letters of credit, it is not.
Wio Bank
Abu Dhabi-based and licensed by the Central Bank. Wio Business is app-first with plan-based pricing — an entry tier covering a set number of free local transfers, and a higher tier with unlimited local transfers and cheaper SWIFT. No minimum balance on either. Popular with free zone consultancies and small e-commerce businesses.
Mbank (Al Maryah Community Bank)
The UAE's first fully digital bank, based in Abu Dhabi. Its corporate platform is tied into arrangements with several free zone authorities, which can mean the account application runs alongside the licence rather than after it.
Mashreq NeoBiz
A digital SME account from a conventional bank, so you keep a branch network behind the app. A reasonable middle position if you want digital onboarding without giving up the fallback.
Zand
A digital bank weighted more towards corporate and larger business clients than towards micro-SMEs.
What it costs, and what to actually compare
The monthly fee is the number banks advertise and the one that matters least. The cost that moves real money is the relationship balance you have to keep parked, and the spread the bank takes when it converts your currency.
- Monthly maintenance fee — typically nil to a few hundred dirhams, often waived if you hold a balance
- Minimum relationship balance — the real cost. Ranges from nil at the digital banks to several hundred thousand dirhams at the conventional ones, with a monthly penalty if you fall below it
- Per-transfer charges — local transfers are cheap or free; SWIFT transfers are charged per transaction and vary widely between banks and tiers
- FX spread — the margin over the mid-market rate. Rarely published, almost never asked about, and usually the single largest banking cost for any company dealing in more than one currency
- Cheque book, returned cheque and cash handling charges
- Early closure fees — many banks charge if you close within the first six or twelve months
Ask about the spread before you ask about the fee
A company converting USD 50,000 a month cares enormously whether the spread is 0.4% or 1.5% — that is the difference between roughly USD 200 and USD 750 a month, every month. It will not care about an AED 150 maintenance fee. Banks lead with the fee precisely because the spread is where the money is.
A worked example of the wrong account
ADCB SmartStart Business Account
A genuinely attractive package on the face of it — no minimum balance requirement at all, free inward AED transfers, free WPS salary processing, free online local transfers, and a monthly fee of AED 131.25 including VAT. For a business invoicing UAE customers in dirhams it is a sensible, cheap account.
But per ADCB's own published schedule of fees, it is an AED-only account and cross-border transactions are not permitted. Foreign currency accounts are not allowed. Inward transfers in foreign currency are unavailable. Outward international transfers are unavailable. Foreign currency drafts are unavailable. The first time a client in Europe tries to pay you in euros, the money does not arrive.
Moving up to the full Business Choice or Commercial suite is not immediate either — it generally requires around twelve months of satisfactory account conduct, a local business address and the appropriate licence position, at the bank's discretion. So the decision you make in week one can hold for a year.
Which is why the question comes first
Before we recommend an account we ask four things: what currencies will you be paid in, what currencies will you pay out in, will you sponsor staff on WPS, and will you need to deposit cash or cheques. Those four answers eliminate most of the market and usually leave two or three sensible options. Choosing on monthly fee alone is how businesses end up switching banks in year two, which costs considerably more than getting it right in week one.
What the bank is actually assessing
Account opening is a compliance decision, not a sales one. The relationship manager wants your business; the compliance team decides whether to take it. Understanding what they look at is most of the work.
- Whether the activity on your licence matches what you say the business does
- Shareholder nationalities, residence and any connection to higher-risk jurisdictions
- Identification of the ultimate beneficial owners, verified independently of what you tell them
- Source of wealth and source of funds — where the money came from originally, not just where it sits now
- Expected turnover, transaction volumes and who your counterparties will be
- Physical presence and substance — a flexi-desk with no staff invites more questions than an office with three people in it
- Sanctions and politically exposed person screening on everyone involved
Nobody can promise you an account
Any agent who guarantees approval is either misleading you or arranging something you do not want to be part of. What we can do is tell you honestly, before you spend anything, how your case is likely to look, which banks are realistic for it, and what would make it stronger.
What we do
We handle bank account opening with the major UAE banks and the digital banks, for companies we have formed and for companies we have not.
- Matching the bank and the account type to the activity, currencies and headcount before any application goes in
- Preparing the KYC pack — corporate documents, shareholder identification, UBO register, address verification
- Building the source of wealth and source of funds file properly, which is where most applications fail
- Business plan and financial projections where the bank requires them
- Direct introductions to relationship managers rather than a cold web application
- Coordinating signatories, the account mandate, tokens and online banking setup
- Chasing applications that have stalled in compliance, and escalating where needed
- Reapplying with a different bank where an application is declined, having first established why
- Multi-currency, WPS registration, payment gateway and merchant account add-ons
Corporate tax registration, free with formation
Any company we incorporate gets its UAE corporate tax registration with the Federal Tax Authority handled at no charge. Registration is mandatory for UAE companies whether or not you expect to pay anything — including businesses that will fall under the Small Business Relief threshold — and the penalty for registering late is avoidable and annoying. We do it as part of the setup rather than selling it back to you afterwards. See accounting and tax for what follows it.
Get your account opened
Tell us what the company does, which currencies you will be paid in, and whether you will have staff on payroll. We will tell you which banks are realistic and what the application needs.
Questions We Get Asked
Why is opening the account harder than getting the licence?
Because the two decisions are made by different people against different rules. A licence is an administrative issuance. An account is a compliance decision taken under AML and counter-terrorist-financing obligations, and the bank carries the risk if it gets it wrong.
What documents will the bank want?
Trade licence and corporate documents, passports, visas and Emirates IDs for the shareholders, personal bank statements, proof of source of funds, a business profile describing what the company actually does, and the tenancy contract.
What minimum balance should I expect?
Roughly nothing to AED 3,000 with a digital bank, and AED 25,000 to AED 250,000 with a traditional one. That parked balance is usually the real cost of the account, not the monthly fee.
How long does it take?
About three to ten working days with a digital bank, and three to six weeks with a traditional one. A weak source-of-funds file is the most common reason for the longer end of that range.
Can a company with only non-resident shareholders open an account?
It is harder, and traditional banks frequently ask for a deposit of AED 500,000 or more. A digital bank or a structure with a resident director is usually the more realistic route.
What are the economic ties banks talk about?
Evidence that the business genuinely operates here — local suppliers and clients, real office space, resident directors, staff on payroll. A company with no visible footprint in the UAE invites questions the founder often cannot answer.
Why do accounts get frozen?
An expired trade licence, transactions touching a sanctioned jurisdiction, turnover that does not match what was declared at onboarding, or a large deposit with no invoice or contract behind it. Most freezes are avoidable with housekeeping.
My activity is crypto or precious metals. Can I get banked?
It is possible but it is specialist work. Expect to need the right licence, a named compliance officer, and a bank with a desk that handles the sector. Applying to a general SME desk wastes everyone's time.
Not Covered Above? Ask Us.
Send the question as you would ask it on the phone. One of the team answers it properly — not a template, and not a sales call dressed up as an answer.