Opening a corporate bank account in Singapore: Complete guide for entrepreneurs

If you’re launching your first business, you’ll need to understand the process for opening a corporate bank account in Singapore. As soon as you need to send or receive payments for your company, a business account is essential to help keep your finances in order. But opening a corporate bank account in Singapore can be a little confusing, with many different bank options, as well as non-bank alternatives like Wise Business.

This article cuts through the confusion, with a simple guide on selecting a corporate bank account, what documents are needed, and how to get started.

We'll cover:

Table of contents
Why open a business account? Factors to consider when choosing your business bank account Initial deposit Minimum balance Multi currency accounts availability Common fees to be aware of Special business features to look out for Timeframe Company bank account opening process

Why open a business account?

If you have a business, it’s important to open a business bank account in Singapore to keep your personal finances separate from your business finances. In fact, depending on the type of business you have, it may even be mandatory.

If you’re a sole proprietor you might not be obligated to have a business bank account - but it’s still good practice to make managing your money easier, and to help you stay compliant from a tax perspective.

Having a business bank account also helps create a professional impression with clients, and makes it far easier to track and improve your business performance. Plus, many business accounts offer perks which are not available to personal customers, such as batch payment solutions and integrations with cloud accounting tools.

Options like the Wise Business account also have powerful multi-currency solutions, which are essential for any business with customers, suppliers, contractors or staff overseas.

So - having a business bank account is important.

But choosing the right account can be confusing, as different banks and alternative providers all have their own features to consider. Let’s look at some important factors to consider when choosing.

Factors to consider when choosing your business bank account

Here are some important points to consider when you choose an account to suit your business needs:

Initial deposit

It’s very common to find that business bank accounts in Singapore require you to have a fixed minimum opening deposit to access your account.

Importantly, you’ll need to

• have this money already set aside when you open your account, and
• make a transfer into your new corporate bank account to complete the opening process.

The minimum initial deposit is commonly around 1,000 SGD when you open an account with a major bank - including the OCBC Business Growth Account¹, the Maybank Singapore Flexibiz Account² and the UOB eBusiness Account³.

💡If you're not ready to add so much money to your account right away, a business account from a non-bank provider like Wise Business can be a good solution, with no minimum deposit and no minimum balance to worry about.

Learn more about Wise Business

Minimum balance

The minimum initial deposit isn’t the only thing to think about when choosing the best business account in Singapore for your specific needs.

You’ll also want to look carefully at the minimum balance needed to avoid fall below fees.

To give an example, the DBS Business Multi-Currency Account⁴ doesn’t have a minimum initial deposit amount. However, to avoid paying a monthly service fee of 40 SGD, you must maintain an average daily balance of at least 10,000 SGD.

This is pretty common.

For the UOB eBusiness Account you’ll pay 15 SGD a month if you hold less than 5,000 SGD on average, while the OCBC Business Growth Account levies this fee if you have less than 1,000 SGD.

🤔 Another mechanic which may be used here is to have tiered interest on your balance, which means that even if you're not penalised for holding a smaller amount in your account, you'll only be able to earn the highest rate of interest offered if your balance is large.

Multi currency accounts availability

Businesses in Singapore very often have international links. Whether that’s using overseas suppliers, or having contractors abroad to support your service offering. If you need to pay or get paid in foreign currencies, having multi-currency features on your account is very useful.

You’ll find that many business bank accounts in Singapore do not offer much in the way of multi-currency features. The DBS Business Multi-Currency Account does stand out here as supporting a decent range of 13 currencies, but you’ll need to look at the fees for currency conversion before you sign up.

Another option is to open a specific business multi-currency account, like the Wise Business account, for your international transactions. Where Wise stands out is in offering multi-currency account details to receive foreign currency payments, and using the mid-market rate to convert currencies.

These options aren’t often available through Singapore bank business accounts.

Common fees to be aware of

Before you sign up for your account check the ongoing and unavoidable fees.

For example, with the OCBC Business Growth Account there’s both a monthly account fee and a monthly service fee - you can avoid the service fee with a minimum balance of 1,000 SGD, but the account fee of 10 SGD still applies⁵. DBS on the other hand has an annual or monthly account fee, and a service charge which can be waived with a minimum balance⁶.

You’ll also need to look at the fees for different types of transactions.

If you’re going to need to deposit cash to your account, for example, there may be a fee. Or, if you want to send money abroad to pay suppliers, you’ll find fees. DBS and OCBC both have fixed overseas payment fees for online transactions, but some banks like Maybank might have both fixed and percentage fees⁷.

This means that higher value transfers can end up costing a lot. Inward remittances also usually incur fees.

Special business features to look out for

One of the best things about business account services is that you’ll often access features which are optimised for business use. For example, you may find you can make batch payments, to pay many people by uploading a single spreadsheet. This can save time when managing contractor payments or employee payroll for example.

Or, you might have cloud accounting integrations to allow your account to seamlessly link to your preferred accounting solution. This saves time, but also reduces the risk of human error in accounting.

Other common business account features include ways to track team expenses and manage spending, by issuing business debit cards with fixed spending limits. This can speed up expense reconciliations while still allowing you to remain in control of when your team members spend.

Different features are available from different business accounts.

If you’re looking for things like working capital or loans, you may find a business bank account is your best option - but for things like accounting integrations, batch payments and company cards, a digital first provider like Wise Business can be a good bet.

Timeframe

Finally, check with your preferred provider how long it’ll take to apply for your account, get verified and receive account essentials like a debit card. How this works tends to depend on your specific business structure, and where your company is registered. Some accounts from Singapore banks aren’t offered to foreign owned businesses, for example, and opening an account for certain business types may take a little longer than for others.

Generally you can apply for your account online, at least if you’ve got a simple business structure and you have Singpass active for verification. If you have multiple directors or a foreign registered business you may find the bank asks you to visit in person to show your documents and get your account open.

🚀If you need to set up a business account quickly, why not consider Wise Business? Get set up in minutes, with no need to visit a bank - just use your laptop or phone, to enjoy fully digital services and low, transparent FX fees at the mid-market exchange rate.

Open a Wise Business Account

Company bank account opening process

Usually, the directors and authorised signatories of businesses are tasked with opening a corporate bank account. If someone else is opening an account on your behalf they’ll need proof of authorisation, which can make the process a bit more complicated.

In many cases you can open your account online by using Singpass for verification and your company UEN to check your business details. As we’ve mentioned, though, some business types or foreign-owned companies may still need in-person verification.

There’s always a verification process when opening a business account, to comply with law and keep accounts secure. This can look quite different depending on the bank or provider you pick and your business entity type. You’ll be able to check which documents are needed based on your business structure.

For example, if you’re a sole proprietor, the documents and information needed can include:

• Completed account opening form
• ACRA Business Profile Search
• ID, like your NRIC or passport
• Proof of address
• FATCA Self Certification or IRS Withholding Certificate for US persons

If you have a private limited company you may need all the above, plus:

• Account opening resolution
• Certified copy of Business Constitution
• Common Reporting Standard Form

Usually if there are multiple business owners, directors or stakeholders, all will be asked to provide ID and proof of address for checking.

Once you have submitted your paperwork for verification, online or in person, you’ll receive your account documents after approval. If there’s a minimum opening deposit needed this is payable at this stage.

Conclusion

Opening a business bank account is an important step that shows you've moved from treating your business as a hobby to running it seriously. Although the process seems a little daunting at first as you need to collect a lot of documentation and research the different business bank account options in Singapore, as long as you have a clear idea of what features your business needs in a business account, the procedures should be quite similar and straightforward across different providers.

If you want a business account that’s quick to set up and lets you manage multiple currencies for international payments with ease, consider Wise Business. Send and receive money internationally with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate.

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Sources:

1. OCBC Business Growth Account
2. Maybank Singapore - Flexibiz Account
3. UOB eBusiness Account
4. DBS Business Multi-Currency Account Starter Bundle
5. OCBC Business Banking Singapore - pricing
6. DBS - pricing
7. Maybank Singapore - Outward Remittance