Best Bank Accounts in Europe for a Residence Permit, Digital Nomad Visa, or Business

Which bank to choose in Europe depends on the intersection of two factors — the applicant’s profile (relocating on a residence permit, Digital Nomad status, or business) and the country of application (Spain, Portugal, or France) — not on an abstract “best banks” ranking.

In short

• A personal deposit account for a residence permit and a corporate account for business are different tools — don’t mix them.
• When calculating the annual threshold for Spain’s Digital Nomad visa, use the official calculation method based on 200% of the SMI, not the monthly rate multiplied by 12.
• The EU’s €100,000 deposit limit for Russian citizens is lifted only by EU resident status, not by correspondence with the bank.
• In Portugal, the path to a resident card through AIMA stretches to 6–9 months, and a working non-resident account is needed the whole time.
• A bank is entitled to close a non-resident account without explanation, so it’s worth keeping several banks in reserve.

Payment Account with a Neobank vs. Bank Account: What’s the Difference

The two types of accounts differ in their legal nature, and the name of the bank is secondary here. A payment account is what a neobank offers: an app, a card, a transfer in a few taps, opening takes 15 minutes. It covers the first weeks after relocating, when there’s no local tax number or resident card yet, but you already need to pay — for a taxi, groceries, the first night in an apartment. Many neobanks issue a working card the same day, and you can live on it for the first few weeks while paperwork is being processed (terms depend on the specific provider).

A bank account with a credit institution opens more slowly: it requires documents and often an in-person branch visit. In practice, statements from this type of account are the ones most often accepted as proof of income when applying to renew residence status, although formally the requirement concerns having financial resources in general, not a specific account format. Its role doesn’t end there: without such an account, you won’t be able to arrange long-term rental with direct debit, connect utilities in your own name, or get a mortgage. The neobank stays a everyday wallet, while the bank account becomes a financial address in the new country — salary from a local employer, taxes, and major payments run through it.

Two Account Profiles: Personal for a Residence Permit and Corporate for Business

Relocating on a residence permit or the Digital Nomad route hinges on a deposit account with statements — these are checked by the immigration authority. Business hinges on a different tool: a separate bank account opened in the name of a registered company. These are two different profiles, and in each country the law draws a line between them not just formally, but in substance.

For a business account, the bank requires a local tax number and a confirmed business address. You can’t open it in the name of an individual or a future company: first comes company registration or self-employment registration, only then the account under it.

Mixing these two profiles is the most common mistake at this stage. A personal deposit account for a residence permit and a corporate account for business solve different problems and are checked by different authorities, so running business turnover through a personal account, or trying to satisfy a residence permit requirement with a business account, won’t work.

Mixing these two profiles is the most common mistake at this stage.

How Much Income Is Needed for Digital Nomad Status and Financial Independence

Income thresholds depend on the route and the country, and the figures differ noticeably.

Route	Income threshold	Feature
Spain, Digital Nomad visa	about €2,850/month	tied to the minimum wage
Spain, financial independence (non-lucrative)	about €28,800/year per applicant + €7,200 per family member	passive income required
Portugal, remote work	about €3,680/month	plus a separate savings amount of about €11,000 in the account

With Spain’s Digital Nomad visa there’s a common trap here: the Spanish minimum wage is traditionally paid in 14 installments a year, not 12, so when calculating the annual threshold it’s worth following the official calculation method based on 200% of the SMI, rather than simply multiplying the monthly rate by 12 — otherwise you risk understating the required amount and filing with a shortfall. An applicant who takes the monthly rate and multiplies it by 12 gets an understated figure that may not meet the real threshold — the calculation looks correct on paper, but in practice it’s a refusal and lost time before a new application can be filed.

For the financial independence route, what matters isn’t just the amount but the nature of the money: passive income is required, and a statement showing active work counts against the applicant.

Income in currencies other than the euro — dollars, pounds, rubles — is converted at the exchange rate on the day documents are filed, and the rate can shift during preparation. So it’s worth building in a buffer of about 10–15% above the threshold ahead of time.

Spain: The Non-Resident Certificate and Choosing a Bank

Entry into the Spanish banking system rests on a pair of documents: the foreigner identification number (NIE) and the non-resident certificate — a statement confirming the applicant lives outside Spain. The certificate costs about 10 euros and takes about 10 days to issue; some banks handle obtaining it for a separate fee.

For the residence permit and Digital Nomad profile, non-resident accounts are opened by four major banks: CaixaBank, BBVA, Santander, and Sabadell. CaixaBank operates in more than 20 languages and has the largest branch network. Santander has a digital arm, Open Bank, through which a Spanish account can be opened remotely, without a branch visit — in practice this matters more than it seems.

For the business profile — a self-employed person (autónomo) or a registered company — Conta is an option alongside traditional banks: a business neobank with Spanish accounts, invoicing, and the ability to pay taxes directly to the tax agency from the app. Service costs from about 9 euros a month for a self-employed person. But Conta only opens under an already-registered autónomo status or company, not instead of that registration.

What’s Needed to Open a Non-Resident Account in Spain

• NIE (foreigner identification number)requiredthe basic document for any transactions in the country
• Non-resident certificaterequired~€10, takes about 10 days to issue
• Registered autónomo status or a registered companyneeded to open a business account, including Conta
• Choosing a bank for your profilerequiredCaixaBank, BBVA, Santander (Open Bank), Sabadell
• Checking the certificate’s validity periodrequiredrenew every 2 years, or every 6 months at some banks

Portugal: NIF, Fiscal Representative, and Millennium BCP

The starting point in Portugal is the same for every profile — the Portuguese tax number, NIF: without it, no account can be opened at all. An EU citizen gets the NIF for free at the tax office in a single visit. A citizen of a non-EU country needs a fiscal representative with an address in Portugal — this service costs between 150 and 400 euros a year.

For the residence permit and remote work profile, Millennium BCP is most often cited — the country’s largest private bank with international service. Its digital arm opens a non-resident account in 1–3 days and lets you start with a foreign tax number while the Portuguese one is being processed. The monthly fee is usually 5–7 euros and is often waived when a salary is credited or a minimum balance is maintained.

For business in Portugal, the same rule applies as in Spain: a corporate account only opens under a company already registered in the country.

Timing for obtaining status deserves separate attention. Due to a backlog at the immigration authority AIMA, the path to a resident card stretches to 6–9 months — meaning more than half a year passes between the decision to relocate and holding the resident card. Throughout that time the applicant remains a non-resident, which is why the account opened at this stage matters so much.

France: Why There’s No Digital Nomad Visa and How to Open a Non-Resident Account

France has no separate Digital Nomad visa — unlike Spain and Portugal. Remote workers enter through other statuses, most often an investor visa or the Talent Passport.

The picture for non-resident banking is uneven. Major traditional banks — BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole — serve non-residents through separate international divisions. BNP Paribas has had such a structure for non-residents in place since 2018. At Société Générale, a non-resident can open an account at about 27 branches, but only with an in-person visit: the bank doesn’t accept online applications.

French online banks — Boursobank, Fortuneo, and others — almost all require French tax residency, and a non-resident will be refused. For a quick start there’s Nickel: the account opens with almost no conditions, including at a tobacco shop. For business in France, Conto is the option — it opens under a company already registered in France.

There’s also a right to an account here: if banks refuse, the Banque de France can assign one by force. But this safeguard applies only to French citizens and residents — the right to an account kicks in only after status is obtained. At the start, as a non-resident, the applicant is left facing the policy of a specific bank alone, and the account can be closed without any explanation.

At the start, as a non-resident, the applicant is left facing the policy of a specific bank alone, and the account can be closed without any explanation.

Non-Resident Banks in Three Countries: Where to Start

Table scrolls sideways

Country	Spain	Portugal	France
Starting document	NIE + non-resident certificate	NIF (non-EU citizens need a fiscal representative)	no separate document required to start
Bank for residence permit/nomad profile	CaixaBank, BBVA, Santander, Sabadell	Millennium BCP	BNP Paribas, Société Générale (in-person only)
Fast option without a branch visit	Open Bank (Santander)	Millennium BCP digital arm, 1–3 days	Nickel — almost no conditions
Bank for business	Conta (under an already-registered autónomo/company)	under an already-registered company	Conto (under an already-registered company)
Key risk	certificate must be renewed every 2 years or more often	6–9 month wait for the resident card	no Digital Nomad visa, limited access to online banks

Data is based on information in this article; individual bank terms may change

Deposit Limits for Russian Citizens and Deposit Insurance

An EU regulation with restrictive measures bans credit institutions from accepting funds from Russian citizens if the total value of money held at a single institution exceeds 100,000 euros. The key word is total: all of a client’s accounts at that bank are counted together, regardless of their type or purpose — personal, corporate, savings.

There’s one exception to this rule: holders of a temporary or permanent residence permit in an EU country are exempt from the restriction. It’s specifically resident status that lifts the limit, and nothing else substitutes for it — correspondence with the bank, explanatory letters, goodwill from branch managers have minimal effect. What settles the matter is holding a resident card.

There’s a recurring source of confusion here. In Spain there’s a second figure — the same 100,000 euros, but that’s the amount covered by the deposit guarantee fund in case of a bank’s collapse. The matching numbers are misleading: a person at the bank brings up deposit insurance and gets an answer from an entirely different area of regulation. These are different things — one is about protecting the client’s money, the other is about restricting where it can be placed.

How Long the Certificate Lasts and When a Bank Can Close an Account

The Spanish non-resident certificate that the account depends on isn’t valid indefinitely: it generally needs renewing once every 2 years, though some banks require it every 6 months. Miss the renewal, and the account closes automatically, with no further notice or review.

This is a specific case of a broader rule: until resident status is obtained, a bank is entitled to close a non-resident account without any explanation. Formally, this risk isn’t limited to Spain: until resident status is secured, a bank in any of the countries covered here is entitled to close a non-resident account without stating a reason.

The same applies at the entry point. A bank having a product for a given profile only means the product exists in its lineup — the bank decides on each application separately and is entitled to refuse a non-resident without stating a reason. Challenging such a refusal is practically impossible: there’s no appeal mechanism for a non-resident here. The practical takeaway is to keep several banks in reserve rather than rely on just one.

Challenging such a refusal is practically impossible: there’s no appeal mechanism for a non-resident here.

Frequently asked questions

What to do if the non-resident certificate in Spain has expired and the bank has already closed the account

You’ll need to apply for the certificate again and open the account from scratch — the bank won’t reinstate the old account after an automatic closure. Until resident status is obtained, a bank is entitled to close a non-resident account without any explanation and without warning. The practical takeaway is to track the certificate’s validity yourself and renew it in advance, rather than waiting for a reminder from the bank.