Banking for Your Estonian Company

The banking reality

Estonian companies owned by e-Residents can use business accounts in any EEA country since 2019 — not just in Estonia (source: EU Payment Accounts Directive 2014/92/EU, transposed into Estonian law). This fundamentally changed banking for e-Residents. Instead of hoping for an account opening at an Estonian bank, you use payment service providers like Wise or Revolut with IBANs from Belgium or Lithuania.

Here's what surprises most new e-Residents: you won't get a traditional Estonian bank account easily. Estonian banks (like LHV, Swedbank, SEB) have been very restrictive about account openings for non-residents since 2020. Most applications get rejected if you can't demonstrate significant revenue in Estonia or a local connection.

The good news: you don't need one. Payment service providers cover everything an e-Resident company needs.

Wise Business — the default choice

About 80% of e-Residents use Wise as their primary business account (source: Xolo Blog, as of 2025). Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a UK-licensed payment service provider offering business accounts with multi-currency functionality. The main advantage: currency conversion at the mid-market rate — no hidden markup.

Wise Business in detail:

• No monthly account fee — but a one-time fee of ~50 EUR to activate your account details (IBAN and local receiving numbers)
• Multi-currency — hold 50+ currencies, convert at mid-market rate
• EU IBAN — Belgian IBAN (BE prefix), works everywhere in SEPA
• Low fees — 0.4-0.6% for currency conversion (as of July 2026)
• Local receiving details — USD, GBP, EUR, AUD and more account numbers in the respective country
• Xolo integration — transactions sync automatically
• Visa debit card — works worldwide, contactless, Apple/Google Pay

Wise earns from conversion fees, not hidden spreads. When you convert 1,000 USD to EUR, you see exactly what you get and what the fee is. Traditional banks charge businesses 1.5-3% spread on currency conversion — often without the business noticing.

Setting up Wise Business

1. Sign up at wise.com/business
2. Verify your identity (passport + proof of address)
3. Connect your Estonian company (registry code + articles of association)
4. Activate your EUR account — you'll get a Belgian IBAN
5. Order a business debit card (optional, recommended)

The entire process takes 1-3 business days. Identity verification is the slowest part — expect 24-48 hours. Once the account is active, you can receive payments immediately.

Wise Business fee structure

Source: wise.com/pricing, as of July 2026.

Revolut Business — the alternative

Revolut Business is the second most popular option among e-Residents. The company is licensed as a bank in Lithuania (since 2018) and also offers multi-currency accounts.

The free Revolut plan has limitations on the number of free transfers and currency conversions. For most e-Residents with moderate transaction volume, it's sufficient. For higher volume, you need the Growth or Scale plan (from 25 EUR/month, as of July 2026, source: revolut.com/business).

One area where Revolut beats Wise: virtual cards. You can create unlimited virtual cards — practical for different subscriptions or expense categories. Wise doesn't offer this to the same extent.

Revolut obtained a full European banking license through its Lithuanian subsidiary in 2023. This means: deposit protection up to 100,000 EUR for Revolut accounts in the EU. This doesn't apply to Wise — Wise is a payment institution, not a bank. Whether that matters in practice for your business account is covered in the "Bank vs. payment institution" section below.

Estonian banks: LHV, Swedbank, SEB

Traditional Estonian banks are an option — but an increasingly unrealistic one for most e-Residents. Since 2020, all three major Estonian banks have tightened their requirements for non-residents. The rejection rate is estimated at 80-90%.

LHV Pank

LHV is the only major Estonian bank actively working with e-Residents. The terms are excellent:

• No account maintenance fee
• Free SEPA transfers
• MasterCard debit card with no annual fee
• ATM withdrawal: 1 EUR in the EU (as of July 2026, source: lhv.ee)
• Estonian IBAN (EE prefix)

Fun fact: LHV is the bank that Wise (TransferWise) uses for European payments. The connection between Wise and the Estonian banking system runs through LHV.

Opening an account at LHV: Fill out the online application, wait for a positive response, complete in-person identification at an LHV branch with passport and e-Residency card, debit card delivered within one week. The problem: in-person identification requires physical presence in Estonia. For most e-Residents who don't live in Estonia, that's a dealbreaker.

Swedbank and SEB

Both are large Scandinavian banks with branches in Estonia. Both rarely accept non-residents as business customers. Requirements:

• Significant revenue in Estonia (typically: from 50,000 EUR/year)
• Demonstrable economic ties to Estonia
• In-person identification on-site
• Account fees: 5-15 EUR/month (as of July 2026)

For most e-Residents, Swedbank and SEB are not a realistic option.

Payment institutions: Paysera and others

Beyond Wise and Revolut, there are other payment institutions that work for e-Resident companies.

Paysera

Paysera is a Lithuanian payment institution that has existed since 2004 and is regulated by the Lithuanian Central Bank. Account opening takes one day — faster than Wise.

Advantages:

• Fast account opening (1 day)
• Lithuanian IBAN (LT prefix)
• Low fees for SEPA transfers (0.15 EUR per transfer)
• Debit card available
• Good usability

Disadvantages:

• No integration with Xolo or other service providers
• Limited multi-currency functionality
• Less well-known among international clients

Paysera works well as a backup account. If your Wise account is temporarily restricted (happens rarely, but compliance reviews do occur), you have a second channel for payments.

Other options

• Payoneer: Popular with freelancers who work through platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. Receives payments in USD, EUR, GBP. Higher fees than Wise (1-2% conversion).
• Mercury: US-focused. Only makes sense if you primarily do business in the US. Not suitable for EU-focused companies.
• Holvi: Finnish payment institution, IBAN from Finland. Regulated by the German Bundesbank. Integration with some accounting tools. Monthly fee from 6 EUR/month (as of July 2026).

For most e-Residents, Wise remains the best choice. The integration with service providers (especially Xolo), the multi-currency functionality, and the low fees make the difference.

My recommendation

If you run a company through a service provider like Xolo: Wise as primary account, Paysera as backup. If you work a lot with crypto or need many virtual cards: Revolut instead of Wise. But don't mix all three — that creates bookkeeping chaos that your service provider will charge you for.

Bank vs. payment institution — the difference

Wise, Revolut, and Paysera are not banks in the traditional sense. They are payment institutions or electronic money institutions. The difference is regulatory — and for you as an e-Resident, irrelevant in most cases.

What does this mean for you?

For a business account where you receive payments and pay expenses, the difference makes no practical difference. You don't need loans from your Estonian bank (there are other sources for that). You don't need deposit protection for 100,000 EUR (your company's capital shouldn't be sitting idle in the business account).

Wise holds customer funds in separate safeguarded accounts at established banks. In the event of a Wise insolvency, customer funds would be separated from the insolvency estate (source: wise.com/help, as of July 2026). This isn't a theoretical risk — but it's a different protection mechanism than classic deposit insurance.

Practical tips

Here are the banking strategies that have proven themselves in practice.

Invoicing currency: Invoice in EUR when possible. Even if clients pay in USD or GBP — EUR as your base currency simplifies accounting. Your Estonian annual report is prepared in EUR. Every foreign currency transaction creates an exchange rate difference that needs to be recorded.

Separate accounts: Keep business and personal finances strictly separate. Use Wise Business only for business transactions. Your personal Wise account (if you have one) is a separate account. Don't mix personal expenses with business expenses — that causes bookkeeping problems and can raise questions during a tax audit.

Save for taxes: Set aside 30-35% of planned dividend distributions. The Estonian corporate tax rate on dividends is 22/78 (22% of the gross distribution, as of July 2026, source: Maksu- ja Tolliamet). If you want to pay yourself 1,000 EUR in dividends, your company pays 282 EUR in corporate tax. The tax only applies on distribution — not on reinvested profits. More in the Tax Guide.

Regular conversion: If you receive income in foreign currencies, convert to EUR regularly. Not all at once, not all at month end. A good rhythm: weekly or after each larger payment receipt. This averages out the exchange rate.

Backup account: Consider a second account at Paysera or Revolut. Not as an active account, but as an emergency option. If Wise restricts your account temporarily for compliance reasons (rare, but it happens), you have an alternative.

Automatic categorization: If you use Xolo, Wise transactions sync automatically. But check the automatic categorization monthly. Sometimes the software categorizes an expense incorrectly — that only shows up during the annual report review.

Upload receipts immediately: Upload receipts and invoices to your accounting system right after purchase. Xolo has an app with photo upload. If you collect 3 months of receipts and then upload everything at once, you'll forget half of them. That creates gaps in the bookkeeping that your service provider has to painstakingly reconstruct — and will charge for.

Communicate payment terms: Set clear payment terms on your invoices. 14 days is standard for B2B. For international clients: 30 days. Wise shows you in real-time when payments arrive. Use the Wise app for push notifications on incoming payments so you can follow up on outstanding invoices quickly.

Cost summary

Monthly banking costs for a typical e-Resident company:

For most e-Residents: banking costs effectively 0 EUR/month with Wise after the one-time ~50 EUR setup fee, as long as you work in EUR. For foreign currencies, conversion fees of 0.4-0.6% apply. At 3,000 EUR/month revenue in USD, that's 12-18 EUR/month — significantly less than any traditional bank (as of July 2026).

For comparison: a business account at a traditional bank costs 0-10 EUR/month at an online bank, 15-30 EUR/month at a branch bank. International transfer fees at traditional banks are 3-5x higher than Wise.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Estonian bank account?

No. Since 2019, Estonian companies can use business accounts in any EEA country. A Belgian IBAN from Wise or a Lithuanian IBAN from Revolut works just like an Estonian IBAN. The Estonian tax authority, your service provider, and your clients accept all EEA IBANs. The only case where an Estonian IBAN has advantages: when a client or partner explicitly requests an EE IBAN. That rarely happens.

What's the difference between a bank and a payment institution?

Banks hold a full banking license, can issue loans, and are covered by deposit protection (100,000 EUR per customer). Payment institutions like Wise hold customer funds in separate safeguarded accounts at partner banks. They cannot issue loans. For a business account where you receive payments and pay invoices, the difference makes no practical difference. You need neither credit nor deposit protection for your company's working capital (source: EU Payment Services Directive PSD2, as of July 2026).

Can I use my existing bank account from another country?

Technically yes — your Estonian company can have an account in any EEA country. But: your service provider (Xolo, e-Residency Company, etc.) needs access to your transactions for bookkeeping. Automatic integration only works with Wise and partially with Revolut. With a bank account from another country, you'd need to manually upload bank statements every month. That's error-prone and time-consuming. Recommendation: Wise as primary business account, your existing bank only for special cases.

Which IBAN do I get with Wise?

A Belgian IBAN with the prefix BE. The IBAN is issued by Wise's partner bank in Belgium. It works across the entire SEPA area — all EU countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and others. SEPA transfers to your BE IBAN take 1 business day, just like to an Estonian EE IBAN.

What happens to my money if Wise goes insolvent?

Wise holds customer funds in separate safeguarded accounts at established partner banks, separated from its own company assets. In the event of a Wise insolvency, these funds would be separated from the insolvency estate and returned to customers. That's the protection required by the EU Payment Services Directive. It's not identical protection to classic deposit insurance (which guarantees 100,000 EUR per bank), but a solid regulatory framework. Recommendation: don't keep more in your business account than you need for 2-3 months of operating costs (source: wise.com/help, FCA regulation, as of July 2026).

Continue reading

• Sending Your First Invoice — Get started after banking is set up
• Taxes Explained — What to consider with distributions
• Choosing a Service Provider — Pay attention to banking integration
• After Registration — All next steps at a glance