High-risk businesses are quite legitimate, and yet they find it hard to find a suitable jurisdiction and bank to fulfill their business needs. If you address a reputable bank, it is highly likely that it simply does not work with high-risk businesses. And if you choose a less popular bank, it may turn out that it does not satisfy your requirements (for example, it is not crypto-friendly). There are also banks that charge exorbitant commissions for high-risk businesses, and entrepreneurs would prefer to avoid them in many cases. As you see, an ideal bank for this kind of business is not that easy to find.
In this situation, professional advice is simply invaluable. We know how to help high-risk businesses get a corporate account, and we can open it for you, too. You can visit our portal to read an article on how to open an account for a high-risk business and find more articles on the same topic. We write about international business, banking, investment, and more. Feel free to take advantage of our knowledge base of articles!
You can also book a free initial session with our expert to get updated information, ask questions, and provide additional data. We charge nothing for analyzing your situation and finding the best possible solution for your case. If you want to get a fully functional account without much hassle, you can buy a turnkey package of services. We will open an account for you in no time with your minimum involvement. Give your business a chance – contact us!
This post is devoted to opening a bank account for a high-risk business in an African institution. It is suitable for all kinds of business, of course, but high-risk ones (such as forex, gambling, etc.) will find really good conditions here. We can open an African bank account for your business within a limited timeframe (one week), and you will not have to fly to the country: the account for a non-resident company can be opened remotely.
Why Africa?
Opening an account for a high-risk business may sometimes take months due to thorough due diligence checks. Even if a bank agrees to consider a high-risk business, it will play safe and take all steps to find out everything about the potential customer to make sure it will not be involved in any illegal activities and the bank’s reputation will not be tarnished.
Does it mean that the African bank we offer does not make such meticulous checks or does not comply with international requirements? No, it does not. However, the procedure will be completed within no more than one week. It gives businesses an opportunity to use SWIFT transfers, benefit from a sufficiently wide range of banking services, and manage their account from any place in the world using convenient access online or an easy-to-use mobile app.
How Does It Work?
There is a standard solution: you open an account in a bank abroad and manage it directly. However, this process is becoming more and more complicated at times, and this is where an alternative solution comes in: you can use a custodial account set up by a trustee on your behalf.
This option will make it possible for you to:
- Establish a multicurrency account
- Accelerate the procedure considerably
- Save on the costs involved (this procedure usually means that you will have to make a lower initial deposit than in the case when you open an account directly on behalf of your company)
- If the bank has any questions about your transactions, you will have a trustee to answer them
Who can be your trustee? Well, we have a partner in the African country of Rwanda, and it is a trust company that is entitled to special conditions of cooperation with local banks. It has the right to independently complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and set up sub-accounts for its customers.
As a result, your application is checked independently from the bank, so the procedure is much faster. If all the documents are prepared correctly and all the bank forms are duly completed (and we will help you do that), the process will not take more than one week. However, this in no way means that the account opened in this way can be used for any illegal practices that are not compliant with the established rules and regulations.
Can you trust the trustee? This is a good question, and you should know that the account our partner opens is in your company’s name and you will fully control it. The trust company will never meddle with your business except for the cases when the bank makes a request about a particular transaction.
We don’t choose any random African bank: we have selected a number of them to get the best possible conditions for our customers. Here are the financial institutions that proved to be the most beneficial for the companies we cooperated with:
- Compagnie Générale de Banque (Cogebanque)
- Equity Bank Rwanda Limited
- Guaranty Trust Bank (Rwanda) plc (GTBank Rwanda)
- I&M Bank (Rwanda) – formerly known as Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR)
- Ecobank Rwanda
- Bank of Kigali, and more.
We strongly recommend that you establish two accounts for your company. Having one account is always risky as it can be frozen or blocked due to some reason. And though the problem may be temporary, it may affect your business in an adverse way. Diversification will help you to simply switch to another account and avoid interruption of business operations.
African Corporate Account: Main Features
Let’s take a closer look at the African banks that open accounts for high-risk businesses:
- Non-resident companies have the right to use the services (however, we can help you register a local entity if you want. Mind that you will need a resident director to manage it)
- The banks accept high-risk businesses on a par with others
- The African banks listed above offer quick SWIFT transfers (the SEPA system is unavailable)
- The base currencies that the banks work with are, predictably enough, euros and US dollars
- The minimum required deposit is 250 euros
- African banks may be meticulous in their checks, and they sometimes invite company representatives to visit the bank in person to give explanations about a transaction. This is one more reason to use the services of a trust company as its representative will manage all these affairs on-site.
Interested? Click on the link above to see the procedure of account opening or use a live chat to book a free session with a qualified expert!
