Business Bank Accounts in Ireland for New Companies in 2026

An Ireland business bank account gives a new company a euro IBAN, SEPA payments across the euro area and one place for customer receipts, supplier bills and payroll. Money held at an Irish bank is protected up to €100,000, and the two largest banks waive maintenance and transaction fees for start-ups for two years.

Getting approved is the hard part. Since Ulster Bank and KBC left the market, only three high street banks remain, and they prefer companies that already trade in Ireland. Expect a branch identity check or an adviser meeting, questions about turnover you do not have yet, and a review that can take weeks. Refusals are common.

This is where we come in. Our regulated banking partners open multi-currency accounts for newly formed Irish companies in days, fully online, with no minimum balance. We build your KYC file, prepare the documents, make the introduction and can form the company for you first. You deal with one team from the first call to the first payment.

Our licensed and highly rated banking providers open an Ireland business bank account for companies formed only days ago, with no trading history needed and no branch visit.

Why Business Bank Accounts in Ireland Are Hard for New Companies

Business bank accounts in Ireland for new companies take more work to open, because the banks build their process for companies that already trade here and whose directors they can meet. A company formed last month has no trading record and no banking history, so it waits longer and answers more questions. Refusals and long delays are common, and most come from a poor fit with the bank's rules rather than a problem with the company. These are the reasons to understand before you apply.

Only Three High Street Banks Are Left

Ulster Bank announced its withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland on 19 February 2021 and closed its last 63 branches on 21 April 2023. KBC Bank Ireland announced its exit in April 2021, moved its loans and deposits to Bank of Ireland on 3 February 2023 and handed back its banking licence on 30 April 2024. That leaves AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB as the three pillar banks for everyday business banking. Every new Irish company now queues at the same three onboarding teams, and a decline at one leaves only two more to try.

No Trading History Yet

AIB's company account form asks for years in business and estimated annual turnover, and, where available, the latest audited accounts, six months of bank statements and a bank reference. A new company can support none of those with evidence. The bank then has to judge the business from a plan and the people behind it, which is the kind of file reviewers handle slowly and carefully. For business bank accounts, Ireland's banks price that uncertainty in time: more questions and a longer review. Our guide to a business bank account for a newly formed company looks at this stage in more detail.

In-Person Identity Checks

AIB's online account opening route still ends in a branch. Once the application is signed electronically, each person has eight business days to prove identity and address in an AIB branch. Bank of Ireland does not take limited company applications online at all: the company books a meeting with a business adviser. For a director who lives in Lisbon or Toronto, AIB's branch check alone means a trip to Ireland before the company can take its first payment.

Directors and Owners Who Live Abroad

The rules for forming an Irish company only ask that one director lives in the European Economic Area, or that the company holds a Section 137 bond of €25,000 for two years. Banks go further in practice. AIB's company form tells applicants to talk to the bank first if any individual is non-resident, because it may need more information, and PTSB offers its business overdraft only to people over 18 who live in the Republic of Ireland. If your owners live abroad, our guide on how to open a business bank account in Ireland as a non-resident covers that route in depth. This page stays with the new company.

Ownership Held Through Another Company

AIB's online route is open to a limited company with up to five directors that is wholly and directly owned by those directors and is registered and trading in the Republic of Ireland. A company owned by a holding company, a trust or a shareholder who is not a director falls outside it and goes through a longer branch process. The bank also wants the home address and occupation of every person who owns or controls 25% or more, and those details have to match the company's filing with the Register of Beneficial Ownership. Our guide to the ultimate beneficial owner shows how control is traced through each layer.

Source of Funds and Sector Checks

Every Irish bank must identify its customers and understand where their money comes from under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. For a new company, that means evidence of where the opening capital came from, how the business will earn money and which countries it will deal with. Crypto, gaming, money services and cash-heavy businesses get extra scrutiny, and many are declined whatever the quality of the file.

What to Do After a Refusal

Irish banks rarely explain a decline, and the next bank may ask whether you have been refused before. Work out which rule you missed before you apply again: the branch check, the ownership, where the directors live, the sector or missing evidence. Some of these cannot change quickly, so do not send the same file to the next bank. Open a partner account so the company can trade, and go back to an Irish bank once the company has statements and a filed annual return.

Read more: why banks reject business account applications.

Irish Banks for Business Accounts in 2026

Three high street banks provide business bank accounts in Ireland for new companies in 2026: AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB. All three are authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland, and their maintenance fees are low, from €4.50 to €15 a quarter. The problem is everything around the fee: in-person checks, a charge on almost every transaction, costly international payments and reviews that are slow for a company with no history. Our guide to the best banks for Irish companies looks at each one in more depth.

Read the second and third columns together. All three banks will open an account for an Irish limited company, but each one wants to see the people, and AIB's quickest route only fits a company owned directly by its own directors and already trading in Ireland. Credit unions can take local businesses, including some limited companies, but only inside their common bond, and Croí Laighean Credit Union, for example, says it does not offer business current accounts. When founders ask for the best business bank account, Ireland's honest answer depends on where the owners live and how the money moves.

Charges on Almost Every Transaction

The quarterly fee is only the entry price. Bank of Ireland's business schedule effective 14 September 2026 charges €0.10 for each automated transaction, €0.60 for each paper or counter transaction and €0.60 for every credit transfer paid into the account. AIB charges €0.20 for each debit card payment, direct debit and online transaction. Cash costs €0.45 per €100 lodged at AIB and €0.60 per €100 at Bank of Ireland, and Bank of Ireland's Business On Line service adds €10 a month. A company that takes many small payments pays for each one.

Costly International Payments and Currency Margins

AIB's schedule of international transaction charges effective 1 July 2026 sets €15 for a standard non-SEPA payment sent online and €22.50 for an urgent one, plus €6.35 for each incoming foreign payment above €127. Bank of Ireland charges €12.50 to €17.50 for a standard international payment on Business On Line and €37.50 to €42.50 for a same-day one, and adds a buy and sell margin whenever currency is converted. AIB applies 1.75% to foreign card spending. For a new company that sells to the UK or the US, these lines soon cost far more than the quarterly fee.

Start-Up Offers Come With Conditions

Both large banks run start-up offers. AIB waives maintenance and transaction fees for two years, excluding cash handling, on its Business Start-up Current Account for businesses trading less than three years that open one for the first time. Bank of Ireland's Business Start-Up package is for businesses that have been trading for less than 36 months and waives transaction and maintenance fees for 24 months, with cash charges still applying. Both offers cover the account's own fees; international payments sit on separate schedules. And neither offer changes who the bank accepts: it only helps once the account is open.

Slow Onboarding Built Around the Branch

AIB says it takes about five business days to open an account once it has everything it needs. For a new company, getting to that point is the slow part: the adviser meeting or branch ID check, the ownership details, the tax self-certifications and the answers to follow-up questions. Bank of Ireland may also need a legal report on the company at account opening, charged at €31 depending on the company type. Each gap restarts the clock, and at the end of it the answer can still be no.

Read more: Bank of Ireland business account fees and how to open one and our guide to business bank account requirements.

A Faster and Cheaper Way to Open an Irish Business Account

There is a better route for a new company. Instead of waiting for a branch appointment and a review built for established businesses, you can open an Irish business account with a regulated payment partner that works with newly formed companies every day. Our partners open multi-currency accounts in days, fully online, with no minimum balance and low or no opening fees, and they charge far less for international payments and currency exchange. The account receives customer payments, pays suppliers and staff, and holds euro next to other currencies.

The table is honest both ways. On the maintenance fee alone an Irish bank is cheaper, and a start-up offer can make it free for two years. Almost everything else favours the partner route for a new company: it opens in days rather than weeks, nobody travels to a branch, and every payment that crosses a border costs less. Our guide to a business bank account vs an EMI account sets out the differences in more detail.

How to Open a Business Bank Account in Ireland for a New Company

Here is how to open a business bank account in Ireland with our partners, in four stages. First, we check that the company and its owners fit the partner's criteria, which usually takes a day. Second, we build the KYC file with you from the documents the company already holds. Third, the partner runs its checks and verifies identity online, usually within 2 to 4 days of a complete file. Fourth, you fund the account from the source you declared and start using it, with cards, payment approvals and user controls for your team. Our guide on how to open a business bank account remotely shows how each check works from a distance.

An EU IBAN Must Be Accepted in Ireland

Some founders worry that an IBAN that does not start with IE will cause problems with customers, employers or suppliers. EU law says otherwise. Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, stops a payer or a payee from specifying which EU country a euro account must be located in, as long as the account can be reached through SEPA. The Central Bank of Ireland calls a refusal IBAN discrimination, said in June 2022 that the obligation applies to all organisations, including businesses and State bodies, and takes complaints at ibandiscrimination@centralbank.ie. The rule protects accounts located in the EU, so ask which IBAN your account will carry before you open it. Our guide to IBAN accounts for businesses explains how IBANs work across countries.

How Client Money Is Protected

A payment partner does not lend out client money. It safeguards it: customer funds are kept apart from the firm's own money, usually in designated accounts at banks, or covered by an insurance policy. The Central Bank of Ireland, for example, set out its safeguarding expectations for the payment and e-money firms it authorises on 10 December 2025, and says it has no tolerance for weaknesses in these arrangements. Safeguarding is not the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which covers banks, building societies and credit unions, so many companies keep reserves at a bank and run daily payments through the partner. Read what an EMI account is for how this works in practice.

Documents Needed for an Irish Business Bank Account

For a new business bank account, Ireland's banks and our partners ask for the same three groups of papers: the company's own documents, identity and address evidence for each person involved, and proof of what the business does and where its money comes from. A new company has the first two ready within days of incorporation. The third is where most files fall short, because there is no trading record to show yet.

For the Company

Expect to provide the certificate of incorporation, the company constitution, the CRO number and the registered office address in Ireland. Add the register of directors and members, an ownership chart that reaches every beneficial owner and a board resolution that opens the account and names the signatories. The ownership details must match the Register of Beneficial Ownership filing, which is due within five months of incorporation. The bank can check the company's record itself through a search of the Companies Registration Office.

For Each Director, Owner and Signatory

Each person gives a valid passport, driving licence or national identity card and a proof of address, such as a utility bill or a letter from a regulated financial institution, as AIB's company form lists. The bank also collects the home address and occupation of everyone who owns or controls 25% or more, and a tax residence self-certification under FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard, with a foreign tax number for anyone who is tax resident abroad. Directors without an Irish PPS number will already have an Identified Person Number from the CRO filing, and that paperwork helps here too.

For the Business and Its First Money

This is the part a new company has to build from nothing. Write a short business plan with the activity, the countries you buy from and sell to, expected turnover for the first year, typical payment sizes and how much will arrive as cash. Show where the opening capital came from, such as the shareholders' own statements or the sale of an earlier business, and add signed contracts, letters of intent or a first invoice if you have them. Our guide to source of funds and source of wealth explains what reviewers accept.

Tax Registration and Certification

Banks ask for the company's Irish tax reference once it exists. Revenue registration runs on Form TR2 through the Revenue Online Service and needs the CRO number first, so file it in the week the certificate arrives. Copies of documents for anyone the bank does not meet in person are usually certified by a lawyer, notary or accountant, and documents in another language need a certified English translation. Start the certification early, because it is a common cause of delay.

Read more: documents needed to open a business bank account and Irish company formation requirements.

Ireland Business Bank Account Costs

An Ireland business bank account costs more than its maintenance fee. Irish banks charge €4.50 to €15 a quarter to keep the account, but the real bill comes from transaction fees, charges on money coming in, international payments, currency margins and cash handling. The table sets published Irish bank charges against our partners' plans. For a wider view, see our guide to business bank account fees.

The local bank column comes from the published schedules: AIB's account fees and its schedule of international transaction charges, both effective 1 July 2026, Bank of Ireland's business schedule effective 14 September 2026, and PTSB's business fee page. The FX line is a market range, because banks do not print their margin on most transfers. The partner column comes from our partners' published plans and the usual pricing of regulated payment firms. Treat both columns as planning ranges: the final price on either route is confirmed in writing before the account opens.

The money sits outside the maintenance fee. A new company that converts €400,000 a year at a 1% to 3% bank margin pays €4,000 to €12,000 for foreign exchange alone, against €1,000 to €4,000 at 0.25% to 1.0%. Ten standard international payments a month at AIB's €15 add €1,800 a year, and each one that must arrive the same day costs €37.50 to €42.50 at Bank of Ireland. A wholesaler that receives 200 customer transfers a month at Bank of Ireland pays €1,440 a year just to be paid, at €0.60 a credit. These are the lines where Irish banks earn their money, and the lines where our partners cost far less.

To be fair to the banks, AIB at €4.50 a quarter and PTSB at €8 a quarter are far cheaper than our partners' plans on the maintenance fee, and a start-up offer can remove the maintenance and transaction fees for two years. A small company that only pays and gets paid in euro inside Ireland may find a high street Ireland business bank account cheap overall. The partner route wins as soon as money crosses a border or the company needs its account this month: lower FX margins, cheaper international payments, no branch visit and several currencies in one account.

How Long an Ireland Business Bank Account Takes

AIB gives one clear figure: about five business days to open an Ireland business bank account once it has everything it needs. For a new company, getting to that point usually takes longer than the review itself, and several weeks in total is common. Our partners usually open an account within 2 to 4 days of a complete file.

What Slows It Down

Delays usually come from waiting for an adviser meeting or a branch check, ownership held through another company, a thin source-of-funds story, a business plan without numbers and tax self-certifications that do not match the passports. Each round of follow-up questions adds days. A company whose directors cannot come to a branch may not move at all at some banks.

How to Speed It Up

Start the bank file in the same week as the company. Get certified documents ready for every director and owner before you apply, send one complete file and answer questions the same day. If the company needs to invoice now, open a partner account first, so trading never waits for a branch appointment. For business bank accounts, Ireland's new companies lose the least time when both routes are planned from day one.

What Happens After the Account Is Open

Approval of an Ireland business bank account is the start of an ongoing relationship with checks and reporting. Irish banks and payment partners both review their customers over time, report accounts under international tax rules and expect to hear about changes before they happen.

Regular Reviews

Banks refresh customer files every few years, and sooner for higher-risk profiles. Expect requests for updated passports, proof of address, the latest accounts and a current ownership chart. Late or incomplete answers are a common reason for accounts being restricted or closed, so treat each request as a deadline.

Changes You Must Report

Tell the bank before you add a director or owner, move the company's management, start a new activity, sell into new countries or change the size of your payments. A sudden change the bank cannot explain looks like a risk, even when it is simply growth.

Tax Reporting Under CRS and FATCA

Irish financial institutions report accounts held for foreign tax residents to Revenue each year under FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard, and Revenue passes the details to the countries where the account holders are resident. That is why the bank asks each controlling person for a tax residence self-certification at the start. An Irish account is private, but it is never hidden from tax authorities.

Deposit Protection for Irish Companies

The Deposit Guarantee Scheme covers deposits up to €100,000 per person per institution at banks, building societies and credit unions authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland. Companies are protected depositors unless they are banks, insurers, funds, public authorities or certain other financial firms, and AIB states that the scheme must pay verified depositors within 7 working days of a failure. The limit applies per institution, so a company holding more than €100,000 should spread its reserves. Money held with a payment partner is protected by safeguarding instead.

Keeping the Company in Good Standing

The bank also watches the company itself. The first annual return, Form B1, is made up to the date six months after incorporation, and a late return costs €100 plus €3 a day, up to €1,200. Keep the beneficial ownership filing current, because the bank's records have to match it. A company struck off the register ceases to exist, and its account goes with it.

Why the Company Comes Before the Account

No bank or partner can open an account for a company that does not exist yet. The file starts with the CRO certificate, the constitution, the registers and the ownership details, and the Irish tax number only follows the CRO number. So the order is always company first and account second, and the company registration process is where the bank file really begins.

We form standard Irish private companies limited by shares from €1,899, usually in about a week, with the CRO filing, the registered office and the company secretary at formation included. Funds, regulated firms, trusts and high-risk activities are quoted separately. The KYC file we build for the company is the same one the account needs, so nothing is prepared twice and you can open an Irish business account days after the certificate arrives. Our guide to the cost of starting a company in Ireland sets out the rest of the first-year budget.

Read more: how to set up a company in Ireland and Ireland company formation with a bank account.

Common Ireland Business Bank Account Mistakes

Most refusals and delays on an Ireland business bank account follow a small number of patterns. These are the ones we see most often when a new company works out how to open a business bank account in Ireland.

Following an Out-of-Date Bank List

Lists written before 2023 still name Ulster Bank and KBC. Neither takes new business customers in the Republic of Ireland: Ulster Bank closed its last branches on 21 April 2023, and KBC's Irish loans and deposits moved to Bank of Ireland on 3 February 2023. Check that a bank is still open to new companies before you fill in its forms.

Applying Before the Company Is Registered

Some founders ask a bank to open the account while the CRO filing is still pending. No bank can onboard a company without a certificate and a CRO number. Form A1 can only be filed online, and the certificate is issued electronically, so apply the day it arrives, with the tax registration already under way.

Planning Around a Branch Visit You Cannot Make

AIB wants an in-branch identity check within eight business days of the online application, and Bank of Ireland meets limited companies through a business adviser. Founders abroad often apply first and plan the trip later, and the eight-day window runs out. Check how identity is verified before you start, not after.

Weak Source-of-Funds Evidence

A one-line note that the capital came from savings is rarely enough. Reviewers want statements, sale contracts or dividend records that prove it. Without them, a new company's application stalls, even for an owner with nothing to hide.

Looking Only at the Maintenance Fee

A fee of €4.50 a quarter looks cheap until the company starts paying abroad. At €12.50 to €42.50 per international payment, €0.60 per incoming credit at some banks and a currency margin that is never printed, a company with foreign suppliers can pay many times its maintenance fee in charges. Model a normal month of payments before you decide.

Turning Down a Non-Irish IBAN

Some founders refuse an account because its IBAN does not start with IE, then wait weeks for an Irish bank instead. Under the SEPA Regulation, a customer, employer or supplier paying in euro cannot insist on an account in a particular EU country. If someone refuses your IBAN, report it to the Central Bank rather than changing banks.

Waiting Weeks With No Way to Get Paid

A company that cannot receive customer money or pay suppliers loses business while a bank decides. Opening a partner account first lets it trade from the first week, and any bank that reviews the file later sees an active, well-run company.

Bottom Line

Business bank accounts in Ireland for new companies come from two places: three high street banks that prefer companies already trading here, and regulated payment partners that work with new companies every day. The banks' maintenance fees are low and their start-up offers are real, but a new company with no history, or with owners abroad, faces branch checks, long reviews and high charges on every payment that crosses a border.

For most new companies, the best business bank account in Ireland to start with is a partner account, opened in days, online and with no minimum balance. We form the company, build the file and open the account with you, and an Irish bank can be added later once the company has a trading record.