Our valued sponsor

Personal UAE bank accounts? Which one is the easiest to open?

B

blancmon229

Member Plus
Aug 15, 2023
141
110
28
UAE
#1
Register now
You must login or register to view hidden content on this page.
If someone is a resident of UAE and has an Emirates ID, how easy is it to open a personal bank account through the bank apps vs in person?

Do any have no mimimum deposit?

Which bank, ENBD, ADCB etc... ?

How do they mail you your debit card if you don't have a UAE address because you don't reside there?
 
  • Sad
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: youston, Rome and jafo
#4
blancmon229 said:
You can have a residence permit for a country and not live there. I don't see the problem.
Click to expand...
Residence permits mean nothing. Banks don't really care about those. Don't think your chances of opening a personal bank account in UAE are very high since you're a non-resident... Unless you deposit seven figures, in which case you can get better services elsewhere.

You can try Wio or Zand, though.
 
#5
Sols said:
Residence permits mean nothing. Banks don't really care about those. Don't think your chances of opening a personal bank account in UAE are very high since you're a non-resident... Unless you deposit seven figures, in which case you can get better services elsewhere.

You can try Wio or Zand, though.
Click to expand...
You can easily open a UAE bank acct (ENBD or ADCB ) through their app if you have a emirates ID and salary contract, I'm just not sure about the physical address. What about staying there for a couple days and using an airbnb or hotel address until you get the debit card? Or using a flexi desk? or forwarding service?
 
#6
Sols said:
Residence permits mean nothing. Banks don't really care about those. Don't think your chances of opening a personal bank account in UAE are very high since you're a non-resident... Unless you deposit seven figures, in which case you can get better services elsewhere.

You can try Wio or Zand, though.
Click to expand...
One might wonder about your smoking preferences as well. If you have a residence permit (i.e. Emirates id) it is vastly easier to open a personal bank account in the UAE than without one, even if you dont actually physically reside in the UAE, and dont get your income from the UAE, and dont deposit any money.
I managed to open 3 personal bank accounts in the UAE in the first few weeks after getting my Emirates id, and staying at short term accommodations and with no local income. Only deposited the minimum to get a credit card at one of them. Had no problems, no rejections. For one I admit I used a contact who gave a "warm" intro, but would probably have worked without that.

And they send the cards with courier/delivery service to any local address you give them.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: jafo and scooterguy
#7
Cloudbanck said:
One might wonder about your smoking preferences as well.
Click to expand...
Only the wackiest of tobaccies.

I might be biased. Have seen several people with Emirati IDs but no genuine residence running around getting rejected by every bank, except Wio and/or Zand. Maybe it is possible, though. Each situation being unique and all that.
 
#8
Sols said:
Only the wackiest of tobaccies.

I might be biased. Have seen several people with Emirati IDs but no genuine residence running around getting rejected by every bank, except Wio and/or Zand. Maybe it is possible, though. Each situation being unique and all that.
Click to expand...
Yeah, could depend on what type of visa one has, and other factors. I was advised for one bank that with remote worker visa, one should go to the Dubai mall branch as they are familiar with this visa, and that other branches would reject you.
The size of the foreign income, and what country it comes from, and if you are an employee or have your own business probably matters too. Guessing a large income as an employee of a well known western company helps.
 
#9
Sols said:
Residence permits mean nothing. Banks don't really care about those. Don't think your chances of opening a personal bank account in UAE are very high since you're a non-resident... Unless you deposit seven figures, in which case you can get better services elsewhere.

You can try Wio or Zand, though.
Click to expand...
I think Zand doesn't allow registering with personal accounts, only corporate. wio is still good for personal though.
 
#10
Cloudbanck said:
One might wonder about your smoking preferences as well. If you have a residence permit (i.e. Emirates id) it is vastly easier to open a personal bank account in the UAE than without one, even if you dont actually physically reside in the UAE, and dont get your income from the UAE, and dont deposit any money.
I managed to open 3 personal bank accounts in the UAE in the first few weeks after getting my Emirates id, and staying at short term accommodations and with no local income. Only deposited the minimum to get a credit card at one of them. Had no problems, no rejections. For one I admit I used a contact who gave a "warm" intro, but would probably have worked without that.

And they send the cards with courier/delivery service to any local address you give them.
Click to expand...
What proof of address did they ask for if any?
And how do you top up the minimum balance, meaning do you deposit cash upon opening, or just later on they allow you to wire in the minimum?
 
#14
blancmon229 said:
If someone is a resident of UAE and has an Emirates ID, how easy is it to open a personal bank account through the bank apps vs in person?

Do any have no mimimum deposit?

Which bank, ENBD, ADCB etc... ?

How do they mail you your debit card if you don't have a UAE address because you don't reside there?
Click to expand...

I found it very easy to open an account with WIO using their app. It took like 5 minutes. There's a question about your sector of employment and a salary range. They didn't ask for any proof of employment. I don't remember them asking for a proof of address either but I can be wrong (I'm a resident of Dubai). Once the account approved, you receive a virtual card which I added to my iphone wallet and started using it for payments. Then I asked for a physical card which was mailed to my address in Dubai.
WIO Bank do not have their own branches. The only way to provision your account is through transfers from other banks.
I think it's worth trying. The app will ask you to scan you Emirates ID first then go through the questions. If they ask for something you don't have then you can just cancel the process.
I don't think you're required to have and address in Dubai altogether. When I first came to Dubai a couple of years ago, I opened an account with CBD. I didn't have an address at the time, so the agent used the address of the hotel where I was staying. The CBD debit card was mailed to me and I received it at the hotel. Here in Dubai, courier companies always call you and ask you where to find you to give you your courier.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: blancmon229
#15
I tried literally last week with Emirates NBD, I'm with emirates ID but they asked for 6 months of transaction history of my country of residence bank, printed, stamped, tranlated and legallized. PDF version printed there won't do the trick since they want it to be stamped by the bank. So you have to fly back to your home country to print that s**t then spend thousands for translation and legalization. What complete non-sense.

That wasn't the case with ADCB but i was introduced there. Also they don't deliver anymore to hotel addresses, it has to be residential address.

Those neo banks recommended above WIO and the other, are they good for 7 figures?
 
  • Like
Reactions: FreedomSearcher
#17
PinkCat said:
That wasn't the case with ADCB but i was introduced there. Also they don't deliver anymore to hotel addresses, it has to be residential address.
Click to expand...
ADCB is the easiest. Go to their Ubank location in city walk, get your account opened in 20min and receive debit card + checks at the same time. No proof of address needed, not even salary certficate. Although you need to write ur salary for a current account .
 
#18
blancmon229 said:
ADCB is the easiest. Go to their Ubank location in city walk, get your account opened in 20min and receive debit card + checks at the same time. No proof of address needed, not even salary certficate. Although you need to write ur salary for a current account .
Click to expand...
so just emirates id and passport right?
that was they asked me, but the welcome pack (card etc) was delivered like a week later though.
I went for the exelency acc though
 
#20
PinkCat said:
I tried literally last week with Emirates NBD, I'm with emirates ID but they asked for 6 months of transaction history of my country of residence bank, printed, stamped, tranlated and legallized. PDF version printed there won't do the trick since they want it to be stamped by the bank. So you have to fly back to your home country to print that s**t then spend thousands for translation and legalization. What complete non-sense.

That wasn't the case with ADCB but i was introduced there. Also they don't deliver anymore to hotel addresses, it has to be residential address.

Those neo banks recommended above WIO and the other, are they good for 7 figures?
Click to expand...
I went 3x to the ENBD branch. With 100 pages of documents they request on paper. They didn’t want to accept bank statements from “digital” banks.

Also their app didn’t want to onboard me and even shadowbanned me.

Very bad experience for a HNWI.

Wio is pretty solid. (After they existed for some time)

Mashreq is alright.

Liv is .... (don't even bother)
 
Register now
You must login or register to view hidden content on this page.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum Announcement

Latest Threads

Offshore Bank Accounts
Top Bottom
Back