Bordr continues to open bank accounts

We’re happy to announce that Bordr can still open Portuguese bank accounts for foreigners!

Over the past few weeks, there has been confusion about who can and cannot open a bank account in Portugal. Today, we’re sharing what we know about the situation, how this affects our customers, and what we’re doing to mitigate our risk in the future. If and when things change, we’ll be sure to let you know!

Background

We’ve been working with the same primary bank partner ever since we launched our remote bank account service more than 1 year ago. During that time, we learned the ins and outs of the bank’s requirements which allowed us to streamline the account opening process for our customers.

A few weeks ago, our primary bank partner let us know that a new policy was going into effect which would require a valid EU residence card to open a Portuguese bank account. Given that many of our customers are non-EU residents, this policy would impact a large number of them. We cross-checked information with other contacts at the bank and finally have an update.

Latest News

We’ve been able to clarify the following information:

In Portugal, non-EU residents can open a local bank account.

Each bank can choose the types of clients that they work with.

Bordr’s primary bank partner will continue to open accounts for Bordr customers. This includes foreigners who are non-EU residents and is effective immediately!

‍How does this impact Bordr customers?

Existing Customers

For customers who have placed their order and started the account opening process, your account will be opened as usual. For those who have placed an order and are waiting for next steps, you should be hearing from us soon.

New Customers

You will not experience any significant changes. Bordr can still help you open a Portuguese bank account without being present in Portugal. You also do not need to be an EU resident when you place your order.

What did we learn from this experience?

This experience taught us the importance of diversifying risk.

When we first launched our remote bank account service, we wanted to offer the easiest way for anyone to open a bank account in Portugal. I believe that we succeeded in doing that and even today, we continuously improve our processes to stay ahead of the game.

With that being said, this experience has shown us that we underestimated the risk of depending on a single bank partner. We are fortunate that our primary bank partner is allowing us to open bank accounts for our customers, but we recognize that they can always change their policies and we won’t be fortunate every time.

Over the coming weeks, we will invest in supporting multiple bank options for our customers. Our goal is to offer the easiest way to open a bank account in Portugal and that means offering the same world-class experience no matter which bank you're opening an account with.

If you'd like to learn more about our remote bank account service, click here.

Notes

We do not mention the names of our bank partners due to the policies of some bank marketing departments.

This announcement applies to all personal bank accounts. If you are interested in opening a corporate bank account in Portugal, you can sign up for our corporate bank account waitlist.

Article by Richard Lo of Bordr - Official Fiscal and Banking Partner.