Banking in Romania for international clients

Choose an account around its actual use

A Romanian account can support local payroll, rent, tax payments and business transactions. It does not itself establish tax residence, immigration eligibility or an acceptable offshore structure. Start with the currencies, expected counterparties, payment volumes and signatory arrangements you need, then confirm the institution’s product and eligibility rules.

Romania uses RON. An account denominated in euros does not make domestic tax and payroll obligations euro-based. Compare conversion spreads, transfer charges, account fees and access arrangements using the bank’s current tariff for the proposed product. No universal fee or account-opening time is promised here.

Build a clear identity and ownership file

For an individual, prepare current identity, residential address, tax residence/TIN and evidence of the origin and purpose of funds. A relocating owner should make the timeline consistent across immigration, employment and bank documents. Explain an incoming transfer from a business sale or investment account with supporting records rather than a short verbal description.

For a company, prepare registry and constitutional documents, the full ownership/beneficial-owner chain, authorised signatories, operating contracts and expected payment flows. Foreign entities or complex ownership can require additional evidence. These are preparation categories, not a claim that every bank accepts the same checklist or offers remote onboarding to every nationality.

Law 239/2025 introduces a payment-account obligation for covered legal persons and addresses access to payment accounts, while preserving AML/sanctions constraints. Do not convert that legal framework into a guarantee of a specific bank, foreign-currency product, card limit or merchant-processing approval.

Understand which protection applies

FGDB’s ordinary limit is the RON equivalent of €100,000 per eligible depositor per participating bank, aggregating covered balances rather than giving a new allowance for every account. Compensation is paid in RON using the applicable BNR exchange rate. Foreign nationality or nonresidence does not by itself exclude an otherwise eligible depositor.

A Romanian branch of an EU bank may fall under its home-country deposit-guarantee arrangement rather than FGDB. Verify the legal institution and scheme in the depositor information sheet. An electronic-money balance, investment product, bank bond or cryptoasset is not automatically an insured bank deposit. Certain temporary high balances have additional statutory protection with evidence/time conditions; a large balance is not automatically covered in full.

Banking and payment processing are different decisions

An operating account is only one part of the payment setup. E-commerce, subscription, regulated or higher-risk activities may need a separately underwritten merchant acquirer or payment-service provider. Prepare the actual website, customer terms, refund/chargeback profile, licences where relevant and delivery model. A company certificate is not merchant approval.

For a commercial-residence application, article 43 calls for specified funds evidenced through a Romanian bank account in the applicant’s name. That personal immigration evidence is different from the operating company’s account and from minimum SRL capital. Coordinate the sequence before transferring funds; do not assume one balance satisfies every legal purpose.

Keep access and compliance working after opening

Assign who reviews payments, maintains two-factor access and answers periodic KYC requests. Update changes of address, tax residence, ownership or business activity promptly. A bank may ask for refreshed records after the account is open; the original approval does not permanently settle every transaction.

We can review your needs, help assemble the file and coordinate introductions where appropriate. The institution makes its own approval and product decisions. The scope should state whether it covers a personal account, corporate account, merchant setup or several of these, and which continuing responsibilities remain with the client.