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How to Open a SEPA Bank Account Online [Step By Step Guide] For European Residents

How to Open a SEPA Bank Account Online [Step By Step Guide] For European Residents
 

A SEPA Bank account operates within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and makes money transfers cheap and fast. SEPA was established to ease international payments using Euros. Electronic payments within the SEPA countries are usually for free, although some banks charge a small fee. If you are opening an online bank account, it is important that you confirm that it supports SEPA payments. In short, make sure you are opening a SEPA bank account. We will take you through the process of How to Open a SEPA Bank Account Online.

What are the Benefits of a SEPA Bank account

  • A SEPA bank account simplifies cross-border money transfers, facilitates fast money transfers that can take a day and in the end lowers the cost of the transfer. Instant SEPA transfers are done in seconds
  • You can open a SEPA Bank account online and remotely by signing up for an account with a virtual bank. Some of the virtual banks that we recommend include Monese, N26, Bunq and Revolut.
  • If you are a resident of the EU or a passport holder, you can easily open a SEPA bank account. Non-residents also have options to open a SEPA bank account, for example with Wise.

What is the difference between SEPA and Instant SEPA? SEPA transfer is a regular transfer, which may take between 12 to 36 hours during working days while Instant SEPA is an urgent Euro transfer that is processed in seconds, regardless of the week’s time and day. In order to enjoy Instant SEPA benefits, both sending and receiving bank needs to have the Instant SEPA feature.

How to Create a SEPA Account for free for European Residents

Having both can be a boost to anyone because for the virtual bank account, a physical bank need to be attached to it to be a complete bank account and with this and with the activation of mobile banking, online transactions anywhere are without any problem. Just to send money from your physical bank account to your virtual bank account.

Some example of famous virtual banks are; Paypal, Revolut, Wise, PaySera, Bunq, ePayments, Payoneer, N26, Monzo, and some examples of physical banks are; SEPA, Ally Bank, Discover bank, Alliant credit union, Varo bank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and many others.

And so in this article today, we will be bringing to you this short method on how you can create a sepa bank account for free.

Before we get to that, let check out these related articles.

SEPA Euro payment areas

SEPA has 36 member-states and these 36 member states are:

Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, the 3 EEA countries of Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and also Switzerland and Monaco.

Meanwhile SEPA is not available in all European countries. The list above is the list of non Sepa countries (where SEPA is not available) this year.

These countries are;

  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Georgia
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Moldova
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

With this, one will now know if he or she is eligible to creating a SEPA bank account or not.

Requirements for Opening a SEPA Bank Account

To open a SEPA personal bank account, you generally only need a residence permit, a national or European identity card or a passport. A physical address is generally only needed to receive your cards, and a proof of address is often not required. In most countries, you do need to provide your tax number.

To open a SEPA business bank account, you need:

  • A letter from a verified bank or agent
  • Company registration number (to extend account services)
  • Your Passport photo
  • And a valid physical address (usually your residential address)
  • Or for those that own businesses, you can compile the following to be able to get a free SEPA account online. Get the following requirements.(Read more)
  • Tax compliance (ITIN) of the established business 
  • Local address of the company (business)
  • Credit check reference

Mobile banks have been on the rise and you can use them to open a SEPA Bank account online. Most of the European virtual banks come with SEPA accounts, bank transfers and bank cards. You can create an account online and start transacting online. Most of virtual banks offer customer service through live chats, email and phone calls.

Banks with SEPA Bank Accounts

You can use the following virtual banks to open a SEPA bank account online.

1. Wise

Wise offers a multi-currency account that you can use to send and receive money. You can open an IBAN account and hold over 50 currencies and convert using real exchange rates. It does not have hidden fees while you also get a debit card which you can use to spend around. You get free ATM withdrawals for $250 and less and a 2% fee for amounts above that.

With Wise you can get local bank details for the following currencies: Sterling Pound, Euro, US Dollar, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Hungarian Forint, Romanian Leu, Singapore Dollar.

Wise for e-Commerce Businesses. Wise is now officially a member of the Amazon payment service provider program, which means that any business selling on Amazon can now use Wise to receive their sales earnings in multiple currencies. It is also possible to connect your Wise business account to eBay and Stripe.

2. Monese

Monese comes with a borderless account and you can open a personal or a business account online. It offers a SEPA-IBAN account in the UK. It offers borderless payments, modern banking for individuals and small businesses. It offers a SEPA-IBAN account in the UK. ATM withdrawals cost 2% while foreign currency spending costs 2%.

3. N26

N26 is an online bank that you can use to open a SEPA bank account. It offers personal IBAN and business IBAN in the SEPA zone. You can send money to over 20 countries at low costs. The personal account has four plans; N26 Standard that is free, N26 Smart costing €4.90, N26 Metal costing €16.90 and N26 You costing €9.90 every month.

4. Revolut

Revolut is a virtual bank account you can use to open a SEPA bank account and comes with a prepaid card. You can use a Revolut account to send and receive money and also trade in cryptocurrencies. It is an ideal bank for frequent travelers. It offers free ATM withdrawals for amounts less than £200 and then a 2% fee for withdrawals above £200. Transfer fees range between 0 and 0.5%. The currency exchange rate is up to 3.5% of the amount.

5. Bunq

Bunq is an online bank that offers multicurrency IBAN account in the European Economic Area. It also provides SEPA transfers and international card payments. After opening an account, you get 10 free ATM withdrawals every month. You can open a personal, joint, or business account with bunq. Cash withdrawals cost €0.99 per withdrawal. Sending money to SEPA countries using a personal account is free while receiving money from a bank in non-SEPA countries costs between €5 and €20.

Bunq multicurrency account supports the following currencies dollars, pounds, Swiss franc, Poland złoty and Bulgarian levin.

Bunq Germany

On April 22, 2021, Bunq became is the first online bank outside of Germany to offer German IBANs. At the moment, Bunq IBAN for German account holders is available for new account holders with Personal accounts.

6. Paysera

Paysera is an online bank you can use to open a SEPA bank account. It offers IBAN accounts, cheap and easy money transfers. You can use it to send and receive money online. It is free to transfer money within the SEPA area with a personal account. You can open a personal or a business account with Paysera. Credit card fees are between €3 and €5 for non-EEA citizens. Credit cards for businesses cost €5. ATM cash withdrawals within the EU states and Bulgaria cost €1 while in non-EU states; they cost €1.50 and 1.80%.

Conclusion on How to Open a SEPA Bank Account Online

These are the six main online means by which one can use and get access to the SEPA bank account. And with these online platforms, you can have your SEPA account for free. I bet you that you will find it very amazing and reliable.

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