Estonia’s digital banking is for everyone everywhere
Dreams of a digital nation
Estonia has launched an e-residency programme to let anyone apply to join its new digital nation and register a global EU company that can be managed online from anywhere in the world.
This means e-residents don’t have to travel to Estonia in order to access business banking. An EU company with a fully digital EU IBAN business account can be established anywhere with an internet connection.
In addition, it has teamed with Finnish fintech firm Holvi (which was acquired by BBVA last year) – who will offer their services to “location-independent entrepreneurs”.
E-residency programme director Kaspar Korjus says Holvi will offer “borderless business banking specially tailored to our growing community of e-residents”.
Antti-Jussi Suominen, Holvi CEO, adds that it has “followed the e-residency initiative since the beginning and see this partnership as an excellent match to help entrepreneurs”.
E-residents can open a firm within a day and run the company remotely; apply for a business banking account and credit card; conduct e-banking; use international payment service providers; declare taxes; and sign documents digitally.
E-residency does not provide citizenship, tax residency, physical residency or the right to travel to Estonia or the EU.
More than 20,000 people from 138 countries have now applied for e-residency and together they manage more than 3,000 companies.
