Open a Romanian business bank account remotely

The honest starting position

The search that brings most founders here — deschidere cont bancar online in Romania din strainatate, opening a Romanian bank account online from abroad — deserves a straight answer rather than a sales pitch. *Fully remote opening of a high-street Romanian business account is difficult, and for most banks the company's administrator still has to appear in person at least once.* Saying so plainly is not a limitation of this advisory; it is the reality that separates a file that clears from one that stalls for weeks.

That does not mean travel is always required, or that nothing can be done from abroad. A large part of the process is genuinely remote, video identification is expanding, a power of attorney solves some cases, and the electronic-money route is a legitimately remote alternative for the right business. This guide draws the line precisely so you can plan around it. It sits alongside the EUR account pillar for non-resident founders and the bank comparison guide.

Plan for one short trip to Bucharest and be pleasantly surprised if your chosen bank waives it — not the other way round.

What genuinely can be done remotely

The parts of account opening that do not require physical presence are substantial, and a well-run application front-loads all of them so that any in-person step is reduced to a signature:

Dossier assembly and submission. The certificat constatator, the act constitutiv, apostilled identity documents, proof of address, the beneficial-ownership declaration, and the source-of-funds and business-model summaries are all prepared and sent electronically.
Pre-screening and eligibility. Whether a given bank has appetite for your activity and shareholder profile is established before anyone travels — the single most valuable remote step, because it prevents a wasted trip.
Compliance questionnaires and the AML review. Most of the enhanced due diligence a bank performs on a non-resident file happens on documents, not in the room. The ANAF, VAT, and activity-code checks are back-office work.
Company formation itself. Incorporation at the Trade Register (ONRC) can be completed remotely through a notarised power of attorney, so the company can exist before any banking conversation begins. See the remote formation guide.

In other words, the paperwork is not the obstacle. The obstacle is the bank's residual requirement to verify the identity of the person controlling the account. Everything upstream of that single check — formation, dossier assembly, pre-screening, and the bulk of the AML review — can be completed without the founder setting foot in Romania, which is why a well-sequenced application treats any in-person step as the last five minutes of a process that is otherwise remote.

The in-person requirement and why it persists

Romanian banks operate customer due diligence under Law 129/2019, the national anti-money-laundering statute that transposes the EU AML directives, supervised by the BNR and with ONPCSB as the Romanian financial intelligence unit. That framework requires reliable identification of the customer and, for a company, of the natural persons who ultimately control it. For a non-resident beneficial owner, banks apply enhanced due diligence as a matter of regulatory category, not suspicion.

Most high-street banks discharge that identification obligation through a single in-person meeting with the administrator — a half-day in Bucharest is typical, and it can usually be timed to coincide with notarisation or other formalities so one trip covers everything. The meeting is short; its purpose is to close the identity-verification step that the bank is not willing to complete purely on documents. Which banks insist on it, and which will consider a remote alternative, is bank-specific and moves — treat any blanket claim that a named bank always opens remotely with caution until it is confirmed for your file.

This is a conservative posture rather than a legal impossibility. EU law permits compliant remote onboarding; the EBA Guidelines on remote customer onboarding (EBA/GL/2022/15), in application since October , set the standard for doing it safely. Romanian banks are adopting these capabilities unevenly, which is why the honest planning assumption remains one short visit.

Video identification: where it stands

Romania does have a legal basis for remote video identification. The norms approved by Decision 564/2021 of the Digital Authority of Romania (ADR) regulate identifying a person remotely by video means, aligned with the electronic-identification concept under the eIDAS Regulation. Remote video identification can be performed by an approved provider, either automated or with a human operator.

The gap is between what the law permits and what each bank has operationally deployed for non-resident corporate onboarding specifically. Video identification is more established for resident retail customers than for foreign-owned company accounts, where banks tend to want the additional comfort of an in-person meeting for the beneficial owner. Where a bank does offer compliant video onboarding for your case, take it — but confirm it applies to your file type before assuming it removes the trip.

The power-of-attorney route and its limits

A power of attorney (procură) lets a Romanian-based representative act for the founder on much of the formation and administrative process. It is genuinely useful, and it is how remote incorporation works. But it does not reliably solve bank onboarding, for a specific reason:

The bank generally wants to identify the beneficial owner, not a proxy. A representative can submit documents and handle logistics, but the AML identity check is directed at the natural person who controls the company. A power of attorney does not transfer that identity.
Banks vary on whether an attorney can open the account at all. Some accept a notarised, apostilled, bank-specific power of attorney with tightly drafted powers; others decline it for account opening even where they accept it for other acts.
A generic power of attorney is often rejected. Where a bank does accept one, it usually wants its own wording, executed and legalised to its specification, which itself takes time to arrange.

The realistic role of a power of attorney is to compress everything around the identity step — not to eliminate it. It is a strong tool for formation and a partial one for banking.

The EMI route: the genuinely remote option

If a founder truly cannot travel and no bank will complete remote onboarding for the file, an electronic money institution or payment institution — Wise, Revolut Business, Payoneer and peers — is the honestly remote alternative. These are supervised firms with fully digital onboarding, and for cross-border collection and currency management they work well.

The limits must be stated as plainly as the convenience. An EMI is not a Romanian bank, and that matters legally in :

Under Law 239/2025, in force from January , a company without a payment account opened in Romania can be declared fiscally inactive by ANAF, with dissolution following if it is not reactivated within a year. A foreign-issued EMI IBAN does not satisfy this domestic-account test.
An EMI is not the natural vehicle for the capital-deposit step at formation, which runs through a Romanian credit institution.
EMI appetite for elevated-risk activity is often narrower than a bank's, and sudden account freezes are a real operational risk.

So the EMI route is best understood as a bridge and a supplement, not a destination: it can carry a business through its first months and handle multi-currency treasury indefinitely, but the company still needs a genuine Romanian account to remain fiscally active. The bank comparison guide and the refusals guide cover how to secure that account.

Capital-deposit account versus operating account

Two banking events are often collapsed into one and should not be. The share-capital deposit is an incorporation formality. Since Law 223/2020, proof of paid-up capital no longer has to accompany the ONRC registration file for an SRL, so the capital can be paid after the company is registered. Law / then reset the minimum: RON for a newly formed SRL, rising to RON ,Law 223/2020 for existing companies with prior-year net turnover above RON ,Law 223/2020 (transition to December ).

The operating account is the substantive relationship — the multi-currency cont curent through which the company trades, settles VAT, and meets the Law / domestic-account requirement. It carries the full AML review and is the step where the in-person question actually arises. Sequencing tip: form the company remotely, resolve the operating-account choice and its identity step deliberately, and use an EMI only as a bridge if the operating account will take time. Do not treat the quick capital-deposit formality as if it were the real banking relationship.

A realistic remote plan

Put together, a workable approach for a founder who wants to minimise travel looks like this:

Incorporate remotely via power of attorney, so the SRL exists before banking begins.
Pre-screen banks for appetite and for whether any will complete remote or video onboarding for your specific file.
Prepare the full dossier — including the source-of-funds and business-model documents the AML review turns on — and submit electronically.
Plan one short Bucharest visit for the administrator as the default, timed to close both banking and any residual notarial steps in a single trip.
Stand up an EMI in parallel as a bridge, on the clear understanding that a genuine Romanian account still has to follow to keep the company fiscally active.

Executed in that order, the only irreducible in-person element is usually a half-day. Everything else is remote.

Frequently asked questions

Can I open a Romanian business bank account fully online from abroad?

Sometimes, but do not count on it. Most high-street Romanian banks still require the administrator to appear in person at least once to complete identity verification for a non-resident-owned company. Much of the process is remote, and some banks offer video onboarding, but the safe planning assumption is a single short visit to Bucharest.

Does a power of attorney let someone open the account for me?

Not reliably. A power of attorney handles document submission and logistics and is how remote incorporation works, but banks generally want to identify the beneficial owner directly for anti-money-laundering purposes. Some banks accept a bank-specific, notarised, apostilled power of attorney for account opening; many decline it. It compresses the process rather than removing the identity step.

Is video identification available at Romanian banks?

There is a legal basis for it. Decision / of the Digital Authority of Romania regulates remote video identification, aligned with eIDAS. In practice it is more established for resident retail customers than for foreign-owned corporate accounts, where banks often still want an in-person meeting with the beneficial owner. Confirm availability for your specific file.

Can I just use Wise or Revolut and skip the Romanian bank?

Not as the operating account. Under Law /, from January a company without a payment account opened in Romania can be declared fiscally inactive and, if not reactivated within a year, dissolved. An EMI is a legitimate remote bridge and a useful multi-currency layer, but a genuine Romanian account still has to follow.

Do I need a bank account before registering the company?

No. Since Law /, proof of the share-capital deposit no longer has to accompany the ONRC registration file for an SRL, so the company can be formed first and the capital deposited afterwards. This is what makes fully remote incorporation possible even when banking requires a later in-person step.

Why do Romanian banks insist on meeting me in person?

Because customer due diligence under Law / requires reliable identification of the person controlling the account, and for a non-resident beneficial owner banks apply enhanced due diligence. Most discharge the identity step through one short meeting rather than relying on documents alone. It is a conservative posture, not a legal impossibility — EU rules permit compliant remote onboarding.

Talk to us

If you are trying to avoid a trip, the useful first step is knowing whether any bank will complete your file remotely — which we can tell you before you book a flight. We pre-screen your activity and shareholder profile, prepare the dossier the AML team will read, and, where a visit is unavoidable, compress it to a single half-day. Book a call, see the bank account opening service, or review pricing.

Related guides

EUR bank accounts in Romania for non-resident founders — the pillar: dossier, activity codes, and rejection reasons
Choosing a Romanian business bank for a foreign-owned SRL — which bank fits your activity and nationality
Why Romanian banks refuse business accounts — the AML profiles that complicate remote files
100% remote SRL formation — how power of attorney handles incorporation
Romanian SRL formation: the complete 2026 guide — the full sequence including capital deposit

Opening a Romanian business bank account remotely