Elizaveta Pastushenko has told Bankiros how to open a bank account in Armenia

Armenia has become one of the popular countries for opening bank accounts since the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Among the advantages of the jurisdiction are its loyal attitude to both Russia and Western countries, the wide opportunities for opening ruble accounts, as well as the widespread use of the Russian language. Elizaveta Pastushenko, Associate of Private Wealth practice at Maxima Legal, spoke about the nuances of opening an account in Armenia specially for Bankiros online publishing.

According to the expert, the list of banks providing this opportunity is quite extensive, among the most popular and in demand are ID Bank, Ardshinbank, Unibank, AraratBank.

The cost of opening an account abroad may vary from $200 to $1000 depending on the tariff and urgency of the card. The service fee also varies, starting from $2 per a month, explained Maxima Legal`s Associate.

Elizaveta also pointed out to Bankiros that the order and conditions for opening a card are changing rapidly, and the information which was relevant a week ago may be out of date now. This is due to the fact that “card tourism” has become very popular, and banks are tightening the conditions for issuing cards to non-residents.

“For example, previously Russian citizens were able to obtain a card from a foreign bank remotely, usually through local representatives. And, for example, Ardshinbank offered remote account opening with remote identification. However, it is now almost impossible to open a card without being present in the country in person. Citizens who are not planning to move or reside in Armenia for a long period of time have limited opportunities to open an account, as most banks require submission of documents confirming close ties to the country of account opening: permanent place of residence, employment contract concluded in Armenia, presence of a legal entity registered in Armenia, real estate, other ties”, the expert explained.

In this case the pre-approval service of card issuance helps a lot, to exclude the probability of travel without results.

Assessing the risks associated with opening an account in Armenia, Elizaveta said that there are problems when carrying out transactions on the account. For example, if the card is not multi-currency, there are technical problems with conversion. At the same time there is a high risk of having assets frozen, if the bank finds the transactions suspicious or if they exceed the limits, which is quite difficult to solve, if the client does not reside in Armenia and has no opportunity to gather a full set of documents, which may be required by the bank.

To read the full article (in Russian) please visit Bankiros website >>>