Business Bank Account in Australia for a Foreign-Owned Pty Ltd

Business Bank Accounts in Australia: a Pty Ltd, AUSTRAC and Each Bank’s Own Rules

A foreign owner opens an Australian business bank account in the name of an Australian Pty Ltd registered with ASIC. Two layers decide the outcome. The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, reworked in 2024, sets what every bank must establish about the company and its owners, with new due diligence rules in force for banks since 31 March 2026 unless deferred. Each bank’s policy then settles who may apply online and which structures it accepts. No statute gives a company a right to an account.

APRA, AUSTRAC and the Financial Claims Scheme

APRA licenses banks as authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) under the Banking Act 1959. Its register separates Australian-owned ADIs, among them Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Macquarie Bank, from foreign subsidiary banks such as HSBC Bank Australia and Revolut Bank Australia, licensed on 21 July 2026, and from branches of foreign banks such as Citibank, N.A. AUSTRAC, the anti-money laundering regulator, supervises every bank as a reporting entity.

The Financial Claims Scheme protects deposits up to AUD 250,000 for each account holder at each ADI, and APRA lists a body corporate, including a company, as an account holder in its own right. Only Australian dollar deposits count, so Westpac states that its foreign currency accounts are not covered, and branches of foreign banks in Australia sit outside the scheme.

What AUSTRAC’s Due Diligence Rules Make an Australian Bank Collect

The bank must establish who the company is, who acts for it and who owns it, screen them for politically exposed persons and sanctions, and understand the purpose of the relationship. AUSTRAC’s guidance has it collect at least:

• the name as it appears on ASIC’s companies register, any business names, and the ACN or ABN;
• the registered office and the principal place of business;
• evidence of existence, such as an ASIC extract or the certificate of registration;
• the constitution, or confirmation that the company uses the Corporations Act’s replaceable rules;
• the names of the directors and their director identification numbers.

A beneficial owner is any individual who directly or indirectly owns 25% or more of the company or controls it, and the bank follows any chain of holding companies until it reaches people. With no beneficial ownership register for unlisted companies, it builds the chart from ASIC records and what you supply. Enhanced checks are compulsory where the risk is high, where an owner or representative is a foreign politically exposed person, or where any of them is present in or formed in a country for which FATF has called for enhanced due diligence.

CommBank, NAB, Westpac, ANZ and Macquarie: Online, Banker or Branch

Bank	How a Pty Ltd applies	What its own page asks for or says
CommBank	Online for a director of a Pty Ltd whose ACN is linked to an ABN, with the other directors and beneficial owners verifying their ID online; a branch if there is no linked ABN or to add further operators	ABN, ACN and an Australian drivers licence, birth certificate or passport; its branch checklist names at least one director, all beneficial owners and every operator as people who bring ID; verification can take up to 48 hours
NAB	Through a branch or a business banker, with electronic verification where you consent	Source of wealth and the countries it came from, the purpose of the relationship, and tax numbers of directors and owners taxed abroad
Westpac	Online only for a company operating in Australia with an Australian address whose individual beneficial owners can be identified; otherwise a branch	Passport, Australian driver licence, Australian birth certificate or Medicare card for the online identity check
ANZ	Online for Business Extra, followed by a call from ANZ	The owner or director of an Australian business, two forms of ID and the ACN
Macquarie	Electronic verification, otherwise a certified copy of ID	ABN or tax file number or a reason for exemption, source of wealth and of funds; a certified trust deed or similar where shares are held for someone else

Among non-bank providers, Airwallex holds an Australian financial services licence, not a banking licence, takes applications online and requires an active ABN. Wise Australia appears on APRA’s register only as a provider of purchased payment facilities, says its AUD details are not a bank account, and does not accept international SWIFT payments into them for a business registered at an Australian address.

The Resident Director, Director IDs and an Owner Living Abroad

By law a Pty Ltd must always have a director who ordinarily resides in Australia, and every director needs a director identification number before appointment, applied for on paper form NAT 75433 by a director abroad without Australian identity documents. Nothing in the law requires shareholders or signatories to live in Australia.

Bank policy is where distance shows. Westpac’s online route assumes an Australian address. NAB is explicit about people abroad, accepting a foreign passport, photo driver licence or national identity card certified by a notary public, an Australian consular or diplomatic officer or someone authorised locally to take oaths, then posted to the banker or emailed by the certifier. The resident director cannot stand in for an owner of 25% or more, who is identified personally, and shares held by a nominee are flagged in the register of members as not held beneficially.

Tax File Numbers, Withholding and Tax Residence

Macquarie asks for the company’s ABN or tax file number, or a reason for exemption, and the ATO explains why: where neither is quoted and no exemption is claimed, tax is withheld from interest at the top rate plus Medicare levy once the interest reaches the threshold. A company incorporated in Australia is an Australian tax resident, yet NAB still asks whether the business is resident anywhere else for FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard and collects a tax identification number for each director and beneficial owner taxed abroad; CommBank’s checklist asks the same.

Where Australian Applications Stall

• An ownership chain that stops short of people. AUSTRAC then has the bank record why and identify the chief executive; whether to proceed is the bank’s decision.
• Nominee holdings without evidence of the person behind them, which Macquarie asks for.
• No Australian address or ID for an online route. Westpac then moves the application to a branch, and Macquarie asks for a certified copy.
• A foreign politically exposed person or a FATF call-for-action country. Enhanced due diligence is compulsory, and NAB restricts residents of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba and the Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbas regions.
• Remittance, digital currency, fintech and charity work. AUSTRAC said in October 2021 that remitters, digital currency exchanges, not-for-profit organisations and fintech businesses were disproportionately facing account closures, while discouraging closures across whole sectors.
• Source of wealth that does not match the activity. NAB asks which activities built the owners’ wealth and where; as general bank practice, a gap between that answer and the expected payments leads to refusals.

Buying an Australian Shelf Company With a Bank Account

If a ready-made Pty Ltd holds an account, the account belongs to the company and stays with it when the shares change hands. What changes is the bank’s file: new owners, directors and signatories are new customer information, which AUSTRAC’s guidance names as something that can raise a customer’s risk rating, and the notices to ASIC, due within 28 days, put the change on the public record. The bank may keep the account, ask for more documents or close it. Compare a ready-made shelf company in Australia with company formation in Australia; our page on shelf companies with bank accounts shows where a company with an existing account is a realistic purchase.

Our Part in an Australian Bank Application

We supply ready-made Pty Ltds and register new ones, and we prepare what an Australian bank will check: an ownership chart reaching every 25% holder, the director IDs, the ABN, the constitution and a clear account of source of wealth. Where we have a working contact at a bank suited to the business, we can make an introduction; opening the account remains the bank’s decision, and no adviser can promise it. Our Australia overview covers the company itself.

Frequently Asked Questions about Business Bank Accounts in Australia

Can a non-resident open a business bank account in Australia?

Yes, through an Australian company. No law requires shareholders or signatories to live in Australia, although the Pty Ltd needs a director who ordinarily resides there. The hurdles are bank procedures: Westpac’s online route needs an Australian address, CommBank’s needs an ABN linked to the ACN, and NAB accepts certified foreign identity documents.

Do I need an ABN to open an Australian business bank account?

For some routes, yes. CommBank’s online application needs the ACN linked to an ABN, otherwise you apply in a branch, and Airwallex requires an active ABN; Macquarie accepts a tax file number instead. The Australian Business Register issues a successful online ABN application immediately and aims to review the others within 20 business days.

Can the account be opened without travelling to Australia?

The law does not demand a visit: AUSTRAC accepts reliable copies and electronic data. Banks differ. CommBank’s directors and beneficial owners verify their ID online, though extra operators need a branch; NAB takes certified copies posted or emailed by the certifier; Westpac’s online route requires an Australian address; Airwallex onboards online.

Is my company’s money covered by the Financial Claims Scheme?

Yes, within limits. A company is an account holder in its own right, protected up to AUD 250,000 at each ADI. Foreign currency balances and deposits with branches of foreign banks in Australia are outside the scheme; locally incorporated foreign subsidiary banks, such as HSBC Bank Australia, are inside it.

Does an Australian business account have an IBAN?

No. Accounts use a six-digit BSB and an account number, and a payer abroad adds the bank’s SWIFT code. Australia is outside SEPA, so euro customers pay by international transfer. At home the New Payments Platform settles around the clock, and a company can register its ABN as a PayID.

Can I buy an Australian shelf company that already has a bank account?

Yes, where the company holds one. The account stays with the company, but the bank reviews the new owners, directors and signatories and may keep the account, ask for more or close it. Ask the seller in writing whether an account exists. The company still needs a resident director throughout, and each incoming director needs a director ID.