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A business account in Cyprus is held with a bank on the Central Bank of Cyprus register or with an e-money or payment institution. Older bank lists are out of date: Eurobank Cyprus transferred its business on 1 September 2025 to the former Hellenic Bank, now named Eurobank Limited; AstroBank’s banking business passed to Alpha Bank Cyprus on 31 October 2025; and the ECB withdrew RCB Bank’s licence in December 2022. Three banks publish a route for international clients, and two fintechs take Cypriot companies on their own rules. Summarised from each provider’s pages in October 2026:
| Provider | Type | What its own pages say | How you apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of Cyprus, International Business Units | Bank, ECB supervised | Aimed at international businesses whose activities lie outside Cyprus; twelve units in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Pafos | In person at a unit, or through a local professional intermediary |
| Eurobank Limited, International Business Banking | Bank, ECB supervised | Relationship managers for international clients; no published rules for foreign-owned companies | Not stated |
| Alpha Bank Cyprus, ex-AstroBank international banking | Bank, ECB supervised | Current accounts in all major currencies; asks for ID, proof of address, a bank reference, a CV and a due diligence questionnaire | Not stated |
| Revolut Business (Revolut Bank UAB, Lithuania) | Digital bank licensed by the ECB | Company with a document proving physical presence in the EEA; applicant living in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK | Online |
| Wise Business (Wise Europe SA) | Payment institution authorised in Belgium | Lists Cyprus among the countries where customers can hold money; no companies with bearer shares | Online |
The European Central Bank has been exclusively competent to authorise Cypriot credit institutions since November 2014, and it supervises the significant ones directly: Bank of Cyprus, Eurobank Limited, Alpha Bank Cyprus and National Bank of Greece (Cyprus). The Central Bank of Cyprus supervises the smaller banks, such as Ancoria Bank and Cyprus Development Bank, and licenses payment and e-money institutions. Its Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Directive of 2025 binds all of them, and most of what a Cypriot bank asks a company for comes from it.
The Deposit Guarantee and Resolution of Credit and Other Institutions Scheme repays up to €100,000 per depositor per bank, interest included, within seven working days and in euro. Companies are covered separately from their shareholders, with one exclusion that matters for Cypriot structures: deposits of financial institutions are excluded, and the scheme counts a company whose main activity is acquiring shareholdings as one, so a pure holding company’s balance is unprotected. Investment firms, insurers and investment funds are excluded too. Branches of banks from other EU states, such as Banque SBA, rely on their home country’s scheme, and e-money balances are not bank deposits at all.
The law does not demand a meeting: paragraph 27 of the Directive lets a bank onboard remotely under the European Banking Authority’s guidelines, with enhanced checks where the risk is high. Bank policy is stricter. Bank of Cyprus asks international clients to visit one of its International Business Units in person or to apply through a local professional intermediary, and its online system, IBU Gateway, is open only to the bank’s business professionals. Its route for companies registered in Cyprus starts online; a bank officer makes contact within three working days, and the process ends at a branch, where the original documents are handed in. Revolut onboards online if the applicant lives in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK.
Paragraph 37 of the Directive lists the documents a bank must verify a company against:
Bank of Cyprus adds the receipt for the company’s entry in the Registrar’s Beneficial Owners Register, a utility bill under six months old for the address of the company’s main economic activities, and proof of address for every director, the secretary, the shareholders and the signatories. On its international route it also asks for bank references and short CVs of the owners and signatories.
Company law sets no residence requirement for directors, and tax residence normally turns on where the company is managed. The banking rule goes further. The Directive treats as a shell company one with no physical presence or activity in its country of incorporation beyond a postal address: presence means owned or rented business premises, an absence of real management and administration can count as no presence, and a company secretary alone is not presence. A bank may still accept such a company after a documented risk assessment, helped by financial statements, tax returns, a website or customer contracts. It must refuse, or close the account, if the shell company also has no tax residence or is tax resident in a jurisdiction on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions.
Cyprus uses the euro, Cypriot IBANs begin with CY, and the European Payments Council lists Cyprus inside the Single Euro Payments Area. Other currencies depend on the bank: Bank of Cyprus issues its international business debit card in euro, US dollars or sterling, and Alpha Bank Cyprus offers ex-AstroBank current accounts in all major currencies.
Our guide to shelf companies with bank accounts lists Cyprus among the jurisdictions where a company with an existing account is a realistic purchase, and it is possible for a buyer the bank accepts. The account belongs to the company and stays with it. What changes is the bank’s view of its customer: the Directive tells banks to review a company again whenever its ownership or structure changes, so the bank re-runs its due diligence on the new owners, directors and signatories and may keep the account, ask for more documents or close it. Cypriot banks run particularly thorough beneficial owner checks, so the new owners’ file should be complete before the transfer is signed.
The Registrar registers the company and the bank decides on the account, so the two never happen as one step. We can form a new company through Cyprus company formation or supply a ready-made Cypriot company, and help prepare the bank application. No one can promise that a bank will open the account. For the wider picture see our Cyprus company overview and the Cyprus and Malta comparison.
Yes, through a Cypriot company. Bank of Cyprus says its international banking serves international businesses whose activities lie outside Cyprus, and Eurobank Limited and Alpha Bank Cyprus run international banking teams. Each bank decides case by case and must be satisfied that the company is not a shell under the Central Bank of Cyprus definition. Revolut Business takes Cypriot companies only if the applicant lives in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK.
Not by law, since the Central Bank’s Directive allows remote onboarding under the European Banking Authority’s guidelines. In practice it depends on the bank. Bank of Cyprus requires a personal visit to one of its International Business Units or an application through a local professional intermediary, and its route for companies registered in Cyprus ends at a branch. Revolut Business and Wise onboard online.
Bank of Cyprus through its International Business Units, Eurobank Limited through its International Business Banking department, and Alpha Bank Cyprus, which took over AstroBank’s international banking, all publish routes for international clients. Hellenic Bank now operates as Eurobank Limited and RCB Bank no longer holds a banking licence, so lists that name them separately are out of date.
Yes, up to €100,000 per depositor per bank, paid within seven working days by the Deposit Guarantee and Resolution of Credit and Other Institutions Scheme. Companies are covered separately from their shareholders, but deposits of financial institutions are excluded, and the scheme counts holding companies among them. Money held with an e-money institution is outside the scheme.
The Registrar’s certificates of incorporation, registered office, directors and secretary, and shareholders; the memorandum and articles; a board resolution certified by the secretary; the ownership structure and any nominee trust deed; identity documents of signatories, shareholders and beneficial owners; and recent audited or management accounts. Bank of Cyprus also asks for the Beneficial Owners Register receipt and a recent utility bill.
Yes. Cyprus is one of the jurisdictions where this is a realistic purchase, for a buyer the bank accepts. The account belongs to the company and stays with it, but the change of ownership triggers a further review: the bank re-runs due diligence on the new owners, directors and signatories and may keep the account, ask for more documents or close it.