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Irish banks are supervised under the euro area’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, with the Central Bank of Ireland as national supervisor; the largest groups, including AIB Group and Bank of Ireland Group, are supervised directly by the European Central Bank. The Central Bank also administers the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which protects eligible deposits up to €100,000 per person per institution. Companies are eligible depositors. Financial institutions, insurers, most pension schemes and public authorities are excluded, as is any depositor never identified under anti-money laundering law.
Two providers below sit outside the Irish scheme. Revolut says its Irish customers’ eligible deposits, held with the Irish branch of Revolut Bank UAB, are insured by the Lithuanian scheme up to €100,000. Wise describes itself as a payment institution authorised in Belgium, while the Irish scheme covers banks, building societies and credit unions. Registering a payment company in Ireland is a separate matter: the Central Bank authorises payment institutions under the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 and e-money institutions under the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011, with no small payment institution regime.
Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland have left the Irish market; in the first eight months of 2022 the Central Bank counted 600,311 accounts opened at the three largest remaining retail banks, Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland and permanent tsb. PTSB’s ownership is now set to change: its shareholders approved a cash offer from Austria’s BAWAG on 30 July 2026, with the High Court hearing expected in the fourth quarter. As published in October 2026:
| Provider | Type | Route for a limited company | Owners or directors abroad |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIB | Bank | Online DocuSign route for a company owned wholly and directly by up to five directors, registered and trading in Ireland, with an individual as secretary; signing directors then prove identity and address in a branch. Otherwise a meeting in a branch | Non-resident individuals should talk to the bank first; more documents if the company or a shareholding entity is registered outside Ireland and the UK |
| Bank of Ireland | Bank | A meeting with a business advisor; only sole traders apply online | No published rule; identity and address of two directors and two signatories |
| PTSB | Bank | Online for a company with at least two individual signatories; corporate shareholders or a corporate secretary need an appointment | No published rule; identity and address of two directors and of each 25% shareholder |
| Revolut Business | Bank, Irish branch of Revolut Bank UAB | Online, with IE IBANs for Irish corporate clients since 2023 | Company present in the EEA or the US; applicant living in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland or a listed territory |
| Wise Business | Payment institution, Wise Europe SA | Online, with a Belgian IBAN | Ireland is on its list of countries where customers hold money; it confirms each business at sign-up |
Where the directors live is tested twice, by company law and by the bank. Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014 requires at least one director resident in an EEA state, unless the company holds a section 137 bond, which runs for two years, or a section 140 certificate from the Companies Registration Office, issued once Revenue confirms a real and continuous link with economic activity in Ireland. Shareholders may live anywhere.
| Director lives in | Section 137 | Revolut Business applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Poland or Sweden | Satisfied, EU and EEA | Eligible |
| Norway | Satisfied, EEA but outside the EU | Eligible |
| United Kingdom | Not satisfied since Brexit: an EEA resident co-director, the bond or a section 140 certificate | Eligible |
| United States | Not satisfied: an EEA resident co-director, the bond or a section 140 certificate | Not eligible for an Irish company |
Bank procedures do not change with residence: AIB checks signing directors’ identity in a branch and asks non-residents to contact it first, Bank of Ireland meets company applicants through a business advisor, and PTSB takes applications online, subject to proof of identity and address.
Irish law makes the bank check the Register of Beneficial Ownership, the RBO, before opening the account. AIB’s form explains that under section 35 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended, it must ascertain that the company’s beneficial ownership is entered on the register and cannot proceed otherwise; PTSB says a company cannot be onboarded without that entry. The register covers anyone owning or controlling more than 25% and has been closed to the public since 2023. The rest of the file, as the three banks list it:
AIB’s form asks outright whether the company was bought off the shelf from a formation agent and whether the Companies Registration Office has been told who the current directors and secretary are, adding that the agent’s representatives must be replaced by officers the company appoints. Section 149 of the Companies Act 2014 allows 14 days to notify the Registrar of a change among the directors or secretary, and the new beneficial owners belong on the RBO.
If the company already holds an account, the account belongs to the company and stays with it. What changes is that the bank re-runs its due diligence on the new owners, directors and signatories, and may then keep the account, ask for more documents or close it.
Irish business accounts are in euro, with IBANs that start with IE and run to 22 characters, and Ireland is a SEPA country. An IBAN from another EU member state is legally just as usable: under Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, neither a customer paying you nor a supplier collecting a direct debit from you may specify the member state where your account is held, provided it is reachable. Revolut cited refusals of this kind, known as IBAN discrimination, when it moved its Irish corporate clients from Lithuanian to IE IBANs in 2023.
The CRO registers the company; the bank decides on the account. We can form a new company through Irish company formation or supply a ready-made Irish company, and help prepare the bank application, including the CRO and RBO filings the bank checks. No one can promise that a bank will open an account. Our Ireland overview covers tax and the director rules; see also our guide to shelf companies with bank accounts.
File the beneficial owners on the RBO first, because the bank cannot proceed without that entry. Then choose a route: AIB’s online application for simply owned companies, followed by identity checks in a branch; a Bank of Ireland business advisor meeting; PTSB’s online form; or Revolut Business. Have the incorporation documents, constitution, lists of directors and 25% owners, identity documents and FATCA and CRS self-certification ready.
Yes, as far as the law goes: a director resident in any EEA state, Norway included, satisfies section 137 of the Companies Act 2014, and Revolut Business accepts EEA residents as applicants for an Irish company. The hurdle is procedure: AIB checks signing directors’ identity in an Irish branch and asks non-residents to contact it first, and Bank of Ireland meets company applicants through a business advisor.
A UK or US resident can own and direct an Irish company, but neither is resident in an EEA state, so the company needs another director resident in the EEA, a section 137 bond or a section 140 certificate. Revolut Business accepts a UK resident as the applicant for an Irish company but not a US resident, and AIB’s branch identity check applies wherever the director lives.
Yes. The Deposit Guarantee Scheme, administered by the Central Bank of Ireland, protects eligible deposits up to €100,000 per person per institution, and companies are eligible depositors, while financial institutions, insurers and public authorities are not. Deposits with Revolut’s Irish branch fall under the Lithuanian scheme instead, and Wise, a payment institution, is outside the Irish scheme.
Only AIB publishes a timetable: after an online company application it emails the next steps within five business days, and once the signing directors have proved their identity in a branch, a final check can take up to ten business days. Bank of Ireland, PTSB and Revolut publish no figure for company accounts, and Wise says an extra review usually takes up to ten working days.
For an account held elsewhere in the EU, they must. Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation stops a payer, or a payee collecting a direct debit, from insisting that your euro account be held in a particular EU member state, provided it is reachable. Revolut still cited this IBAN discrimination when it moved its Irish corporate clients to IE IBANs in 2023.