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Banks in Seychelles are licensed and supervised by the Central Bank of Seychelles under the Financial Institutions Act 2004, which forbids anyone to engage in banking or offshore banking business in Seychelles without a central bank licence. The central bank lists seven commercial banks, and its 2025 annual report records that the number stayed at seven, with no new banking licence granted that year:
There is no list of offshore banks. The Act provides for an offshore banking licence, for banking solely with non-residents in currencies other than the rupee, but the central bank lists only the seven commercial banks, and its 2025 annual report does not mention an offshore bank. Since 28 August 2020 the central bank has also supervised the banks’ anti-money laundering compliance under the AML/CFT Act 2020.
Seychelles has no deposit insurance scheme. The IMF recorded the gap in July 2024, and its June 2025 programme review noted that discussions on a scheme had been deferred to allow full consideration of the fiscal implications. The law offers only a depositor preference in the Financial Institutions Act 2004: if a bank is compulsorily wound up, deposits of up to 10,000 rupees in respect of any one account are paid ahead of other creditors and other deposits, after the liquidator’s expenses, certain staff wages and taxes. The provision does not distinguish personal from company accounts, and in 2025 the central bank was considering raising the figure to 50,000 rupees. Above that, a company’s balance depends on the strength of its bank.
Summarised from each bank’s own pages in October 2026. None of the banks reviewed publishes a route or criteria for an International Business Company owned from abroad; their checklists are written for businesses operating in Seychelles.
| Bank | Accounts | What it asks a company for |
|---|---|---|
| MCB Seychelles | Current accounts in SCR, EUR, GBP and USD | Certificate of incorporation, memorandum, declaration of compliance, particulars of directors, registered office document, identity documents of directors and signatories, operating licence, audited accounts after a year of trading, board resolution, a bank reference for directors and shareholders it does not know, utility bill |
| Absa Bank (Seychelles) | Rupee, USD, EUR, CHF and GBP current accounts; call accounts | Registration documents, memorandum and articles, business licence if applicable, proof of the business address, passport (mandatory for non-residents) and proof of address for shareholders and directors; it accepts or declines under internal policy |
| Nouvobanq | Corporate current accounts for limited companies in SCR, USD, EUR and GBP | No account opening checklist or criteria for foreign owners online |
| Seychelles Commercial Bank | Business current account | Board resolution, details forms for every individual shareholder, director and signatory, incorporation certificate, memorandum and articles, latest return to the Registrar of Companies, licence and tax registration if applicable, accounts or a cash flow forecast, utility bill; certified copies; a physical registered address, not a P.O. Box |
| Al Salam Bank Seychelles | Shari’a-compliant corporate banking | No account opening criteria online |
Two details show who these lists were written for. Seychelles Commercial Bank asks for the latest return to the Registrar of Companies, whereas an IBC’s registrar is the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority. Absa’s list of accepted proofs of a company’s address is built around a Seychelles address, down to statements from other local banks and a relationship manager’s site visit. Ask how the bank treats an IBC whose only local address is its registered agent’s office.
The International Business Companies Act 2016 requires every IBC to have a registered agent in Seychelles licensed under the International Corporate Service Providers Act, and a registered office at that agent’s address; it prohibits bearer shares and bars an IBC from carrying on banking business itself. Nothing in it requires an IBC to bank in Seychelles. Under the Beneficial Ownership Act 2020, any individual who owns or controls 10% or more is a beneficial owner, and the resident agent files their particulars with the Financial Intelligence Unit’s database within 14 days; the database is not public.
The bank’s own duties come from the AML/CFT Act 2020. Section 35 makes it establish the company’s legal form and existence, the powers that bind it, its senior managers, its registered office and its beneficial owners, and section 43 forbids it to open the relationship if it cannot complete those checks. The Act lets a bank finish verification after opening where that is necessary for non-face-to-face business, under risk controls, so meeting in person is the bank’s decision rather than a legal requirement.
The local currency is the Seychelles rupee, and MCB, Nouvobanq and Absa publish foreign currency accounts in US dollars, euro and sterling, with Swiss francs also at Absa. Seychelles IBANs start with SC and run to 31 characters, the last three of them letters: USD in the registry’s example, SC18 SSCB 1101 0000 0000 0000 1497 USD. Seychelles is not a SEPA country, so euro payments to and from Europe travel as international transfers. Rupee payments between local banks run on SEFT, the domestic transfer system regulated by the central bank.
Not every fintech takes Seychelles companies. Airwallex lists Seychelles among its eligible registration countries and onboards those businesses through its Hong Kong entity. Revolut Business requires a company registered and physically present in the EEA or the United States, and Mercury serves only companies formed in the United States or a US territory. Wise does not list Seychelles among the countries where customers can hold money, and confirms at sign-up whether it supports a business’s country.
Pre-banked shelf companies are not readily available in most offshore jurisdictions, and Seychelles is among them. Where an IBC does hold an account, the account belongs to the company and stays with it through a sale. What changes is that 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. The resident agent has 14 days to file the new beneficial owners, so the ownership the bank is shown should match the filing.
Two bodies decide: the Financial Services Authority registers the IBC through a licensed agent, and a bank decides on the account. We can form an IBC through Seychelles company formation or supply a ready-made Seychelles company, and help prepare the bank application, including the beneficial ownership filing the bank will ask about. No one can promise that a bank will open an account. The Seychelles overview compares the IBC with the Company Special Licence; see also our page on shelf companies with bank accounts.
Approach one of the seven banks licensed by the Central Bank of Seychelles with the IBC’s certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, details of its directors and shareholders, passports, proof of address and a board resolution. Ask first how the bank verifies a company whose local address is its registered agent’s office, because the published checklists assume a business operating in Seychelles. The IBC Act does not require an IBC to bank locally.
No. The Financial Institutions Act 2004 provides for an offshore banking licence, but the Central Bank of Seychelles publishes a list of seven commercial banks and no list of offshore banks: Absa, MCB Seychelles, Bank of Baroda, Nouvobanq, Seychelles Commercial Bank, Al Salam Bank Seychelles and Bank of Ceylon. Its 2025 annual report records that no new banking licence was granted that year.
One of the seven banks licensed by the Central Bank of Seychelles, formerly the Seychelles Savings Bank, owned 60% by the Government of Seychelles and 40% by account holders. Its business account checklist asks for a board resolution, details forms for every shareholder, director and signatory, the incorporation documents and a physical registered address. It publishes no separate criteria for International Business Companies.
No. Seychelles has no deposit insurance scheme, and the IMF reported in 2025 that discussions on one had been deferred. The Financial Institutions Act 2004 gives deposits of up to 10,000 rupees per account a preference if a bank is compulsorily wound up, after the liquidator’s expenses, certain wages and taxes, and the provision does not exclude company accounts. Above that, a balance depends on the bank’s own strength.
Pre-banked shelf companies are not readily available in most offshore jurisdictions, Seychelles included. If an IBC does hold an account, the account stays with the company when the shares change hands, but 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. The resident agent must file the new beneficial owners within 14 days.
Airwallex lists Seychelles among its eligible registration countries and onboards those businesses through its Hong Kong entity. Revolut Business takes only companies registered and physically present in the EEA or the United States. Wise does not list Seychelles among the countries where customers can hold money, and confirms at sign-up whether it supports a business’s country.