An Estonian bank prices you on where you live. It prices your company on who owns it — and those are not the same question, which is why a founder with an Estonian ID card can still be quoted the foreign tariff for an OÜ registered ten minutes from the branch.
The company tariff is set by the ownership structure, not by the founder's passport, and one bank charges the foreign rate before anyone has met you
Every one of the five banks publishes two business prices. An OÜ whose owners are all here opens free and pays about €1.00 a month at Coop or SEB, and nothing at LHV or Swedbank. The moment an owner sits abroad, the same company is quoted €300 to €600 to open and €30 to €60 a month at LHV, €300–€500 at Swedbank, €500 plus €20–€100 a month at Coop, and a minimum of €1,000 at Luminor.
Two things follow that nobody tells a first-time founder. SEB will not conclude a business service plan with a non-resident legal person at all — it says so on its own plans page. And on 1 October 2025 the e-start account disappeared, so the route four banks had offered since 2009 for paying in share capital through the Business Register no longer exists.
Table of Contents
Why a Company Is Not Priced Like a Person
If you have read our page on personal accounts, you already know the shape of that market: the price cliff sits at the EEA border, and a lease or an employment contract moves you across it. None of that transfers. A company has no lease, no employer and no residence permit, so the bank reaches for the only thing it can actually examine — the register entry, the owners behind it, and the activity code.
There is also a legal asymmetry underneath the pricing, and it is the single most useful thing on this page.
You have a right to a bank account. Your OÜ does not.
Finantsinspektsioon stated it plainly in March 2024: banks “have an obligation to provide basic payment services, and this affects only the services offered to consumers.” A consumer’s basic payment account may be refused only as a last resort and closed on just two grounds — evidence of money laundering, or 24 consecutive months without a transaction. None of that protection extends to a company. A bank may decline your OÜ for any reason it likes, or none, and there is no supervisory backstop to appeal to. Every difficulty on the rest of this page grows out of that one sentence.
What the bank asks about you
Personal account:
- Where you live, and whether you can document it
- A lease, an employment contract or an enrolment certificate
- Your own identity document
- A statutory right to a basic account if you are an EU resident
What it asks about the company
Business account:
- Who owns it, through how many layers, and in which countries
- What it actually does, and where its customers are
- Whether the board can be identified in person
- No right to an account at all, and no published appeal
Which Banks Open One for a New OÜ, and the Test Each Applies
All five will open a business account for a company registered in Estonia. What differs is what they need to see first, and only SEB writes its test down in full.
| Bank | What it says it needs | How you get identified |
|---|---|---|
| SEB | Its stated prerequisite is “that your company has a connection with Estonia”, met by resident owners, business activity here (production, clients or contractual partners), or investment such as real estate | Branch meeting or video consultation; non-resident management must document the connection |
| Swedbank | No published test for an ordinary Estonian company. A company whose owners include non-residents or foreign companies is routed to a named branch in Tallinn | Internet bank with an ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID — or an Arter branch appointment for the non-resident case |
| LHV | Publishes no substance test, but states that e-Resident status by itself is not a sufficient basis for an account, and refuses where the ownership structure includes offshore companies | Remote identification requires a document issued in Estonia |
| Coop Pank | Free for a company registered in Estonia, with a footnote: any owner that is a sole proprietor or legal entity linked to another country moves the company to the corporate price list | Not published |
| Luminor | Publishes a non-resident business opening price and nothing describing the test behind it | Not published |
SEB's three tests are the clearest statement any Estonian bank makes, and they are worth reading as a checklist
SEB accepts a connection where the owners are residents of Estonia; where the business activity is connected to Estonia, giving production units, clients or contractual partners here as its examples; or where there are investments in Estonia such as real estate. That is three doors, and only the first is about who you are. A company owned entirely from abroad that invoices two Estonian clients is arguing the second door, and that argument is documentary — contracts, invoices, a lease on premises.
How often a business account is declined, how long a decision takes and on what grounds are not published by any of the five banks, and not published by Finantsinspektsioon either. The only turnaround figures on the public record for a company account come from the e-Residency programme’s own comparison table — 10–14 business days at LHV and 3 at Coop — which is the state describing a private market rather than the banks describing themselves. Ask the bank for its own estimate rather than planning against those.
What a Business Account Actually Costs
Every figure below is from the named bank’s corporate price list — a different document from the private-client one, read on 27 August 2026. Read the row rather than the headline: the resident column and the foreign column are the same product at different prices.
| Estonian-owned OÜ | With an owner abroad | Monthly, foreign case | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEB | Free to open, €1.00/month | Free to open; €750 document handling outside the EEA | €20 EEA, €60 elsewhere |
| Swedbank | Free to open | €300 EEA, €500 elsewhere | €50 where enhanced due diligence applies |
| LHV | Free to open and maintain | €300 EU, €600 elsewhere | €30 EU, €60 elsewhere |
| Coop Pank | Free to open, €1.00/month | €500 | €20 standard, €100 elevated due diligence |
| Luminor | Free to open; packages €3–€29/month | By individual agreement, minimum €1,000 | Not published |
SEB will not put a non-resident legal person on a service plan at all
Its business service plans run from €1 to €15 a month and bundle between 1,000 and 3,500 free payments, and a new business customer gets the plan free for 1 year. Then the exclusion: “A service plan for business is not concluded with non-resident legal persons; credit institutions, financial service providers, financial intermediaries or other providers of similar services.” So the company that would benefit most from bundled payments — the one paying €60 a month for the account — is the one that cannot buy the bundle, and the free year does not apply to it either.
The transaction side is where the ranking inverts. LHV charges nothing for a SEPA payment in the internet bank and €0.38 is what Swedbank charges only after the first 1,000 euro payments in a month. Coop prices every European payment, instant included, at €0.20. Luminor’s published business figure is €0.38. A company sending three hundred invoices a month and one sending three are not choosing between the same banks.
The highest published business price at any Estonian bank is a risk tariff, not a foreign one
LHV lists a separate line for a company with a high-risk field of activity: €1,000 simply to apply, and €100 a month to maintain the account. The application fee is charged for the application, not for an account. Coop’s equivalent is its elevated due diligence monthly of €100 and Swedbank’s is €50. If your activity sits in one of these categories, the price of banking is a line in the business plan rather than a rounding error — and which sectors trigger it is worth settling before you register anything.
Luminor’s business price list is dated 2 June 2022 and is the newest business tariff the bank publishes at a stable address; the €1,000 minimum comes from it. Four years is a long time in bank pricing, so the figure is printed with its date attached and is worth confirming before it decides anything. Separately, an ordinary monthly account fee for a business account is not published in Swedbank’s corporate price list — that document carries the €50 enhanced-due-diligence charge and the opening fees, while the “€0.00 monthly” a founder sees sits on its become-a-customer page. Those are different kinds of document and only one of them is a tariff.
No bank pays to appear on this page and nothing here is paid placement. Where a provider runs an affiliate programme we may earn a commission if you open an account through our link, and where one does not we link to them anyway. The ordering below follows what each bank publishes about company accounts and how usable that is for a newly registered OÜ — never what it pays.
LHV Pank
Free for a resident-owned OÜ, free SEPA, and the clearest published foreign tariff
Key features
- Business account free to open and maintain for a resident-owned company
- SEPA payments in the internet bank cost nothing
- The only bank publishing a full three-way non-resident business tariff
- Named by the e-Residency programme as the bank e-residents use most
Account details
- Estonian-owned OÜ
- Free
- Owner abroad, EU
- €300 + €30/mo
- SEPA online
- Free
Summary
- Business account free to open and maintain for a resident-owned company
- SEPA payments in the internet bank cost nothing
- The only bank publishing a full three-way non-resident business tariff
- Named by the e-Residency programme as the bank e-residents use most
- €600 to open and €60 a month for a company outside the EU
- €1,000 application fee for a high-risk field of activity, charged whatever the answer
- Remote identification needs a document issued in Estonia
Coop Pank
Free for an Estonian company, with the sharpest footnote in Estonian banking
Key features
- Free to open and effectively free to run for a company owned from Estonia
- European payments including instant priced at a flat 20 cents
- Corporate price list republished 1 August 2026 — the freshest of the five
- Listed by the e-Residency programme as open to e-resident companies
Account details
- Estonian-owned OÜ
- Free to open, €1.00/mo
- Owner abroad
- €500
- European payment
- €0.20
Summary
- Free to open and effectively free to run for a company owned from Estonia
- European payments including instant priced at a flat 20 cents
- Corporate price list republished 1 August 2026 — the freshest of the five
- Listed by the e-Residency programme as open to e-resident companies
- €500 to open where any owner is linked to another country
- €100 a month where elevated due diligence applies
- Publishes nothing about how a company is identified
SEB
The only bank that writes down what a connection to Estonia means
Key features
- Publishes its substance test in three specific limbs rather than in the abstract
- Free to open for any legal person, resident or not
- Service plans from €1, free for the first year to a new business customer
Account details
- Estonian-owned OÜ
- Free to open, €1.00/mo
- Monthly, EEA
- €20
- Monthly, elsewhere
- €60
Summary
- Publishes its substance test in three specific limbs rather than in the abstract
- Free to open for any legal person, resident or not
- Service plans from €1, free for the first year to a new business customer
- Will not conclude a service plan with a non-resident legal person at all
- €750 document-handling fee for a non-EEA legal person — three times its private-person equivalent
- Non-resident applications need notarised or apostilled documents and a reference from the home bank
Swedbank
The one that can actually be opened in a browser — until an owner sits abroad
Key features
- Business account opened in the internet bank with an ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID
- The first 1,000 euro payments each month cost nothing
- Free to open for a company registered and owned in Estonia
Account details
- Estonian-owned OÜ
- Free to open
- Owner abroad
- €300 / €500
- Free euro payments
- 1,000/month
Summary
- Business account opened in the internet bank with an ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID
- The first 1,000 euro payments each month cost nothing
- Free to open for a company registered and owned in Estonia
- €300 in the EEA and €500 beyond it once an owner is a non-resident or a foreign company
- A company with non-resident owners is sent to one named Tallinn branch rather than the browser
- Charges up to €130 where it closes a business account under money-laundering law
Luminor
Prices the foreign case at four figures and dates the document 2022
Key features
- Free to open for an Estonian resident company
- Tiered packages let a low-volume company pay very little
- Estonian-licensed, so company deposits sit under the Estonian scheme
Account details
- Packages
- €3–€29/mo
- Non-resident opening
- Min. €1,000
- Euro payment
- €0.38
Summary
- Free to open for an Estonian resident company
- Tiered packages let a low-volume company pay very little
- Estonian-licensed, so company deposits sit under the Estonian scheme
- Non-resident opening is "upon individual agreement, min. €1,000" — the highest published entry price of the five
- Its business price list is dated 2 June 2022 and no newer one is published
- Publishes no monthly figure for a non-resident company at all
Share Capital: the Route That Closed on 1 October 2025
This is the part of company banking that changed most recently and that almost every guide still describes wrongly, because the mechanism it describes no longer exists.
Until 1 October 2025, the e-Business Register offered an e-start account: you founded a company in the portal and the portal opened a capital account for you at Swedbank, SEB, LHV or Coop Pank. It had run since 2009. The register withdrew it, recording that usage had fallen away after the 2023 Commercial Code amendments, and SEB says the same thing in its own words on its start-up account page — "As of 01.10.2025, it is not possible to create a start-up account through the Business Register's entrepreneur portal."
| Route | Status | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| e-start account through the portal | Withdrawn 1 October 2025 | Offered by four banks since 2009. Any guide that describes founding a company and getting a capital account in the same session is out of date |
| Confirmation of payment | Available, up to €50,000 | You pay the capital into the company's own account and confirm it to the register. No bank certificate is issued to the portal |
| Court deposit account | Available | The older route, still open. The money is transferred on to the company's account once it is registered |
| A bank's own start-up account | Available directly | SEB still offers one at the branch — “to conveniently accumulate the share capital before registering your new company”, opened and maintained without service fees |
The capital does not have to sit in an Estonian bank, and this is the sentence to quote at a provider who tells you otherwise
The e-Residency programme states it directly: “Your company’s share capital can be registered with a credit or payment institution anywhere within the European Economic Area.” That has been true since the 2022 Commercial Code change, and it is why the collapse of the e-start account matters less than it sounds. The threshold that does bite is €50,000: above it you must give the Business Register proof of payment — a digitally signed statement from the institution, in Estonian, meeting the register’s requirements. Below it, confirmation is enough.
Two smaller facts that trip people up. Since 1 February 2023 the contribution is made when the company is founded rather than at some later date of your choosing, though a company may still be registered as founded without one. And removing the founded without a contribution notation once you have paid it in carries a state fee of €25, payable in the portal or by transfer with the reference number it gives you.
Whether a particular fintech will actually take a share capital contribution is not published by Wise or Revolut in their own terms or help centres, and the e-Residency programme’s comparison table leaves that column blank for every provider on it, banks included. The rule is jurisdictional — any EEA credit or payment institution — and both clear that bar on paper; what is missing is either of them saying so about itself. Above €50,000 the register needs a document in Estonian that satisfies a registrar, so ask the institution for a sample of it before transferring anything.
What a Company Has to Produce That a Person Does Not
A personal application is one identity document and one proof of connection. A company application is a file, and SEB’s published list for a non-resident legal person is the fullest description any Estonian bank gives of it.
Registration documents for the company
For an Estonian OÜ the register entry does this by itself. For a foreign company SEB asks for registration certificates and requires notarised or apostille-certified copies.
Articles of association
Asked for by name. An OÜ founded in the portal on the standard articles has these already; a company founded by notary should have the notarised set to hand.
Documents on every owner, through every layer
This is the item that decides your tariff rather than merely your file. LHV states that it does not open an account where the ownership structure includes companies registered in offshore countries — a refusal, not a price.
Proof of the connection to Estonia
Required by SEB wherever the management members are non-residents. Contracts with Estonian clients, an Estonian lease or a property title are the documentary forms of its three tests.
A recommendation letter from your existing bank
Listed by SEB for non-resident legal persons. It has no equivalent anywhere in the personal-account process and it takes weeks to obtain, so request it before anything else.
A board member who can be identified
Not a document but a person. LHV’s remote identification needs an ID card, passport or residence card issued in Estonia, and the e-Residency programme says a personal visit to an office in Estonia is most likely required.
If you cannot assemble these, do not book the appointment yet
The bank is reconstructing a company it cannot see. Every missing document is a gap it has to fill with judgement, and judgement is what produces a refusal you cannot appeal.
When the Owner or Director Lives Abroad
This is where the two tariffs separate, and the trigger is narrower than most founders expect. It is not your tax residency and not your nationality. Coop’s footnote is the precise version: one owner that is a sole proprietor or legal entity linked to another country moves the whole company onto the corporate price list. Swedbank’s is the operational version: a company whose owners include non-residents or foreign companies is directed away from the internet bank and towards a single named branch in Tallinn.
| What changes | Resident-owned OÜ | With an owner or director abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Opening price | Free at all five | €300–€1,000 depending on the bank |
| Where you do it | Internet bank at Swedbank; branch or video elsewhere | In person, and at a specific branch in Swedbank’s case |
| Identification | Estonian ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID | LHV’s remote route needs a document issued in Estonia, which is exactly what you do not have |
| Service plan | From €1 at SEB, free for the first year | SEB concludes no plan with a non-resident legal person |
| Ongoing monthly | €1.00 or nothing | €30–€60, plus enhanced-diligence charges of €50–€100 |
e-Residency does not move you across this line, and LHV says so in its own words
From LHV’s non-residents page: “The e-resident’s digital ID is not an identity document and e-resident status by itself is not a sufficient basis for opening a bank account.” The card signs and authenticates; it does not identify you to a bank and it does not make your OÜ resident-owned. If e-Residency is your route into Estonia, the page you want next is banking for an e-resident company — the refusal problem, the payment-institution alternative and the sectors that settle the question before you ask are all set out there rather than repeated here.
If No Estonian Bank Will Take the Company
Because there is no right to a company account, "no" is a real outcome and it is not a crisis. What matters is knowing precisely what it blocks.
Still works without an Estonian bank
More than the phrase suggests:
- Registering the company. The state fee and the portal, not a bank
- Paying in share capital at any EEA credit or payment institution
- Invoicing, being paid, paying salaries and taxes from an EEA IBAN
- Filing everything, which runs on a digital identity
Actually blocked
What needs a credit institution:
- Cash, in or out
- Lending and overdrafts
- A deposit guarantee over an accumulating company balance
- Anywhere an Estonian counterparty insists on an Estonian IBAN — usually fine, occasionally not
The route most refused companies take is an EEA payment institution, and the trade you are making there is a legal one rather than a convenience one: a payment institution safeguards client money in segregated accounts, which is a real protection and is not a deposit guarantee. That comparison, and which providers sit on which side of it, belongs to the e-Residency banking page and to sending money abroad, where the pricing of moving money actually lives.
Common Mistakes
Assuming your personal tariff carries over
It does not. You may bank free as a resident and be quoted €300 plus €30 a month for a company that shares a co-founder abroad.
Adding one foreign co-founder without pricing it
Coop’s footnote turns on a single owner. Whether that person takes 5% or 50% is not what the price list asks; it asks whether any owner is linked to another country.
Planning around the e-start account
It closed on 1 October 2025 after sixteen years. Guides describing a capital account created inside the Business Register portal are describing a service that no longer exists.
Believing the capital must sit in an Estonian bank
Any EEA credit or payment institution will do. What changes above €50,000 is that you must produce a signed statement in Estonian for the register.
Treating the e-Residency card as identification
LHV states that it is not an identity document and not by itself a sufficient basis for an account. It signs; it does not introduce you.
Applying before the recommendation letter exists
SEB asks a non-resident legal person for a reference from its existing bank. Those take weeks and nothing else in the file can move without it.
Ignoring the activity code
A high-risk field of activity costs €1,000 at LHV just to be considered, and the fee is for the application rather than for an account.
Expecting a right of appeal
The basic payment account protections Finantsinspektsioon describes apply to consumers only. A company refused an account has no published route back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a newly registered OÜ open a business bank account in Estonia?
Yes, and at all five banks, provided the company can be placed. An OÜ whose owners are all resident here opens free everywhere and pays about €1.00 a month at Coop or SEB and nothing at LHV or Swedbank. SEB is the only bank publishing its test in full: it requires a connection with Estonia, met by resident owners, by business activity here such as production units, clients or contractual partners, or by investment such as real estate.
What does a business account cost if an owner lives abroad?
The company moves to the foreign tariff at every bank. LHV charges €300 to open for an Estonian company with non-resident owners or an EU company and €600 for others, then €30 or €60 a month. Swedbank charges €300 in the EEA and €500 beyond it. Coop charges €500 plus €20 to €100 a month. SEB adds a €750 document-handling fee outside the EEA and charges €20 or €60 a month. Luminor prices it by individual agreement with a stated minimum of €1,000.
Does one foreign shareholder really change the price?
At Coop, yes, and its price list says so in a footnote: if one or more of the owners is a sole proprietor or legal entity linked to another country, opening is charged under the business price list rather than free. Swedbank applies the same logic operationally — a company whose owners include non-residents or foreign companies is sent to a branch appointment in Tallinn instead of the internet bank. The trigger is the ownership structure, not the size of the stake.
Can I open a company account remotely, without coming to Estonia?
Sometimes, and only if the company is already local. Swedbank opens a business account in the internet bank where the representative signs with an Estonian ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID. LHV offers remote identification but requires a valid ID card, passport or residence card issued in Estonia, which is precisely the document a non-resident founder does not hold. SEB offers a branch meeting or a video consultation. The e-Residency programme says a personal visit to an office in Estonia is most likely required for a company it describes.
Where can share capital be paid in?
To a credit or payment institution anywhere in the European Economic Area — the e-Residency programme states that directly, and it has been the position since the 2022 Commercial Code change. It does not have to be an Estonian bank. Above €50,000 you must give the Business Register proof of the payment: a digitally signed statement from the institution, in Estonian, meeting the register's requirements.
What happened to the e-start account?
It was withdrawn on 1 October 2025. The e-Business Register had offered it since 2009 and four banks provided it — Swedbank, SEB, LHV and Coop Pank — but usage fell away after the 2023 Commercial Code amendments. Two routes replaced it: confirming the payment of the share capital contribution where the capital is up to €50,000, and a transfer to a court deposit account, from which the money moves to the company's account after registration. SEB says the same on its own start-up account page.
Can Wise or Revolut receive share capital for an Estonian company?
The rule permits it: any credit or payment institution in the EEA qualifies, and both are EEA-regulated. What is missing is either company saying so about itself. Neither Wise's nor Revolut's own terms or help pages commit to receiving an Estonian share capital contribution or to issuing the statement the register needs, and the e-Residency programme's comparison table leaves that column blank for every provider on it. Ask the institution for a sample statement before transferring, particularly above €50,000.
Is a company entitled to a bank account in Estonia?
No, and this is the central asymmetry. Finantsinspektsioon said in March 2024 that banks have an obligation to provide basic payment services and that this affects only the services offered to consumers. A consumer's basic payment account may be refused only as a last resort and closed on two grounds — evidence of money laundering, or 24 consecutive months without a transaction. A company has none of those protections and no published appeal route.
What does a bank ask for that a personal application does not?
For a non-resident legal person SEB lists registration certificates, articles of association, documents on the owners, a recommendation letter from the company's existing bank, and notarised or apostille-certified copies. It also asks for documents proving the company's connection to Estonia wherever the management members are non-residents. The recommendation letter has no personal-account equivalent and is the item that takes longest to obtain.
What is the most expensive business account in Estonia?
A risk tariff rather than a foreign one. LHV publishes a separate line for a company with a high-risk field of activity: €1,000 as an account opening application fee and €100 a month to maintain the account. The application fee is charged for the application. Coop's elevated due diligence monthly is €100 and Swedbank's enhanced due diligence monthly is €50.
How long does a business account application take?
No Estonian bank publishes a decision deadline for a company account, an approval rate, or grounds for refusal. The only turnaround figures on the public record come from the e-Residency programme's own banking comparison — 10 to 14 business days at LHV and 3 at Coop — which is the state describing a private market rather than the banks describing themselves. Ask the bank for its own estimate.
Can a bank close my company's account?
Yes, and Swedbank publishes what it charges for doing so: up to €130 where it closes an account to comply with money-laundering law, charged against the balance remaining and not applied to clients on a monthly service fee. That is more than the €80 maximum on its private-account equivalent. It is the only published de-risking price at any Estonian bank, and its existence tells you the practice is real.
Once the Company Account Is Open
| Next | Why it follows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The e-Residency case | If the company's only Estonian feature is its registration, the refusal problem and the payment-institution alternative are the whole subject and have their own page | Business banking for e-residents |
| What the year actually costs | The account fee is one line. The contact person, legal address and accounting are the rest, and the total is rarely what a formation quote implies | Company formation cost |
| Moving money out | SEPA is cheap or free everywhere. The margin on a non-euro transfer is the cost nobody publishes, and it is larger than the fee | Sending money abroad |
| Your own account | A different product with a different tariff and, unlike the company, a statutory right behind it | Personal bank accounts |
| What the company pays | Nothing on retained profit, 22% on distribution, and the payroll arithmetic that decides whether you take a salary or a dividend | Company tax |
Related Guides
Why You Can Trust This Guide
Opening an account for an Estonian company?
LHV and Coop publish the clearest company terms and both state their foreign tariff up front. Settle the ownership question and the share capital route before you book anything — those are what set the price.
Disclaimer. General guidance, not financial or legal advice. Every fee on this page comes from the named bank’s own published corporate price list, read on 27 August 2026, except Luminor’s, whose document is dated 2 June 2022 and is flagged as such where it is used. Acceptance is decided case by case and no page can tell you whether a particular bank will take your company. Confirm current pricing with the bank before choosing one. We have no commercial relationship with any bank named here and earn nothing from these links.