Bank account for a crypto company: why a licence is not enough

Why banks refuse licensed companies

A regulator's licence and a bank's risk appetite are different things. The bank is not looking at whether you hold an authorisation but at whether it can explain to its own regulator why it serves this client. A refusal usually means not "you are bad" but "we are not prepared to carry this risk profile in our book".

What is checked before an account is opened

• The ownership structure down to ultimate beneficial owners, with no nominees and no opaque layers.
• The source of the company's capital — the same source of funds file demanded of private clients, only at corporate level: the method is identical.
• The flow model: where client money comes from, where it goes, and the split between fiat and crypto assets.
• The compliance function: who the officer is, what procedures exist, which monitoring software is used, and how the Travel Rule is handled.
• Local presence — banks rarely open accounts for structures with no real office and staff in the jurisdiction.

A practical strategy

1. Start in parallel with the licence, not after it. Negotiations with a bank take months; waiting for authorisation costs you half a year.
2. Do not rely on one bank. The working practice is three or four parallel tracks, including an EMI as an interim solution.
3. Separate the accounts: operating, segregated client funds, reserves. Commingling is a red flag for the bank and the regulator alike.
4. Prepare a story that can be explained. The bank needs a document its compliance team can show its own regulator — those are the files we build.

Budget for banking alongside fees and capital: service charges for crypto businesses are several times higher than ordinary corporate tariffs.