Opening a bank account in Cyprus as a non-resident

This page explains the general rules as published by the Cyprus authorities on the date shown. Rates, thresholds and procedures change, and your position depends on facts we do not know. Before you act, confirm the figures with the Tax Department or the Department of Lands and Surveys and take advice from a lawyer registered with the Cyprus Bar Association or a licensed accountant.

Why a buyer needs a Cyprus account#

You can buy property in Cyprus without a local bank account, but most buyers open one. The purchase price is paid by bank transfer, and after completion a local account is the practical way to pay utility bills, local charges and contributions, and to receive rent if you let the property.

A Cyprus account also leaves a clear record of where the purchase money came from and where it went. That record matters later: the bank will ask about it when the account is opened, your lawyer will need it for the file, and the seller's bank may ask too.

This page explains the two laws that shape the process: the law that obliges banks to check every customer, and the law that gives consumers a right to a basic payment account. It does not compare banks, fees or interest rates, and it names no bank.

What banks must ask you for#

Every bank in Cyprus is bound by the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities Law, Law 188(I)/2007.² Section 61 of that law sets out the customer due diligence measures, starting with identifying the customer and verifying that identity on the basis of documents, data or information from a reliable and independent source, including electronic identification where available.²

The law also requires information on the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship, and in the enhanced checks it describes, information on the source of funds and the source of wealth of the customer and of the beneficial owner.² In practice a non-resident buyer should expect to provide:

• a valid passport or national identity card;
• proof of address in the country where you live;
• an explanation of why you want the account, such as a property purchase in Cyprus;
• evidence of where the money comes from: salary, a sale of property or shares, savings, an inheritance.

The exact list is set by each bank within the law and the Central Bank of Cyprus's directives, so ask the bank for its list before you travel. A bank that cannot complete these checks must refuse the account; this is a legal duty, not a judgement on you.

Your right to a basic payment account#

The Payment Accounts Law, Law 64(I)/2017, transposes the EU Payment Accounts Directive.¹ Section 17 requires credit institutions in Cyprus to offer payment accounts with basic features to consumers.¹

Consumers legally resident in the European Union, including those with no fixed address, have the right to open and use such an account with credit institutions established in the Republic, and that right applies whatever the consumer's place of residence.¹ So a buyer who lives elsewhere in the EU has the same right as a resident. The right is tied to legal residence in the EU; a buyer living in the UK, Israel or the Gulf opens an account on the bank's ordinary terms.

A bank must refuse a basic account where opening it would breach the money-laundering law, and it may refuse where you already hold a payment account in Cyprus with the same services.¹ When it refuses, it must tell you how to complain and that you may go to the competent authority or an alternative dispute resolution body.¹

Paying the purchase price#

The purchase money usually moves in stages: a deposit when the contract of sale is signed, then the balance at completion or by instalments on a new build. Each payment should go to the account named in the signed contract and be made by bank transfer, so that the trail matches what you told the bank about the source of funds.

Three habits keep the file clean:

1. Pay from an account in your own name, and keep the transfer confirmations.
2. Confirm the payee's account details with your lawyer by phone before every transfer, never only by email.
3. Keep a copy of the documents you gave your own bank about the source of funds; the lawyer handling the transfer may need them too.

The order of payments and what happens at each stage is set out in how to buy property in Cyprus, and the fees due at transfer in costs of buying property in Cyprus.

What this page does not cover#

This page does not cover mortgages, lending criteria or interest rates, which depend on the lender and on your own finances. It does not cover tax on interest or on money brought into Cyprus; take advice from a licensed accountant. It does not cover the rules on whether you may buy at all: non-EU buyers should first read can foreigners buy property in Cyprus.

If a bank refuses an account and you believe the refusal is wrong, the bank's written reasons and its complaints procedure are the place to start. Keep every document the bank gave you.