How to Open a Business Bank Account in Georgia

For many founders, the bank account is the hardest part of setting up a company in Georgia. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or form an LLC in one day, but a bank may take weeks to review your application and can still reject it without explanation. Knowing which banks accept foreigners, what they check and how to strengthen your application saves a lot of time.

Why You Need a Business Account When You Already Have a Personal One

No rule forbids running a business through a personal account, but banks keep a close eye on how money moves. Regular payments from different counterparties, transfers labeled "under contract" and volumes too large for a private person all trigger a review, and the account can stay frozen until you prove where the money comes from.

A dedicated account for an individual entrepreneur in Georgia takes that risk off the table. The same applies to an LLC in Georgia, and you will need a business account anyway to register for VAT and to connect most payment systems.

Banks That Accept Foreign Clients

Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank, the two largest banks in the country, both open accounts for individual entrepreneurs and for LLCs with foreign founders. Both are headquartered in Tbilisi and have branches all over the city. Bank of Georgia's head office is a local landmark at 29a Gagarin Street, a Soviet brutalist tower designed by the architect Giorgi Chakhava.

TBC Bank is based at 7 Kote Marjanishvili Street, in a 1912 building that once housed Tbilisi's central department store. Smaller players such as Liberty Bank, Basisbank and Terabank also take foreign clients and can be easier to get approved by, though they offer less service in English.

Documents to Prepare

An individual entrepreneur needs a passport, an extract from the register of entrepreneurs and a legal address. An LLC needs more: the company charter, an extract from the register of legal entities, and ID for the director and for every beneficial owner with a stake above 25%. Georgia's anti-money laundering law requires the bank to identify each of these people.

Visiting in Person vs. Using a Power of Attorney

Bank of Georgia won't open an account remotely for non-residents, so the director or beneficial owner has to travel to Tbilisi and sign the paperwork at a branch. TBC Bank handles remote applications from legal entities better, especially when the company is already registered in Georgia with a legal address and a tax number. Even then, your representative will usually need a notarized and apostilled power of attorney.

Proof of a Real Presence in Georgia

Over the past few years, banks have become much stricter with companies that have no visible footprint in the country. A shell LLC with a legal address rented from a service provider, no office, no staff and no local partners gets more questions and more rejections. A genuine lease, local clients or suppliers and at least one employee make a noticeable difference.

Banks are particularly wary when the owner is another foreign company and not an individual. Expect a longer review and a higher chance of rejection.

What the KYC Check Really Covers

The compliance team focuses on three things. Source of wealth is where the founder's money originally came from, source of funds is what the company will actually earn its income from, and expected turnover is a rough estimate of monthly or yearly transaction volume.

If activity on the account in the first months doesn't match the turnover you declared, the bank may freeze it later on. Give honest numbers and don't understate them in the hope of a quicker approval.

How Long It Takes and What It Costs

Once your application is complete, a decision usually comes within anything from a few days to a few weeks. TBC Bank can open an account within a week of receiving all the documents, while Bank of Georgia typically decides in about two weeks after your meeting with a manager.

Opening fees depend on the bank and the service package, so confirm the current price with the bank before you apply. Banks update their fees far more often than the government changes its own.

Stricter Checks for Some Nationalities

Citizens of countries on the FATF grey list or blacklist go through enhanced due diligence. The bank requests more documents, takes longer to decide and often refers the case to compliance at head office, not just the local branch. This is not an automatic rejection, but you should plan for extra time and have more supporting documents ready.

What to Do If You're Turned Down

A rejection from one bank doesn't close the door everywhere. Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank have different approaches, and an application one of them declines may go through at the other. While you look for a bank or wait for an answer, a business account with Wise or Payoneer can cover international payments for the time being.

Neither can stand in for a Georgian bank account, which you still need to pay taxes and VAT. They do ease the pressure in the first weeks, though.

Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank are where most foreigners start, but Georgia has 17 licensed commercial banks, and their requirements, timelines and attitude to foreign clients vary widely. Use the big two as a starting point and look at the rest of the market before you decide.

Bebgur is a good place to start your research and can also put you in touch with people who can advise you personally. That means partner banks and companies from our directory that help with setting up a business and opening a bank account in Georgia.