Georgia company bank account: opened in Tbilisi, without you on the plane
A Georgian LLC owned from abroad opens its account at a branch. Either you go once, or a representative goes for you on a power of attorney. Banks don't offer a fully online route to new non-resident owners.
At TBC the account opens in one visit. A company with a foreign owner pays a one-off GEL 500 review fee, then GEL 1.90 a month.
You chose Georgia for a good reason: the company pays nothing on profit it keeps, and 15% only when profit is paid out. Then comes the part nobody explains well. Georgian banks are friendly to foreign owners, but they want to see someone across the desk. The question is who sits in that chair: you, once, or a person holding your power of attorney.
Key takeaways
- Non-resident owners open a company account at a branch, in person or through a representative with a power of attorney.
- TBC charges a company with a foreign owner a one-off GEL 500 review fee; the account itself costs GEL 1.90 a month.
- By law a bank must refuse when it can't finish its checks, so the file, not luck, decides the answer.
- Deposits are insured to GEL 50,000, companies included, rising to GEL 100,000 on 1 January 2027.
- A Georgian company may not take crypto as payment for goods or services.
- Our representative opens the account on your power of attorney, inside our price.
Three ways into a Georgian business account
Georgian banks don't run separate "offshore" desks. Your LLC is a Georgian company, so it gets a domestic business account. What changes, because you live abroad, is how you get through the door. TBC says on its page for foreign business owners that non-residents open business accounts "only at a TBC Bank branch in person", and that a representative may come instead with a power of attorney.
A word on citizens of Russia and Belarus, including people with a second passport: Bank of Georgia's non-resident page says their first account can't be opened through a power of attorney, that the review fee is paid upfront and not refunded on refusal, and that the account may not be used for transfers to or from crypto platforms.
A branch is unavoidable, but you don't have to be the one standing in it.
What a Georgian bank charges a company owned from abroad
Georgian bank fees are low by European standards, with one exception that catches foreign owners by surprise. TBC's terms and fees list a GEL 500 "bank product registration fee" that covers reviewing the application, for any legal entity whose beneficiary, shareholder or controlling person is a non-resident individual. It applies "unless otherwise stipulated by the agreement made with the Bank". Opening the current account itself is free.
Year one at TBC, worked out
At the official rate of GEL 2.5935 per US dollar on 13 November 2026. Transfers, cards and cash are charged separately.
Two things on TBC's list matter more than the monthly fee once the account runs: cash withdrawals cost 0.2% in lari and 0.6% in dollars, euros or pounds below US$50,000, and branch cash deposits up to GEL 1,500 cost GEL 1. Most companies owned from abroad rarely touch cash, so they pay little beyond the monthly fee and their transfers.
A year of account fees, side by side
Only what each bank prints for its own business account. ProCredit sells business packages rather than a single account; Bank of Georgia and Liberty open accounts free and publish no review fee for foreign owners on the pages we read.
Your LLC invoices clients in euros, pays you a dividend once a year and keeps the rest in the company. At TBC you pay GEL 500 once, then about GEL 23 a year for the account, plus transfer fees. Year two costs a fraction of year one.
The real first year cost is the GEL 500 review, not the monthly fee.
Why a Georgian bank says no, and how to give it no reason
Refusals feel personal, but in Georgia they mostly follow the law. The anti-money laundering law says a bank may not open or continue a relationship if it can't complete its checks (article 10(6)), or if it has reasonable doubt that a party is on a sanctions list (article 10(7)). Every person with 25% or more of the company, or other ultimate control, counts as a beneficial owner and goes through the bank's checks (article 13(2)).
For clients tied to high-risk jurisdictions, the law adds more: management approval, the origin of funds and closer monitoring (articles 18 and 19). Living abroad is not a risk factor by itself. Your country, your business and how clearly you explain the money are.
How ready is your file?
Tick what you can show today. The meter tracks the questions a Georgian compliance officer asks first.
Banks refuse files they can't finish. A complete story about the money is the cure.
The documents TBC asks a company with foreign owners for
TBC lists its pack on the same expat page. The director, the beneficial owner and any controlling person each become a registered TBC client first; a beneficial owner can register with an uncertified passport copy. Switch between the two routes to see what moves.
For a foreign individual, TBC's terms add a self-declaration about the purpose of the account and expected transactions, signed during the visit, and may ask for source of funds, proof of address and activity documents. TBC advises calling the branch before you go; we do that for you.
Most of the pack comes from the registry. Your part is a passport copy and the power of attorney.
Four currencies, and the one payment a Georgian company can't take
One Georgian business account usually holds several currencies. TBC calls its account multi-currency; Liberty opens lari, dollar, euro and pound accounts free; ProCredit's packages carry lari, dollars and euros.
Your Georgian taxes are paid in lari, so a lari pocket is always useful.
That rule is about being paid. Holding your own crypto as a client of a platform doesn't need a registration, by the same answer. In practice, keep crypto earnings outside the Georgian company, or convert them before money reaches it, and tell the bank how your money moves before it asks.
Hold lari, dollars and euros in one account; don't invoice in crypto.
How much of the balance is insured, and who hears about it
Georgia's Deposit Insurance Agency covers deposits of resident and non-resident individuals and legal entities, in any currency, at every commercial bank. Your LLC's balance is covered up to the limit. The agency's board has set the next step: from 1 January 2027 the limit rises to GEL 100,000.
Payouts come within 20 calendar days of a bank's liquidation, by the agency's own page. Money held with a payment firm is not a bank deposit, so the scheme does not reach it.
Who gets told about the account
Georgia signed the CRS agreement in November 2022 and has a FATCA agreement with the United States, signed in July 2015. A Georgian bank records the tax residence of the people who control the company. If your country exchanges data with Georgia, the account is reported to its tax office each year.
Insured to GEL 50,000 today, GEL 100,000 from 2027, and reported to your home tax office.
From registration to a working account
- Week oneThe company is registeredThe public registry issues the extract the bank needs. Registry fee GEL 200.
- Same daysYou sign the power of attorney at homeWith a notary and an apostille where you live. We send you the wording.
- One branch visitThe account opensTBC opens a business account "instantly" once everyone is registered and the pack is complete. Bank of Georgia says it processes corporate applications "within about a week".
- When the bank asksExtra questionsNew companies with no history sometimes get follow-up questions on funds or clients. Answer them fast and fully; delays here are the usual reason it takes weeks rather than days.
- AfterOnline banking and cardsThe card is issued at the branch; we agree with you how it reaches you, and online banking runs from wherever you live.
The visit itself is quick; the follow-up questions set the pace.
When a Georgian bank isn't the whole answer
Most owners keep a Georgian account even if they also bank elsewhere, because taxes, the accountant and the registry all expect one. What sits next to it depends on your clients.
Georgian payment firms are licensed by the National Bank and listed in its register of payment service providers. Their money is not covered by deposit insurance, so treat them as a way to move money, not to keep it.
Keep the Georgian account at the centre; add a payment firm for convenience, not instead.
What we do, and what it costs you
We form the LLC, keep its legal address in Tbilisi, file the monthly returns, and our representative opens the business account on your power of attorney. You sign at home; we prepare the bank file and stay with it until the account is live. Done that way, it almost always goes through.
- Company registered, GEL 200 registry fee included
- Legal address and twelve monthly returns
- Bank account opened by our representative
Then US$1,190 a year. Paid in crypto.
Paid to the bank, not to us: TBC's GEL 500 review fee, where it applies, and the bank's own monthly and transfer charges.
Paid at home: the notary and apostille for your power of attorney.
Wherever you live, the bank visit happens in Tbilisi, and you don't have to make it.
The representative is inside the price; the bank's own fees stay the bank's.
Georgia company bank account questions
Can I open a Georgian business bank account remotely?
How much does TBC charge a company with a foreign owner?
Which banks open accounts for Georgian companies owned from abroad?
Is there a minimum balance?
Are a Georgian company's deposits insured?
Why would a Georgian bank refuse my company?
Can my Georgian company accept crypto?
Can Heirson open the account for me?
Changelog
- 13 November 2026: first published.
A Georgian company, with the bank account opened for you.
You sign at home. Our representative takes the file to the branch.