Opening a Bank Account

These business services are only for present clients of Delaware Intercorp.
For information on becoming a client of Delaware Intercorp, Inc., see our Home page.

Having a bank account in Delaware or the United States isn't a necessity to conduct business as a Delaware corporation or limited liability company.

We've worked with a number of clients in the past to help them open a bank account in the U.S. Presently, because of the political climate in the United States, we are unable to assist international clients with opening US bank accounts.

This process has become very difficult here in the US because of the restrictions in the Patriot Act. Banks have very restrictive regulations to follow that require them to document that they “know their customer.” In fact, many banks will not open an account for anyone who does not actually come into their office. It is common that a requirement for opening an account is that you must be a US resident and have a SSN or state issued ID. We have heard from some clients that they have had success opening accounts occasionally, but we have not seen a reputable US banking institution opening accounts in a routine manner for non-US residents in the past several years. If you are able to travel to the US you may be able to locate a bank that is willing to open an account for you; however you would need to do this research independently and handle all contact with the bank directly as we do not act as the middle man in these cases.

We have heard of some companies that claim they can open a bank account for international clients. We would caution you to be diligent and thoroughly research their service before you decide to use them. Those claims that have come to our attention have all proved to be untrue. We have had other international clients who have been promised the opportunity to open US bank accounts, only to find that the promise was too good to be true. They incorporated, and were then sent a bank welcome package to apply for opening an account. The procedure was ok as long as you had a US Social Security Number, US Mailing address and US Issued photo ID from the State where you were a resident (for example, a drivers license). Clearly, most if not all international clients who are not permanent residents in the US can not meet those requirements.

On a few occasions, an international client has been able to arrange to visit a bank in a trip to the US so that they can open an account in person. In many cases this is not practical, and still can involve extensive paperwork. I would certainly recommend that you make all arrangements directly with the bank in advance of traveling to the US with the intention of opening a bank account.

If you do go through the process of attaining a bank account in the U.S., you may need some documentation about your corporation or limited liability company, such as a certificate of good standing. Please contact us, and we may be able to provide you with some of the documentation that you need.