It’s important to tackle some of the obstacles you’ll undoubtedly face when opening international or offshore bank accounts as a digital nomad. 

After all, though the world is more linked than ever before, regulations are growing and opening accounts is becoming much harder– especially for people leading international lives. 

For this reason, your personal considerations such as residency and where you pay tax will play an important role. If you don’t have these items sorted, many banks will turn you away. 

The reason for this, quite simply, is that you will be seen as high-risk in the eyes of banks and regulators.

That might seem strange, but unfortunately, it’s the truth.

In fact, today, banks are unable to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of regulators and the increasing compliance burden that they’re being asked to carry. 

The problem is that most people don’t know the new rules of the game. 

They go in blind. Choose the wrong bank. Carelessly slap together application answers. And think every bank will cater to their needs as a digital nomad. 

They don’t understand the bank’s sensitivities, likes and dislikes, account opening quirks, or the best strategies…so they end up getting denied.

As a prospective client at a bank, it’s your job to make the bank comfortable and convince them that they want to serve your needs as a client.

In other words, don’t go into the process thinking that you should be allowed to open an account as a digital nomad no matter what… that’s not how it works.

You need to prep carefully and strategically before setting foot in a bank or interacting with bankers. That means clearly understanding your banking goals. And you need to know the benefits that you’re actually after. 

And that’s where we come in…