Digital Citizen

Digital Citizen

What Banks Actually Ask For When You Open An Account Abroad

The complete document stack, the reference letter templates, and six questions the bank will ask

Benjamin Hies's avatar
Benjamin Hies
Sep 11, 2026
∙ Paid

This June, a retired American reader asked me to open a bank account for her.

Her US banks had spent years making her life difficult, and every bank she approached on her own had said no.

She wanted her life savings at a bank with no reason to shut her out.

On paper, she should have been an easy client.

In practice, almost every document needed a second r…

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