Company bank accounts on the islands

Why the banks hold back

For an island bank, a company account means a lot of checking: shareholders, beneficial owners, directors, business model, payment flows. For a company run somewhere else, the bank can barely verify any of that locally. The banks solve the problem their own way: they take companies with an island link and turn the rest down.

NatWest International says it most clearly. Its business account is only for applicants resident in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar. The company may have only one layer of ownership, no nominee shareholders, and all owners, directors and shareholders must live there. Skipton International offers its corporate products to existing customers only.

Where it works, and what it costs

In Gibraltar, Gibraltar International Bank does not accept company applications online; the first step is a questionnaire. With complete documents the bank quotes 14 days to open, and maintenance costs £15 a month. Trusted Novus Bank charges £300 to open a company account and at least £100 a month for accounts that need enhanced due diligence. More on the Rock in banking in Gibraltar.

In the Caribbean the hurdles are higher still. Cayman National does not open company accounts through its digital route, and Butterfield in Cayman only waives the maintenance fee for companies from an average balance of 250,000. Bermuda Commercial Bank asks corporate clients for a minimum balance of $25,000 and charges $5,000 for complex relationships under $1 million. The details are on the individual country pages in the banking section.

Company balances and deposit protection

A point almost everyone misses: in Jersey and Guernsey a company is not an eligible depositor. If the bank fails, your company's balance has no deposit protection at all. The Isle of Man protects companies and trusts up to £20,000 per bank, Gibraltar protects companies like individuals up to £120,000, and the BVI up to $100,000. If you put large company balances on an island, do it with your eyes open. More in deposit protection on the islands.

What makes more sense instead

For your UK limited company, a business account in the UK is the natural route. Which banks and providers take companies with directors abroad is covered in a business account for your UK company. If the company does not exist yet, everything starts with UK Company Setup.

For a company that is genuinely meant to be run on an island, the account belongs to the structure: a licensed local administrator runs the company, and the bank sees a counterpart it knows. For a pure structure without moving, such as a BVI company, talk it through in the UK Tax Consult before you pick a bank.

What the bank wants to know about a company

Island, Gibraltar or Caribbean: the banks ask much the same questions everywhere. Who are the beneficial owners, where do they live, and where did the company's capital come from? What does the company do, with whom, in which countries, with which payment flows? Who actually runs it, and where are the decisions made?

A company that can answer those questions by pointing to the island, because a licensed local administrator runs it and the business is steered from there, has a good chance. A company whose answers all point to Amsterdam, Stockholm or Brussels will be asked why the account should be on the island at all. There is rarely an answer that convinces an island bank.

Sources: NatWest International: Business bank account; Gibraltar International Bank: Business accounts; Trusted Novus Bank: General fees April 2026; Guernsey DCS: Leaflet 2026; JRDCA: Jersey Bank Depositors Compensation Scheme; IOMFSA: Depositors' Compensation Scheme