With a rapidly booming tech ecosystem, millions of digital nomads, and thousands of cross-border startups, banks must adapt to new requirements for doing business and start dissolving bureaucratic barriers, transcend outdated processes, and replace them with new — and more convenient — solutions for opening and operating a business bank account regardless of one’s physical location.

Digital transformation has been impacting and yielding unprecedented changes across multiple industries including the most traditional ones such as business banking. With a rapidly booming tech ecosystem, millions of digital nomads, and thousands of cross-border startups, banks have no choice but to adapt to new requirements for doing business and start dissolving bureaucratic barriers, transcend outdated processes, and replace them with new — and more convenient — solutions for opening and operating a business bank account regardless of one’s physical location.

A business bank account is necessary when relocating or opening your company in Portugal — not only for obvious reasons but for bureaucratic ones, too. To get your start of activity certificate (which you will need when opening your Portuguese business), for instance, you must provide the details of your business bank account. Failure to do so might lead to paying penalties, and the deadline is tight: only 15 days from the date of incorporating the company to the start of activity declaration and only five days to deposit the share capital. The more prepared you are, the better! That’s why GrowIN Incorporate can facilitate what otherwise would quickly become a headache.

If you are already in Portugal, you will need to have in hand all your company incorporation documents for setting up a business bank account. Here are some of the options you should consider for your Portuguese business account:

Portuguese Banks — Suitable if you are already in Portugal

BPI: This financial institution is the 5th largest one in Portugal, with over 2 million clients. Business accounts must be open in a physical branch, easily available throughout the country.

SANTANDER: Banco Santander is the largest financial institution in the Eurozone, and needless to say, its branches are widely available in Portugal. It has also grown 30% in the corporate area, due to incentives and credit facilities.

MILLENIUM: the biggest private bank in Portugal was elected the best corporate bank by DataE (an analyst institution in the financial market) due to its financing prospects, credit lines, and global efficiency. It also offers a customizable business application to better serve your company’s needs.

Digital Banks — Business Banking Made Easy

TransferWise for Business: With the ability to send money to 70+ countries, and receive and hold money in 40+ currencies with local bank details in the Eurozone, US, Australia, and the UK, TransferWise might be a viable choice for startups with offices all over the world. You can also set up batch payments, download a monthly statement for different accounts, and connect with Xero to link it with any accounting tools you like.

Revolut for Business (OUR TOP PICK): With accounts in 24 currencies, zero fees for international payments, and even an Open API for more tech-savvy customers; Revolut is perfect for startups, small, and even large companies that want to optimize employees’ expenditure since it can issue prepaid cards tied to the main business account.

As it is our mission to enable worldwide entrepreneurship and bright minds behind new startups, GrowIN Portugal is thrilled to announce a partnership with Revolut Business, which allows GrowIN Portugal’s customers to get a free account and debit card for six months, no subscription obliged.

With your Revolut Business account, you are also entitled to three months of free hot-desk space, a perk from Revolut’s partnership with WeWork — which plans to set its working spaces in Lisbon, Porto, and hopefully Faro very soon.