How to Open a Bank Account in Portugal as an American or Briton

To open a bank account in Portugal as a foreigner, you ask a bank authorized by Banco de Portugal and give it your identification document, a tax number, your address and your occupation, each with proof. Banco de Portugal says this can be done in person or at a distance, and that people who hold no other current account also have a legal right to a low-cost basic account.

This guide is the banking hub of the site. It sits after the paperwork in the residence routes guide and uses the number from the Portuguese NIF guide. It reports what Banco de Portugal, the law on basic accounts, a Diário da República portaria and the IRS say, on the day we read them. It is not legal or financial advice, and the bank that receives your request decides what it accepts.

What the pages say, and when

We read the Banco de Portugal bank customer portal on 18 October 2026. Its pages carry no date of their own, and they quote the 2026 value of the social support index, the IAS. The latest official text behind this guide is the Portaria 480-A/2025/1, published on 30 December 2025, which sets the IAS for 2026 at 537.13 euros, so that is the date of the guide’s information. The law on basic accounts (Decree-Law 27-C/2000, consolidated) shows 29 May 2023 as its latest amendment. The IRS pages we read were last reviewed between 18 June and 24 September 2026. The consolidated Decree-Law text we read is the copy hosted by Banco de Portugal, which says it does not replace the original in the Diário da República.

Can a foreigner open a bank account in Portugal?

Yes. Banco de Portugal says that only duly authorized credit institutions registered with it may open current accounts, and its list of identification documents includes the passport and the residence permit. A current account is a payment account that lets you deposit cash, withdraw and make payments, and the central bank adds that it is generally needed to contract other services such as a loan.

Two limits to know from the same page:

• A bank is not required to give a current account holder a payment card, cheques, direct debits or online banking. Those depend on your request and on the bank.
• The account is identified by an account number or by an IBAN.

The pages do not say which banks will accept a customer who is not yet resident, or who lives abroad. For that, ask the bank. What the central bank does say is that its standard account can be held by residents and non-residents alike, which is covered below.

What documents does a bank ask for?

Banco de Portugal lists the identification details a bank collects from a person and the supporting document for each. These are the same for an American and a Briton.

The page adds three points:

• The bank may ask for other details it considers necessary for the type of account.
• Unemployment or the lack of a job is not a ground for refusing an account. For retired or unemployed customers, the bank asks for information on the last job held.
• If you act for someone else, the bank must also ask for information and documents on that person, the actual beneficiary.

The documents are checked the same way at a branch and at a distance: through copies of originals or certified copies, access to documents in electronic form, or videoconference. The bank must keep copies of what it is shown, and it must update its records, for example when your identification document expires.

Do I need a NIF or a residence permit to open the account?

Banco de Portugal lists the “tax identification number or equivalent number issued by a foreign authority”, so a tax number is on the list and the page does not say that it must be Portuguese. It does not say either that a bank will accept the foreign number alone. In practice, ask the bank which number it wants before the appointment. Our Portuguese NIF guide covers how a non-resident gets the number, which the tax authority says it assigns to people who are not resident too.

For the identification document, the page lists the passport and the residence permit as separate valid documents. A passport is enough to meet the list; a residence permit is one of the possible documents, not the only one. For the address, the bank collects the address of permanent residence and the tax domicile if different, so a person who has not yet moved will have a foreign address to declare.

The right to a basic account, on the other hand, is tied to the right to reside in a European Union member state, as explained next.

What is the right to a basic bank account?

The basic bank account, in Portuguese “serviços mínimos bancários”, is a legal right, set up by Decree-Law 27-C/2000. Banco de Portugal describes it as a set of essential banking services at reduced cost that includes a current account and its debit card. Every credit institution that receives deposits from the public and provides these services must offer it.

Who can ask. The decree-law defines the person who can ask as any consumer “que tenha o direito de residir num Estado-Membro” (who has the right to reside in a member state) by virtue of EU or national law. It names three groups that are included: consumers without a fixed address, asylum seekers, and consumers refused a residence permit but who cannot be expelled. The text does not say which visas or permits give that right, so ask the bank or Banco de Portugal whether yours qualifies.

The condition. The customer may not hold another current account. The legal text refers to another account “junto de uma instituição de crédito estabelecida em território nacional”, with a bank established in Portugal, while the central bank page says “other current accounts”. You declare on the opening form that you hold no other current account, or that you were notified that your account will be closed. A person who holds another account may still be a co-holder of a basic account with someone over 65 or with a certified permanent disability of 60 percent or more.

What the bank may and may not do.

• Besides cases provided for in other laws and regulations, it may refuse only if you will not sign the declaration, or if it learns you hold another current account.
• It must open or refuse without undue delay, and within 10 business days of a complete request (the decree-law says “dias úteis”; the central bank page says “days”).
• If it refuses, it must tell you at once, free of charge, on paper or another durable medium, with the grounds and the complaint routes, including a complaint to Banco de Portugal.
• It may not ask for more documents than any current account needs, nor for a minimum deposit, nor force you to buy another product or shares of the bank.

What is included. A debit card that cannot be more restrictive than the bank’s other debit cards, access through ATMs in the EU, online banking and branches, deposits, withdrawals, payments and direct debits, unlimited transfers within the same bank, transfers to other banks without limit at ATMs, and up to 48 transfers to other banks a calendar year through online banking or the bank’s app, in Portugal and the EU. It also includes five transfers a month, up to 30 euros each, through third-party payment apps.

What is not. The balance cannot go negative: no overdraft, no tolerated overrun, except for operations made with the debit card. Transfers beyond the included limits, or to accounts outside the EU, and other products, are charged at the bank’s price list.

When it can end. Immediately, if you used the account against the law or gave incorrect information to obtain it. With effect 60 days after notice, if there were no transactions for 24 consecutive months, if you cease to be a legal resident in the EU (the decree-law makes an exception for consumers without a fixed address and asylum seekers), or if you hold another current account with a Portuguese bank that lets you use the same services.

How much does a bank account cost?

Banco de Portugal says each bank sets its fees freely, within the limits of the law.

• Basic account: all charges together may not exceed 1 percent of the IAS in a year. With the IAS for 2026 at 537.13 euros (Portaria 480-A/2025/1, effective 1 January 2026), the central bank gives the cap as 5.37 euros a year. Converting an existing account into a basic account costs nothing.
• Standard account: the maintenance fee and the minimum opening amount are set freely by the bank, and the fee cannot depend on the average balance. Banks offer it at their own choice.
• Any account: a maintenance fee is usually charged even when the account is not used, whatever the balance. A bank can charge a fee only if the account contract provides for it. No fee can be charged to close the account of a consumer. Banks must not charge for photocopies of your documents or for reissued statements.

To compare, Banco de Portugal points to its fee comparator and to the price list each bank must publish at its branches and on its website.

What is the standard account?

The standard account, “conta base”, is a standardized current account that includes the same services whichever bank sells it: the account, a debit card, access through ATMs, online banking and branches (a bank may limit branch withdrawals to three a month), deposits, withdrawals, payments, direct debits and domestic transfers within the bank. Banco de Portugal says adults, residents and non-residents, who use it for non-professional purposes may hold it, and that you may hold several current accounts alongside it. The sentence on holders uses the words “basic account” on the standard account page; we read it as meant for the standard account, since the page is about that product.

What should Americans expect?

Expect questions about citizenship and tax residence. The IRS page on FATCA, the U.S. law that makes foreign banks report accounts of U.S. account holders to the IRS or face withholding, says that if you set up a new account with a foreign financial institution, it may ask you for information about your citizenship. The IRS adds that certain local institutions get lighter reporting duties only if they do not discriminate by declining to open or maintain accounts for U.S. citizens who live in their country. The IRS pages do not use the word self-certification; how a given Portuguese bank collects the information is the bank’s form.

Two filings belong to you, not to the bank, and are separate from each other:

For Form 8938, the IRS summary gives, for a taxpayer living abroad who is unmarried or files separately, more than 200,000 dollars on the last day of the year or 300,000 at any time; for joint filers 400,000 and 600,000. It treats you as living abroad if your tax home is in a foreign country and you were present abroad at least 330 days in a 12-month period. A person who does not have to file a U.S. return does not file the form. The IRS says failure to report on Form 8938 may result in a penalty of 10,000 dollars, and says the FBAR carries its own penalties. Read the pages and consider a U.S. tax professional; this guide does not compute your obligations.

What should Britons expect?

The Banco de Portugal pages make no distinction by nationality: the same identification, tax number, address and occupation details are collected from every customer. A Briton in Portugal is in the same position as an American on the documents. The post-Brexit situation affects the residence documents you hold, which are covered in our guide for British citizens moving after Brexit. We did not read an HMRC or UK government page on reporting a foreign account, so this guide states nothing about UK reporting for a Portuguese account.

How does the account fit with the NIF and the visa?

The tax number is one of the details the bank collects (see above), so the NIF is part of the file you bring. If you apply for a residence route that asks for proof of means, such as the retirement and passive income visa or the remote work visa, read the consulate’s page on what it accepts as proof; we did not read a visa page that requires a Portuguese bank account, and this guide does not claim one does.

What to do if the bank says no

• Ask for the refusal in writing: for a basic account the bank must give it, with the grounds, free of charge.
• Use the complaint route the bank must name, including the complaint to Banco de Portugal, and the out-of-court dispute resolution bodies the decree-law requires banks to provide.
• If the refusal concerns an ordinary account, the pages we read do not list the grounds a bank may use, so ask the bank to state its reason.

For the U.S. tax side of FATCA and FBAR, see U.S. taxes for Americans living in Portugal.

Pages read for this guide

Banco de Portugal bank customer portal, on 18 October 2026: the pages on opening a current account, on the basic bank account, on the standard account and on charges. The consolidated text of Decree-Law 27-C/2000, hosted by Banco de Portugal. The Diário da República text of Portaria 480-A/2025/1. The IRS pages on FATCA, on the summary of FATCA reporting for U.S. taxpayers, on FATCA information for individuals and on the FBAR.