Opening a Czech Bank Account

If you´re living and/or working in Prague, at some point you´re probably going to want to set up a bank account with a local Czech Bank.  It may appear like a daunting task at first; thankfully, however, opening a bank account in the Czech Republic is fairly easy – especially compared to some of the other bureaucratic procedures here.

In nearly every bank in Prague, all it takes for foreigners to open an account is a passport and one other form of identification (such as a driver´s license).  There may be some exceptions – the Expat Center at Ceska Sporitelna makes it even easier by only requiring a passport, and Citibank makes it slightly more difficult by requiring a third document showing an address in the Czech Republic – but generally, all you´ll need is a passport and one other I.D.  You´ll also need an initial deposit (not a fee, just the amount you need to put into the account to start) to open an account at any bank.  The initial deposit varies from bank to bank, but usually isn´t too much: the lowest I´ve seen is 200 CZK for some accounts at CSOB, the highest being 2,000 for most accounts at HVB.  The Expat Center at CS (1000 CZK) and eBanka (500 CZK) fall somewhere in the middle. 

Which bank to choose?  All banks have their plusses and (usually many) minuses.  At most banks, you´ll generally pay a flat monthly rate as well as banking fees for every type of transaction you can imagine – the only exception being the Expat Center at CS, which eliminates almost all of the banking fees in exchange for a lofty monthly rate.  For a comparison of banks – looking specifically at customer service, expat friendliness, and banking charges – please see my previous article here:

Just note that some charges (especially the monthly fees and plans) are continuously changing every few months or so, and customer service can be a difficult beast to assign a rating to, with a chance to encounter the good, bad, or ugly at any bank you may happen to visit.

Another question I often see is how to transfer money into the account – which, for most expats (at least initially), means how to transfer money from a foreign account into the Czech one.  I wouldn´t really recommend any Czech bank for foreign money transfers, even if it means taking an extra step rather than transferring the money directly into your account.  All Czech banks charge a commission on foreign transfers (usually right around 1%), their exchange rates aren´t always the best, and they´re known to take a longer time than necessary to actually get the money into the account.

Instead, for large foreign transfers (say, 50,000 CZK), I´d recommend a specialty foreign exchange center – NOT one of the foreign exchange stands that flood the streets of Prague 1, but an actual, official, exchange center, such as Aktiv Change.  Just be careful with them as well, because you´ll need to change a certain amount of money to get the best rates (usually 50,000 CZK; 30,000 CZK for Aktiv Change). For transfers under this amount, if at all possible, I´d recommend using an ATM (bankomat) – this means, of course, you´d have to be taking the money out of your own foreign account using some kind of debit or ATM card.  ATM rates are known to constantly fluctuate (and can´t always be verified ahead of time), but they are set to an international standard by the card issuers, and should be among the best rates available; you´ll have to pay a fee for using the ATM, but no commission, and you´ll immediately have the cash – which you can then deposit at your bank.  For a small fee, of course.