Cyprus-Forum.com

[sansmi18]

hello everyone,what documents would we need to open a bank account in Paphos? we need to open one for wages,rent,etc.

[Smiler Brian]

I just used a passport, no problems. They opened it as a sterling account and once money was paid in changed it to a full cheque account with debit cards. Took about 20 minutes.

[Crivens]

When I opened one with the bank of Cyprus in Limassol they asked for a passport, letter from my bank (saying how great I was), an alien book (didn't have it at the time, but they were ok with it), and a contract for the flat and some bills to the flat. This was for a proper account with debit card, online banking etc. I didn't put any money in the beginning, but I'm betting if I had put thousands in there straight away (transferred directly from UK for buying flat) then they may not have been so fussy. My dad opened a simple account with no debit card and he only needed his passport.

My business one was pretty easy to open as they knew me from my personal account, so I only needed my business details and a business stamp. Online banking for business requires one of those keyfob things to login. A lot more secure basically.

Cheers

[sansmi18]

thanks for the info,we too will not be putting thousands in,so proberly just a normal account as dont wont debit/credit card just a cashpoint card.again thanks for everyones help

[Crivens]

You can get an internet credit card just by asking really after getting a normal account. Basically it is really a visa card on a separate account, with no credit, and it only works on the web. You transfer funds online from your debit account to the visa account when you want to buy something.

The advantage of it is that you cannot be tempted to use it for anything else, and if anyone gets your details online then you can only lose what you put on the card. Normally a fairly low amount for web purchases.

Cheers

[paliometoxo]

i woul take passport and id card if you have one...

[Get Real!]

My business one was pretty easy to open as they knew me from my personal account, so I only needed my business details and a business stamp. Online banking for business requires one of those keyfob things to login. A lot more secure basically.

Keyfob?

[Crivens]

It is a little keyring type plastic device with a button and an LCD display. You login to the bank account with the usual login and password, but when you transfer anything you also need to press the keyfob and it gives you a seemingly random number. You type this in and the transfer will be accepted. No other number will do. Plus it is only valid for a few seconds. I remember reading that Lloyds in the UK want to do this with every account soon because of Internet fraud and how easy it is to record keystrokes from remote computers.

I also have a metal one for work. Same idea, but that one lets me into the VPN to connect to their network in the UK. Some companies are paranoid considering I have to go through about 3 passwords (that change every few weeks) before getting to anything vital, and normally another 2 or 3 before getting onto a client's site (Lunn Poly or Thomson holidays are good examples).

Cheers

[paliometoxo]

you have internet banking to like they do in uk which is good

[Crivens]

Yeah, is pretty similar to what I have for Lloyds in the UK. The keyfob security makes my business account even better (although I never had a business account in the UK).

Cheers