# Opening a bank account



## Stretford_Ender (Jun 12, 2012)

Hi guys


Lynn and I are over for a few days from tomorrow house-hunting. On Monday morning I plan to turn up at a local branch of Bank of Cyprus or Laiki and open a current account to be used to pay our bills. We will present our passports, various utility bills in both our names, bank statements from UK, inside leg measurement etc. 

We plan to use Currency Fair to transfer money from our UK bank to our Cyprus bank. 

Questions:

1) is it feasible to just turn up and open account as described, or should I make an appointment
2) am I missing any documents above
3) anybody have any preferences for a particular bank and reasons

Cheers

Ian


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2013)

Stretford_Ender said:


> Hi guys
> 
> 
> Lynn and I are over for a few days from tomorrow house-hunting. On Monday morning I plan to turn up at a local branch of Bank of Cyprus or Laiki and open a current account to be used to pay our bills. We will present our passports, various utility bills in both our names, bank statements from UK, inside leg measurement etc.
> ...


You can just show up, I did at least at Bank of Cyprus. Dokuments you will bring is enough.

I was sure that Laiki was the bank that the state bailed out from bankrupcy but I can be wrong. But it should be no problem now with any of them. They are all in the same boat

Anders


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## Stretford_Ender (Jun 12, 2012)

All in the same boat, and possibly with a big hole in it !

Thanks for the reply

Ian


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Stretford_Ender said:


> All in the same boat, and possibly with a big hole in it !
> 
> Thanks for the reply
> 
> Ian


I think you'll be OK with those documents and you can just turn up. I have accounts with BofC and Laiki. Laiki's charges tend to be lower. Both banks have been bailed out, so there's nothing to choose between them on that score. If you are depositing a decent amount in an interest account, negotiate the interest rate up.

All the banks charge a lot for cheque books if you open a current account. As an alternative open what they call a savings account for which you can get a debit card. We have this and easily manage without cheques.

Both these banks have decent online systems but note that if you want one of the little coding machines to do online account to account transfers, they aren't free like in the UK.

BofC charge €2.50 for sending a statement each month. Tell them you don't want this and the charge will stop but the statement seems to still turn up!

Pete


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## Stretford_Ender (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks Pete.

With the savings account you mention, can you still set up standing orders & direct debits (assuming they exist in Cyprus) to pay rent, utilities etc?

Ian


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Stretford_Ender said:


> Thanks Pete.
> 
> With the savings account you mention, can you still set up standing orders & direct debits (assuming they exist in Cyprus) to pay rent, utilities etc?
> 
> Ian


Yes you can and yes they both exist. As far as I can see the only difference in the accounts is the lack of cheque book.

Pete


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## Stretford_Ender (Jun 12, 2012)

Sounds like that's what we are after.

Thanks

Ian


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## buster12 (Oct 9, 2012)

Hi - all the above advice is fine. I have just done the same (with Hellenic Bank, who seem to be the least exposed, or 'best of the warst' as the lady who opened the account said!). Opende a Savings account as described being cheapest to run, all I needed was passport and driving licence. Hellenic have an excellent online sytem as well.

You should have no problems, but I shall be keeping the majoirty of funds still in UK bank for the moment, just trasnferring working capital as and when needed. A Euro travel card can be a useful back-up as well.

Hope this helps, good luck!

David


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