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Opening a Monaco bank account – the legal right, the 15-day rule and proof of resources

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

A Monaco bank account is more than a convenience: a bank must open one for a new resident within 15 working days, and a Monaco bank certificate is what most non-working newcomers show to get their residence card. Here is how the right to an account works, what to bring, and what the bank reports about you.

A woman pays with her phone at a café counter on a sunny Monaco street, ochre apartment buildings and the hillside behind
Illustration: Relocate in Europe

A Monaco bank account does two jobs for a newcomer. SMEG, the water company SMEaux and Monaco Telecom all ask for a RIB (bank details slip) before they connect you. And if you are not coming to work, a certificate from a Monaco bank is what the Sûreté Publique – Section des Résidents (the police residents' section) accepts as proof that you can support yourself. Since Law 1.492 of 8 July 2020, a bank cannot leave you waiting.

One thing may change. Bill 1.124, tabled at the Conseil National on 13 March 2026, would give a bank 45 working days instead of 15 to open an account once your file is complete. It is a bill, not law; the 15-day rule applies as you read this.

Who has the right to a Monaco bank account?

Law 1.492 gives the right to open a deposit account at a credit institution of your choice to Monegasque nationals, to anyone domiciled in Monaco and to anyone in the process of settling who holds the provisional receipt (récépissé provisoire) for a residence-card application. The Direction de la Sûreté Publique issues that receipt when your carte de séjour (residence card) file is lodged, so the account can come before the card. The document list, in a ministerial order amended in 2023, expressly covers the holder of the receipt.

WhoWhat Law 1.492 provides
Monegasque nationalsA right to a deposit account at a credit institution of your choice
Anyone domiciled in MonacoThe same right
Anyone settling who holds the provisional receipt for a residence-card applicationThe same right – before the card is issued
Self-employed people and commercial companiesA duty: a deposit account for the business at a credit institution established in Monaco

Source: Legimonaco (Law 1.492 of 8 July 2020), read 24 September 2026.

For a person settling, the documents are a two-sided copy of a valid photo ID issued by a public authority, proof of address under three months old, the provisional receipt and a sworn statement that you hold no personal deposit account in Monaco. The right is subject to Law 1.362, the anti-money-laundering law, so the bank identifies you from the original of a valid official photo document.

How long does opening a Monaco bank account take?

Once the bank has every required document, it has 15 working days to open the account. If it refuses, it must give you a free written refusal certificate and tell you that you can refer the matter to the Direction du Budget et du Trésor (the Budget and Treasury Department), which designates a bank. That bank must open the account within 15 working days, with basic services at prices no higher than it charges other customers.

Basic service under the right to an accountIncluded
Opening, keeping and closing the account; a RIBYes
Transfers and direct debitsYes
Cash deposits and withdrawals at the counter and at ATMsYes
A payment card whose every use is authorised by the bankYes
Bank chequesTwo per month

Source: Legimonaco (Law 1.492, art. 5), read 24 September 2026.

Proof of resources – the bank certificate for the residence card

Everyone aged 16 or over who stays in Monaco more than three months a year, or settles there, must apply for a residence card, and sufficient financial resources is a condition in every case. The Government accepts a salary, professional income, sufficient savings, or support from a parent, spouse or partner.

Your situationProof of resources for the residence card
Employee in MonacoA Service de l'Emploi (Employment Office) document authorising work: a job promise, a hiring-authorisation request, or the work permit plus latest payslip
Self-employed or company managerAn extract from the Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie (trade register) under three months old, or a French Kbis
Future company founderA receipt that the company-creation request is admissible, from the Direction du Développement Économique (until 2023 the Direction de l'Expansion Économique – the name the page still uses)
RetireeProof of pension
Supported by a parent, spouse or partnerA signed support letter plus proof of that person's resources
Everyone elseA compliant certificate from a Monaco-based bank, under one month old, stating that you have the means to reside in Monaco

Source: Mon Service Public (Prince's Government), read 24 September 2026.

There is no official savings threshold: the Government's wording is that the amount judged sufficient depends on the Monaco bank that issues the certificate, and it tells you to arrange it with the bank. Take an invented example. Anna Andersson will live on her savings, so her file rests on the bank certificate, and she times it to be under a month old on the day of her appointment.

The same certificate returns later: it is an accepted proof of means when you renew the card, and a bank attestation under one month old, or other proof of income, is required for the certificate of residence for tax purposes – the €600 document, valid one year, for people who spend more than 183 days a year in Monaco or have their main activities there.

Paying in Monaco – the euro, cash limits and declarations

The euro is Monaco's official currency under the Monetary Agreement with the European Union of 29 November 2011, in force for Monaco since 1 December 2011. Monaco issues no banknotes; its euro coins, struck at the Monnaie de Paris within an agreed annual ceiling, are legal tender like any other. Banks licensed in Monaco join EU interbank payment systems on the same terms as banks in France. Cash is regulated.

Cash ruleThresholdWhat applies
Paying a business in cash€30,000 or moreForbidden; the cap counts linked payments over six calendar months (Law 1.362, art. 35)
Paying a business in cashFrom €10,000The business must apply customer-identification checks
Carrying cash, bearer instruments or gold into or out of MonacoAbove €10,000Declare it to the Sûreté Publique; failing to declare, or declaring falsely, is fined half the sum

Source: Legimonaco (Law 1.362) and Mon Service Public, read 24 September 2026.

What your bank reports – and what changed in 2024–2026

Monaco applies the OECD Common Reporting Standard: banks collect information on the accounts of clients who are not resident in Monaco and it goes automatically to the tax authorities of their state of residence, with exchanges since 2018 on 2017 data. On 13 October 2025 Monaco and the EU signed a protocol amending their agreement on automatic exchange of financial-account information, in force since 1 January 2026; it concerns tax transparency, not residence rights.

Two other dates. Sovereign Ordinance 11.883 of 23 April 2026 replaced the annexes of the Monetary Agreement listing the EU banking and anti-money-laundering rules Monaco must apply. And Law 1.561 of 2 July 2024 created a 'right to be forgotten' for former serious illnesses in borrower insurance, fully in force since its last implementing texts were published on 19 June 2026.

Finally, tax. Residents other than French nationals pay no personal income tax in Monaco, and there is no wealth, property or residence tax – but the exemption covers only people genuinely established there and does not override other states' rules; French nationals remain covered by Article 7 of the 1963 tax convention (part 7). When you leave, hand back your residence card eight days before departure: the Sûreté Publique issues an attestation of your stay, useful for banking formalities.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Lodge your residence-card file and keep the provisional receiptWithin eight days of arrival
2Ask a bank for an account under Law 1.492: photo ID, proof of address under three months old, the receipt, the sworn statementAs soon as you have the receipt
3If refused, take the written refusal certificate to the Direction du Budget et du TrésorAfter the 15 working days
4Living on your own means? Ask the bank for the resources certificateUnder one month old when you file
5Carrying more than €10,000 in cash across the border? Declare itBefore you travel

Source: Legimonaco and Mon Service Public, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.