Banking

Steps

1. Keep your European account at first: an employer, landlord or supplier that accepts SEPA transfers and direct debits from a Slovak account must also accept an account from another EU country (no discrimination based on the IBAN).
2. Choose a bank and book an appointment or open online if it accepts your foreign identity document. The list of documents varies from bank to bank: all of them verify your identity on a valid document (anti-money-laundering check), and many also ask for your address in Slovakia or your residence certificate; ask for the list before the appointment.
3. Ask for the standard account if you want a simple, inexpensive account: the condition is not to have another payment account with a bank established in Slovakia or a branch of a foreign bank in Slovakia (term deposit accounts, savings books and savings accounts are allowed), which you confirm with a sworn declaration attached to the application (Act 483/2001, § 27d). The bank must open it or refuse within 10 working days of a complete application. It includes any number of transactions, deposits and withdrawals of euros at branches and cash machines, standing orders and direct debits, online banking and an international debit card.
4. If your net income is low (€1,006.50 per month at most in 2026), ask for the basic banking product, free of charge, by signing a sworn declaration about your income and the absence of another account.
5. For a mortgage, each bank sets its own conditions for a foreigner (income, length of stay, deposit): compare offers and ask for them in writing.

Documents

• Valid identity document (identity card or passport).
• Residence address (the law speaks of the residence address for the standard account and of the permanent residence address for the basic product); many banks in practice ask for an address in Slovakia or the residence registration certificate: ask them.
• Your rodné číslo: the law lists it among the elements of the application (Act 483/2001, § 27c para. 7 and § 27d para. 3); if you do not have one yet, ask the bank how it proceeds.
• Sworn declaration: no other payment account (standard account); income and no other account (basic product).

Costs and timelines

• Standard account: €3 per month at most (Ministry of Finance).
• Basic banking product: €0; net income of at most 1.1 times the minimum wage, i.e. €1,006.50 per month in 2026.
• Euro transfers within the EU: same price as a domestic transfer.
• Deposit protection: €100,000 per person per bank.

Common pitfalls

• Opening a second payment account in Slovakia: once the standard account or the basic product has been granted, the law prohibits opening another payment account (term deposit accounts, savings books and savings excepted) and the bank may terminate the product (Act 483/2001, § 27c para. 4 and 5, § 27d para. 4 and 16). The text refers to accounts held with a bank established in Slovakia or a branch of a foreign bank in Slovakia; it does not mention accounts opened in another country.
• Thinking your foreign account will be refused: in euros, refusing an IBAN from another EU country is prohibited for SEPA transactions; report it if this happens.
• Forgetting your card when travelling: euro withdrawals are free at your bank's sister banks in other countries with the standard account, but not necessarily elsewhere.

What changes by country of origin

• Euro area countries: no conversion; your account can be enough at first.
• EU countries outside the euro area, Switzerland, United Kingdom: plan for conversion fees into euros; a Slovak euro account avoids paying them every month.
• British citizens and other non-Europeans without residence in the EU: no right to the standard account, which is reserved for people who reside in the EU.