Panama Bank Account Without Residency: Limits and Options

What the rule allows a non-resident

Agreement 1 of 2026 of the Superintendency of Banks, dated January 16, 2026, regulates the due diligence banks apply to know their clients. For individuals, article 18 provides that, for a foreigner, the appropriate identity document is the passport. Copies of the pages with the photograph, signature and personal data are enough and, in principle, so is the page with the entry stamp. The stamp page is not required when the client was reached abroad through bank visits, by agents of group entities, or through a bank holding an international license.

Besides the passport, the foreigner provides the tax identification number of every country where they are a taxpayer. For the financial profile, the bank must hold at least one of these documents: an employment letter, a social security record, a sworn income tax declaration or a pay slip. It also gathers information on the origin and destination of the funds, the activity that generates the income and the intended use of the account.

The text sets no residency requirement for opening a savings or checking account. What it does is treat nationality, country of birth and country of domicile as factors in the risk profile (article 13). With that profile, the bank sets the level of due diligence and monitoring. The main guide to bank accounts for foreigners details the documents the rule requires and those banks ask for; this article goes deeper into what changes without residency.

Limits table by account type

The rule sets a numeric cap only for simplified opening. For all other accounts, each bank defines limits according to the client’s financial and transactional profile.

Why the simplified account does not apply to a non-resident

Article 15 of the Agreement allows simplified opening for checking or savings accounts whose balance never exceeds B/.5,000. Among the minimum requirements is that they are opened by individuals who are Panamanian or foreign residents in Panama, and that a foreigner is identified with the Electoral Tribunal cédula or the residence card issued by the National Immigration Service. A passport without residency falls outside that case.

The name can cause confusion. Banesco publishes a product called Cuenta Simplificada Internacional, aimed at clients without residency, according to its blog. It is a bank product, separate from the simplified opening in article 15, and the bank itself explains its regulatory treatment. Banco General, for its part, states on its savings account page that, if a new client’s savings stay below 5,000 dollars, a sworn income statement is enough instead of income documentation. That condition appears on the bank’s page for nationals and foreigners alike.

Opening in person or remotely

Article 14 of the Agreement requires banks that open accounts by digital or remote means to build in inferential geolocation of the applicant. The tool estimates the real location from signals such as the IP address, the use of virtual private networks, the time zone and the device settings. Article 53 gives banks an adaptation period until June 30, 2027. Until then, remote opening may differ from bank to bank.

In practice, the banks’ official pages show nuances:

• Banco General: digital opening in its app is aimed at people who are already clients and hold an active savings or checking account. For new foreign clients, its page asks for a valid passport or cédula E, proof of income and a tie to Panama (the latter only for those without a cédula E).
• Global Bank: its savings account page asks foreigners for a passport and a copy of the migration card, plus bank and personal reference letters. It points to an online appointment or a branch and does not describe a remote process.
• Banesco: its blog says the process can be started and largely completed digitally, and that in specific cases it may ask for an in-person interview.

Legal Solutions Panama, a corporate, tax and immigration law firm based in Panama City, states on its bank account opening page that in many cases it is possible to open an account without residency, though not all profiles fit every institution equally. According to the firm, many files can start remotely and, depending on the bank and the profile, a one-time visit may be required at a later stage.

What changes with residency

Residency changes how a client identifies themselves and widens the range of products. Article 18 allows foreigners who obtained residency to be identified with the Electoral Tribunal cédula or the permanent resident card, and article 15 opens the door to simplified opening for those holding a cédula or residence card. At Banco General, the tie-to-Panama requirement applies only to those without a cédula E.

For an account that is already open, the Agreement does not regulate a specific procedure for obtaining residency. It does require banks to keep client data up to date (article 30), with reviews at least every 12 months for high risk, every 24 for medium risk and every 48 for low risk, and immediately after substantial changes. Information is also deemed updated when the client opens an additional product or has contact that allows the data to be checked. How and when to reflect the new status is set by each bank’s policy. Residency is processed before the National Immigration Service; the residency routes compared and the immigration processing times help identify which one fits. A frequent case is nationals of friendly nations, whose requirements are explained in the article on the Friendly Nations visa.

Personal account or company account

The choice depends on what the account is for, and the rule does not settle it. This section describes what the Agreement requires and is not legal or tax advice.

• Personal account: the bank assesses the individual (passport, tax residence, source of funds and financial profile).
• Company account: article 19 asks for the articles of incorporation or equivalent, certificates of existence and good standing, registration data and identification of officers, signatories and attorneys-in-fact. It also requires identifying the beneficial owner, defined as the individual holding 10% or more of the shares or voting rights, and stating whether there are nominee directors or officers provided by a resident agent. Banks must refrain from starting a relationship with suspended companies.

A company does not remove due diligence on the people behind it. Incorporation is explained in the guides on how to open a company in Panama and on which structure suits each use. Anyone weighing an account in a company’s name usually consults a lawyer and a tax adviser first.

CRS, FATCA and what is reported

Opening an account in Panama is not anonymous and does not sit outside tax information exchange. Agreement 1 of 2026 requires the bank to collect the tax identification number of the countries where a foreign client is a taxpayer (articles 16 and 18). For foreign beneficial owners of a company, from jurisdictions with which Panama has ratified, in-force tax information exchange agreements, article 19 also requires that data point.

For the United States, the FATCA agreement between Panama and the United States of April 27, 2016 provides in article 2 that Panamanian financial institutions report, for accounts of U.S. persons, the holder’s name, address and tax identification number, the account number and balance, and the gross interest paid on deposit accounts. With other jurisdictions, the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) applies, administered in Panama by the Dirección General de Ingresos. The specific data and the current list of jurisdictions are published by the DGI.

What to check with the bank

These questions help organize the conversation with each institution before gathering documents:

Two common ideas deserve a caveat. The first, that opening an account grants residency: no rule says so, and residency is processed separately. The second, that the simplified account suits any foreigner: under the Agreement, it is reserved for residents. No official source consulted publishes an opening timeline or an approval rate for non-residents, so those figures are not cited. The information is general and does not replace the advice of a qualified lawyer for the specific case. To find firms that handle the opening, the ranking of firms for opening an account from abroad compares the options, and the guide to verifying a lawyer covers licensing.

Related articles

• Opening a bank account in Panama as a foreigner: what the rule requires and what each bank requires
• Opening a bank account in Panama from abroad: the firms that handle it, compared
• The eight residency routes in Panama compared
• How long each immigration procedure takes in Panama
• Friendly Nations visa in Panama: country list, requirements and what changed
• Corporation, LLC or private interest foundation: which structure suits Panama by use
• Why a Panama Bank Rejects a Foreigner’s Account and What to Do
• Documents to Open a Bank Account in Panama as a Foreigner: Checklist by Profile

Sources

All sources were checked on October 8, 2026. Official sources are in Spanish.

• Superintendency of Banks of Panama, Agreement 1 of 2026, Prevention of the misuse of banking and fiduciary services: articles 13 to 16, 18, 19, 21, 30, 52 and 53.
• U.S. Department of the Treasury, FATCA agreement with Panama of April 27, 2016, article 2.
• Dirección General de Ingresos, CRS section.
• Banco General, savings account.
• Global Bank, Banca Select savings account.
• Banesco Panama, how to open an international account.
• Legal Solutions Panama, bank account opening.