Business bank account: the checklist banks actually use

What every bank asks a Pty Ltd for

• CIPC registration documents: the registration certificate (COR14.3) and the notice of incorporation, exactly as issued
• ID documents for every director, not just the one opening the account
• Proof of address for the business and for each director, not older than three months: a utility bill, lease or bank statement
• The company's income tax number (issued automatically with registration; find it on the CIPC confirmation or SARS correspondence)
• A directors' resolution naming who may open and operate the account, signed by all directors, if there is more than one
• A short, clear description of what the business does and where its money will come from; FICA requires the bank to ask
• Share register or beneficial ownership details for anyone holding 5% or more; banks increasingly verify this against the CIPC filing

The traps that stall applications

• Proof of address older than three months is the number one rejection, and a lease in a personal name for a company address is the second
• If the address you give differs from the CIPC registered address, either update CIPC first or bring both with an explanation
• Working from home is fine: use the home address consistently and bring the homeowner's utility bill with a simple confirmation letter if the bill is not in your name
• A missing beneficial ownership filing at CIPC now surfaces in bank onboarding checks; file it before you apply
• Banks phone the business number given; a number that rings unanswered during the check delays approval

Why the account matters more than it looks

Trading a registered company through a personal bank account quietly undoes the main reason you registered it. The protection a company gives you rests on it being genuinely separate from you, and mixed money is the first thing anyone points at when they want to argue it is not. It also turns your tax return into guesswork.

There are three places the account name shows up where a mismatch stops you dead. SARS verifies your bank account against the registering entity for VAT and for refunds. The Central Supplier Database verifies it against your registration before you can bid for government work. The Compensation Fund pays into it. An account opened in a trading name that does not match your CIPC name will stall all three, and the fix is a new account, not a phone call.

How to get through it in one visit

1. Register the company first, and have the registration certificate and memorandum of incorporation with you, printed and as files.
2. Decide your signatories before you go. Adding someone afterwards means repeating the whole verification.
3. Bring every director’s identity document, and a proof of address for each, dated within three months.
4. Bring proof of the business address. If you work from home, say so plainly rather than inventing an office; banks see it every day.
5. Be ready to describe the business in one clear sentence and to estimate what will move through the account monthly. Vagueness reads as a risk flag rather than modesty.
6. Open it in the company’s exact registered name, character for character, not the trading name.

Some banks now open a business account inside the company registration itself through BizPortal, which skips most of this. Worth checking before you book a branch appointment.

Which account, practically

Every major bank offers a bundled small business account with monthly fees roughly between R60 and R250, and the digital banks undercut that. The honest advice: for a new business, the deciding factors are the monthly fee, how fast their FICA process is, and whether their app does invoicing or feeds your accounting tool. You can switch later; do not let account shopping delay trading. What matters more is that the account is in the company's name from day one, because SARS, customers and tenders all expect it.

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