How to open a bank account in Dubai

Setting up a current bank account in Dubai

How many times have you tried to Google ‘how to open a bank account in Dubai’ and reached to those weird forums, where everyone says what they think is right?

Or probably, you’ve got confused among the types of accounts every bank has and how every bank in Dubai calls a type of account differently?

Here is the catch:

Due to the frequently asked question ‘how to open a bank account in Dubai’, it seems like most of the websites mention setting up a bank account or a salary account, but don’t actually tell you the exact requirements or conditions.

As a matter of fact, opening a bank account for expats in Dubai is very easy, especially if it’s a current account or even easier if it’s only a salary account, and requirements don’t vary much from bank to bank.

But we both agree:

Banks in Dubai tend to have a bit of complicated website for the average expat or new-to-Dubai, to check quickly what are the requirements or at least what are the documents required to open a bank account.Complicated Bank Websites

In spite of every other blog, we wanted to gather all information for you and put it in one definitive guide to save you all the hassle of checking several websites, blogs or even forums.

In short:

Whether you’re looking for the best bank in the UAE that suits you or you need to set up a bank account, today you’ll get it all sorted out.

So how to open a bank account in Dubai?

With this purpose in mind, we gathered all the information from the banks themselves, and sorted them out to you in an easy step-by-step way that can answer your every question.

And yet,

it’s all summarized.

First of all and before going in bank accounts details, we need to have a brief idea why would you need to have a bank account?

 

Why do you need to set up a bank account in Dubai?

Bank Account Benefits

  • Your Employer will send you every month your salary to your account.
  • Likewise, you might want to transfer money from your account to another.
  • From a security point of view, it is much more comfortable to pay by card rather than carrying cash with you.
  • In addition, you can shop online and save money.
  • Another big reason is that you can pay your bills online such as:  DEWA bill, NOL card recharge, phone, internet…etc.)
  • On the other hand, it’s a great way for saving your money and checking your account around the clock.

So, what’s the mutual valid documents that you need to have with you, before going to open up an account?

  • Emirates ID
  • Passport Copy with UAE visa stamped
  • Salary Certificate

And what’s the minimum salary to open a bank account in Dubai?

It’s mostly AED 3,000

But that’s not all,

Before we go through each bank in Dubai and their required documents to set up an account, it’s important for you to have an idea about some of the important terms used by banks in particular:

Opening Account: The amount of money you need to deposit in your bank account, in order to set it up for the first time.

Salary Transfer: The amount of the salary to be deposited every month in the account by your employer. Therefore, you need to maintain getting it every month in order to avoid the charging fees (25 Dirhams). Salary transfer does not include cash or cheque salary transfers.

E-statement: Your monthly account statement sent to you via email or through the website.


 

How to open a bank account in Dubai: ADCB - Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB):

Opening account: AED 5,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.5000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: N/A

What you get:

  • First cheque book for free
  • Free cash, cheque withdrawal, deposit
  • E-Statement free

How to open a bank account in Dubai: CitiBank

CitiBank:

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 Aed/month
More conditions or documents to bring: N/A

What you get:

  • First cheque book for free
  • Free cash, cheque withdrawal & deposit

How to open a bank account in Dubai: Dubai Islamic Bank

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: N/A

What you get:

  • Free first cheque book (like most)
  • Free cash, cheque withdrawal and deposit

How to open a bank account in Dubai: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) Or (National Bank of Abu Dhabi – NBAD as known before):

Before you think we didn’t include NBAD bank account. You should know this:

Merger happens!

With the result that a merger happened between National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FAB) on April 2017, subsequently NBAD changed its identity.

In other words, NBAD is now offically known as First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: Above 21 years old

What you get:

  • Free first cheque book
  • Free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit

How to open a bank account in Dubai: Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD (ENBD):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: Labor Contract Copy, No Objection Letter from sponsor, statement of account about last salary and Consolidate letter

What you get:

  • First cheque book for free
  • Free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • More than 70 ATM around Dubai

How to open a bank account in Dubai: First Gulf Bank

First Gulf Bank (FGB):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: N/A

What you get:

  • First cheque book for free
  • Free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • More than 55 ATM around Dubai

How to open a bank account in Dubai: Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered:

Opening account: AED 10,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bringN/A

What you get:

  • First cheque book is free
  • Free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • Local bill payments

how to open a bank account in dubai - rakbank

RakBank:

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: Salary Transfer Letter

What you get:

  • Free cash and cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • Monthly statement of account

How to open a bank account in Dubai - ADIB

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bringN/A

What you get:

  • First cheque book is free
  • Free cash & cheque withdrawal as well as deposit
  • Mobile banking app (Local bills payment, money transfer…etc.)
  • E-Statement

 


How to open a bank account in Dubai - Mashreq bank

Mashreq Bank:

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: 21 years old

What you get:

  • Free first cheque book
  • Free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • Mobile banking app (Local bills payment, money transfer…etc.)
  • Free E-Statement
  • Make purchases at more than 24 million retail outlets worldwide
  • Free tele-banking services

Commercial Bank of Dubai - Bank Account

Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: 21 years old

What you get:

  • Free cheque book first time
  • Free withdrawal (cash/cheque) and deposit
  • Mobile & Online banking app (Local bills payment, money transfer…etc.)
  • E-statement with images of all cheques
  • Personal overdraft facility
  • Attijari Rewards Points available on incremental monthly average balance

CBI - Bank Account

Commercial Bank International (CBI):

Opening account: AED 3,000
Salary Transfer:  Min.3000 AED/month
More conditions or documents to bring: N/A

What you get:

  • The first cheque book is free
  • You also get free cash/cheque withdrawal / deposit
  • Mobile & Online banking app (Local bills payment, money transfer…etc.)
  • Monthly account statements for free
To this end, you need to know that all of these bank accounts have a AED 25 to be charged in case of not maintaining the eligibility criteria (i.e. if the account doesn’t hold the exact salary transfer amount required by the bank, then the bank will charge you a fee of 25 Dirhams for each month your bank account doesn’t have the amount).

At last:

Did we miss a bank that you prefer or looking to open an account with?

Please let us know through comments, as we are updating this post on monthly basis and we’d like to make the best reference for every expat opening or even transferring a bank account in Dubai.

 

Source
Emirates NDBMashreq Bank

10 Comments

  1. I am not a UAE resident and I don’t live and work in Dubai. Im working offshore worker ..I would like to know can I open a bank account in Dubai to transfer my salary , since I travel a lot through Dubai

    1. It is your personal account and it stays with you. You can use it or close. You can request your new company to transfer salary to that account.

    1. Yes, it’s up-to-date. The amount of money you need to have for each kind of account with each bank for the opening amount. As for the maintaining balance, all the current accounts don’t have high criteria of maintaining balance and it might be around AED 300 maximum.

  2. The good news is, it’s exceptionally easy to apply for a personal loan in the UAE, and it’s all thanks to today’s advancement in technology and availability of friendly institutions.

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