Opening a Bank Account
This actually wasn’t as hard as I thought. I went to Citibank, because that’s where I have my personal checking account, and asked them what is required to open up a business account. They put me in touch with their business relationship banker, who walked me through the whole process. Here’s what’s needed:
- Photo ID (either state license or passport)
- Your tax ID (EIN)
- LLC Filing Receipt from your state
- LLC Operating Agreement
- If this is an Internet start-up, a printout of your website
Now, a few key points. If you “misplaced” your LLC Filing Receipt (mine, for example, was), you can submit a certified copy of your Articles of Organization. You can get those by going to the state’s LLC formation website, filing out a form and checking off the proper document. Information could be found at: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/llcguide.html. In New York, you have to actually make a written request for this and mail it in to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, 41 State Street, Albany, NY 12231. I have faxed mine in and am waiting for my copy so I could fax it to the Citibank banker and complete the account.
Also, all of your company members do not need to be present at the time of account opening. You can open the account with just one person and then have the rest sign signature forms and provide copies of their identification at their own convenience.
Lastly, sweet talk goes a long way. The business account manager needs to justify each account opening to his auditors. I guess they’re afraud of money-laundering or illegal-purposes accounts being opened. That means that the banker will probably question you on what kind of business you are opening, how you are planning to make money, where you are planning to get resources/employees from, etc. I had a nice chat with my banker, who happened to be a big fan of social networks and all things Silicon Valley-related and he ended up waiving the operating agreement requirement, considering I haven’t yet drafted one. He said to fax it over once I have it, but it wasn’t going to hold up my account creation. He also asked for a print-out of the site, but I told him that all I have so far is this blog to spread the word about the company, but the actual site will get created by coders who will get paid out of the company’s bank account. So, first, I needed the account, then I could get the site. He allowed this to pass as well.
In the end, you can really get away with just your ID, tax ID, and filing receipt. But the other docs will be asked for. You will also have to sign a bunch of forms concerning business account acitivities, but that’s all boiler-plate stuff. Lastly, it helps to create a business account in the bank where you already have your personal account because they will a) connect the two in their computer systems and pull in all the info automatically; b) deem you more credible, because you have an established history with their bank; and c) possibly waive the annual checking account fee that is common for small businesses, because you will be considered as a more valued customer. At least, that’s what Citibank offered me. I don’t know how this process works at other banks, but I would imagine it’s similar.
