WIO Bank, UAE: Overview

WIO is a relatively young yet already one of the leading digital banks in the United Arab Emirates, established with the participation of state funds and FAB Bank. WIO positions itself as a “platform bank” with three main directions: digital banking applications, embedded financial services, and banking-as-a-service: providing banking services through third-party distributors.

WIO is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE.

Personal and corporate banking accounts in AED, USD, GBP, and EUR, with other currencies available upon request. It is worth noting that WIO is distinguished by its wide variety.

Free for all types of accounts.

The bank sets a minimum balance for personal accounts at 3000 AED for the Standard Plan and 35000 AED for the Plus Plan, while there is no balance requirement for corporate clients.

WIO does not charge account maintenance fees for individuals if the minimum balance is maintained. Corporate clients must pay a monthly maintenance fee of 99 AED (Essential plan) or 250 AED (Grow plan).

Personal accounts: no charge for transfers of any currency within the country, as well as for international transactions using SWIFT. In the latter case, the correspondent bank may charge its own fee.

Corporate accounts: no charge for transfers of any currency within the country, the cost of SWIFT transactions is 52.5 or 26.25 AED depending on the service plan.

For more details on banking service costs, see the links above. The current size of commissions and other payments should also be verified on the bank’s website.

WIO issues Visa debit cards and virtual cards for free.

Cash withdrawal at ATM:

• FAB ATMs in the UAE: free;
• Other ATMs in the Emirates: 2.1 AED;
• In GCC countries: 6.3 AED;
• In other foreign countries: 21 AED.

The commission for processing international transactions is 2%. This includes any transactions in AED and other currencies outside the UAE, including foreign online stores. It is applied in addition to the standard processing fee charged by payment systems.

For individuals:

• Passport;
• Emirates ID;
• Resident visa;
• Mobile number in the Emirates.

In some cases, the bank may require confirmation of employment from the employer or statements from other bank accounts if the person owns a company. The latter also needs a lease agreement for an apartment or other residential property in the UAE.

For legal entities:

• Main incorporation documents of the company: certificate of registration, licence, articles of association, memorandum of association or other documents;
• Documents proving the directors, shareholders, and beneficiaries of the company;
• Copies of passports of the directors, shareholders, and beneficiaries, as well as account operators and secretaries of the company (if any);
• If another legal entity acts as a director, shareholder, or secretary of the company, then all of the aforementioned documents are also required for it;
• Statement for the last 6 or 12 months on corporate accounts of the company in banks outside the UAE;
• For newly registered companies: a statement from the shareholder(s) account, proving the availability of sufficient funds to start the business.

The bank may also require any other documents it deems necessary for carrying out KYC/AML procedures.