Opening a business bank account in Australia: Process and documents

If you have a business in Ireland you may want a business account in Australia to receive customer payments in AUD, or to pay local contractors or suppliers for example.

While setting up a business bank account in Australia from Ireland may be possible, services are usually focused on people moving to Australia, or enterprise level customers, rather than small businesses.

This guide looks at how to open a business bank account in Australia. And because it’s not always an option with Australian banks, we’ll also look at how a Wise Business account can be helpful for Irish business owners who want an account to hold, receive, send, spend and manage Australian dollars alongside other currencies.

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What are the business bank account types in Australia?

If you’re interested in opening a business bank account in Australia it can help to understand what the most common options are likely to be.

If you pick a major Australian bank like Commbank¹, for example, business bank accounts are usually split into:

• Business transaction accounts for everyday use
• Business savings or notice deposit accounts for excess cash
• Business specialist accounts such as cheque services, trust accounts, foreign currency accounts or treasury accounts.

If you find you’re eligible to open a business bank account from an Australian bank the base currency is likely to be AUD. Multi-currency features tend to be reserved for institutional customers.

If you’re a small business or startup and you work in Ireland and in Australia, having a multi-currency account can be handy. We’ll look at some options in this guide which may suit you, and which have flexible opening options which can include easy ways to get AUD features as a non-resident of Australia.

Is it possible to open a business bank account in Australia from Ireland?

Generally, to open any bank account in Australia you must have an Australian residential address. Banks like Commbank² and Westpac³ do offer migrant banking services which allow people who are about to move to the country to start the account opening process prior to relocating. However you won’t get full access to your account until you arrive and get verified in a physical branch location.

If you’re moving to Australia soon, it's possible you can start the process to open an AUD bank account before you leave.

If you don’t plan on moving to Australia, and you don’t have an Australian registered business, you’re not likely to be able to open an account with a bank there unless you’re running a very large organisation.

Commbank⁴ and Westpac⁵ both offer institutional banking services which have local offices in major markets around the world like the US and UK, and provide accounts to foreign businesses. However these services aren’t intended for startups or SMEs.

What are the options to open a business bank account in Australia from Ireland?

The good news is that you can open an account to hold and manage AUD from Ireland, with a service like Wise Business, Airwallex⁶ or Revolut Business.⁷

These providers offer business accounts to global businesses, which support multiple currencies, including EUR and AUD.

Revolut holds an EU banking license, while Airwallex and Wise are not banks, but do hold relevant licenses in the countries they do business in. All three present flexible business account and card options for small and growing businesses, right through to larger enterprise level organisations.

You can open an account online or in an app, order a physical card or generate a virtual one, and receive payments from customers conveniently. While the exact services vary depending on the provider, all of these accounts allow you to get paid in AUD, either by bank transfer or card payments.

Wise Business offers an account which supports 40+ currencies with no maintenance fees (only a one-time opening fee of 50 EUR) and the mid-market exchange rate for currency conversions.

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Airwallex accounts may have a monthly fee depending on type of account you select, and support 20+ currencies.⁶

Revolut Business supports 25+ currencies and has different account plans depending on the volume of transactions you need to make.⁷

This offers a great selection of AUD business accounts for Irish business owners - without needing to apply to an Australian bank account.

What to do if you can't open a business bank account in Australia as a foreign company

If you have an Irish registered company you can not easily apply for the standard business bank accounts from major Australian providers like Commbank and Westpac. These banks offer online account opening, but to complete this you must have an Australian registered business and a full set of documents to support your application.

If you don’t fit the standard criteria to open a business account with your preferred Australian bank you may still want to reach out to them to understand if there are services they can offer you.

However, in general the products which are made available for foreign registered businesses tend to be delivered through institutional banking services, which are aimed at very large multi-nationals.

Wise: Open an international business account from Ireland

For a flexible way to hold, receive, send and spend AUD from Ireland take a look at Wise Business.

Open your Wise Business account for a one time fee of 50 EUR, with no ongoing costs or minimum balance requirements.

You’ll get access to local account information in 8+ currencies including AUD which you can add to invoices to receive customer payments in Australian dollars easily.

Hold your balance in AUD to pay your local taxes, or to send to suppliers or contractors - or convert back to EUR using the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees.

In total, the Wise Business account can hold and exchange 40+ currencies, making them flexible for day to day use, with optional debit and expense cards for easy business spending.

You’ll also get time saving tools like accounting integrations, batch payment solutions and an API to streamline workload, allowing you to focus less time on admin and more on keeping your customers happy.

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Sources used:

Sources last checked on date: 28th August, 2025