I figured to open a less public thread in which we can share info about non-CRS accounts that are still possible to open.
Serbia
Raiffeisen Serbia - charge 10 EUR per month but will waive it if you deposit 30K EUR. Very open to non residents.
Erste Serbia - Free to open, no fees, give free EUR debit card
Halkbank Serbia - free to open, no fees for basic package, give you EUR debit card if you opt for the 2-3 EUR/month package
Intesa - apparently very good bank but they have
Opening accounts in Serbia is relatively simple, just need to get a paper that shows you have entered the country and registered in an address, your hotel will do it for you so make sure you get a hotel and not AirBnb.
Note that in Serbia they don't understand that your residency can be different than your citizenship, so they will ask for an address in the same country as your passport. Banks don't care about address proof and literally say "just write any address you want". This can be a problem if they eventually join CRS and then your accounts will be reported based on your passport number.
I haven't tested these banks really but they have high deposit guarantee and there are plenty of solid banks with presence there.
Make sure you get a EUR CARD as getting money out of the country is allegedly tricky via wires etc. But if you have EUR debit card you could spend funds easily abroad.
Cambodia
Acelda bank will open accounts for non residents, no need to visit, they want all documents notarized. Offer attractive deposit rates in USD if this is interesting for you.
The rest of the Cambodian banks I tried all want work permit or some kind of address\rental agreement.
Feel free to add more info about banks you have tested.
Hopefully here in the Mentor Group we can keep it low profile so they are not bombarded with requests and stop opening...
From what I've seen, it can sometimes be difficult to move money in and out of Serbia. Not suitable for large amounts, unless you're ready to jump through compliance hoops. Good suggestion about card usage.
I can add one bank to the list: Signature Bank in New York. They are open to non-resident persons and companies, and account opening can be done remotely. They won't touch dodgy/high-risk businesses but otherwise seem easy to deal with. I don't have fee schedule at hand but I remember it being similar to most US banks: no minimum required but they expect 10,000 - 30,000 USD, and relatively expensive SWIFT transfers. The US isn't subject to CRS, but FATCA remains a risk even if the reciprocity clauses so far have been disappointments for many would-be recipients.
From what I've seen, it can sometimes be difficult to move money in and out of Serbia. Not suitable for large amounts, unless you're ready to jump through compliance hoops. Good suggestion about card usage.
I can add one bank to the list: Signature Bank in New York. They are open to non-resident persons and companies, and account opening can be done remotely. They won't touch dodgy/high-risk businesses but otherwise seem easy to deal with. I don't have fee schedule at hand but I remember it being similar to most US banks: no minimum required but they expect 10,000 - 30,000 USD, and relatively expensive SWIFT transfers. The US isn't subject to CRS, but FATCA remains a risk even if the reciprocity clauses so far have been disappointments for many would-be recipients.
Signature are very good but its still a bank in USA. Use it for transactional purposes but don't hold money in their your not prepared to lose.
Acelda bank will open accounts for non residents, no need to visit, they want all documents notarized. Offer attractive deposit rates in USD if this is interesting for you.
