Do you need domiciliary account? Do want know how you can open domiciliary bank account in Nigeria with Guarantee Trust Bank (GTBank), Firstbank of Nigeria and Zenith bank?
In this post, I will show you how to open domiciliary account with these banks within 48-72hours. But before I go into details of showing you how to open domiciliary account with GTbanks, Firstbank of Nigeria, and Zenith bank, let’s understand what domiciliary account is and what it is use for.
What is domiciliary account?
Domiciliary account is a bank account in Nigeria that is operated in foreign currency. The account allows you save money in US Dollars, Pounds Sterling or Euro with your money valued at the prevailing exchange rate. This account is funded through bank deposits, traveller’s cheques, cash inflows and lodgement of foreign currency cheques.
It is not usually easy to transfer money from Nigeria to a recipient abroad because many Nigeria banks are still only on the inbound money transfer services guideline of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
However, one easy way of transferring or sending money from Nigeria to a recipient abroad is through domiciliary account money transfer.
You can easily transfer money from one domiciliary account to another either through internet banking or by stand order transaction and this days it can also be done through mobile banking. The account facilitates international business transaction.
So, if you are into international business or you want send money from Nigeria to your family member, relative or friend abroad; you need to have or open a domiciliary account. Domiciliary account is an alternative to PayPal account.
There are many Nigeria banks that offer domiciliary account services. Such banks include Guarantee Trust Bank (GTBANK), Diamond bank, Firstbank of Nigeria, UBA, Zenith bank, etc.
So, if you are actually interested in opening domiciliary account in Nigeria, below are steps on how to open a domiciliary account in Nigeria.
Opening domiciliary Account with GTbank in Nigeria
Things needed for opening of domiciliary account with Gtbank in Nigeria.
To open a domiciliary account with Gtbank in Nigeria, here are the things needed;
- Identification Card– means of identification is required; your driver’s licence or international passport or national identity card. Any one of them can serve.
- Small amount of money for activating the account – before the domiciliary account will be activated, you need to deposit a minimum of 100 dollars into the account. Don’t worry about so much about this, just go ahead and borrow because after you have successfully opened your account, you can easily withdraw the money back at any time and pay back to the person you borrow from.
- 2 passport photos – two recently taken passport photographs are need
- 2 Referees – two persons that would serve as referee and fill each of the two reference forms that will be issued to you are required. Both referees need to have a current account each preferably with GTbank to facilitate opening of the account.
- Utility bills – photocopy of your utility bill issued in not more than three months ago is required. PHCN bill, telephone bill, sanitary bill or Water bill; any one of them can serve.
How to open a domiciliary account with Gtbank in Nigeria
With the above requirement in place, proceed to open the domiciliary account.
• Visit any GTbank branch close to you.
• Ask for their customer service desk and request that you want to open a domiciliary account with them.
• You can be asked if you already have any account with them before. If you have one. That’s great! If you don’t, they will open one (current or saving) together with the domiciliary account.
• After that, you will be given a foreign currency account opening form, specimen signature card, two reference forms for you and your referee to fill.
• If you have your two referees with you at the bank, they can fill their forms and you fill yours too and submit it. If your referees are not present with you at the moment, you can decide to take all the forms home, fill them properly and give your referees each of the reference form to also fill. Remember, your two referees should be GTbank current account holders; if you want them to open and activate your domiciliary account within 48hours.
• After proper filling of the forms, go back to GTbank and submitted the forms.
• After going through the forms for necessary corrections and all corrections made, you will be asked to go home.
• Within 48hours, you will receive an SMS from them informing you that your domiciliary account has been open with your account number.
• Please, once you receive the SMS; go back again to the bank and deposit $ 100 into account to activate your new domiciliary account.
Once you do this, you are good to go.
If you are ready, you can begin to initiate the opening of the domiciliary account right now, start account opening process online before going to the bank. This will save you a lot of time, trouble and stress.
Opening domiciliary account with Firstbank of Nigeria
Here are things required or you need to know before opening domiciliary account with Firstbank of Nigeria.
• You need to have minimum opening deposit of $500, €500 or £300
• Do worry about this; you can withdraw some part of money after, leaving a balance of $100, €100, or £50. However, please note that there is a penalty for, it attract a 0.5% commission.
• Again, cash withdrawals from a cash inflow or funds transfers will (credits) attracts a 1% commission
• Two (2) independent and satisfactory references (For Checking account only)
• Two (2) recent passport photographs are required
• Address verification document of Utility Bill is required – PHCN bill, telephone bill, sanitary bill or Water bill; any of these can serve.
• Valid means of identification e.g. International passport, Driver’s license or National ID card.
• Resident permit ( for non- Nigerians)
How to open a domiciliary account with Firstbank of Nigeria
If you have all the above items in place then proceed to open the domiciliary account with Firstbank
• Visit any Firstbank of Nigeria close to you
• Head straight to their customer service desk and request that you want to open a domiciliary account with them.
• You might be asked if you already have current or saving account with them before. If you don’t, they will open one (current or saving) alongside with the domiciliary account.
• After that, you will be given a foreign currency account opening form, and specimen signature card to complete and sign.
• You can decide to take all the forms home , fill them properly and return back with them to submit
• After they must have gone through the forms and make necessary corrections, you will be asked to go home.
• Within 48-72hours, you will receive an SMS indicating that your domiciliary account has been open with your account.
• Go back to the bank and pay in the minimum deposit to activate the account.
Once done, your account is ready! Domiciliary account can be an alternative for PayPal account.
You can initiate opening of the domiciliary account right now; download the Individual Account Opening Form online. Complete the Account Opening Form and specimen signature card and submit at the nearest FirstBank branch. This will save you a lot of stress and time.
• Download the Individual Account Opening Form
Opening domiciliary account with Zenith bank in Nigeria
Zenith bank is one of such banks in Nigeria that offer domiciliary account services.
Opening domiciliary account with Zenith bank is very easy and simple especially if you have an existing account, saving or current which you have run for at least 6 months with Zenith bank.
There are some few things Zenith bank that would required from you just like when you want to open domiciliary account with any other bank in Nigeria.
Things needed for opening of domiciliary account with Zenith bank are;
• A valid identification card – This can be your National ID Card, Driver’s Licence, or International Passport.
• 2 passport photos – two recent passport photographs
• Utility bill – A recent utility bill like PHCN bill or Water bill, telephone bill, sanitary etc not older than 3 months.
• 2 current account holder Referees – two referee preferably Zenith bank Current Account holders
• Small deposit – a minimum deposit of $100 may be required for activating the account. Please, this is opening minimum amount they are collecting as of the time this article is written; the possibility of changing the amount tomorrow is there.
How to open a domiciliary account with Zenith bank in Nigeria
If you have the above requirement in place,
• Walk into any Zenith bank branch close to you.
• Meet their customer service Reps and request that you want to open a domiciliary account with them. You will be directed to the person in charge.
• You will be given a Foreign Currency Account Opening Form, specimen signature card, two reference forms for you and your referee to fill.
• If you are with your referees at the bank, you can fill the form immediately and they fill theirs. Otherwise, take all the forms home, fill them properly at your convenient time and give your referees each of the reference form to also fill.
• After proper filling of the form, go back to the bank and submit the form.
• They will receive the form, check for corrections and then ask you to go.
• Within 48-72hours after verification, they will send you an SMS informing you of your new domiciliary account and the account number.
Best of luck as you choose one of these banks to open a domiciliary account.
i need 2 gtb referees
am in port harcourt
Hello…
Which is preferable among a naira acct and dollar acct to withdraw from Skrill ?…please help
Withdraw to your Naira Account.
Pls, i read online that there is currently a legal way to receive money through paypal in nigeria. They said that i should pay money into their account.
pls, is there a way
Please, DON’T try it. They’re scammers.
Please I have uba USD account Visa …will it work on Skrill account
Get Naira VISA card.
Hello sir,which domiciliary account is good for me to fund my online betting site in UK..pls reply me via my email.
[email protected].thank uPlease sir, i want to open a Domicilary Account which bank is d best & charge low 4 this Account.
Use GTBank.
Please I need referees to open a domicilliary account, any chance you can help?
State your location (place of residence) so that someone close to you can help.
I stay at Sureulere, lawanson precisely
That’s far off where I’m. Look for someone close to assist you.
I can come anywhere, as far as it is still in Lagos because I really need this
Can I receive money directly to my savings account from Australia
Yes, of course!
Why I ask the question is that I have somebody who has Eco bank domiciliary account. She told me that she was asked to open current account as well because she wanted to open dom account. She opened current account and dom account. Am asking is it compulsory
It is Not compulsory. You can even open domiciliary account and savings account for easy transactions
Thank you sir. You got what I mean.
What is the cost of transfer from dom account, like percentage the dollar amount
Please are we required to open Current account as well when we open domi account
You question is not clear.
After Opening it, Can i send dollars from my dom account to another 1
Yes, you can.
Hello Emma
please can the dom account pass as savings account. I. E i open it here in Nigeria and travel out, can i put money in the account when am out of naija, if yes how?.. and can i withdraw.. if yes which bank best fit into this that i can withdraw any whr in world. thank you
Hello Angel,
Domiciliary account can not be use in Place of savings account. They are not the same. You can deposit/put money into your savings account anywhere you are but you can not withdraw from it any where in the world unless when you are back in Nigeria. If you want to withdraw money from your account anywhere in the world, you need to open a Dom account and get Dollar MasterCard for withdraw and you can only open Dom Account if you are in Nigeria. However, you can contact Diamond bank and see if they can help you.
Yes I clicked it. But I don’t get notice on my email
For GT Bank, what if can’t find the two referee from GT Bank can we use other banks refereee
Yes, but the verification process will take long time.
Thanks
What methods are available to transfer dollar to foreign Forex Brokers for trading purpose
Open Skrill account, fund your skrill via your GTBank saving account and then send from your skrill account to your foriegn forex broker.
Thank you sir. I got the comment late. I have to open the web before getting the comment. I thought by clicking “Notify me when new comments are added” I would get it in my email box
Are you sure you check the notify me box?
SIR, PLS EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY THIS;
Yes, I got your point. You can link the dollar master card but my concern is that you should be aware of the limit of the usage of the card.
And another point I will also like you to explain if my motive is successful will I be able to to withdrew money from my PayPal acct since it Link up to my dollar acct.thanks
Pooh Patrick,
1. You will NOT be able to withdraw money from your PayPal account here in Nigeria that is part of the limit of the usage of the card, I am talking about.
2. You might not be able to fund the PayPal account from your dollar account.
And pls sir when I mean link up,what am actually saying that PayPal gives it users a space where you will provide the digit at the back of your debit card and the expired date,once that is done,yr acct will automatic link to the acct
Okay, go ahead.
After 2 weeks working days and you did not receive a text message of your new dom account from GTBank, visit the branch where you open the account to acquire why they’ve not send it to you.
Thanks for the tip,what am actually saying is this.
I open a PayPal acct online and I was ask to link my acct to it,BT the two bank I try here in Nigeria was not working with it. so I approach a costumer online and here is the response I got.
Responds from customer services in diamond
bank
(Dear Esteemed Customer,
Thank you for your mail.
Our Naira Debit Cards will only be used for local transactions on POS, ATM and Online (for Nigerian Retailers), and not work for international transaction on Paypal.
However, foreign transactions can be initiated with our dollar/Pound debit card issued on our domiciliary account.
If you have our domiciliary account, the card can be issued to you and will enable you carryout international/foreign transactions.
Thank you for choosing Diamond Bank.
Regards)
END
Me again:the customer service from diamond bank is trying to tell me that I can’t use my local gtbank or union bank for PayPal purpose, that I can open a domiciliary acct and I can use the domiciliary acct debit card issue to me to link up my PayPal acct. and after then will my PayPal acct work properly since domiciliary acct is also knw as a dollar acct that make a foreign acct not a local acct sir .hope u are seeing my point
Yes, I got your point. You can link the dollar master card but my concern is that you should be aware of the limit of the usage of the card.
Thank God I found this site, plz my question is I actually open a domiciliary acct with Gtbank last week, which I have no yet gotten any text message from them if the acct is open or nt,one of the banker say the service was bad as of then, well still expecting.
(1)sir is it possibly that I can link the debit card given to me in the bank to my PayPal acct, Becos that was the main reason I open it at the first place. There are some transaction I wanted doing online bt could not since don’t use a paypal acct, so I created it and I was ask to link my card to it, to my surprise the two bank I operate both gtbank and unionbank was not accepted,so I taught it wish for me to open a dollar acct and then link it up with my PayPal acct. Plz I need ur advice, suggestions on this as the case my be,i actually want to know if am on line, and if am pls,show me road.and one last thing, can I withdraw my$100 dollar use in activating the acct back, I mean all of it. Thank
let me start from your last question;
1. You can withdraw all your $100.
2. You can not withdraw money from your PayPal account in Nigeria
3. You can only receive but can not withdraw the money here in Nigeria.
So, do you still find it valuable linking your card to your PayPal account?
Again, how do you intend linking the dollar account to the PayPal account?
i found the site while searching for how to know how my friend in the USA can send me dollar without using western union or money Gram…………… the question is after opening the account can i link it with my savings account i have a savings account with Gtbank and are they gonna pay me in dollar when am withdrawing from my Dom account ? pls i need urgent answer i will soon go to my Gtbank branch for further enquiries ………..
Yes, you will be pay in dollar when withdrawing from your Dom account. You can sell the dollar to your bank if you don’t want to withdraw the dollar.
Hello house let asume i have a domicilary acct is there any risk of recieving payment like $50,000
There is no risk at all, bro.
I want to make payment to someone in macedonia with skrill and i did not skrill account can i send the money to you and help me make the payment.
Yes, you can. However, you can just quickly register for skrill account within some seconds via our skrill partner link
Pls i want to confirm if i can withdraw from the atm when my dom account has been created with the credit card given to me.
No!
Hello sir I need your help I want to open a dom account I have SKYE,GTB AND FIRST BANK but I still don’t know which bank is more preferable,one with a low cost and after I open it after I make a deposit in it how do I change my money to naira or can I just transfer the money to my normal savings accounts under the same bank???
Hello YINKA,
GTBank Domiciliary account is okay. You can withdraw and sell in black market. You can also sell to your bank (savings account).
Hello sir. Can I open a dorm acct for my 16 year old son. And operate on behalf of him
No, Elisa. It wouldn’t be possible.
Pls email me… i hv a lot i need to ask…
[email protected]Please, do well to ask all questions here to help others. Thank you.
My brother just traveled to America and he is yet to open an account there in America. Can he still send money to my dom account at any bank in America?
He has to open an account in America.
Hello, please I would like to know if I open a domiciliary account in Italy and with my debit card, if it would be possible to use my debit card in Nigeria or any other country?.
Hello Ote, the reverse is the case. If you open a domiciliary account in Nigeria and acquire dollar Debit card, you can use the debit card in Italy.
Hello Emma,
Thanks for anwering. Emma I need to open an account saving for recive neiras and domiciliary account for be abble to tranfer mi neiras to usd in my country (Chile)
Could you please tell me how to open and account from foreing ? Im in Chile i cant travel to nigeria just for do that.
You can’t open a naira account in Chile unless you are in Nigeria but you can open a domiciliary.
Can you deposit and withdraw any amount of dollars without being questioned or queried? Can you also withdraw your money and have unlimited assess to your account from any part of the world?
You can not withdraw any amount of dollar. There is maximum withdraw limit.