Opening a business bank account: what does it cost for a sole proprietorship, company, or vzw?.

Short answer

Whether you need a paid business bank account depends entirely on your legal form.

The legal basis (Belgium)

Every business in Belgium must register a bank account number in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO). That is not optional and not a formality you can skip.

Two commonly overlooked conditions:

• The account must be with a recognized bank. Accounts with financial service providers such as Wise, Payoneer, or Skrill are not accepted for KBO registration. You can still use them as an additional payment channel, but not as your official business account.
• Your account number must appear on your invoices. This is a legal obligation, not a commercial custom.

Sole proprietorship: you may use your personal account (but usually you don’t want to)

As a sole proprietor, you and your business are legally one and the same person. That’s why a separate professional account is not legally required — in principle you can simply register your personal account with the KBO.

Still, most sources advise against it, for three concrete reasons.

1) The tax authority gets visibility into your private life

The tax authority can inspect accounts that are used professionally. If you also use your personal account for your business, that account becomes professional — and the tax authority immediately gains insight into all of your personal spending.

Note: this remains true even after you open a business account. If you continue to run business transactions through your personal account, the tax authority can still consider that personal account as professional.

2) Your bank’s terms often don’t allow it

Free packages from Belgian banks are contractually intended for private use. Legally, you may use your personal account for your business, but your bank can prohibit it via its general terms and conditions or its fee schedule.

3) It often costs you money with your accountant

With a mixed account, someone has to determine for every transaction what was private and what was business-related. Your accountant charges for that work — and it typically costs more than the bank account itself.

Free and professional is possible: Hello Pro (Hello bank!)

You don’t have to choose between free and professional. Hello bank! (the digital brand of BNP Paribas Fortis) offers the Hello Pro account, where account management, debit card transactions, and euro transfers are free.

Conditions (summary):

• Only for self-employed natural persons (so not for companies and not for vzw’s)
• Maximum one Hello Pro account per person
• Excludes legal professions: notary, lawyer, bailiff, curator
• Fully online opening; you can combine the application with your registration at the business counter

For comparison: the ING Professional Current Account (equivalent for natural persons) consists of €5.00 management fee + €3.00 service fee per month: together €96 per year (excl. VAT).

“Can’t I just open a second personal account for my business?”

A question that comes up a lot. The answer: free plans are designed specifically to prevent this.

• Banks usually limit their free personal package to one account per person.
• A joint account isn’t a solution: it is in two people’s names, which is exactly what you don’t want for your business.
• A second free personal account at another bank can work, but it remains contractually a personal package and often lacks professional functionality (e.g., CODA integration for your accountant).

Company (BV, NV, CV, VOF): required and usually paid

If you start a BV, NV, CV, or VOF, you must open an account in the name of the company.

When incorporating, you often first open a temporary blocked account into which you deposit the start-up capital; the bank issues an attestation for the notary.

Indicative prices for a professional account

Watch out with ING: the price depends on your customer category

The Business Account Plus consists of a management fee + a fixed service fee of €6.00/month.

The category is reviewed annually based on balance sheet data at the National Bank, without you necessarily being notified.

Additional costs to factor in

• Extra debit card: €9/year at KBC, €1.00/month at ING
• Business credit card: €15/year at KBC (after a free first year); €2.25/month at ING
• Additional authorized signatories at ING: €3.75/month (1–2), €8.33/month (from 3)
• CODA for your accountant: included at Argenta, but €8.00/month per account at ING
• ING provides only 12 free manual transactions per calendar year; after that you pay per transaction

Good to know: the costs of your business bank account are tax-deductible.

Vzw: required — and “free” isn’t structurally available

A vzw has its own legal personality and its own enterprise number. The account therefore has to be in the vzw’s name.

The starter offer (example: ING)

ING Belgium offers 1 year free to start-up associations opening a first account, plus a starter benefits package.

Two conditions to remember:

• It applies to your first account
• It is one year

What you pay from year two onwards (example: ING)

• Small vzw that handles everything digitally: €12.50/month = €150/year
• Small vzw (balance sheet < €1m) with an assigned banker: €22.00/month = €264/year
• Larger association (balance sheet ≥ €1m) with a banker: €35.00/month = €420/year

For comparison: Belfius Business Pack is about €53/year, KBC Business PRO is €51/year. The free starter year can be real, but it’s best to calculate over multiple years.

The hidden cost: administrative fees

More important than the package price are often variable costs. Some banks charge up to €250 (or more) in administrative fees on top of the base package, for example passing on anti-money-laundering costs.

Rule of thumb: ask explicitly which administrative relationship fee or dossier cost your vzw could be charged before you sign.

Not every bank opens accounts for associations

Some banks (such as Aion, Hello bank!, Keytrade, and Nickel) can’t open accounts for associations. Some banks also make no distinction between a small vzw and a company, and only offer an extensive professional package.

De facto association: often the most difficult position

Many student initiatives, clubs, and project groups are de facto associations: no legal personality and no enterprise number.

That creates two problems:

• No free account. Banks typically offer de facto associations only their professional package.
• No basic banking service. Unlike vzw’s, a de facto association does not appear to have a right to the basic banking service for businesses.

What you definitely should not do: keep the association’s money in the personal account of one board member. The money must be held in an account of which the association is the economic owner.

Safety net: the basic banking service for businesses

If banks refuse you (which happens to vzw’s more and more), there is a legal safety net.

How it works (summary):

1. You are refused by three different Belgian banks (with justification).
2. You submit an application to the Basic Banking Service Chamber of the FPS Economy (online form).
3. The chamber decides within two months which bank is appointed. You cannot choose the bank yourself.
4. The appointed bank opens the account within 10 working days.

What you get: a current account with debit card and basic transactions (no credit facility or authorized overdraft).

Compare the second year, not the first

Major banks often work with one-off starter benefits (discounts, tools, insurance, memberships…). Those can be useful, but they are temporary.

Rule of thumb: compare what you pay from year two onwards, and add the variable costs that match how you work (cash deposits, international transactions, number of cards/authorized signatories, CODA, manual transactions, …).

Checklist before you choose

Sources (selection)

UNIZO, Xerius, KBC, Belfius, Argenta, Hello bank!, ING Belgium (“Tariff for the most common bank services and transactions for professional use”, effective 1 July 2026), Test-Aankoop, FPS Economy / Febelfin.