Business bank account for digital goods and in-game item sellers with a Maltese company

We begin by conducting a thorough structure check of your Maltese private limited liability company, including UBO residency, source of funds, and anticipated transaction flows. Our team then compiles a comprehensive Know Your Business (KYB) file, tailored to meet the exacting standards of compliance teams at international banks and EEA-licensed EMIs. This meticulous preparation addresses the unique aspects of digital goods and in-game item sales.

Following file preparation, we match your business profile with institutions that have an appetite for both your industry and your Maltese entity. We facilitate introductions, meticulously prepare you for compliance interviews, and manage any follow-up questions. Our objective is to secure a primary operating account, with a view to scoping a second for redundancy and resilience.

Underwriters and compliance teams critically assess the source of funds and source of wealth for all beneficial owners. A clear business plan detailing expected monthly volumes and an understanding of counterparty and geography exposure are essential. For digital goods and in-game item sellers, providing evidence of publisher permissions for resold items, alongside fraud tooling and delivery logs, is crucial.

They also scrutinise the substance and management location of your Maltese entity, ensuring it aligns with your declared operations. Specific attention is paid to your licence or registration status, if applicable, and robust anti-fraud measures to mitigate risks like account takeover and resale of stolen keys. We do not place grey-market key resellers.

A Maltese private limited liability company acts as your operational vehicle, typically incorporated within a week. While the Malta Business Registry oversees entity registration, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) are relevant for licensed activities. Local banks in Malta are often conservative regarding this sector, making EEA-licensed EMIs and specialist international banks more suitable for digital goods and in-game item sellers.

Malta expects local presence for licensed operations, with gaming and fintech licensees employing locally. Entity documents such as the Certificate of Registration, Memorandum and Articles, and a Beneficial Ownership Extract are vital for account opening. Audited annual accounts and a beneficial ownership register are mandatory reporting requirements, demonstrating robust governance.

Accounts for digital goods and in-game item sellers can face closure due to high fraud-driven chargeback rates, concerns over source of funds legitimacy, or insufficient publisher permissions. Our thorough file preparation directly addresses these risks by providing clear documentation of fraud tooling, delivery logs, and verifiable publisher agreements.

We ensure the business profile presented to institutions clearly demonstrates compliance with all applicable regulations and an understanding of sector-specific risks. By meticulously preparing the KYB pack and guiding you through compliance interviews, we aim to pre-empt concerns, ensuring your Maltese entity presents as a transparent and well-managed operation, reducing the likelihood of account declines or subsequent closures.

The typical timeline for account opening ranges from two to eight weeks, influenced by the chosen institution and the complexity of the UBO profile. Our process includes preparing your business for initial compliance interviews and assisting with any follow-up questions from the financial institution. We streamline the information exchange to ensure efficient onboarding.

Once live, maintaining compliance is paramount. This includes ongoing monitoring of transaction patterns, managing chargeback rates effectively, and ensuring all required annual reporting for your Maltese entity, such as audited accounts, is up to date. We also advise on establishing redundancy by scoping a secondary institution, ensuring business continuity for your digital goods venture.