You'll need to have an existing company to open a Holvi account.
How come? We’ll need to verify your business after you open an account – and before you gain full access. You can read more about opening a Holvi account and how to verify here.
Are there any exceptions?
The one exception to this rule is the German founder account, for GmbH and UG company types in the founding phase.
Founder accounts let shareholders open a Holvi account into which they can deposit their company’s share capital. After this, shareholders can enter their company in the commercial register and upload a registry extract – at which point we can verify their business and grant them full access to their Holvi account. Read more about German founder accounts here.
What about share capital deposits for Finnish limited companies (Oy)?
Companies registered in Finland cannot use Holvi to deposit share capital (osakepääoma) or funds from a share issue (osakeanti).
Why is this the case?
Holvi is a payment institution, not a traditional bank. While we provide all the tools for daily financial management, our regulatory framework differs from that of a bank. The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) requires an official certificate issued by a bank to verify share capital payments – a certificate that payment institutions cannot provide in Finland.
Although the minimum capital requirement for limited companies was removed on 1 July 2019 (meaning you can start a company without initial capital), any subsequent capital increases or share issues must be handled through a traditional bank.