Can I Open A Business Bank Account With An EIN Only? (2024)

An EIN (Employer Identification Number) is a unique nine-digit number the IRS uses to identify your business for tax reporting purposes.

Unless you’re a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, you’ll need an EIN if you want to open a business bank account. But you may be wondering—is that all you need to open a business bank account?

Can I Open a Business Bank Account With Just an EIN?

In general, the answer is no. While you’ll need an EIN to open a business bank account if your business is set up as a partnership, corporation or LLC with employees—it’s just one of several pieces of information you’ll likely need to provide.

Depending on your business setup, you may also be asked for the following.

• Sole proprietorship: A business license, business legal name, DBA (doing business as) name and any required minimum opening deposit
• Partnership: Business legal name, DBA name, partnership agreement and state certificate of partnership
• Corporation: Business legal name, DBA name and corporate bylaws
• LLC: Business legal name, DBA name and LLC operating agreement.

However, if you’re a sole proprietor or LLC with no employees, you may not even need an EIN to open a business bank account—just your Social Security number (SSN) and ID may be enough to open an account at some financial institutions.

Open a Business Bank Account With an EIN Only

If you want to open a business bank account and you only have an EIN, you still need to gather other documents that your bank will request from you. At a minimum, you’ll need to provide a government-issued ID and your SSN. And some banks may ask you to prove your business is legally registered, even if you’re a sole proprietor.

1. Get Your Documents Ready

Have your EIN, SSN and government-issued photo ID on hand before you go into a bank or apply online. You may also need to have your business license, business legal name, DBA name, LLC operating agreement or corporate bylaws.

2. Choose a Bank

Research the best business bank accounts and find one with the features most important to you. You may want to look for unlimited free transactions, free ACH and wire transfers, low balance minimums and high APYs on deposits.

If you’re applying with only an EIN, consider an online bank or fintech platform like Bluevine, Mercury or Novo. These types of banks may be more lenient when it comes to paperwork. They also tend to have more robust apps and online tools that can make it easier to apply and manage your business accounts using a single platform.

3. Apply In Person or Online

Depending on the type of financial institution, you can either go into a branch or open an account online by uploading your documents. You may also need to make an opening deposit to fund your account.

Why Do You Need an EIN To Open a Business Bank Account?

Having an EIN proves to your bank that you’re running a legitimate business. That’s why sole proprietors with employees, LLCs, partnerships and corporations are typically required to provide one when applying for a business bank account.

But there are exceptions. Sole proprietors with no employees and single-member LLCs can open a business bank account at many institutions with just an SSN and government ID. That said, it may be easier to open a business account if you have an EIN—even if you don’t technically need one.