Bank account in Chile as a foreigner: the official rules

Current accounts for people not resident in Chile

The CMF said on 28 April 2021 that its amendment to Chapter 2-2 of its banking rulebook, the Recopilación Actualizada de Normas (RAN), lets banks offer current accounts that come without cheque books, where the contract says so, and enables persons not domiciled or resident in Chile to sign such contracts without having to fix a domicile in the country. The CMF explained that, before the change, the requirement to give a domicile in Chile served to notify the account holder if a cheque was protested.

The same release says the measure seeks to make it easier to put into practice recent changes by the Banco Central de Chile to its own rules, which allow foreigners not domiciled or resident in Chile to open and keep current accounts in pesos. This page has not read the central bank's rule itself, only the CMF's description of it.

CMF: CMF emite norma que permite a los bancos ofrecer cuentas corrientes sin cheques (press release)

Identity numbers, remote signing and money-laundering rules

According to the CMF release, the amended rule does not require the tax number (Rol Único Tributario, RUT) or the national identity card from persons not domiciled or resident in Chile, except where the tax service (Servicio de Impuestos Internos) or the Banco Central require it. It also lets banks sign current-account contracts by remote means, as long as they have policies, procedures and other legal and security safeguards approved by their board.

The CMF adds that these changes in no way free banks from the rules on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The release does not say what a bank may ask a non-resident to show under those rules, or when it may decline an application. The release is from 2021; the official pages read here do not show whether Chapter 2-2 has been amended since.

CMF: CMF emite norma que permite a los bancos ofrecer cuentas corrientes sin cheques (press release)

Who can apply for a CuentaRUT at BancoEstado

ChileAtiende, the Government of Chile's service portal, has a page on the CuentaRUT of BancoEstado, the state-owned bank, last updated on 16 April 2026. It says that to apply you must be a Chilean or foreign person with a valid identity card ("cédula de identidad vigente") and be 12 or older. The same page says the CuentaRUT number is the holder's RUN without the check digit ("El número de tu CuentaRUT es tu RUN sin dígito verificador"). Applicants who are not yet 18 must attend with their legal representative to sign the contract. The page says you do not need to prove income or present commercial records to open a CuentaRUT.

The page does not say whether a foreigner without a valid cédula de identidad can open another type of account at BancoEstado.

ChileAtiende: CuentaRUT BancoEstado

State protection of deposits (Garantía Estatal)

The CMF's page on the Garantía Estatal says the Ley General de Bancos (Paragraph 3 of Title XV) gives the State's backing ("Garantía del Estado") to obligations arising from time deposits and term funding ("depósitos y captaciones a plazo"), in national or foreign currency, held through savings accounts or nominative or order documents issued by a bank or by a savings and credit cooperative under supervision. This protection favours only natural persons and becomes payable when the forced liquidation of a bank is declared.

It covers 100% of the sum of all such obligations that one of these institutions has with a natural person, including adjustments and interest, with a cap of UF 200 per calendar year, and 100% of the sum of everything the banking system owes a person, with a cap of UF 400 per calendar year. It does not cover time deposits, savings-account balances or nominative or order documents belonging to legal persons, including non-profit institutions.

Separately, the page says demand deposits and obligations, for example balances in current accounts or demand accounts, have 100% coverage if a bank is placed in forced liquidation, whether the holder is a natural or a legal person (article 132 of the Ley General de Bancos). The page does not mention the depositor's nationality or residence.

CMF: Garantía Estatal y Preferencias para los Depósitos y Captaciones

What the official pages used here do not cover

The pages read for this guide do not list the documents a given bank asks a non-resident or a newly arrived resident to show, and they do not say which banks offer current accounts without cheque books to non-residents or sign contracts remotely. They do not explain how to obtain a RUT or a cédula de identidad, and they give no account fees. The current text of Chapter 2-2 and of the central bank's rule was not read here, only the CMF's description of 2021. How anti-money-laundering rules apply to an individual application is not stated. Silence on any of these points is not a rule: ask the bank for its current requirements and fees in writing.

For the country's migration pathways, see the Chile country page. For how a legal right to a basic account is described elsewhere, see the basic bank account in Montenegro.