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TBC, Bank of Georgia, and Liberty all take a passport and open an account the same day. Their published fee schedules are where they stop looking alike, and where foreigners quietly pay more than locals.
Georgia is one of the few countries left where a foreigner can walk into a branch with nothing but a passport and walk out with a working multi-currency account. That part is genuinely easy. Choosing which of the three big retail banks to walk into is the harder question, and it’s the one that actually costs you money over the following year.
The answer sits in documents almost nobody reads. Each bank publishes a full commission schedule in English, and once you put the three side by side the differences stop being about branch decor and start being about real numbers: what a package costs if your passport isn’t Georgian, what an incoming salary transfer gets shaved by, and which bank charges you for a paperwork review it might then refuse.
*Disclaimer: All figures below come from each bank’s own current tariff document, checked on 31 August 2026. Amounts are in Georgian lari. At the National Bank of Georgia’s official rate that day, US$1 bought GEL2.6125, so GEL10 is roughly US$3.83.
Key Takeaways
- All three banks open a multi-currency account for a foreigner on a passport alone, usually in a single branch visit.
- Bank of Georgia is the cheapest plain account in the country at GEL1 a month, and its published commission schedule carries no fee at all for receiving foreign currency.
- TBC charges 0.1% on incoming USD, EUR, and GBP transfers above 1,000 units, capped at 20 units, which is the single biggest cost difference if you’re paid from abroad every month.
- Bank of Georgia openly prices its account packages higher for foreign citizens. Set M is GEL5 a month for Georgians and GEL10 for foreigners.
- Liberty’s English terms list a one-time GEL250 document verification fee for non-resident clients.
- Liberty’s 88 community centres reach towns and villages the other two skip entirely.
- Deposits have been insured up to GEL50,000 per depositor per bank since 1 April 2026, and the cover explicitly includes non-residents.
- Most long-term expats end up holding two accounts. It costs a few lari a month and doubles the insured amount.
The Three Banks Side by Side
All three will open a multi-currency account for a foreigner in a single branch visit, and all three run English apps. Where they split is on price, on how they treat non-Georgian passports, and on how much of the country they cover.
| TBC Bank | Bank of Georgia | Liberty Bank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic account, monthly | GEL2 current account, plus GEL10 if you add the TBC Card subscription | GEL1 universal account, GEL1.5 standard account | GEL2 standard tariff package |
| Account currencies | GEL, USD, EUR, GBP, plus any other on request | GEL, USD, EUR, GBP and more | GEL, USD, EUR, GBP |
| Outgoing USD transfer | 0.2%, min US$15, max US$150 | 0.2%, min US$15, max US$500 | 0.2%, min US$15, max US$150 |
| Incoming USD transfer | 0.1%, min 5 and max 20 units, above 1,000 units | No incoming fee published | No incoming fee published |
| Higher price for foreign passports | No published split | Yes, on every account package | GEL250 one-off document check for non-residents |
| Best for | Remote workers who live in the app | Anyone who wants the cheapest plain account | People living outside the big cities |
If you haven’t opened an account yet, the mechanics of the branch visit, the documents, and the questions you’ll be asked are covered separately in our guide to opening a bank account in Georgia. This piece assumes you’ve already decided to open one and just need to pick.
TBC Bank
TBC has built the most deliberate expat product of the three, and it charges for it. The bank runs a dedicated English page for foreigners, and the promise on it is specific: simplified onboarding for expats, an account opened in a single branch visit, and instant access to the Mobilebank app.
The bank’s own FAQ is blunt about what you need: “You only need a foreign passport and a phone number to open an account.” Asked how long it takes, the answer is one line: “The account is opened instantly.“
The account you get is multi-currency by default, and TBC will add sub-accounts in other currencies on request. You can activate a digital card straight away and order a physical international card through the app in about 30 minutes. Delivery to your chosen branch takes one business day in Tbilisi and two in the regions, and if you don’t collect it within three months the bank destroys it.
Good to Know: TBC won’t accept a photocopy of your passport for anything. The bank cites National Bank of Georgia rules requiring customers to present the original identification document, so bring the physical passport to every appointment, not a scan on your phone.
What TBC Costs
A plain current account with no card subscription costs GEL20 to open and GEL2 a month. That’s the cheap route, and it’s fine if you mostly move money digitally and rarely touch cash.
Most foreigners add the TBC Card subscription on top, at GEL10 a month or GEL100 paid annually for one card, and it’s free for customers aged 18 to 23. The account fee doesn’t go away when you do, so a TBC Card holder pays GEL12 a month all in. What the subscription buys is withdrawal and transfer allowances:
- Free lari withdrawals: up to GEL2,000 a month from any bank’s ATM in Georgia, TBC’s or anyone else’s.
- Free outgoing lari transfers: up to GEL2,000 a month through digital channels.
- Five free utility payments a month through the app.
- Cashback at TBC terminals: 0.2%, 0.3%, or 0.5% of the amount paid, depending on the tier, from 1 June 2026.
Above that there are two premium tiers. TBC Concept runs GEL30 a month, lifts the free ATM allowance to GEL10,000, adds airport lounge access and 14 days of free travel insurance, and pays 2.5% interest on card balances above GEL5,000.
TBC Concept 360 is GEL50 a month, raises the ATM allowance to GEL20,000, and adds a private banker, Fast Track at the airport, and 3.5% interest above GEL5,000. Both tiers also drop the current account opening and monthly fees to zero.
The subscription costs GEL120 a year on top of the GEL24 account fee, so about US$55 all in. If you withdraw cash twice a month and send one domestic transfer, the allowances pay for it.
If you live entirely on card taps and get paid by international transfer, they don’t, and the plain GEL2 account is the better buy.
Who TBC Suits
TBC is the natural pick if you want your banking to happen on a phone. The app carries international SWIFT transfers, currency conversion with a request-your-own-rate feature, a brokerage module that starts at US$1 and covers over 9,000 US stocks and ETFs, and a crypto product. None of that is essential, but it’s the deepest digital shelf of the three.
It also matters for anyone who has registered a Georgian company. TBC states that eligible companies with expat shareholders or partners can open a multi-currency business account at a branch on the same instant basis, which saves a second round of onboarding elsewhere.
Bank of Georgia
Bank of Georgia is the cheapest place to keep a plain account and the most expensive place to be foreign.
- A universal account costs nothing to open and GEL1 a month to run, and a standard account costs GEL10 to open and GEL1.5 a month.
- Internet banking and mobile banking both register free and cost nothing monthly. On raw account-keeping, nobody undercuts this.
What Bank of Georgia Costs
Bank of Georgia sells its everyday banking in account packages, and this is where a foreign passport starts showing up as a line item. A package is an optional monthly bundle: it rolls a set of services into one flat fee, instead of you paying for each item separately. A typical package includes a card or two, a monthly allowance of free ATM withdrawals and transfers, mobile and SMS banking, and at the higher tiers extras like airport lounge access or interest on your balance.
You don’t have to buy one. The plain GEL1 universal account works on its own, and a package is only worth the money if you use enough of those services to come out ahead of paying for them piecemeal. The catch is that the published monthly price splits by citizenship on every single tier:
| Package | Georgian citizens | Foreign citizens |
|---|---|---|
| Set S | GEL3 a month | GEL5 a month |
| Set M | GEL5 a month | GEL10 a month |
| Set L | GEL10 a month | GEL15 a month |
| Solo X | GEL23 a month, GEL230 a year | GEL35 a month, GEL350 a year |
| Solo Premium | GEL40 a month, GEL400 a year | GEL55 a month, GEL550 a year |
| Solo Club | GEL75 a month, GEL750 a year | GEL80 a month, GEL800 a year |
Set M doubles. Solo X jumps by GEL120 a year. Non-residents specifically get their own Set S line at GEL5 a month, matching the foreign-citizen price rather than the local one.
Cards are priced separately from packages. A Visa Classic is GEL50, a MasterCard Standard is GEL10, and renewing an expired MasterCard Standard is free.
The schedule also lists a GEL50 charge to “review the application for opening an account” on both universal and standard accounts.
The footnote narrows it considerably. It “applies to citizens of high-risk countries in cases specified by the Bank’s internal policies/procedures“, and “in case of refusal to open an account, the commission is not subject to refund“.
Most Western passport holders never see it. If you hold a passport the bank’s compliance team treats as high-risk, you can be charged GEL50 for a review that ends in a no.
Who Bank of Georgia Suits
If you want an account that costs GEL1 a month, holds several currencies, and does nothing clever, Bank of Georgia is the answer and the maths isn’t close. The GEL1 universal account with free internet and mobile banking is the cheapest genuine banking relationship in the country among the three.
It’s also the better bank for larger outgoing transfers. Its USD SWIFT fee is 0.2% with a US$15 minimum and a US$500 ceiling, and its published schedule contains no fee for receiving foreign currency at all. On a US$8,000 incoming payment, that difference is real money.
Tip: If you use a Georgian bank’s SMS alerts and your phone number isn’t Georgian, check the price first. Bank of Georgia charges GEL1 a month for SMS banking on a Georgian number, GEL5 for residents on a non-Georgian number, and GEL15 a month for non-residents. Turn it off and use app push notifications instead.
Liberty Bank
Liberty is the bank most expats never consider and the one most likely to have a branch in the town they’ve actually moved to. Its network was built around a state contract to pay pensions and social benefits, which is why it reaches places the other two don’t bother with.
The bank runs 88 community centres in what it describes as the largest villages and district centres across Georgia, handling international money transfers, pension and social account services, state tax services, consumer loans, and ordinary account servicing. If you’ve settled in a mountain village rather than a Tbilisi neighbourhood, that’s the difference between banking locally and driving two hours.
What Liberty Costs
Liberty prices by tariff package rather than by account, and the entry tier is cheap:
- Standard: GEL2 a month, or GEL20 a year, one universal account allowed.
- Universal: GEL5 a month, or GEL50 a year, three accounts.
- Premium: GEL15 a month, or GEL150 a year, four accounts.
- Extra: GEL25 a month, or GEL250 a year.
The universal account itself is free to open and free to service in every package, and it runs in GEL, USD, EUR, and GBP. A standard card is GEL10, a lost or damaged replacement is another GEL10, and urgent issuance adds GEL5 to the card price. Outgoing USD transfers cost 0.2% with a US$15 minimum and a US$150 cap, with a US$30 surcharge if you want the full amount guaranteed to land.
Liberty also supports Apple Pay and Google Pay, so the everyday card experience isn’t a step backwards.
The catch is buried on page 50 of the bank’s English terms. In the private banking tariff annex, Liberty states that “for non-resident Clients receiving/wishing to receive personal Banking Services, the one-time fee for document verification/examination is 250 (two hundred and fifty) GEL“, deducted from the client’s account. That’s roughly US$96 before you’ve done anything.
Who Liberty Suits
Liberty makes sense on geography: you live somewhere TBC and Bank of Georgia treat as a rounding error, and a branch you can reach beats an app feature you’ll never use. It also makes sense when a Georgian salary or a state pension lands in your account, which is the flow the bank was built around and the reason it comes up so often for anyone retiring in Georgia.
For a Tbilisi or Batumi-based remote worker, it’s hard to argue for. The other two are cheaper for non-residents, faster to onboard, and better supported in English.
Multi-Currency Accounts
This is the feature most people move to Georgia for and the one where all three banks land in roughly the same place. Every one of them gives a foreigner a multi-currency account holding lari, US dollars, euros, and pounds, without a residence permit and without a local tax number.
- TBC’s account is multi-currency from the moment it opens, and the bank will add sub-accounts in other currencies on request.
- Bank of Georgia’s universal account works the same way.
- Liberty’s universal account runs the same four core currencies, though the standard package limits you to one account.
What differs is the fine print around holding money you don’t spend. TBC charges GEL0.9 a month to service a savings account on the base tier, and GEL10 to open one unless you deposit 100 units on the day.
Liberty pays no interest at all on a universal account balance, on any of its four tariff packages. Money only earns in a separate savings account there, where the Meti product pays 9% on lari, 0.5% on dollars, 0.25% on euros, and 0.1% on pounds.
Good to know: None of the three will open a personal account for you remotely. All of them require a physical branch visit with the original passport, which is worth planning around if you’re still moving to Georgia and hoping to arrive with banking already sorted.
International Transfers
For anyone paid from abroad, transfer fees matter more than the monthly account fee does. Sending money out costs almost the same at all three banks; receiving it does not.
Sending Money Out
The headline rate is nearly identical across all three: 0.2% of the amount, with a US$15 minimum. The ceilings differ.
- TBC and Liberty both cap the fee at US$150
- Bank of Georgia caps it at US$500, which only bites on very large transfers.
Guaranteed-credit transfers, where you pay all correspondent charges so the recipient gets the full amount, are priced differently by each bank. TBC charges 0.4% with a US$35 minimum through a branch.
Bank of Georgia charges 0.3% with a US$35 minimum and a US$500 cap. Liberty adds a flat US$30 to its standard fee.
Premium tiers flatten this. TBC Concept and Concept 360 customers pay a flat US$15 or €15 regardless of amount, and Bank of Georgia’s Solo package holders get the same flat US$15.
Receiving Money In
TBC applies a commission to foreign currency transfers received from abroad, at 0.1% of the amount with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20 units in the transfer currency.
The bank’s own notice states it “applies only to USD, EUR, GBP” and that “the commission fee will not apply to transfers if the amount to be transferred is less than or equal to 1000 units“. It’s taken from the amount credited, so it lands on your side.
Bank of Georgia’s commission schedule, consolidated in August 2026, lists no equivalent charge on incoming foreign currency. Neither does Liberty’s.
Twenty dollars a month is not a catastrophe. Over a year of monthly invoices it’s US$240, which is more than any of these banks charge for the account itself. If most of your income arrives as USD or EUR SWIFT payments above 1,000 units, that single line should probably decide where you bank.
Tip: The National Bank of Georgia launched a public tariff comparison platform in July 2026 that lets you filter standard payment-service fees and tariff packages across every licensed bank, with calculators for specific transactions. The regulator notes the data comes from the banks themselves and can change at any time, so treat it as a shortlisting tool and confirm the number at the branch.
Apps and English Support
All three banks run full English websites and English mobile apps, so the old expat complaint about being locked out by the Georgian alphabet has mostly gone.
- TBC has invested the most visibly. Its app carries SWIFT transfers, conversions, investments, and a passwordless login product called TBC Pass, and the bank maintains a separate English section aimed specifically at foreigners rather than a translated version of the local site.
- Bank of Georgia’s app is comparable for daily use, and the bank publishes its full legal terms and commission schedules in English and Russian alongside Georgian, which is unusual and genuinely useful when you want to check a fee yourself rather than take a teller’s word for it.
- Liberty’s site and app run in English too, though the depth of English documentation is thinner and the interface is built around a domestic customer base.
Branch English is a separate question from app English. In central Tbilisi and Batumi you’ll usually find someone; in a district-centre branch you may not.
Community Input: In the expat forums the recurring line about TBC is that it’s the more cooperative of the two big banks to open with, with fewer forms to fill in, and that reputation has been remarkably stable over the years even as the products have changed.
Deposit Insurance
Georgia’s deposit guarantee got considerably better recently, and the improvement applies to you whether or not you’re a resident.
From 1 April 2026, the maximum reimbursable amount of insured deposits rose from GEL30,000 to GEL50,000 per depositor per bank. The Deposit Insurance Agency insures “resident and non-resident individuals and legal entities deposits in all commercial banks and microbanks operating in Georgia“, and if a bank goes into liquidation it commits to reimbursing depositors within 20 calendar days.
GEL50,000 is about US$19,100. It covers a working balance comfortably and does not cover a life’s savings, which is the usual argument for spreading money across two banks rather than one. Since the limit applies per bank, holding accounts at both TBC and Bank of Georgia doubles the covered amount.
Which Bank to Choose
The honest answer depends on one question: where does your money come from?
Paid From Abroad by SWIFT
Bank of Georgia. Its published schedule has no incoming foreign currency fee, its universal account is GEL1 a month, and the foreign-citizen package premium only applies if you buy a package you probably don’t need.
TBC’s 0.1% incoming fee will cost you more over a year than everything else on this page combined.
Living on Cards and Cash in Georgia
TBC with the GEL10 card subscription. Free withdrawals from any Georgian ATM up to GEL2,000 a month, free domestic transfers to the same limit, and five free utility payments cover ordinary life without thinking about it.
Running a Georgian Company
TBC, for the single-visit business account for companies with expat shareholders. Doing personal and business banking in one app with one banker is worth more than a lari a month.
Living Outside Tbilisi and Batumi
Liberty, on network alone, unless you’re a non-resident and the GEL250 document verification fee applies to you.
Holding a Passport From a Country Banks Treat as High Risk
Ask about the application review fee before you hand over documents anywhere, and expect the answer to differ by branch.
Most Long-Term Expats End Up With Two Accounts
One bank for receiving income, one for daily spending. The pair costs about GEL3 a month combined, doubles your deposit insurance cover, and means a card block on a Sunday isn’t a crisis.
Read more:
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the questions that come up most often once someone has narrowed the choice down to these three banks.
Can I open a Georgian bank account without a residence permit?
Yes. All three banks open accounts for foreigners on a passport, without a residence permit or a Georgian tax number. TBC states you need only a foreign passport and a phone number, and that the account opens instantly.
Can I open the account remotely from another country?
Not as an individual. All three require a branch visit with the original passport. Company accounts follow the same rule, though the process is faster once the company exists.
Which bank has the best app in English?
TBC’s Mobilebank is the deepest, carrying SWIFT transfers, conversions, brokerage, and a passwordless login. Bank of Georgia’s app is close for everyday banking, and Bank of Georgia publishes better English documentation. Both are fine; Liberty’s is more basic.
Do Georgian banks charge more if you’re a foreigner?
Bank of Georgia does, openly, on every account package. Set M is GEL5 a month for Georgian citizens and GEL10 for foreign citizens; Solo Premium is GEL40 versus GEL55.
Liberty charges non-residents a one-time GEL250 document verification fee under its private banking terms. TBC publishes no equivalent split.
Will my money be safe in a Georgian bank?
Deposits are insured up to GEL50,000 per depositor per bank as of 1 April 2026, and the cover explicitly includes non-residents. Above that limit you’re an ordinary creditor, which is the usual reason to split larger balances across two banks.
Can I receive payments from Wise, Payoneer, or a foreign employer?
Yes, all three accept incoming SWIFT transfers in USD, EUR, and GBP. Check the receiving fee before you set up a recurring payment: TBC charges 0.1% with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20 units on transfers above 1,000 units, and the other two publish no incoming charge.
How long does the physical card take?
At TBC, one business day to a Tbilisi branch and two to a regional one, with a digital card usable immediately while you wait. Collect it within three months or the bank destroys it.
Should I open accounts at two banks?
It’s a common setup and a cheap one. A GEL1 Bank of Georgia universal account alongside a TBC account costs a few lari a month, doubles your deposit insurance cover, and gives you a fallback if a card gets blocked.
Sources Cited
- TBC Bank, banking for expats: account opening requirements, instant opening, multi-currency account, card issuance and delivery times, original-document rule.
- TBC Bank, TBC Card for expats terms: subscription prices, ATM and transfer allowances, current and savings account fees, outgoing transfer pricing, Concept tier benefits.
- TBC Bank, transfers and incoming transfers: incoming foreign currency commission, scope, and exemption threshold.
- Bank of Georgia, Annex 1 Commission Fees (English, consolidated 14 August 2026): account opening and monthly fees, account package pricing by citizenship, application review fee and its footnote, card prices, SMS banking fees, outgoing transfer pricing.
- Liberty Bank, Banking Service Terms and Conditions for Individuals (English, effective 7 February 2025): tariff package prices, universal account currencies and fees, interest accrual on universal and savings accounts, card prices, outgoing USD transfer pricing, non-resident document verification fee.
- Liberty Bank, Community Centres: number of community centres and the services they provide.
- Deposit Insurance Agency of Georgia: coverage limit increase to GEL50,000 from 1 April 2026, coverage of non-residents, 20-day reimbursement commitment.
- National Bank of Georgia, comparison of payment service tariffs and deposit rates: what the comparison platform covers and its data caveat.
- National Bank of Georgia, official exchange rates: the GEL to USD rate used for conversions in this guide.
