Opening a bank account in Mongolia is a very straight forward process compared to the UK or other western countries.  Please note that the banking system in Mongolia is still developing and there are still relatively few sophisticated products, no mortgages for foreigners and financing is difficult. Internet banking has just appeared on the scene and is considered as a giant leap forward. The interest rates are still terribly high and loans hard to get.

While it is not essential to foreign property owners to have an account with a Mongolian Bank it is certainly an advantage.
We recommend Golomt Bank or the Trade Development Bank, both of which offer good internet banking services and are reliable banks.

Go to the bank and decide what type of account is required.

Because internet banking is still a very new product, it is impossible to get an internet banking account which also has a credit card or debit card linked to it. The account is either internet banking (savings or current account) or it's a card account, but not both. Once this has been decided you need to fill in a few forms (usually only available in Mongolian or if available in English still hard to understand).  It is possible to have a card account and an internet banking account at the same time but they will not be linked. Multi-currency accounts are not yet commonplace in Mongolia but it is possible to have a Tugrug account and a US$ account separately.

Make a deposit into your account.

While most of the accounts have no fees linked to their opening, there is usually a minimum balance fee (generally around 30USD) which needs to be paid into the account when opened. These funds will be returned to you when you close the account. For internet banking, the Trade Development Bank charges 36US$ for the use of the VASCO security device, which is necessary and provides a unique login code each time you login into your account. Your deposit can be made over the counter of any of the branches of the bank.

Have your signature notarised.

Your signature needs to be notarised by a registered notary office in Ulaanbaatar. There are generally a number of notaries around the main branches of banks. You will need to bring your passport to you, sign a bit of paper, get a big red stamp on the bit of paper and then bring it back to the bank. The notary will charge around 1,500 Tugrug for this service.

Start using your account.

Your account is then activated and you may start using it straight away. If you opted for an internet banking account this may take up to 24 hours to activate.

Opening a bank account if you are not in Mongolia.

If you are unable to come to Mongolia to open the account yourself it is possible have it done on your behalf. You will need to give an entity you trust in Mongolia a limited power of attorney to open a bank account. This person will then follow the same process as above. You will need to send an original document with your notarised signature to open the account.