To open a bank account in the US you need four things: a government-issued photo ID, your Social Security number or ITIN, proof of your current address, and the opening deposit if the account has a minimum. Banks also need your date of birth, which is on your ID. That's the whole list for a standard personal checking or savings account, at a branch or online.
The reason people make two trips instead of one is never the list. It's that the ID shows an old address, or the "proof of address" is a phone bill with only a name on it. So below is what actually counts for each item, and what changes when you open online, have no SSN or no fixed address, open for a child or a business, or get turned down.
The short list
| What the bank needs | Accepted forms (varies by bank) | Common gotchas |
|---|---|---|
| Government photo ID | Driver's license, US passport or passport card, state ID card, military ID; some banks accept a foreign passport or permanent resident card | Must be unexpired. Many banks want a second ID too — a credit card, student ID, or birth certificate. Bring one. |
| Taxpayer ID number | Social Security number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) | You usually just need the number, not the card — but some banks ask to see the card, so bring it if you have it |
| Proof of address | Utility bill, lease or mortgage statement, pay stub, bank or credit card statement, insurance statement; usually from the last 60–90 days | Must show your name and street address. A PO box doesn't count. If your license has your current address, it often does double duty. |
| Date of birth | Read from your photo ID | Must match on every document; a mismatch with what the Social Security Administration has on file stalls the application |
| Opening deposit | Cash, a check, a debit card, or a transfer from another account | Minimums run from $0 to a few hundred dollars depending on the account. Ask before you go, so you don't have to come back. |
| Contact details | Phone number, email | Online applications won't move forward without a phone that can receive a text |
Every bank sets its own rules inside the federal ones, which is why the "accepted forms" column says varies. One phone call or five minutes on the bank's website tells you exactly which IDs and proof of address they take. A credit union works the same way, with one extra step: you have to be eligible to join (by where you live or work, an employer, or a family member), and they'll ask for proof of that too.
Why banks ask for all this
It isn't the bank being nosy. In the US, federal rules require banks to verify the identity of everyone who opens an account — the Customer Identification Program requirements that came in with the USA PATRIOT Act. At minimum, a bank has to collect your name, date of birth, address, and an identification number, and then confirm you are who you say you are, by looking at documents or checking against records. The FDIC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau both publish plain-English versions of what you'll be asked for (see the sources below).
Because the rule is "verify," not "collect a specific document," banks decide for themselves what satisfies them. That's good news if you're missing something — another bank may accept what the first one won't — and it's why the honest answer to most "will they take my…?" questions is ask that bank.
Opening a bank account online: what you need
The same four things, in a different form. Instead of handing a teller your license, you'll type in its number, state, and expiration date, and usually photograph the front and back with your phone. Many banks then ask for a selfie to match against the photo on the ID, and some send a text code to confirm your phone.
What makes online applications fail is rarely the documents and usually the pictures of them. A few things that help:
- Photograph the ID on a dark, plain surface in good light, with no glare across the photo or the barcode. The application reads the barcode on the back of a license, so a blurry back is as bad as no back.
- Use the address exactly as it appears on your ID. If you've moved and the license shows the old address, expect to upload proof of address — have the lease or a utility bill ready as a PDF before you start, not after the form times out.
- Have your full SSN and the opening deposit (a debit card, or the routing and account numbers of an existing account) ready. There's no "I'll bring it later" option online.
If the online identity check can't verify you — common after a recent move or name change — most banks let you finish at a branch. It isn't a rejection; a human with your documents can do what the form couldn't.
No Social Security number: ITINs and other ID
You can often open a bank account without an SSN. Federal rules allow a bank to accept an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead, and for people who aren't US citizens, a passport number or another government-issued ID number, sometimes from your home country. The catch is the word allow: each bank chooses what it will accept, and some simply require an SSN.
An ITIN is a nine-digit number the IRS issues to people who need a US taxpayer number but aren't eligible for an SSN. You apply with IRS Form W-7 and proof of identity and foreign status (the IRS page in the sources explains the steps). It takes weeks rather than days, so start before you need the account.
Then call banks. Many large national banks and credit unions will open an account with an ITIN plus a passport or consular ID; online-only banks are more mixed. Ask two questions: "Do you open accounts with an ITIN?" and "Which IDs do you accept from someone without a US license?" If the answer is yes, bring everything — the ITIN letter from the IRS, your passport, a second ID, proof of address, and the deposit. If you're doing this alongside other immigration paperwork, keeping it all in one findable place pays off quickly.
No fixed address
Banks have to verify an address, but it doesn't have to be a place you own or rent. If you're staying with family or friends, their lease or utility bill plus a signed note from them is enough at many banks. In a shelter or transitional housing, a letter on the organization's letterhead usually works. Some banks accept a relative's, employer's, or social services agency's address as a mailing address, with a short explanation.
What they generally won't take on its own is a PO box — fine as a mailing address, but the application also needs a physical one. Call ahead and ask; nobody at a branch is surprised by this question.
Minors and joint accounts: what a parent needs to bring
Under 18, a child usually can't open an account alone. The two common setups are a joint account (parent and teen both own it) and a custodial account (the parent manages it for the child). Either way, the bank needs documents for both people:
- The parent or guardian: the full standard list — photo ID, SSN or ITIN, proof of address, opening deposit.
- The child: Social Security number, date of birth, and an ID — a birth certificate for a young child; a school ID, passport, or learner's permit for a teenager. Some banks also want the child's Social Security card.
- A guardian who isn't the parent: the court papers establishing guardianship.
Joint accounts between adults work the same way: every owner brings a complete set, and both usually need to be present or complete the online identity check.
Business bank accounts: the longer list
A business account needs everything a personal account needs — for you, and for every other owner or signer — plus proof that the business exists and that you're allowed to act for it. What "proof" means depends on how the business is set up:
| Business type | Bring |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Your personal documents, your SSN or an EIN, and a DBA ("doing business as") certificate if you operate under a trade name |
| LLC | EIN, articles of organization filed with the state, operating agreement, a DBA if the LLC uses a different name |
| Corporation | EIN, articles of incorporation, corporate bylaws, and a resolution naming who can open accounts |
| Partnership | EIN, partnership agreement, any state registration |
| Any of the above | A business license if your city, county, or state requires one for your trade |
The EIN (Employer Identification Number) is the business's equivalent of an SSN. The IRS issues it free, online, in minutes; the confirmation letter (CP 575) is what banks want to see. Sole proprietors can often use their SSN instead, but an EIN keeps your personal number off business paperwork.
Expect the bank to also ask about beneficial owners — anyone who owns a meaningful share of the business — and to want their names, dates of birth, addresses, and ID numbers too. That's a federal requirement, not a bank quirk. If you're a freelancer opening a first business account to keep receipts and taxes separate, the sole-proprietor row is usually all you need.
If you're denied: ChexSystems and second-chance accounts
Banks can say no even when your documents are perfect. The usual reason is a record with ChexSystems or a similar consumer reporting agency that tracks closed accounts, unpaid overdrafts, and suspected fraud. An old account closed with a negative balance can follow you for several years.
If it happens, you have options:
- Ask why. The bank has to tell you which reporting agency it used. You can request a free copy of your report from that agency and dispute anything that's wrong; the CFPB's page on account denials (in the sources) walks through it.
- Settle what's real. If you owe a balance on an old account, paying it and asking that bank to update the record is the fastest route back.
- Look for a second-chance or "Bank On" certified account. Many banks and credit unions offer basic checking for people with a ChexSystems record — usually no overdraft, little or no monthly fee, and a path to a standard account after a year of good history.
None of this requires new documents. It's the same four things, at a bank that's willing.
Have everything on your phone before you walk in
The habit that makes all of the above a single errand: keep a clear scan of each document on your phone, so you can check an address, read off a number, or upload a file without going home first.
The set to scan once:
- Driver's license or state ID, front and back
- Passport data page
- Social Security card (read the number off it; keep the card itself somewhere safe and never laminated)
- The most recent lease or mortgage statement
- One utility bill and one pay stub from the last two months
- For a business: the EIN letter, formation documents, operating agreement, DBA
Life hands you most of these anyway. The lease is the one you needed for renting the apartment; the ID and Social Security card are the ones HR asked for when you were starting the new job. Scanning them once covers all three.
One caution: don't leave these in your camera roll. A photo of your license next to your Social Security card is an identity kit for anyone who picks up an unlocked phone, scrolls a shared album, or gets into a cloud photo backup. Documents like these belong somewhere locked separately from the phone itself. On an iPhone, the built-in route is Notes: scan the document (camera icon → Scan Documents), then lock the note with Face ID. That works and costs nothing; its weak point is that six months later you're hunting through notes for "the lease PDF."
Paperlock is built for exactly this pile. Scan the license, lease, and statement into it and it reads each one — what it is, who it's from, the dates on it — and files it behind Face ID, with IDs blurred until you confirm it's you. At the bank, "show me my lease" gets the lease. It can also look through your camera roll for documents already hiding there and let you approve which ones to bring in, so the license photo you took last year ends up locked instead of loose. It's how the app works, and it's on the App Store.
Two more things, however you store them. When a bank asks you to upload or email a document, send it in a way that doesn't leave a copy lying around — a PDF from a locked place, not a screenshot that stays in Photos. And make sure the phone isn't the only copy: the scans that get you through a bank application are the same ones you'd need after a lost wallet, so they're worth backing up properly.
A thirty-second check before you go
- Is the ID unexpired, and does its address match where you live now? If not, do you have a bill, lease, or statement from the last two months?
- Do you know your SSN or ITIN, and is the card with you if this bank wants it?
- Do you have a second ID — credit card, student ID, passport card?
- Do you know the minimum deposit, and have it in a form the bank takes?
- For a child or a business: the other person's documents, or the EIN and formation papers?
Five yeses and it's one sitting. That's the whole trick.