Wallester Business Account for an Estonian Company: Cards, IBAN and Spending Control

Most companies owned from abroad, including those run by e-residents, start with one business account and one company card. Sooner or later ad accounts, software, travel and supplier purchases all land on that card, and the bookkeeping turns into guesswork. Wallester Business sits next to that account and gives each type of spending its own card and limit. We asked Wallester’s team how the account works in practice and who gets approved, and this guide includes their answers.

What Wallester Business Offers

Wallester AS is a payment institution licensed by Finantsinspektsioon, the Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority, and it is listed on the e-Residency Marketplace. Wallester Business, its account for companies, combines corporate cards with spending control tools:

• an IBAN, the account number customers and partners send money to, with balances in ten currencies: EUR, USD, GBP, SEK, NOK, DKK, PLN, CZK, HUF and RON (a dedicated IBAN depends on the company’s industry and country of registration)
• virtual and physical Visa business cards that work with Apple Pay and Google Pay
• spending limits per card, unlimited users with roles, and receipts attached to each payment
• statements for your accountant and integrations with Xero, QuickBooks and similar software

A virtual card is a card number for online payments with no plastic card behind it, created in the app and blocked at any time; a single-use one works for one payment only.

As a payment institution rather than a bank, Wallester offers debit cards only, with no credit limit or overdraft, and there is no state deposit guarantee. The law instead requires it to keep client money safeguarded, usually separate from its own funds. Our guide on where to open a business account for an Estonian company explains how payment institutions differ from banks.

Who Wallester Business Suits Best

Wallester is most useful when a company makes many card payments and needs to keep them apart:

• Advertising. A separate virtual card for every Meta, Google or TikTok ad account, each with its own budget, which suits an Estonian digital advertising company.
• Transport, logistics and fleets. Cards for drivers, with separate limits for fuel and repairs.
• Online retail and resale. Single-use virtual cards for buying stock from many online shops.
• Teams that travel or buy software. A card per employee or subscription, so every cost has an owner.

A freelancer who sends a few invoices a month and pays for a couple of subscriptions gains little from it: one ordinary account with one card does the job.

Example: A Small Marketing Agency

To show how this works, take an illustrative digital marketing agency in Estonia with five client ad accounts and two employees. It creates one virtual card per ad account, each capped at that client’s monthly budget, plus a card for each employee’s software and travel. At the start of the month it moves the total budget from its main account to Wallester. Each payment shows up under the right client, and when a campaign reaches its budget, only that card stops working.

Wallester IBAN: Incoming Payments Only

The Wallester IBAN accepts incoming payments, both SEPA transfers (standard euro transfers within Europe) and SWIFT transfers (international ones). Wallester’s website also mentions sending payments, but its partner team told us that outgoing bank transfers are not available on the business account, so money leaves it only by card payment or cash withdrawal. If outgoing transfers matter to you, confirm this with Wallester.

That is why it cannot be the only account of an Estonian company: salaries, most supplier invoices and taxes to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board are paid by bank transfer. You keep these on your main account and move a monthly card budget to Wallester. The first top-up must come by transfer from a company bank account; card top-ups are possible after that. If you close the account, Wallester refunds the balance, minus the closure fee, to the account it came from.

Using Wallester Alongside Revolut Business or Wise

Founders often compare Wallester with Revolut Business and Wise Business, but in practice it is paired with one of them, since either can act as the main account it needs.

If you want a deposit guarantee on the main account, Revolut Business is the natural pair; if you work in many currencies, Wise Business fits better. Our guides cover opening Revolut Business for an Estonian OÜ and how Wise Business works for Estonian companies.

Can an Estonian Company Open a Wallester Business Account?

On the company side, yes: Wallester accepts businesses from the EEA (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and several other countries, so an Estonian private limited company (OÜ) is eligible to apply. What matters more is where each management board member (director) and beneficial owner actually lives; e-residency does not count. Based on what Wallester told us:

If you are unsure who counts as a beneficial owner of your company, check that first, because the application asks for it. Wallester applies its own criteria, so it is not an automatic fallback after a refusal from an Estonian bank. If your case is not clear-cut, we can ask Wallester for a preliminary assessment before you apply. It is an informal opinion, not an approval: your company applies itself, and the decision is always Wallester’s.

Wallester Business Fees and Plans

On the free plan, opening and keeping the account costs nothing, unless Wallester classes your industry as higher risk and charges an industry-based fee, which its price list does not quantify. The 300 free virtual cards are enough for most small companies; paid plans add more cards and detailed analytics, and Platinum adds a dedicated relationship manager. The main figures from Wallester’s pricing and price list:

Card payments in the currency of the card’s account, usually euros, are free. Payments in any other currency cost Visa’s exchange rate plus a 2% fee, while converting money between your own currency balances costs nothing extra. A euro top-up by bank transfer is free, a bank top-up in another currency costs €15, and a top-up from a card issued by another bank costs 1.20%. Cash withdrawals cost 2% in the EEA (at least €2) and €2 plus 2% elsewhere. Closing the account costs €25 for each currency balance.

How to Open a Wallester Business Account

You can usually complete the application in one sitting:

1. Create an account through the Wallester sign-up page and enter the company details.
2. Upload an extract from the Estonian Commercial Register showing the directors and beneficial owners, and describe what the company does and its expected monthly card spend.
3. Verify the identity of the directors, the beneficial owners and anyone else who will use the account.
4. Answer any follow-up questions quickly. Wallester’s help centre says a complete application is reviewed within 48 hours.
5. Top up by transfer from your main account and issue the cards you need.

How Eesti Firma Helps

We register Estonian companies for e-residents and other founders from abroad and prepare the company documents payment providers usually ask for. Our accounting team can then connect the card statements to your bookkeeping from the first month. If Wallester does not fit your company, our guide on business accounts for Estonian companies compares other options.

To ask for a preliminary assessment, send us a request saying where the directors and beneficial owners live, what the company does and how much it expects to spend by card each month.

Send a Request

Frequently Asked Questions