Overview
Holvi, at a glance.
Holvi is a payment institution headquartered in Finland, regulated by FIN-FSA. The business account has no monthly fee. Opening an account takes 3–5 days. Owners may live in the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, in a different country from the company. Freelancers, sole traders and association administrators must live in the country where they register.
Funds are held in pooled client accounts, separate from Holvi's own money. Holvi is not a bank and balances are not covered by a deposit guarantee.
Why businesses pick Holvi
- A free Flex plan with no opening fee
- Accounts in 18 currencies, with SEPA, SEPA Instant and SWIFT payments
- Owners may live anywhere in the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland
- A Mastercard business debit card, virtual and physical
- Support in English, German and Finnish, including by phone
- Trustpilot score of 4.4 from more than 2,400 reviews
Watch out for
- Only for businesses registered in Finland, Germany or Austria
- Not a bank: balances are not covered by a deposit guarantee
- Holding companies, charities, real estate, bookkeeping and several other businesses need pre-approval, and US citizens or US tax-liable owners are not supported
- Currency exchange costs 1%
- The Flex plan charges €4.50 after 30 days of inactivity
Business fit
Will Holvi accept your business?
Four quick answers. Where your company is registered and what it does rule a provider in or out faster than anything else.
Based on Holvi's published rules
Likely no
Holvi does not list United Kingdom among the countries where it accepts companies.
Holvi does not publish a minimum company age or turnover, so those two answers are not checked here.
This is one provider. Your profile checks all of them.
- Every provider that fits your business
- The reason behind each match
- Company age and turnover checked too
Who it works with
Accepted and not accepted.
What Holvi publishes about the businesses it takes on.
Who Holvi serves
- Freelancers
- Startups and SMEs
- Professional services
- Creative
Not supported
Industries and countries Holvi does not accept, from its own published lists.
Industries
- Activities that violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation
- Activities that violate applicable laws or industry regulations on the sale of alcoholic drinks or prescription drugs and devices
- Activities that violate copyright, trademark, right of publicity or privacy or any other proprietary right
- Activities performed on behalf of a legal entity not based within the EEA
- Any illegal products, services or activities, including encouraging, promoting, facilitating or instructing others to engage in illegal activities
- Payments to or from any listed sanctioned countries; businesses or persons subject to international or national sanctions, or suspected or convicted of terrorism, financial crime or any other offence
- Providing false information about the customer's identity or business activities
- Any product, service or activity that finances terrorism
- Controlled and illegal substances and drug paraphernalia
- Prescription medicine and medical-claimed substances
- Products, services or activities, including media and journalism, that could be considered discriminatory, hateful, racist or exploitative, or inciting harassment, bestiality, mutilation or violence
- Services where the provider collects money on behalf of others as a payment services provider, cheque encashment agencies, bureaux de change, money transmitters, traveller's cheques or money orders
- Selling or manufacturing arms, including parts and replicas, ammunition, explosives or accessories
- Services relating to hospitality timeshares or issuing of travel visas
- Promotion or advertising of products or services other than your own without appropriate authorisation
- Collecting money without a licence when it is compulsory in the account owner's jurisdiction
- Multi-level marketing and doorstep selling, pyramid and Ponzi schemes
- Gambling and betting, casinos, lotteries and sweepstakes, penny auctions, fantasy sports and sports forecasting, and the sale of usable chips, tokens or vouchers connected to them
- Wealth-building or get-rich programmes, courses, materials or services
- Sub-acquiring or merchant aggregation
- Lending or financing in the B2C sector involving third-party funds or carried out in a third party's name or account
- Private business directories, businesses specialising in warning letters, liquidation or proxy services
- Raffles, debt consolidation, medical collections, payment protection insurance, currency exchange or forex activities
- Products or services related to the Second World War
- Modification chips, for example to modify a games console to use non-producer hardware or software
- Ticket agencies without a licence, and ticket resale
- Replica or counterfeit products and goods
- Objectionable, offensive, indecent, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, racially, ethnically or sexually offensive, or otherwise inappropriate behaviour towards Holvi personnel
- Highly rated politically exposed persons (PEP)
- Holding funds in Holvi for third parties
- Selling facsimile books, private libraries and high-quality encyclopedias
- Any activity related to adult entertainment services or prostitution
- Any activity related to endangered species; breeding for fur production or race sports
- Trading cryptocurrency, offering a trading platform or infrastructure for cryptocurrency, crypto mining, digital wallet services and closed-loop payment systems
- Astrology, fortune-telling or palm reading
- Wholesale of scrap metal and unregistered waste management
Countries
- Not published
Coverage
Where can you use Holvi?
Coverage is a starting point. It does not confirm that every business in these markets is eligible.
Supported currencies
18 currencies
- EUR
- USD
- GBP
- CHF
- CAD
- AUD
- JPY
- CZK
- DKK
- HKD
- HUF
- ILS
- NOK
- NZD
- PLN
- RON
- SEK
- SGD
Payment reach
Not published
Who can apply
Company incorporation countries3 countries · show list
- Finland
- Germany
- Austria
Owner nationality
Not publishedOwner residency32 countries · show list
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
Company types
Limited companies (Oy, GmbH, UG), Sole traders and freelancers, Partnerships (KG), Registered associations
Pricing
What does Holvi cost?
Look beyond the monthly fee. Your total cost depends on how many transfers you make, where they go and how much you convert.
Account cost
Opening fee
Free
Monthly fee
€0–99
depends on plan
Conditions
Flex plan, after 30 days without activity
Flex
Lowest cost€0 per month
€0 setup · €0 in year one
Lite
€12 per month
€0 setup · €144 in year one
Pro
€18 per month
€0 setup · €216 in year one
Zen
€79 per month
€0 setup · €948 in year one
Zen+
€99 per month
€0 setup · €1,188 in year one
Transaction fees
| Cost | Listed amount | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Outgoing | ||
| SEPA | €0.25 | Fixed fee · After the transfers included in your plan |
| SWIFT / international | €1 | Fixed fee · From a matching currency account |
Ranges span the plans; higher plans pay the lower end.
Other fees
Currency exchange (FX)
| Cost | Listed amount | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| FX markup | 1% | Percentage of the amount |
Cards
| Cost | Listed amount | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Card FX | 2–2.5% | Percentage of the amount; varies by plan · 2.5% on Flex, 2% on the other plans in Finland |
Onboarding
From application to live account.
Opening an account typically takes three to five business days.
- 1
Apply
Start the application online or through the sales team.
- 2
Company and people
Give the company's registration details, directors and owners.
- 3
Checks
Upload the documents requested and complete identity verification.
- 4
Account live
Once approved, the account is opened and you receive its details.
Documents you need
Not published
FAQ
Your questions, answered.
Is Holvi a bank?
No. Holvi Payment Services Ltd is a Finnish payment institution authorised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority. Funds are held in segregated client accounts and are not covered by a deposit guarantee.
How much does Holvi cost?
Flex is free. In Finland, Lite costs €12 a month, Pro €18, Zen €79 and Zen+ €99; in Germany and Austria, Lite costs €9 and Pro €15. SWIFT payments cost €1 and currency exchange 1%.
Who can open a Holvi account?
Businesses registered in Finland, Germany or Austria. Owners must live in the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland; new e-residents are no longer accepted.
Which currencies does Holvi support?
EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, NOK, SEK, DKK, CAD, AUD, JPY, PLN, SGD, HKD, NZD, CZK, RON, ILS and HUF, each as its own account.
Alternatives
How Holvi compares.
If Holvi is not the right fit, these providers work with similar businesses. Compare their listed licences and services below.
| Provider | Licensed in | Known for |
|---|---|---|
 HolviThis pagePayment institution |  | 18 currenciesMastercard |
 QontoPayment institution |  | FreelancersInvoicing tools |
 KontistBusiness account |  | FreelancersTax tools |
 Vivid BusinessE-money institution |   | Local IBANs22 currencies |
 Revolut BusinessBank |   | Cards and spend controlsStartups and SMEs |
Not sure which one fits? Your profile ranks them for your business, with the reason behind each.