I work as a sole trader and have for several years now.

In my spare time I have developed an enterprise app (not a smartphone app) which is now starting to sell. Potential customers are local governement who want a business bank account - fair enough.

I went into my main bank, got deer in the headlights looks and not one of the 4 people in the branch could help me.

We also bank with another bank so I rang them up and they were happy to kick the process off over the phone (bank 1 wouldnt do that).

Anyway Im a bit curious as to why they need so much information, Im just after a cheque account! Im not after credit and the account would be low volume (<10 transaction per month) for smallish amounts. I wouldve thought proof of identity, business IRD number, company registration details etc would be enough to open a cheque account.

I know its all for anti fraud but they are asking for things like who my hosting provider is for my website. They also seem to place a lot of emphasis on a business plan - which in my case there isnt really a need for one (the plan is to sell the app!).

Surely they would be able to easily see if an account is being used fraudulently without all these hoops?

Luckily I have collateral (company website, product website etc). I cant imagine what you'd need to go through if you are starting from scratch.