On June 10, BAC completed its absorption of Multibank, vaulting the combined institution to roughly $45 billion in assets and second place in Panama's banking league by portfolio. For the country's domestic clients, the deal is operational housekeeping. For the foreign buyer planning to close on an apartment in Costa del Este or Punta Pacífica, the consolidation is a useful prompt to revisit how account-opening in this jurisdiction actually works in 2026 — and why the calendar between picking a property and signing at the notaría keeps stretching.
The merger, in three numbers
BAC and Multibank closed the integration on June 10, 2026, with approval from the Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá. Combined assets exceed $45 billion. The credit portfolio runs above $32 billion. Inside BAC's Central American group, Panama's weight jumped from roughly 21% to 31% of regional portfolio — a notable rebalance for a banking franchise whose payment rails already process about 55% of Central American GDP and 44% of Panama's own GDP, according to figures cited by TVN-2.
The deal follows BAC's earlier acquisition of BBVA's Panama operations. A short list of institutions — Banco General, BAC, and Banistmo — now anchors an outsized share of retail deposits and credit. Concentration matters for foreign buyers because every additional consolidation removes one counterparty from a roster that was never long to begin with. Panama has dozens of licensed banks, but the subset that actively onboards non-resident retail clients is far smaller.
Dollarised, but not borderless
Foreign buyers reaching Panama for the first time often assume that dollarisation implies bank-account portability. It does not. The country uses the U.S. dollar as legal tender alongside the balboa, which removes currency-conversion friction at the point of sale — but the banking system still operates under domestic supervision by the Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá, and Panamanian banks apply their own know-your-client and anti-money-laundering posture independently of the institutions the same client used at home. A platinum relationship at a New York or Madrid private bank does not transfer.
Two macro pressures shape that posture. The first is FATCA, the U.S. tax-information regime that turned every U.S.-person account into a compliance-heavy file rather than a routine one, even at banks with no U.S. operations. The second is Panama's history with global financial watchlists, which prompted both regulator and banks to tighten documentation requirements through the last decade. The cumulative effect is that opening a personal account as a non-resident now resembles onboarding at a private bank more than walking into a branch with two utility bills.
What banks are usually asking for
Specific requirements vary by institution and are reviewed periodically. Lists circulating on expat forums age quickly. But the spine of any onboarding package, in practice, sits on three pillars — identification, source of funds, and reference — and applicants who arrive with a coherent file across all three move through compliance review faster than those who improvise.
- Identification: a valid passport, a second government-issued ID, and the immigration entry stamp showing legal presence. Some banks also request a Panamanian cédula or residency card if the applicant already holds one.
- Source of funds: tax filings or employer income letters from the home jurisdiction, plus an explanation — with supporting documents — for the specific funds expected to flow through the account. Compliance teams want to see the path from earned income to deposit, not just an end-of-year balance.
- References: a banker's reference letter from an existing institution in the home jurisdiction, plus one or two professional or personal references from people already known to the Panamanian bank. The reference letter is frequently underweighted by applicants; it carries real signal in this market.
Even with a clean file, expect interviews, follow-up questions, and an enhanced due-diligence review for higher-risk profiles. The discretion sits with the bank's compliance committee, not the relationship officer at the desk.
Why the merger narrows the shortlist
Before June 10, a foreign buyer who hit friction at one institution could pivot to Multibank, or to a smaller competitor with a more permissive onboarding desk. After June 10, that optionality narrows: Multibank's compliance posture is now BAC's. For applicants whose profile sits at the edge of a single bank's risk appetite — non-resident, mixed-currency income, beneficial ownership of operating companies — the cost of a first-attempt rejection is higher, because there is one fewer place to retry without starting from scratch.
Concentration is not in itself a problem. It can streamline servicing for clients the system wants to keep. But it raises the cost of getting the application wrong the first time.
How to fold this into a Panama City closing calendar
The practical implication for someone buying in Casco Antiguo, Costa del Este, Punta Pacífica or any of the metropolitan corridors this publication covers is straightforward. Treat bank-account opening as a parallel workstream to property due diligence, not a checkbox at closing. Begin the conversation with at least two banks before signing a promesa de compraventa. Plan for six to twelve weeks from first interview to a working debit card; sometimes faster, sometimes slower, depending on profile, season, and the strength of the introducing relationship — a referral from the seller's attorney often moves faster than a cold approach.
For cash buyers, the timeline matters less than it first appears, because the closing itself can be funded through a wire from an offshore account directly to the seller. But operating a Panama property without a local account is a friction that compounds: condominium maintenance fees, utility autopay, property-tax filings, and rental income from a future tenant all want a domestic banking rail. The eventual account is operational, not optional.
The BAC-Multibank merger does not change the law. It changes the topography of choices. Foreign capital remains structurally welcome in Panama, and the banks remain open for business; the friction is procedural, not philosophical. But every consolidation is a moment to re-read the playbook, because the next merger — and there will be one — will narrow the field again.
