Business account for a healthcare professional in Belgium

Physio, dentist or doctor opening a practice: Belgium's five big banks compete for you with offers labelled "medical professions". KBC has its Mediservice, ING its Medicalis, while BNP Paribas Fortis, Belfius and CBC field dedicated advisers. The real question isn't which package looks nicest, but whether a healthcare professional needs a specialised bank at all, or whether a 0-euro neobank does the job. If you're an expat setting up in Brussels or Ghent, the same logic applies.

A business account here means the account, separate from the private one, that carries fees, patient payments and mutual-fund transfers. For a medical profession, what separates the banks isn't the price of the account, it's what surrounds it: the INAMI social benefit, practice financing and third-party payment. Here's how to choose, with the figures.

Do you need a specialised bank as a doctor, physio or dentist?

Not for the day-to-day account, yes for the guidance. Taking fees and paying suppliers is something any business account does, a neobank included. What medical banks add is advice on mechanisms specific to healthcare, starting with INAMI.

In practice, KBC, ING, BNP Paribas Fortis, Belfius and CBC each run a unit dedicated to care providers, with a contact who knows the social status, the contracting rules and setup loans. It isn't pure marketing: a dental practice kits out for tens of thousands of euros, and financing is negotiated better with an adviser who has already seen twenty similar files.

What this means for you: the specialised bank earns its keep on advice and credit, not on the current account. If you start without heavy investment, the argument weighs less.

What if I'm only just opening my practice?

At launch your flows are simple: a few patients, little equipment, no loan yet. A low-cost account is plenty for the first months. The moment the medical bank makes sense is when the first big investment or the first INAMI social benefit arrives to be placed.

Am I obliged to have a separate business account?

As a sole trader, no, no law requires it. But mixing fees and private spending on one account turns the VAT return and bookkeeping into a headache. A separate account is the first rule of hygiene, whatever the provider you choose.

What are the Mediservice, Medicalis and similar packages really worth?

They're bundle offers: account, card, insurance and pension gathered under one brand. KBC Mediservice, for instance, combines a professional account and a private account often with no account-keeping fee, plus a KBC credit card with insurance. ING offers Medicalis with a dedicated personal contact, and BNP Paribas Fortis presents itself as the reference bank for medical professions.

The "free" account is never a standalone gift. It comes with taking out the products the bank earns on: guaranteed income insurance, professional liability cover, and above all the pension contract that receives the INAMI social benefit. The bank wins on the overall relationship, not on account-keeping.

Worth checking: compare what you actually use. A package bundling five products of which you activate only two costs you, in commitment and attention, more than a bare account beside a good accountant. In eight years in branches, I watched young practitioners sign the full package for convenience, never opening half the contracts.

Why isn't a neobank enough for a contracted healthcare professional?

Because it cannot receive your INAMI money. A contracted physio or doctor collects an INAMI social benefit each year, in return for honouring the tariffs. That payment must go into an approved pension contract, and neither Qonto nor Revolut Business offers this product.

The amounts aren't trivial. For a physiotherapist, the 2026 social benefit runs from 2,179 to 3,853 euros depending on the activity threshold, according to INAMI. For a fully contracted doctor reaching the maximum threshold, it climbs to 6,078 euros for 2025. This is public money feeding your supplementary pension, through a Plan de prévoyance type contract offered by Curalia, AG or a traditional bank.

What this means for you: a neobank takes your fees without trouble, but the social benefit will have to go elsewhere anyway. I've seen contracted physios forget to claim or place this payment for two years, for want of a contact who reminds them. On a neobank, no one will call you about it.

Add third-party payment: part of your income arrives from the mutual funds in grouped, delayed transfers. Reconciling those amounts with the treatments is simpler with a tool built for healthcare, which neobanks don't offer.

Medical bank or neobank: the comparison

The table sums up what separates the two worlds for a medical profession. The line that decides isn't the price, it's access to the INAMI contract and the setup loan.

Verdict: for a contracted practitioner investing in a practice, only the first three lines cover the full chain. Neobanks remain excellent starter or second accounts, never the backbone of a contracted medical career.

Which setup should you choose for your stage?

The right choice depends on where you are. At launch, with few flows and no loan, a low-cost neobank handles takings while your accountant opens the INAMI contract with a specialist insurer. You keep the flexibility and don't pay for services you aren't using yet.

The day you finance a practice, when the social benefit grows substantial, or when third-party payment weighs on your income, the medical bank regains the edge. The dedicated adviser, the negotiated setup loan and the pension contract kept in one place then earn their package. Many practitioners end on a pair: the neobank for responsive management, the medical bank for credit and pension.

What this means for you: don't sign the full package by reflex on day one, and don't stay on a neobank alone once contracted and set up either. My reasoning holds for a self-employed practitioner. A purely salaried physiotherapist has no INAMI provider status to manage and no business account to open, and a standard private account is enough.

To compare fees side by side, our comparison tool lays out the prices, and the blog gathers our pro guides. Our analyses are written by Sophie Laurent, who spent eight years in bank branches before comparing Belgian offers.

FAQ

The questions physios, dentists and doctors ask most when opening their business account.