What types of bank accounts actually qualify?

The funds must be held in a standard personal checking or cash-equivalent account. This is the everyday-spending kind of account where the funds are fully liquid and immediately accessible. A simple practical test: if the applicant cannot walk up to an ATM today and withdraw that money with a debit card, it does not count.

What does not qualify, regardless of the balance: brokerage and investment accounts (taxable brokerage, mutual fund accounts, ETF accounts); retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, RRSPs, TFSAs, SIPPs, Superannuation, and equivalents); pension accounts and annuity accounts; any fixed-term or locked account, including certificates of deposit and term deposits where the funds cannot be accessed immediately; crypto accounts, digital wallets, and exchange accounts (the funds in a Coinbase, Binance, or similar account do not qualify even if the fiat value exceeds the required threshold); and trust accounts or corporate accounts. The applicant’s name needs to appear on the account as an individual, not as a beneficiary or signatory of an entity.

Neo-banks and digital banks are generally acceptable provided they function as standard cash-based checking accounts and can produce official PDF statements (Wise, Revolut, Mercury, and similar fall into this category when used as cash accounts). The distinguishing factor is whether the account behaves like a normal checking account, not the brand name.

This restriction matters because many applicants have substantial wealth held in investment portfolios, retirement accounts, or crypto, and assume that wealth will satisfy the DTV financial requirement. It will not. The funds must be moved into a qualifying account and seasoned there for the required three-month period before the application can proceed.