Fintech accounts for a foreign-owned US LLC: Who accepts one

Updated August 2026

Mercury and Wise accept non-resident owners, Novo does not

Of the four fintech accounts most often recommended to foreign-owned US LLCs, two publish clear acceptance, one is conditional, and one is a documented no. Mercury states "You do not need to be a U.S. citizen or resident to apply." Wise requires an SSN only from owners who live in the US or hold a US passport. Relay accepts non-US owners but is not clear-cut on whether a passport replaces an SSN. Novo states it "only open[s] accounts for business owners who reside within the U.S." The requirements that decide most applications:

• Every provider requires the LLC to be formed and registered in the US before applying
• Every provider requires identification for each beneficial owner at 25% or more, plus one person with operating control
• Mercury's complete document list is three items: formation document, IRS EIN document, photo ID
• Accepted EIN documents at Mercury: CP 575, 147C, or a returned SS-4, not the SS-4 application
• Address rules disqualify more applicants than citizenship does: registered agent addresses, PO boxes and virtual mailboxes are commonly rejected

Last verified: August 19th, 2026.

This page is a requirements reference, not a recommendation. Everything below is quoted from each provider's own eligibility or help documentation, with the URL and the date checked, because these pages change without notice and a summary written six months ago is worse than none.

Eligibility at a glance

Mercury

Eligibility. "Mercury supports U.S. companies with founders from around the world. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen or resident to apply." The business must meet three conditions, quoted in order: "Be formed and registered in the United States or a U.S. territory; Have existing or planned operations in the U.S.; Have a U.S. or international address for its principal place of business."

That third condition is the single most useful line in this whole page. Mercury accepts an international address for the business, which most providers do not. It also states that "residential addresses are accepted, but registered agent addresses, P.O. boxes, and UPS Store addresses are not." A foreign-owned LLC whose only US address is its registered agent's fails here, and that is the most common avoidable rejection.

Documents. Exactly three: "Your company formation document," an IRS-issued EIN document, and photo ID. For the EIN, Mercury accepts "Form CP575, Form 147c, SS-4," noting that a submitted SS-4 must be "not just the application, but the returned version." Identification is needed "for any owner with at least 25% ownership in your company, and at least one person with operating control." An international applicant satisfies identity with a passport; no SSN or ITIN appears anywhere in Mercury's requirement.

Disqualifiers. Mercury is "unable to open accounts for founders living in" a published list, keyed to residence rather than citizenship: four sanctioned countries and regions plus roughly 47 prohibited countries. It also excludes industries: "Money services businesses (MSBs); Businesses operating in adult entertainment, cannabis, or internet gambling; Trusts." And it requires ownership traced to natural persons: if the LLC is owned by a holding company, "you cannot list that entity as the beneficial owner. You must identify the individual" behind it, which catches offshore parent structures.

After approval. Mercury publishes both closure and temporary-lock policies, including that an account may be locked "while we review your account or wait for required information." Denied applicants may reapply, though Mercury "cannot disclose specifics as to why a particular application was approved or rejected."

Sources: eligibility, documents, prohibited countries. Verified 8/19/2026. See also looch vs Mercury.

Relay

Eligibility. "Relay accepts U.S.-registered businesses owned by non-U.S. citizens or residents, provided the business has an operating presence in the U.S."

On the SSN, confirm before you apply. Relay's required-documents article lists, for every beneficial owner, "Social Security Number (SSN) or passport number," which reads as an accepted substitute. Other Relay material is less clear-cut about whether a passport number alone suffices, and we could not settle it from published sources. If you have no SSN, ask Relay directly and get the answer in writing before you rely on it.

Documents. For an LLC: EIN, a US business address and phone (physical, no PO boxes), industry and description, Articles of Organization or Certificate of Formation, and a signed operating agreement for multi-member LLCs. For each beneficial owner: government photo ID (passport only for non-US citizens), the SSN-or-passport item above, a physical US address with no PO boxes and no virtual mailboxes, title, mobile number and email. Non-US-resident owners additionally supply source of the income that started the business, whether the business is new or established, annual personal income, and countries of operation.

Disqualifiers. The physical US address requirement for every beneficial owner is the practical blocker for a founder with no US presence. Relay's prohibited-country list is keyed to "citizenship or residency," which is stricter than Mercury's residence-only rule: holding citizenship of a listed country disqualifies even if you live elsewhere.

Sources: required documents, prohibited countries. Verified 8/19/2026. See also looch vs Relay.

Novo

Eligibility: no. This is the clearest statement any of the four publishes: "Currently, we only open accounts for business owners who reside within the U.S. The business must also be registered in the U.S. to be eligible."

The SSN rule has no substitute. "To complete the application process, business owners must provide a Social Security Number (SSN), a valid U.S. residential address, and an active U.S. cell phone number (virtual numbers are" not accepted. It extends to co-owners: "Your ultimate beneficial owner business partner must be able to provide an SSN," which closes the workaround of adding a US-resident partner while a foreign owner holds the rest.

One place Novo is looser than its peers. On the EIN: "Only single-member LLCs with no employees and taxed as disregarded entities can apply for a Novo account without" one. That is precisely the entity type this page is about, but the residence and SSN rules still exclude the owner, so the carve-out rarely helps here.

Applications are "reviewed within 24 hours, though some may take up to 72 hours." Novo publishes no prohibited-country list, because the US-residence rule makes one unnecessary.

Source: Novo, businesses or owners outside the United States. Verified 8/19/2026.

Wise

Wise is a money-services account rather than a US bank account, and its rules are shaped differently: it cares where you live and where you trade more than whether you hold an SSN.

Eligibility. "We'll also ask for the SSN of the beneficial owners that reside in the US or have a US passport. For the non-US beneficial owners we'll request a copy of a photo ID." Verification asks for the business name, company type and registration number, plus details of anyone who "directly or indirectly owns 25% or more of the company, or who exercises control."

Two rules that decide most foreign-owned LLC cases. First, the address distinction: your trading address is "your primary place of business, the place where you work every day," and four address types are barred from it, which again catches an LLC registered at its agent's address. Second, the cross-border rule: "If your business registered address and trading address are in different countries, we can only offer you services that are available in both countries." A US-registered LLC traded from abroad is therefore limited to the intersection of the two.

Disqualifiers. Wise runs an allowlist of roughly 80 countries and territories keyed to where you live, not a blocklist, so any country not named is unsupported. That excludes more of the world than Mercury's or Relay's lists do. Wise also "unable to onboard businesses from Nevada, and US territories (American Samoa, Guam, Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands)," a licensing limit with no equivalent at the other three, and it matters because Nevada is a common non-resident formation state. If you are not a director, Wise requires "proof you're authorised to open the account."

Sources: verify your US business, where you need to live. Verified 8/19/2026.

The two prerequisites every provider requires

Every account above requires the same two things before an application can succeed: a US entity in good standing and an EIN with IRS documentation to prove it. Neither requires an SSN.

The IRS issues an EIN to a responsible party who has no SSN or ITIN: on Form SS-4, "Enter 'foreign' or N/A on line 7b if the responsible party doesn't have and is ineligible to obtain an SSN or ITIN," and by fax "you can receive your EIN by fax generally within 4 business days." The confirmation letter is the CP 575; if it is lost, the replacement is a 147C, and Mercury accepts either. Our full walkthrough is in getting an EIN without an SSN.

looch Start delivers both prerequisites in one pass for $249 all-in: it forms the company (Delaware C corporation, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC or Florida LLC), files with the state within 1 business day, and obtains the EIN even when the founder has no SSN or ITIN, returning the official CP 575 through the in-app virtual office. That letter and your formation documents are exactly what every provider on this page asks you to upload.

Once the entity exists, note the obligation that comes with it: a foreign-owned US single-member LLC generally has a Form 5472 filing requirement, with a $25,000 penalty for failing to file. That is covered in our Form 5472 guide for foreign founders.

Before you apply

• Fix the address first. Registered agent addresses, PO boxes, virtual mailboxes and UPS Store addresses are rejected by Mercury, Relay and Wise alike. This causes more rejections than nationality does.
• Have the EIN letter as a file. A CP 575 or 147C PDF, not a screenshot and not the SS-4 you sent.
• Collect passports for every 25% owner plus the control person, before you start.
• Check the country list on the day you apply, from the provider's own page, not from any summary including this one.
• If a holding company owns your LLC, be ready to name the natural persons behind it.

For the federal rules underneath all of this, including why a passport substitutes for an SSN at account opening, see opening a US business bank account without an SSN.