Opening a US business bank account without an SSN

Updated August 2026

No SSN is required to open a US business bank account

A non-US founder can open a US business account without an SSN. Federal customer identification rules allow a passport number and country of issuance to identify a non-US person instead.

The practical requirement is different: You need a formed US entity, an EIN, and a provider that accepts non-resident founders. Provider policies vary far more than the federal rule.

• Identification: A passport number and country of issuance can satisfy the federal customer identification rule for a non-US person.
• EIN with no SSN or ITIN: A foreign founder can apply for an EIN without either.
• Ownership questions: Banks collect identity details for each owner at 25% or more, plus one control person.
• Provider spread: Bank of America states that foreign business customers cannot apply, while several fintechs document passport-based applications.

That provider policy is where most guides fall short. They list banks without checking each provider’s current documentation. Eligibility often lives in help-center pages, and those rules can change without notice.

What federal law actually requires

The federal Customer Identification Program rule requires a US bank to collect a person’s name, date of birth, address, and identification number before opening an account. For a non-US person, that identification number can be a taxpayer identification number, a passport number with its country of issuance, an alien identification card number, or another government-issued photo ID. An SSN isn’t the only acceptable form of identification.

Banks also collect beneficial ownership information for the company under a separate rule: Identity details for each individual who owns 25% or more, plus one person who controls the company. Those owners are verified using the same identification elements, so a passport can meet the identification requirement for them too.

FinCEN’s exceptive relief allows a bank to limit this review to the first account you open with it, along with cases where the bank has doubts or conducts its own risk-based review. Banks can choose whether to use that relief, so some may still request the information for every account.

Founders often confuse that bank requirement with beneficial ownership reporting to the government. FinCEN’s final rule ended that reporting requirement for US companies, but it didn’t change what your bank needs to know. Your bank still asks who owns 25%. We track the BOI story, with sources, in our fee and deadline tracker.

So when a provider asks for your passport and your co-founder’s, it’s following its federal rulebook, not singling you out.

Sources: Customer Identification Program rule, Beneficial ownership rule, FinCEN exceptive relief order.

What to have ready before you apply

• A US entity and its formation documents. Have your Articles of Organization or Certificate of Formation ready, plus an operating agreement if your LLC has multiple members.
• An EIN. Every fintech in this guide verifies the company through its EIN, and founders without an SSN need one. The IRS SS-4 instructions explain how a responsible party without an SSN or ITIN can enter “foreign” or N/A. Our guide to getting an EIN without an SSN walks through the process.
• A real operating address. This is a common application blocker. Mercury accepts a US or international principal-place-of-business address, including a residential address, but doesn’t accept registered agent addresses, PO boxes, or UPS Store addresses. If your company only has its registered agent’s address, resolve that before applying.
• Passports for every 25% owner, per the beneficial ownership rules above.

Who accepts non-resident founders, per their own documentation

Payoneer appears often in this search, but we’ve left it out of the table. It’s a payments platform that provides USD receiving accounts, not a US business bank account. Its public registration pages describe requirements that vary by the applicant’s country, rather than one eligibility standard we can cite accurately.

Traditional banks

Bank of America is the clearest shut-out in the group. Its LLC application requirements say applicants should be US residents, the business must be US based, and “Foreign business customers are unable to apply at this time.” It also requires an SSN and date of birth from everyone on the application, including all 25% owners. Source: Bank of America LLC application requirements.

Chase doesn’t publish a flat yes-or-no rule for non-resident founders. Its checklist accepts an SSN, an ITIN for non-US citizens, or an EIN as the tax identification number. It requires identification documents and may request additional documents from non-US citizens. Its online application is limited to single-member, single-manager LLCs, while other LLCs must apply at a branch. Source: Chase business account checklist.

Fintechs

Mercury says that it supports US companies with founders around the world and that applicants don’t need to be US citizens or residents. The company must be US formed, have existing or planned US operations, and have a real principal-place-of-business address. It also maintains a prohibited-country list based on where a founder lives. Check that list directly, because it can change. Source: Mercury eligibility. For the broader product comparison: looch vs Mercury.

Relay accepts a passport number instead of an SSN and allows passport-only photo identification for non-US citizens. It also asks non-US-resident owners for an additional financial profile. Its documentation sets an important limit: Every beneficial owner needs a physical US address, not a PO box or virtual mailbox. A founder without a US address doesn’t meet that documented requirement. Relay’s prohibited-country list is based on citizenship or residency. Source: Relay required documents. Compare the products directly: looch vs Relay.

Wise verifies US businesses with an EIN. It asks for an SSN only from beneficial owners who live in the US or hold a US passport, while non-US owners provide a copy of photo identification. Its eligibility limits are geographic, including that it can’t onboard businesses formed in Nevada or US territories. Source: Wise US business verification.

Where looch fits

The core prerequisites across these providers are a formed US entity and an EIN. looch Start delivers both: It forms a Delaware C corp, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, or Florida LLC for $249 all-in and obtains the EIN even when the founder has no SSN or ITIN. It delivers the official IRS CP-575 confirmation letter through the in-app virtual office, alongside the formation documents providers ask applicants to supply. Current looch figures are on the looch pricing page.

After approval: What providers commit to in writing

This is where most roundups lean on folklore. The provider documentation is much shorter.

Of the providers covered here, only Wise publishes a clear customer-facing explanation of post-approval reviews. Its account restriction help article says it may temporarily restrict an account while completing a routine check. It also asks customers to respond to information requests and provide clear, unexpired documents. Mercury documents document requests during the application review process. The other providers publish little, if anything, about reviews after an account is active.

You may find account-freeze stories about every provider in this guide. We couldn’t verify those stories in provider documentation, so we don’t present them as fact. The regulations discussed above require providers to monitor accounts and may require them to ask for renewed verification. What the providers’ own pages show is how limited their written commitments are once that process begins.

Judge providers by what they put in writing, then make a review easier to resolve:

• Keep your CP-575 EIN letter, formation documents, and operating agreement somewhere you can produce them the same day.
• Use a real operating address consistently, not your registered agent’s address.
• Respond quickly to verification requests with current, legible documents. Wise gives that guidance directly, and it’s sound practice for every provider in this guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an ITIN to open a US business bank account?

No. None of the providers covered here lists an ITIN as a requirement. Chase accepts an ITIN as a TIN option for non-US citizens, while the fintechs document passport-based identification. You also don’t need an ITIN to get an EIN. The SS-4 route works if you have neither an SSN nor an ITIN.

Didn’t beneficial ownership reporting end? Why is the bank still asking who owns the company?

Both can be true. FinCEN’s final rule permanently ended BOI reporting to FinCEN for US companies. Banks still collect ownership information under separate requirements, at minimum when you open your first account with an institution and, for banks that don’t use FinCEN’s optional relief, when you open each account. The government filing’s gone. Account-opening questions are not. See our tracker for details and sources.

Can I open the account without traveling to the US?

It depends on the provider. Bank of America doesn’t accept foreign business customers, and Chase requires multi-member LLCs to visit a branch. Mercury and Wise document online applications with passport-based identification. Relay documents an online process for owners with a physical US address. None of the fintech options documents a travel requirement.

What does looch cost?

Formation is $249 all-in through looch Start, including the state filing fee, the EIN, and a year of registered agent service. The business accounts themselves are no-fee. Current account and payment pricing is on the looch pricing page, linked above.