Mercury for non-US founders: who it takes, what it asks for, and how to keep the account

Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. It provides the account, the cards and the software, and your deposits are held at its partner banks, Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., both FDIC members. A sweep across their networks takes the insurance up to $5 million. That matters in one way: Mercury decides who it takes and can change its mind, as it did in July 2024, and its partner banks' rules sit behind its own.

Companies formed and registered in the US, including LLCs and corporations owned by people who live abroad, in most countries. Mercury asks that the company have existing or planned US operations. It doesn't open accounts for founders living in about 48 countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ukraine and Vietnam, or in countries under comprehensive US sanctions. The rule goes by where you live, not your passport, so a citizen of one of those countries who lives elsewhere may be eligible. Each of our country pages says which applies.

• The company's EIN, on the IRS letter or the fax the IRS sent back.
• The stamped formation document and the signed operating agreement.
• A passport for the applicant and for every owner of 25% or more, checked online.
• The company's principal address, which can be abroad. A registered agent's address, a PO box or a UPS Store address isn't accepted.
• Your home address abroad. Mercury goes by where the founders and the person who controls the money live.
• A description of the business and, if you have one, a website. This is where many declines come from, because a description that could mean anything reads as a risk.
• Expected activity: roughly how much money, from where and to whom.

You don't need a US address, an SSN, an ITIN or a minimum deposit. You apply online in one sitting, and the review usually takes a few business days, sometimes with a follow-up question.

The account is free: no monthly fee, no minimum balance and no opening fee. The charges a founder abroad meets are on money that leaves in another currency.

Two things follow for you. Send money to yourself in US dollars, to a Wise or local account that converts cheaply, rather than by a Mercury wire in rupees or pesos. And spending on a Mercury card at home, in your own currency, costs a fee each time, so it suits US dollar costs like software better. The paid plans add recurring invoices and other workflows; you don't need one to run the company.

• Receive what you said you'd receive, from where you said. If a software company starts receiving marketplace payouts from a new country, tell Mercury before it asks.
• Answer compliance questions quickly and fully. A question isn't a problem; an unanswered one is.
• Keep the company's money separate from yours and from anyone else's. Moving money for other people is the quickest way to a closure.
• Check Mercury's list of restricted industries before you start: adult content, gambling, cannabis, most crypto activity and a few others aren't allowed.

It says so briefly and rarely says why. The usual causes are a country it doesn't serve, a business description it couldn't place, or documents that didn't match. Fix what you can, then apply to Payoneer, or to Wise Business if it gives USD account details where you live. A decline at Mercury isn't held against you anywhere else.