Mercury Business Account Setup for Non-US Founders

What this service is and who it is for

This service is for founders who own a US LLC or corporation and want a Mercury account in the company’s own name. Our filing team gets your company documents ready, fills in the application with you, helps you answer Mercury’s review questions and follows up until Mercury gives its decision.

The account is always opened for your company, with your true details and your own documents. You complete identity verification yourself (ID photos, selfie and phone codes), and you set your own password and two-step login from day one. We never hold your login, and Mercury decides every application. No one outside Mercury can promise approval.

What Mercury is (and is not)

Mercury is not a bank. Mercury’s own disclosure says it is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank, and that banking services are provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. Mercury’s home page says you can get up to $5M FDIC insurance through its partner banks and their sweep networks for eligible deposits. Mercury adds that deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank, which means a partner bank, not Mercury itself.

For a non-resident founder this matters less than people think. What you get is a US dollar account with US account and routing numbers in your company’s name, which customers, marketplaces and payment processors can pay into.

Who can open a Mercury account

Mercury accepts US companies with owners anywhere in the world, except listed countries. Its eligibility page sets these rules:

• The company must be formed and registered in the United States or a US territory. A UK Ltd or a company from any other country cannot apply.
• You do not need to be a US citizen or resident to apply.
• The business needs a US or international principal place of business. Residential addresses are accepted, but registered agent addresses, PO boxes and UPS Store addresses are not.
• Every person who owns 25% or more, directly or through another entity, must be identified, and everyone listed on the account must be 18 or older.
• Mercury does not serve money services businesses, crypto exchanges, adult entertainment, cannabis, internet gambling or trusts.

Mercury prohibited countries

Mercury will not open accounts for founders living in its prohibited countries. Mercury’s prohibited countries page says the rule is based on your country of residence, not your citizenship. It also says that if you are a citizen of a listed country but live somewhere else, your application may still be eligible.

The list also covers sanctioned places (Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine) and more than 40 other countries, including Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam. Check the current page before you apply, because Mercury can change it.

We check your residence against the list before any work starts. If you live in a listed country, we tell you so and do not prepare a Mercury application.

Mercury fees

Mercury’s basic plan has no monthly fee. These figures are from Mercury’s pricing page:

There is no government fee for opening a Mercury account. Our own service fee is shown in the order card below.

What is included and not included

• Included: an eligibility check against Mercury’s published rules, a document pack (formation document, EIN letter, operating agreement, ownership details, address proof), a business description and website check, filling in the application with you, help with Mercury’s follow-up questions, and a record of everything in your portal.
• Not included: any promise of approval, opening an account in anyone else’s name, holding or using your login, identity checks on your behalf, pre-made or "verified" accounts, and legal or tax advice.

How it works

1. Order and intake. Start your order and tell us where you live, what the company sells and who owns it. We confirm eligibility first.
2. Secure document upload. Upload your formation document, EIN letter, operating agreement and passport through the portal, never by chat. See our security page.
3. Preparation and review. We check that names, addresses and the EIN match across every document and draft a clear description of your business and customers.
4. Application with you. You create your own Mercury login and we fill in the application together on a call or by checklist. You complete identity verification on your own phone.
5. Follow-up. If Mercury asks for more information, we prepare the answer and documents with you and track the request in your portal.
6. Decision. Mercury approves or declines. If it declines, we explain the options that are still open to you.

What we need from you

Mercury’s document checklist sets the minimum. We ask for:

• State-filed formation document (Articles of Organization, Articles of Incorporation or Certificate of Formation)
• EIN evidence: IRS Form CP575, a 147C letter, or the IRS-returned SS-4 (not just the form you sent)
• A passport for each owner of 25% or more and for at least one person with operating control; the ID must show your photo, date of birth, issue and expiry dates and ID number
• Your operating agreement and a simple ownership chart if any owner is another company
• The principal business address you will give Mercury, with a recent document showing it
• Your website or product page, and a short description of what you sell, to whom and how you get paid

No EIN yet? Mercury needs one, so start with our EIN application. Still forming the company? See US LLC formation.

Timelines

Mercury does not publish a fixed review time on the pages we checked, so we do not quote one. Our team starts as soon as your intake and documents are complete, and every follow-up request is logged in your portal so you can see where things stand.

If Mercury cannot serve you

If you live in a prohibited country, do not apply to Mercury. A declined application will not become an approval because someone else fills it in, and giving another person’s address or identity breaks Mercury’s rules. Look at providers whose published rules fit you instead:

• Payoneer: lets registered companies sign up and receive USD, EUR and GBP by local bank transfer. See Payoneer account setup.
• Wise Business: verifies US businesses with an EIN and photo ID for non-US owners, but has its own residence rules. See Wise Business account setup.
• Stripe: a US LLC may be eligible for a US Stripe account to take card payments, subject to Stripe’s review. See Stripe account setup.

Our US LLC bank account guide compares the wider options, and our payment account overview sets out each provider’s rules side by side.

Doing it yourself vs using us

You can apply to Mercury yourself for free, and the form is short. Many founders do. What we add is preparation: we catch the address and document mismatches that lead to declines, write a business description that matches your website and filings, and help you answer follow-up questions quickly and accurately. If Mercury’s published rules rule you out, we tell you before you spend time on an application.

Sources

• Mercury: Eligibility and requirements for opening a Mercury account
• Mercury: Prohibited countries
• Mercury: Gathering your documents
• Mercury: Pricing
• Mercury: Disclosures
• Mercury: Home page (FDIC insurance through partner banks)

Fees, deadlines and rules on this page were last checked on 27 September 2026.