Executive Summary: Forming a US LLC and obtaining an EIN is straightforward. The main hurdle for non-resident founders is securing a bank account, with country of residence – rather than business quality – typically determining the outcome. Mercury, Relay, and Slash each have different country restrictions, so a rejection from one does not preclude approval from another. GenZone specializes in optimizing your application and matching it with the most suitable bank, ensuring a successful outcome from the outset.
A founder forms a US LLC, gets an EIN, and assumes the hard part is done. Then the bank account, the thing that actually lets the business receive money, gets rejected – sometimes twice, sometimes three times. This isn’t rare. On Reddit’s r/llc, one founder described forming their LLC two months earlier and getting rejected by three different banks in a row, still with no way to use a completely legitimate business.
The top reply, from an actual registered agent company, put it plainly: even with a valid LLC and EIN, many banks still expect a US address, a US ID, or an in-person visit. An LLC alone usually isn’t enough.
It’s exactly the kind of situation GenZone’s US banking service is built to prevent, by getting the application right before it’s submitted rather than fixing it after a rejection. What that thread doesn’t fully explain is why the same founder can be approved by one bank and rejected by another for no reason connected to the business itself. A large part of the answer is where the founder actually lives.
Not every restriction means the same thing. A provider may block account opening entirely for some countries, while only restricting cards, international wires, or specific features for others. It’s worth knowing which kind of restriction applies before assuming US banking is closed off.
Why Country of Residence Decides More Than Business Quality
Before a bank reviews a business plan, website, or description, it verifies the applicant’s country of residence. If a founder’s country appears on a provider’s account-opening restriction list, this can present a significant eligibility barrier, irrespective of the business’s strength.
However, not all country-based restrictions render an entire account unavailable. Some limitations may only apply to cards, international wires, or specific payment features, rather than prohibiting account ownership altogether. This screening differs from any part of the formation or EIN process. The IRS does not inquire about a non-resident owner’s country of residence when assigning an EIN, and forming an LLC in Wyoming or Delaware does not involve screening a founder’s country.
Banking is the stage where this screening first occurs. For a non-resident founder, it happens before any business track record, revenue, or reputation is even considered. This is precisely the gap GenZone’s US banking service aims to close: by matching founders with the appropriate bank before an application is submitted, rather than addressing issues after a rejection.
Mercury’s Restrictions Go Beyond Sanctions
Mercury’s current list, published on its support site, divides into two tiers. A short “sanctioned countries and regions” group, directly linked to US sanctions requirements, applies to every US bank without exception.
Alongside this is a much longer “prohibited countries” list, which reflects Mercury’s own eligibility and risk policies rather than federal law. This is the list that often surprises most founders.
Several countries on this longer list are unexpected. Albania, Croatia, and Latvia are all included. Croatia and Latvia are EU member states, making their presence on a US fintech’s restricted list genuinely counterintuitive.
Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam also appear on Mercury’s list, along with a more extensive set of countries across Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Mercury does not require an SSN or ITIN from a non-resident owner and accepts a foreign residential address. Therefore, for founders outside this list, the barrier to entry is otherwise comparatively low.
The restriction pertains to residency, not citizenship. A founder holding a passport from a restricted country but residing elsewhere may still be eligible, subject to review.
Relay’s List Is Different, Not Just Shorter
Relay’s current list, updated August 11, 2026, names 31 restricted countries, a shorter geographic footprint than Mercury’s. Several countries on Mercury’s list, including Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, do not appear on Relay’s.
A founder blocked by Mercury purely on country grounds may, in some cases, still be eligible with Relay. However, that’s only half the picture, and it’s the half most comparisons skip.
Relay isn’t simply “Mercury, but less restrictive.” Its onboarding also evaluates US business operations, beneficial ownership, source of funds, countries of operation, transaction volume, and business activity. It supports US-registered businesses with non-US owners only once those requirements are met.
Mercury doesn’t require the same depth on several of these points. Thus, Relay trades a shorter country list for a different – and for most non-resident founders – a harder, set of requirements.
A founder whose country is approved by both banks may still find Relay the more demanding application of the two, for reasons unrelated to geography.
Why These Lists Change Without Warning
None of this is fixed. In July 2024, Mercury added Nigeria, Pakistan, Croatia, the Philippines, and Ukraine to its restricted list in a single update. Mercury’s co-founder publicly confirmed the change at the time, describing it as a response to the operational and compliance strain of supporting a small number of higher-risk accounts.
Mercury also had to publicly correct an error in its help content that incorrectly implied Ukrainian passport holders, rather than Ukrainian residents, were restricted. The practical lesson isn’t about which specific countries were added in one update. It’s that a bank’s restricted list is a live policy, not a fixed fact, and these lists can change as providers update their risk, compliance, and partner requirements.
Whatever a founder reads about country eligibility, including everything in this article, should be checked against the bank’s current page immediately before applying, not assumed to still be accurate.
What to Do If Your Country Is Restricted
A rejection based on country of residence isn’t the end of the road, but it does change your next steps. It’s worth first checking which kind of restriction applies. A country under comprehensive US sanctions—such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria—is off-limits for every US bank by law. No formation service or workaround can change that.
A country on a bank’s own broader “prohibited” list, a much larger category maintained by both Mercury and Relay, is a different situation. This is based on that specific bank’s risk policy, not federal law, so a different bank’s policy can genuinely produce a different outcome.
The first move is checking another bank, rather than giving up on US banking entirely. Because Mercury’s and Relay’s lists genuinely diverge, a country blocked on one isn’t necessarily blocked on the other. Slash should be understood differently from the other two. Instead of publishing one blunt prohibited-country list, Slash ties its eligibility to OFAC sanctions plus the geographic requirements of its underlying financial partners.
Its own help center explicitly states that this can vary by product and account type. That makes Slash harder to summarize in a single list, but it also means a country that doesn’t fit neatly into Mercury’s or Relay’s categories is still worth checking there.
Outside GenZone’s own partners, Wise Business is another option some non-resident founders use when a US-focused fintech’s country list doesn’t work for them, though it’s a separate application with its own review process.
Whichever bank is next, the same details matter every time: a real, verifiable business address rather than only a registered agent address, a specific business description instead of a generic one, and formation and EIN documents that are clean and consistent before applying.
That last point trips up more founders than country restrictions themselves. A registered agent address on one document and a different address elsewhere, or a vague business description, gives an automated or manual review a reason to decline that has nothing to do with eligibility.
Approval Isn’t the End of the Risk
Getting approved solves the first problem, not every problem. Post-approval reviews are a real, documented pattern, not just occasional bad luck.
In 2024, Mercury’s country-list update came with active account offboarding, not just new applications being turned away. Founder complaints about accounts being frozen or closed with limited explanation show up regularly in founder communities.
One Trustpilot review described a bank refusing to hand over the account holder’s own routing and account numbers after closing the account. That broke their ability to update payout details on Shopify, a genuinely disruptive problem for a business operating normally.
The practical response isn’t to treat every account as fragile. It’s to reduce the things that trigger a closer look in the first place.
Keep the business address consistent across formation documents, the EIN, and the bank application rather than switching addresses after the fact. Keep the stated business activity accurate as the business evolves. Keep account activity reasonably consistent with what was described at signup.
None of that guarantees an account stays open indefinitely, since a bank can still change its own policy. But it removes the self-inflicted reasons an account gets flagged for review.
How GenZone Handles This
Country of residence, address type, and which bank’s specific requirements a founder can actually meet all interact before a single application goes in. That’s exactly the assessment a founder benefits from doing before applying, rather than after a rejection.
Two founders in different countries with otherwise identical businesses can need entirely different banks. Not because one business is stronger, but because Mercury’s country list, Relay’s requirements, and Slash’s partner-based review each fit a different profile.
GenZone works primarily with Mercury, Relay, and Slash, and matches a founder to the one suited to their country and business type rather than sending every applicant to the same bank. Documents are prepared and applications structured in advance specifically to get through on the first attempt. Most accounts are approved within 3 to 5 business days of submission.
No US travel is required at any point. Founders from more than 50 countries have opened accounts through this process without setting foot in the US. Once approved, the account comes with a US debit card and both domestic and international USD wire access on all three partner banks.
Because EIN processing and the bank application are structured together rather than handled separately, Stripe and PayPal applications tend to go through cleanly afterward. A matching EIN and US bank account is exactly what those processors ask international founders for.
Banking support is included in GenZone’s plans, matched to the bank that fits your country and business. See full package details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my country of residence affect which US banking provider I can use?
Yes, directly. It’s checked before anything else about the business, and it’s the first thing that can end an application before the rest of the file is reviewed.
What happens if Mercury doesn’t support my country?
It depends on why. If the country is on Mercury’s specific restricted list rather than under comprehensive US sanctions, other providers with a different list, such as Relay or Slash, may still be an option.
Can another provider accept me if one bank rejects me?
Often, yes, since Mercury, Relay, and Slash don’t all restrict the same countries or apply the same requirements. It isn’t guaranteed for every country, particularly ones under comprehensive US sanctions.
Why do non-resident founders get rejected even with a valid LLC and EIN?
Usually because they’re applying to a bank not built for non-residents, or because their documentation doesn’t line up cleanly across the application, not because of the business itself.
Can a bank close my account after approval?
Yes. Banks can and do review, restrict, or close accounts after approval, sometimes tied to a policy change rather than anything the account holder did. Keeping documentation and activity consistent reduces, but doesn’t eliminate, that risk.
