Best US Bank Accounts for Non-Resident LLC Owners
Published 12 March 2026 · Updated 31 August 2026 · Reviewed by Ashfaq Khattak, US Tax Consultant
For a non-resident LLC owner, the realistic options are Mercury, Relay, Wise Business and Payoneer. All four onboard remotely, none requires an SSN or ITIN, and all open on the LLC’s EIN. Mercury suits software companies and agencies and has the best API and multi-user controls. Relay suits e-commerce sellers who want several sub-accounts. Wise is the best multi-currency receiver but is not a full US business bank account. Payoneer is for marketplace payouts.
Traditional branch banks — Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo — generally require an in-person visit and frequently an SSN or ITIN, which makes them impractical unless you are already travelling to the United States.
The four compared
| Mercury | Relay | Wise Business | Payoneer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remote onboarding | Yes - available | Yes - available | Yes - available | Yes - available |
| Needs SSN or ITIN | No - not required | No - not required | No - not required | No - not required |
| Full US account and routing number | Yes - available | Yes - available | Receiving details only | Receiving details only |
| Monthly fee | None on the base plan | None on the base plan | None; per-transaction pricing | None; per-transaction pricing |
| Sub-accounts | Limited | Up to 20 | Currency balances | Currency balances |
| Best for | SaaS, agencies, startups | E-commerce and profit-first budgeting | Multi-currency invoicing | Amazon and freelance marketplaces |
Mercury, Relay, Wise and Payoneer are financial technology companies rather than banks; deposits are held with partner banks that carry FDIC insurance. Features, fees and the list of supported countries change, so verify the current terms with the provider before applying. We have no referral arrangement with any of them.
Which to choose
- Mercury if you run a software business or agency billing US clients, want virtual cards for your team, and care about API access and accounting integrations.
- Relay if you sell physical products and want to split incoming revenue across sub-accounts for tax, inventory and profit.
- Wise Business if most of your income arrives in currencies other than dollars and conversion cost is your main concern.
- Payoneer if your income comes primarily from marketplace payouts that already support it natively.
Many founders end up with two: Mercury or Relay as the operating account, Wise for receiving in other currencies.
What every provider asks for
- Stamped Articles of Organization from the state
- EIN confirmation letter from the IRS — not a pending application
- Passport for each beneficial owner
- Proof of your residential address abroad
- A US business address for the company record
- An operating agreement, for multi-member LLCs
- A specific description of the business and its customers
The country problem
Every provider maintains a list of restricted countries, driven by sanctions and by their own risk appetite. If you are resident in a restricted country, no amount of documentation will change the outcome, and applying anyway can leave a declined record that follows you. Check the current restricted list for your country of residence before you apply, not after. This is the single most common reason a non-resident application fails, and it has nothing to do with the LLC.