US Bank Account for a Wyoming LLC

Yes — an EIN is a hard prerequisite for every provider. Mercury, Relay, and Wise all ask for your LLC's Employer Identification Number during onboarding, and none of them will open an account without it. The good news: as a non-resident you do not need a US Social Security Number to get an EIN, and you do not need an ITIN either.

• How you get it: because you have no SSN, you cannot use the IRS online tool. The EIN is obtained by faxing (or mailing) Form SS-4 to the IRS, writing "Foreign" on the responsible-party line. See our full walkthrough on getting an EIN without an SSN and the specifics for an EIN for a foreign-owned LLC.
• Timeline: WyomingLLC files it for you and it typically returns in 8 to 10 business days from formation. Do not start a bank application before the EIN letter (CP575) is in hand.
• The sequence that works: form the LLC → get the EIN → open the bank account. Skipping straight to the bank is the most common reason applications stall.

No. You do not need an ITIN to form the LLC, get the EIN, or open a business bank account with Mercury, Relay, or Wise. This trips up a lot of founders, so it is worth being precise about what an ITIN actually is.

An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) is a nine-digit number the IRS issues to individuals who need a US taxpayer ID but are not eligible for an SSN. It is a personal tax ID for a human being. An EIN, by contrast, is a tax ID for your business. Banks open accounts for the business, so they want the EIN — not your personal ITIN.

You would only need an ITIN in narrower situations, such as:

• Filing a personal US tax return (for example, if you have US-source income taxed to you personally).
• Claiming a tax-treaty benefit on your own behalf.
• Certain platforms — notably PayPal and some payout processors — that ask for a personal taxpayer ID.

For most non-resident founders opening Mercury or Wise for a Wyoming LLC, none of these apply on day one. If you do need one, WyomingLLC offers ITIN as a separate $297 add-on rather than bundling a cost you may never use. For how your bank account fits into your wider filing obligations, see foreign-owned LLC tax.

Yes — all three main options are 100% remote. Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business were built for online applications. You upload your documents, answer KYC questions, and get a decision without any in-person appointment, US phone number requirement, or US address of your own (a real principal business address is required, but it can be abroad — just not a registered agent or P.O. box).

This is the single biggest reason non-residents use fintechs rather than walking into a brick-and-mortar bank — which is exactly what the next section is about.

Have these ready before you start so you can finish in one sitting. The list is essentially the same across Mercury, Relay, and Wise:

• LLC Articles of Organization: the filed receipt from the Wyoming Secretary of State plus the formed Articles document.
• EIN letter (IRS CP575): your business tax ID confirmation (or the 147C letter if you lost the CP575).
• Passport: a clear scan of the biographic page, with at least 12 months until expiration.
• A real principal business address: residential or genuine operating address, in the US or abroad. Not a registered agent, P.O. box, or mailbox service — this is strictly enforced now.
• Business description: 2 to 3 specific sentences on what you sell, to whom, and how you make money.
• Anticipated transaction volume: realistic monthly inflow and outflow estimates.
• Source of funds: where the initial deposit and ongoing revenue come from.
• Beneficial-owner details: full information for every owner of 25% or more.
• (Optional but powerful): a live website, Stripe dashboard screenshot, signed contracts, or a marketplace/app-store listing. For scrutinized countries this is often the difference between approval and rejection.

If you have tried to open an account with a legacy US bank from abroad and been turned away, it is not you — it is how those banks are built. The honest reasons a Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo branch rejects a non-resident LLC owner:

1. They require an in-person visit. Most brick-and-mortar banks will not fully open a business account without the signer physically present at a US branch, which defeats the purpose for a remote founder.
2. They lean on the SSN/ITIN and US-credit system. Their onboarding and fraud models are built around a US personal identity and credit history that non-residents do not have, so the application hits dead ends.
3. They see a brand-new foreign-owned LLC as high-risk. No US operating history, a foreign beneficial owner, and a thin profile all raise compliance friction that a branch employee has little incentive to work through.
4. Their compliance cost outweighs your deposit. A small non-resident account is simply not worth the KYC burden to a large retail bank, so the default answer is no.

Fintechs like Mercury, Relay, and Wise exist precisely to serve this segment: fully remote onboarding, EIN-based (no SSN needed), and compliance built for internet businesses. They are stricter on which country you live in than a branch would be, but far more workable for a legitimate remote founder. That trade-off is what the rest of this guide helps you navigate.

Pick by where you reside and how you get paid, then read the dedicated guide for the provider you choose:

• Mercury is the default primary account for most low-risk-country founders running SaaS or e-commerce — best product and ecosystem, no fees, but the strictest country list. Read the full Mercury guide →
• Relay fits operators who want many sub-accounts for budgeting (taxes, payroll, owner draws). Different reviewer pool, but similar country gates to Mercury. Read the full Relay guide →
• Wise Business has the broadest country coverage and the cheapest international FX, and is the usual fallback when Mercury and Relay decline for country reasons. Custodial, not FDIC-insured. Read the full Wise Business guide →

The hardest gate is not your company — a Wyoming LLC qualifies everywhere — it is where you, the human founder, live. The tiers below are directional, based on roughly 800 applications we have facilitated since 2025 plus each provider's published policy. They are not a promise for any individual application, and the lists change often, so always confirm each provider's live country policy on the day you apply.

Note the honest correction here: older guides showing "Bangladesh 65%, Pakistan 60%" approval for Mercury are obsolete — those countries moved onto Mercury's prohibited list as it tightened compliance through 2025, and Relay applies nearly identical gates. If you reside in one of them, do not burn applications on Mercury; Wise (where it supports your country) and Payoneer are the realistic routes. The Mercury-specific prohibited list lives on the Mercury guide, and the full provider-by-country breakdown - with sources - is in our bank approval data by country.

Read the actual reason first — it decides your next move. Rejections split into two buckets that need opposite responses.

Fixable reasons — a registered-agent address instead of a real one, a vague business description, or a name/EIN mismatch. Correct exactly that and reapply after ~30 days, or move straight to Relay (a different reviewer pool). These are worth fighting.

Structural reasons — your residence country is on the prohibited list, or your industry is restricted (crypto-native, gambling, adult, money services, cannabis). Do not waste time reapplying to Mercury or Relay; they enforce nearly identical gates. The honest path is a different provider:

1. Payoneer — accepts many countries Mercury and Wise block (including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria) and gives US receiving details for Amazon and other marketplaces. Not reliable for Stripe payouts, and it is a receiving account, not a full bank.
2. Wise Business — the broadest true multi-currency account; the fallback wherever your country is supported (confirm first — Wise also gates several countries).
3. Airwallex — business multi-currency with local US details, strong for cross-border invoicing when your region is supported.

Two rules protect you: do not fire off repeated applications (3+ rejections in six months trains the risk models against you), and never misstate your residence country — it voids the account and can freeze your funds. Pick the provider that actually serves your country and apply once, correctly.

Bank introductions are included in the $397 package. Specifically:

• Direct introduction to Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business — actual introductions through our channels, not affiliate links.
• Country-specific prep packet: what each reviewer looks for from your country profile.
• Business-description coaching: we review your 2 to 3 sentence description before you submit.
• Application sequencing: we order applications so a Mercury rejection does not bias a later Relay or Wise review.
• Post-rejection support: if you are rejected, we email you within 24 hours with the next-bank prep packet and what to fix.
• Document checklist: a pre-flight list of every document each bank needs before you start.

In our experience most founders in supported countries open an account at one of the three, but approval is never guaranteed and is decided case-by-case by each provider.

1. Set up Stripe US using the bank routing and account number for ACH payouts.
2. Connect QuickBooks or Xero — Mercury and Relay have native integrations; Wise via Plaid.
3. Apply to Amazon Seller Central using LLC + EIN + your new account for payouts.
4. Order and activate cards — physical plus a virtual card for online purchases.
5. Enable Treasury yield (Mercury only) by sweeping idle balance above your operating reserve into T-bills.
6. Keep business and personal funds separate — commingling weakens liability protection and complicates your annual Form 5472 filing.
7. Lock in annual compliance. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120 every year — the account you worked to open should not sit on top of a compliance gap.