Guides

Bank account for a non-resident's U.S. LLC: Mercury, Relay, Wise and traditional banks

Q: What documents do I need to open a U.S. bank account for my LLC as a non-resident?

Most providers ask for the Articles of Organization, the EIN letter (the CP 575 notice, or Letter 147C if you lost it), your valid passport and the Operating Agreement. They also usually want the LLC's address and yours, plus a description of the business: what you sell, to whom and which countries the money will come from. Each provider has its own list and may ask for more.

Q: Should my foreign-owned LLC sign a W-9 or a W-8BEN?

Generally a W-8, not a W-9: the IRS form itself says a disregarded U.S. entity with a foreign owner must use the appropriate Form W-8. For a disregarded LLC, the single owner provides it: Form W-8BEN if you are an individual who is not a U.S. person, or Form W-8BEN-E if the owner is a foreign company. For effectively connected income, Form W-8ECI may apply.

Q: Do transfers between me and my LLC have to be reported?

Yes: for a foreign-owned single-member LLC, contributions you put in and distributions you take out are reported on Form 5472, as are LLC expenses you pay with your own money. That's why the account should be used only for the LLC, with transfers carrying a clear memo. Even topping up a negative balance counts as a contribution. BMS of NC can help with this.

By Katiuska Bustillos, founder and tax preparer Reviewed by Katiuska Bustillos Published: October 1, 2026 Updated: October 1, 2026

Reviewed on September 24, 2026. What each provider says about itself was checked that day on its official website and may change.

Share on WhatsApp

Short answer

An LLC whose owner lives abroad can have a U.S. bank account, in the LLC's name and under its EIN. The usual route is opening it online with a fintech (such as Mercury or Relay, which are not banks: they work with partner banks) or at a traditional bank, and using Wise, Stripe or PayPal alongside it. Expect to be asked for the Articles of Organization, the EIN letter, your passport and the Operating Agreement. What almost nobody explains: every movement of money between you and the LLC is a Form 5472 data point, so the account must be used only for the LLC.

Not sure whether your LLC has to file Form 5472? Take the free test (1 minute) →

First: we are not a comparison site

BMS of NC is a tax and bookkeeping firm, not a financial comparison site. We are not affiliated with any bank or fintech, and we will not tell you which one to open. We mention Mercury, Relay and Wise because those names come up a lot when people research this topic. What we do know well is what happens next: how that account becomes your books and your Form 5472.

Documents banks usually ask for

Each provider has its own list, but it usually looks like this:

The LLC's formation document: the Articles of Organization (called a Certificate of Formation in some states) approved by the state.
The EIN letter: the CP 575 notice the IRS sends when it assigns the number, or Letter 147C (EIN Previously Assigned) if you lost it, which you request by calling the IRS. How to get an EIN without an SSN is in our EIN guide.
Your valid passport, as owner and signer.
The Operating Agreement, showing who owns the LLC and who can sign for it.
Addresses: the LLC's and yours. Anti-money-laundering rules require the bank to record, for a business, its principal place of business, a local office or another physical location. Which addresses a provider accepts is its own decision.
A description of the business: what you sell, to whom, which countries the money will come from and how much you expect to move.

Why do they ask so much about you if the account belongs to the LLC? Because the law requires banks to identify their customers and, when the customer is a company, to identify and verify its beneficial owners: anyone owning 25% or more and the person who controls it. For a non-U.S. person, identification can be a passport number and country of issuance. This has nothing to do with FinCEN's BOI report, which LLCs formed in the U.S. no longer file since August 2026: it is the bank's obligation, not yours.

Fintech or traditional bank: the difference

Many accounts opened online are not with a bank but with a fintech: a technology company that provides the app, the card and customer support, while the money is deposited at one or more FDIC-insured partner banks. The FDIC is the federal agency that insures deposits. At a traditional bank, the bank itself is the insured institution.

The difference matters because of deposit insurance:

FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. An LLC's accounts fall in the corporation, partnership and unincorporated association category, separate from your personal accounts.
The insurance covers the failure of the insured bank. The FDIC warns that it does not protect against the insolvency or bankruptcy of a nonbank company, such as a fintech.
With a fintech, coverage reaches you “through” the partner bank (pass-through coverage) only if certain conditions are met: among them, the money must actually belong to the customer and there must be records identifying who owns each amount.

None of this makes a fintech a worse choice. It means you should read on its website which bank holds the money and on what terms. The FDIC recommends confirming on its BankFind tool that the bank is insured.

In practice, fintechs open online and are usually built for companies run remotely. Traditional banks offer branches, check and cash deposits and other services, but their requirements for owners who live abroad are often stricter, and some ask the signer to come in person.

Mercury, Relay, Wise and traditional banks

This is what each one says about itself in the legal disclaimer on its official website, checked on September 24, 2026. It can change at any time:

Provider	What it is, per its website	Where the money is held
Mercury	A fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank	Banking services through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC
Relay	A financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank	Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC
Wise	A Money Services Business registered with FinCEN, not an FDIC-insured bank	States pass-through FDIC coverage for interest-earning funds through its program banks
Traditional bank	A bank; if it is an FDIC member, deposits are insured directly	At the bank itself

About countries and requirements: each provider decides which countries and which types of business it serves, and it can change that without notice. Any list you read on a blog, this guide included, can be out of date, which is why we don't give one. Check the provider's official website on the day you apply, and expect that they may ask for more documents or turn the application down.

Wise focuses on sending, receiving and converting money across currencies. If you use it alongside the LLC's main account, its transactions count just the same for the books and for Form 5472.

Stripe and PayPal for getting paid

Stripe and PayPal do not replace a bank account: they are payment platforms that charge your customers and then transfer the money to the LLC's bank account. To open a business account you will normally be asked for the LLC's details (legal name, EIN, address), your details as owner or representative, and a bank account in the LLC's name for payouts.

Two tips that save trouble:

Open the Stripe or PayPal account in the LLC's name, not yours, and connect it only to the LLC's bank account. If the LLC's customers pay into your personal account, that money never shows up in the LLC's books.
Keep the platform's reports. What reaches the bank is the net after fees and refunds; the books need gross sales and fees, and those are in the Stripe or PayPal reports.

W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or W-9: which form to sign

Sooner or later the bank, Stripe, PayPal or a client will ask for a tax form. This is where many owners go wrong, because the LLC is a U.S. entity but its owner is not:

Form W-9 is for U.S. persons. The IRS form itself cautions that a disregarded U.S. entity that has a foreign owner must use the appropriate Form W-8, not a W-9.
For a disregarded LLC, the IRS instructions say it is the single owner who provides the W-8, with limited exceptions.
If the owner is you, as an individual who is not a U.S. person, it is generally Form W-8BEN. If the LLC's owner is a foreign company, it is Form W-8BEN-E.
If the income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, a different form may apply: Form W-8ECI.

Signing the wrong form can lead to withholding that should not apply, or to certifying something that is not true. If you are asked for one and are not sure which, check before you sign: every case is different, and we review it with you.

The part nobody explains: the account feeds Form 5472

Form 5472 for a foreign-owned single-member LLC reports transactions between the LLC and its owner. The IRS instructions expressly include contributions to the LLC and distributions from it, plus amounts related to its formation and dissolution. Where do those numbers come from? Almost always, the bank account.

A simple example of one year:

You transfer $3,000 from your personal account to the LLC's account to get started: a contribution.
You pay the registered agent renewal with your personal card: an expense paid by the owner, another transaction.
At year end you move $5,000 from the LLC to your personal account: a distribution.

All three go on Form 5472. If the LLC's account is used only for the LLC, those numbers come straight from the statements. If it is mixed with personal spending, or part of the business runs through your personal account, the year has to be rebuilt transaction by transaction, and an incomplete Form 5472 carries the same $25,000 penalty as one never filed.

The law also requires keeping the books and records that support the return, and under the IRS instructions the $25,000 penalty also applies to failing to keep them. In practice:

One bank account only for the LLC, and your personal spending in your personal account.
When you move money between you and the LLC, do it by transfer, not cash, with a clear memo: “contribution”, “distribution”, “loan”.
Download each monthly statement as a PDF and keep invoices for what the LLC pays.
If you ever pay an LLC expense with your own money, record it the same day.

Exactly what is reported is in our Form 5472 guide, and the rest of the year's obligations are in I have a U.S. LLC, now what?

Common mistakes

Mixing personal and LLC spending in one account. It complicates the books, turns every personal expense paid by the LLC into a distribution to report, and can weaken the legal separation between you and the LLC (that last point is a question for a lawyer).
Getting paid by the LLC's customers into your personal account, or a personal PayPal. That income is missing from the LLC's records.
Not keeping records. Without statements and invoices there is no way to support Form 5472.
Signing a W-9 for the LLC when its owner is foreign, instead of the appropriate W-8.
Trusting third-party lists of countries or requirements without checking the provider's official website.
Assuming everything in an app is FDIC-insured. The insurance covers the failure of the insured bank, not the fintech, and pass-through coverage has conditions.
Forgetting small top-ups. Putting money in to cover a negative balance is also a contribution.

How we help

We don't open accounts or recommend a specific provider. We handle what surrounds it: we get the EIN if you don't have one yet, explain which documents are usually requested from a foreign-owned LLC and, every year, work from your bank statements to separate contributions, distributions and expenses and use those numbers to prepare Form 5472 and its pro forma 1120. In English or Spanish, online, from any country.

Frequently asked questions

What documents do I need to open a U.S. bank account for my LLC as a non-resident?

Most providers ask for the Articles of Organization, the EIN letter (the CP 575 notice, or Letter 147C if you lost it), your valid passport and the Operating Agreement. They also usually want the LLC's address and yours, plus a description of the business: what you sell, to whom and which countries the money will come from. Each provider has its own list and may ask for more.

Is Mercury a bank, and is my money FDIC-insured?

No: per its website, Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank, with banking services through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category, but it covers the failure of the insured bank, not the fintech, and pass-through coverage has conditions.

Should my foreign-owned LLC sign a W-9 or a W-8BEN?

Generally a W-8, not a W-9: the IRS form itself says a disregarded U.S. entity with a foreign owner must use the appropriate Form W-8. For a disregarded LLC, the single owner provides it: Form W-8BEN if you are an individual who is not a U.S. person, or Form W-8BEN-E if the owner is a foreign company. For effectively connected income, Form W-8ECI may apply.

Do transfers between me and my LLC have to be reported?

Yes: for a foreign-owned single-member LLC, contributions you put in and distributions you take out are reported on Form 5472, as are LLC expenses you pay with your own money. That's why the account should be used only for the LLC, with transfers carrying a clear memo. Even topping up a negative balance counts as a contribution. BMS of NC can help with this.

Want us to review it for you?

Free 15-minute consultation on WhatsApp or video call. We tell you what you need to file and a fixed price, before we start.

Message us on WhatsApp See our service for foreign-owned LLCs

Official sources

Related guides

This guide is general information about U.S. tax rules and does not replace advice on your specific case.