Opening a US business bank account as a non-resident

Why this step in particular

Formation is administrative: you pay the fee and the documents issue. A bank account is a commercial decision made by someone else, and nobody can guarantee it — anyone who does is selling you something they do not control.

The good news is that rejection is usually not about who you are. It is about how your file looks, and that you can control.

What a compliance desk actually checks

The reviewer is not assessing your idea. They have a list of questions that need documented answers:

• Who owns this entity? A name matching the passport, and a clear ownership chain with no opaque layers.
• What exactly does the company do? "General trading" is not an answer. "Selling skincare products through Amazon to customers in the United States" is.
• Where does the money come from and where does it go? Expected revenue source and rough volume.
• Is there anything here that needs a closer look? Countries or sectors the bank treats as higher risk.

A file that answers all four clearly gets through. A file that leaves one vague gets rejected or stuck in review.

The documents

1. Certificate of formation from the state.
2. The EIN letter (CP 575) — the letter itself, not the number typed into an email.
3. Operating agreement or other proof of ownership.
4. A valid passport for the owner, and often a recent proof of residential address in English.
5. A description of the business — the thing people skip, and the thing asked about most.

Bank or fintech?

They are not the same, and the difference matters to you.

A bank is a licensed institution, deposits are insured, acceptance is harder and review is slower.

A fintech provider is an interface running on top of a partner bank. Applying is faster and easier, and the product often suits digital businesses better — but read the acceptable-use terms carefully, because the list of permitted sectors can be narrower than you expect and accounts close faster.

There is no universally better option. The right one follows your business, your flows and where your customers are.

Reasons for rejection we actually see

• A vague business description. By far the most common.
• A passport name that differs from the company documents — even by a letter or a reordering. This is why we take your name from your account once and never ask you to retype it.
• A residential address that cannot be evidenced. A recent utility bill or statement usually does it.
• Applying before the EIN issues. It will not work, and it may be recorded as a declined application.
• A sector that provider excludes — crypto, gambling and financial advice are common on exclusion lists. Check before you apply.

How to write a business description that passes

This single field decides the application in a great many cases, and people still write it as one vague line. A good description answers four things in a short paragraph:

1. What exactly do you sell? Product or service, and which kind.
2. To whom? Consumers or businesses, and in which markets.
3. Through what channel? Your own store, Amazon, a freelance platform, direct contracts.
4. How does the money reach you? Card payments through Stripe, wire transfers, platform payouts.

Compare "e-commerce" with "selling phone accessories to individual buyers in the United States through a Shopify store, collecting card payments via Stripe, expecting $5,000–$10,000 a month". The second closes the file; the first opens five questions.

What happens after the account opens

Opening the account is not the end of review — it is the start of it. Banks and providers monitor activity afterwards, and two things stop new accounts more than anything else:

• Activity that does not match the description. Say you sell accessories, then receive large transfers from unrelated parties, and you will be asked to explain.
• Mixing personal and business money. Using the company account for personal spending muddies the classification, and it weakens the legal separation between you and the entity — which is the point of having an LLC. Keep it separate and take a documented salary or distribution.

And remember that every transfer between you and the company, in either direction, is a reportable transaction on your annual filing. Keep the record from day one rather than reconstructing it a year later.

Do I need to travel?

In most cases no. Most options suited to non-residents work entirely remotely, and some ask for a short video call to verify identity. Flying in to open an account is no longer the necessity it was a few years ago.

What we do

We review the file before you apply rather than after: checking that names match, writing the business description in the form compliance desks expect, and shortlisting the providers that accept your file and your sector — instead of you trying one after another and accumulating declined applications.