Mercury Bank for Non-US Residents: Rules, Fees, Alternatives

Yes, a non-US resident can open a Mercury account, as long as the company is formed in the US, has existing or planned US operations, and no founder lives in a country Mercury doesn’t serve. Canada and Australia are not on that list. You’ll need your formation document, an IRS EIN document and a passport, plus a real operating address (your home abroad is fine; your registered agent’s address is not).

Below: the exact eligibility rules, documents, the address rule that trips most people up, fees as of October 2026, and when Relay, Wise Business or Payoneer is the better fit. All facts are from the vendors’ own pages, checked 28-29 October 2026. Prices and policies change, so confirm before you apply.

Mercury eligibility for international founders

Mercury states that you do not need to be a US citizen or resident to apply. To be eligible, the business must:

• Be formed and registered in the US or a US territory.
• Have existing or planned operations in the US. Mercury collects “details about your current or planned U.S. operations” in the application.
• Have a principal place of business address in the US or abroad. Residential is accepted. Registered agent addresses, P.O. boxes and UPS Store addresses are not.
• Not be in an unsupported industry. Mercury can’t open accounts for money services businesses, crypto exchanges, adult entertainment, cannabis, internet gambling, or trusts.
• List every beneficial owner with 25% or more, traced through holding companies up to individuals, plus one person with significant management responsibility. Everyone listed must be 18 or older.

Canada and Australia: confirmed not prohibited

Mercury’s prohibited countries page, checked 29 October 2026, lists four sanctioned countries and regions and 48 prohibited countries. Canada and Australia are on neither list. The test is your country of residence, not citizenship: a citizen of a listed country who lives in Canada may still be eligible after review. The reverse also holds; a Canadian citizen living in a listed country is not.

Not being prohibited is not a guarantee. Mercury says eligibility is decided after a full review of the application.

Documents Mercury asks for

No SSN or ITIN appears in Mercury’s document list for international applicants. If you don’t have your EIN yet, our EIN for non-US residents guide covers the SS-4 route that works without an SSN.

The address rule, explained

This is where most non-resident applications get stuck, because Mercury collects three different addresses.

1. Legal address. The address on your formation documents, used as the card billing address. Mercury says it must be a physical address in the US and can’t be a P.O. box.
2. Physical address. Where you and your team actually work. Mercury accepts a verifiable residential address or a verifiable international address for overseas customers. It does not accept a P.O. box, virtual address, commercial mail receiving agency, mail center or registered agent address. Mercury may ask you to verify this one if your legal address is a registered agent or virtual address.
3. Mailing address. Where physical cards go. It must be a physical, USPS-deliverable address with no special characters.

For a founder in Melbourne with a Wyoming LLC, the practical reading is: your home in Melbourne is the physical address, and you should have a recent utility bill or bank statement in your name ready to prove it.

Mercury fees as of October 2026

Checked 28 Oct 2026 at mercury.com/pricing and the Mercury FAQ. Prices change. Mercury is a fintech, not a bank; its banking services come through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. With SHA wires, intermediary banks may take fees from the amount your recipient gets. Mercury Treasury needs a balance over $250,000.

Mercury alternatives for non-residents

Relay: the closest like-for-like, with a conflict

Relay’s pricing page lists Starter at $0/month, Grow at $30/month and Scale at $90/month (shown as a limited-time discount from $120). The problem is eligibility. Relay’s “How to open” article says every beneficial owner must have a valid SSN. Its “Required documents” article says Relay accepts US-registered businesses owned by non-US citizens or residents with a US operating presence, and lists “SSN or passport number”. That same page lists a physical US address for every beneficial owner. Treat Relay as uncertain for non-residents until Relay confirms in writing.

Wise Business: best for moving money across currencies

Wise’s US business pricing shows registration free, a one-time 31 USD fee to unlock account details in 22 currencies, free receipt of domestic (non-wire) payments in USD, CAD and AUD among others, 6.11 USD per incoming USD wire or Swift payment, and sending and converting from 0.23% depending on currency. For a Canadian or Australian founder it is useful as a bridge to home-currency accounts, alongside a US bank account rather than instead of one.

Payoneer: built for marketplace income

Payoneer’s fees page (last updated 1 April 2025, and Payoneer notes fees differ by territory and account type) shows: free receipt in the local currency of your primary location, a fixed fee or 1% for other currencies, 1.50 USD for same-currency local withdrawals, up to 3% for some other withdrawals, 0.5% to move funds between balances, and a 29.95 USD annual fee if you receive under $2,000 in 12 months. It fits founders paid by Upwork, Fiverr or Amazon-style platforms.

Worked example: a Vancouver founder moving $8,000 home

Sam runs a Delaware LLC from Vancouver. A US client pays $10,000 by ACH. Sam moves $8,000 to a personal Canadian bank account.

Mercury

• Receiving $10,000 by ACH: $0.
• Option A, send $8,000 as a CAD wire: 1% × $8,000 = $80 exchange fee.
• Option B, send $8,000 as a USD wire to a USD account at a Canadian bank: $0 (SHA, intermediary fees may come out), or $15 with OUR.

Wise Business

• One-time account details fee: $31.
• Receiving the ACH payment: $0.
• Converting $8,000 to CAD at the lowest advertised rate: 0.23% × $8,000 = $18.40. The actual USD-CAD fee may be higher; Wise shows it before you confirm.
• First-year total at that rate: $31 + $18.40 = $49.40, then $18.40 per similar transfer.

Payoneer

• Receiving USD when Canada is your primary location counts as non-local currency: up to 1% × $10,000 = up to $100 before any withdrawal fee. The fees page does not publish a fixed rate for withdrawing a USD balance to a CAD bank account.

The takeaway: for occasional transfers, Mercury’s USD wire into a Canadian bank’s USD account is cheapest. For regular CAD conversions, pairing Mercury with Wise usually beats Mercury’s 1% CAD wire. Compare the live rate each time.

Who should and shouldn’t use Mercury

Mercury fits you if you have a US-formed LLC or C-corp, live in a supported country such as Canada or Australia, can describe real or planned US activity (US customers, US vendors, Stripe payouts), and can document a home or office address.

Look elsewhere if you live in a prohibited country, your business is an MSB, crypto exchange, cannabis, gambling or adult business, you only have a registered agent or virtual address to offer, or you mostly need to collect marketplace payouts (Payoneer may suit better).

Canadian residents: an account in the LLC’s name belongs to the LLC, which you report as a foreign affiliate on Form T1134, while a personal US account may count toward the T1135 threshold; see T1134 for a US LLC. Still choosing a structure or formation service? See Stripe Atlas vs doola vs Firstbase, and country guides for Canadians and Australian founders. More in the US company setup hub.