Ranked recommendation
Mercury first, Relay second, Wise Business as the safest fallback. Mercury approves roughly 70% of non-residents with the broadest feature set. Relay catches Mercury rejections and supports up to 20 sub-accounts. Wise Business hits roughly 95% and serves as the safety net across all country profiles.
Combined approval across the three sits near 99% in our intake. Pick by country profile and primary use case, not by marketing copy.
Provider snapshot
| Provider | Approval rate | Monthly fee | FDIC | Treasury yield | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | ~70% | $0 | Yes via partners | Yes, T-bill sweep up to $5M | Primary US bank, API ops |
| Relay | ~50% | $0 | Yes via partners | No | Profit First sub-accounts, multi-LLC |
| Wise Business | ~95% | $0 ($31 setup) | No (custodial) | No | Fallback, multi-currency |
| Brex | Revenue-qualified | $0 | Yes via partners | Yes, Brex Cash | Funded startups, $100K+ revenue |
| Payoneer | ~85% | $0 | No (custodial) | No | Marketplace payouts |
| Airwallex | ~80% | $0 | No (custodial) | No | Multi-currency, global teams |
| PayPal Business | ~90% (with TIN) | $0 | No | No | Customer-facing button only |
How to pick by country tier
- Tier 1 (UK, EU, India, UAE, Brazil ~75-95% Mercury): start with Mercury as primary.
- Tier 2 (Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam ~60-70% Mercury): start with Mercury, prepare Wise Business as fallback.
- Tier 3 (Nigeria, parts of Africa ~30-40% Mercury): start with Wise Business directly, attempt Mercury second.
- Sanctioned regions (Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba): no US banking available.
Common rejection reasons
- Vague business description (single biggest cause): replace generic claims with 2 to 3 specific sentences about products, customers, fulfillment, revenue projection
- Country on tightened-review list: provide extra documentation, customer contracts, Stripe dashboard screenshots
- Restricted business categories (gambling, adult content, crypto exchanges, MSBs): face higher rejection rates everywhere
- Expired or near-expiry passport: use a passport with 12+ months remaining
- Inconsistent information between LLC name, EIN letter, passport name, and business description
- Multiple recent applications across providers: space them out and sequence carefully
The fallback chain
- Apply to Mercury first (best feature set, ~70% acceptance)
- If Mercury rejects, apply to Relay (~50% acceptance, different reviewer pool)
- If Relay also rejects, apply to Wise Business (~95% acceptance, custodial fallback)
- If all three reject (rare), consider Brex (if revenue-qualified), Payoneer (marketplace), or Airwallex (multi-currency)
- WyomingLLC sequences these applications and provides country-specific prep packets at no extra charge
What to skip and why
- Chase Business: requires in-person US branch visit, off the table for non-residents who cannot travel
- Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi Business: same in-person requirement
- Novo: built for US-resident solopreneurs, low non-resident approval rate (~30-50%)
- Bluevine: US-resident focused, inconsistent non-resident acceptance
- Most credit unions: typically require US residency or in-person visit