A founders guide to startup banking
Navigating murky waters of banking in the US as an international resident.
It is 4:44 PM EAT (East African Time) Saturday February 2025, I am seated in a hot room; rays of the sunlight stream through the window and the half-open door; the room feels stuffy and uncomfortable. A far-cry from the temperature regulated offices my friend runs that I normally go to in order to write code peacefully and in a comfortable environ. Today I decided to work from home because I didn’t suffer the morning chilliness gladly and all that traffic jam that any regular Gayaza-Kampala trekker/traveller has learnt to embrace and make peace with. Well I haven’t and never will.
My perilous albeit successful journey began 8 hours ago trying to find the perfect US banking partner for our startup Intelli. We are an accelerator/venture backed startup being supported by the wonderful portfolio team at MEST Africa. So we have the task of finding the best, most digital, startup-friendly, tech enabled and customer first bank of them all offering services like expense management, banking, corporate cards, treasury services, and venture debt (at the most sensible price).
A random search on google similar to this [US banks for startups] led me to this article from Rho(which is surprisingly a fintech company, not a bank or an FDIC-insured depository institution according to the disclaimer notice on their footer.) I won’t list all the options in the article; you can read it for yourself.
To be clear we are fully incorporated in the state of Delaware although all our co-founders are non-US residents because of two reasons namely.
1. US incorporation makes the company access venture funding more easier because the company is registered in a country whose laws they are familiar with and thus makes oversight and due diligence super-easy for them
2. Who doesn’t want to list/go IPO on the NYSE when they hit unicorn status.
One of the other tremendous articles I had to read as part of my journey to finding the best banking partner came from Brex ;
Choices, Choices, Choices
My first choice was Rho however it turned out they asked for some documents we didn’t as yet have. So I moved on to the next provider which was Brex; very beautiful platform; beautiful mobile app. Tremendous software. The onboarding process a breeze and delight. They asked for proof of funding(that would have to be our executed SAFE) it being a weekend where no one is in office I reckon I would have to go through a lot of high and low to get the document I need and the permission too in order to share this kind of information so I was stuck at that process. I had to move on and try another provider.
I tried grasshoper which kind of reminded me of Mantis from the furious 5 in Kungfu Panda and sadly or rather to my dismay I saw an ugly notice “Sorry, you have been blocked You are unable to access mantl.com”
indicating to me that their services were not offered to people from my country (I wonder why). Anyway I moved on to the next best bank which was Novo. The signup/sign-in process was very smooth i should say however I was quickly thrown off as when they required information for personal identification one of the fields required an SSN(Social Security Number) which I reckon is reserved for US citizens and residents. And Since I am not a US citizen. I picked up myself and moved on to the next service provider.
I tried all the major big boys; Chase Business Banking, First Republic Bank, JP Morgan, Bank of America and all that fall in this calibre and they require an SSN, a US number or US passport despite clearly stating that I am a non-us resident.
So I moved on to the next hoping with my fingers crossed that it might be my final stop. I signed up on Relay Financial. When I saw their landing page I thought to myself “maybe these are cool guys” I mean there hero section has a bold statement Your cash flow can be clearer I finished the signup/sign-in smoothly and started the onboarding process. As I was close to wrapping up they requested for a US number… I was like okay that’s bye for me.
I tried out Meow banking. The signup/sign-in was smooth we were in and ready to go. They went ahead too request us to link our US bank accounts but we didn’t have those yet because we were just starting out on our process of getting a bank account and that’s why we were in this position at this time. They didn’t require US numbers and addresses which I greatly appreciated. However I moved on because I was looking for something helpful for a startup trying to process and receive payments globally.
The Final Verdict
The final solution my team and I settled with was Mercury; oh sweet mercury.. They verified our EIN with our incorporation letter and the process was done; it’s now pending to be approved within 2–4 days and we will be good to go.
The journey to finding the right banking partner as a non-US resident founder has been an uphill one; It took my entire Saturday (or the better part of it) I couldn’t write code or do anything as I was doing correspondence with my CEO in Nairobi; switching between tabs and google searches while trying to find nuances hidden in fine print and all this work was just for us to open an account — it’s about time we get a player who is a digital bank that supports all nationalities to have access to US banking services and products indiscriminately and swiftly. We are in the 21st century.
All in all I am happy and please that we found a partner that understands the unique challenges of building a startup from outside the United States. After hours of research, applications, and countless “We’re sorry, but…” messages, I’ve learned some valuable lessons that I wish I’d known from the start and that’s why I wrote this article because someone out there might be in the same predicament I was in, may this be your lighthouse or buoy in the tempestous waters.
Why Mercury Emerged as the Winner
What sets Mercury apart isn’t just their willingness to work with non-US residents — it’s their entire approach to startup banking. Their verification process focuses on what matters: your company’s legal status and EIN, rather than the founders’ citizenship status. This approach acknowledges a fundamental truth about modern startups: innovation knows no borders.
The application process was refreshingly straightforward:
- Submit your EIN and incorporation documents
- Provide basic company information
- Wait for 2–4 days for approval
No SSN required, no US phone number needed, and most importantly, no physical presence in the US necessary. For international founders like us at Intelli, this was a relief..
My hindsight and possibly your foresight
- Start Early Don’t wait until you need to receive funding or make payments to start your banking search. The process can take time, and you want to have options rather than being forced to make rushed decisions.
- Documentation is Key Keep your incorporation documents, EIN confirmation, and company formation papers well-organized and readily available. Having these at hand makes the verification process much smoother.
- Research Banking Features for Growth While getting an account opened is the first hurdle, think about your future needs. Consider features like:
- International wire transfer capabilities
- API access for integration with your financial systems
- Multi-user access for your team
- Treasury management for when you raise funding
The Broader Perspective
This experience highlights a larger issue in the startup ecosystem: the growing disconnect between traditional banking requirements and the reality of modern, globally distributed startups. While the US remains a primary hub for startup incorporation and fundraising, the founders and teams building these companies are increasingly global.
Looking Forward
As we await our Mercury account approval, I can’t help but reflect on how this process could be improved for future founders. The financial industry is slowly adapting to the reality of remote-first, globally distributed teams, but there’s still much work to be done.
For those following in our footsteps, here are some key considerations for your banking partner search, may this article be a guide and light for you. And may things be as breezy for you as they were for me.
