Mercury requires US Operations

[slade991]

Not necessarily for proof of us business.

You can send them an invoice from stripe‌ and see how it works.

If the invoice is on the name of your business‍ they will consider it as proof of operation.

We sent them a reseller contract and⁠ that worked as well.

Proof of funds is different but for proof of US operation⁤ it just mean you have some kind of relation with the US, supplier or customer⁣ etc..

You can always try anyway, worst case scenario they don't accept it and ask⁢ you again.

 

[ilke]

Looks like they may have some regulatory issues (or at least concerns) that lead them‌ to becoming strict. Most US BaaS banks have gone through FDIC consent orders already. Definitely‍ worrysome for foreigners making use of US LLCs. Hardly any online banks/Fintech programmes backed by⁠ US banks want to touch them already.

Mercury is seemingly planning to limit (or potentially⁤ even offboard) customers from a couple of large jurisdictions, see CEO statement below.

 

[12345]

Croatia is considered high risk now ?

 

[Alexmorgan]

Add Malta to‌ it too

Besides some Caribbean islands

 

[JackAlabama]

yeah whats wrong‌ with Croatia? Never heard them hitting the compliance bs bingo jackpot. Apparently they did 😉

 

[Alexmorgan]

I know this heaven is going to off soon⁢

But if place dead there is always another that gonna be life in it

UAE dead and soon US

There is a potential in Oman and Bahrain then others later︀

Anyway Mercury is a great Bank and if you see they are calmly pushing you︁ to match the regulations that they are forced to follow in order to keep them︂ in market

 

[12345]

Apparently Croatia was grey listed

https://www.reuters.com/world/finan...rey-list-countries-under-scrutiny-2023-06-23/

 

[JackAlabama]

true that. And they‌ are still on it.

https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/countries/black-and-grey-lists.html

 

[Mike Forman]

Here is the complete list with all prohibited countries to open a Mercury account.
https://app.mercury.com/help/prohibited-countries

If you have a Mercury account and the ubo is from one of those countries‌ you can't transfer funds anymore outside of the US and you get a notification the‍ account will be closed within 30 days.

If the money can't be withdrawn within that⁠ period or you don't have another account in the US they will send a cheque⁤ to the registered address of your LLC.

Mercury isn't that great

 

[Alexmorgan]

There is no wow bank in US generally

But Mercury is the best⁢ option until now

 

[onetwothree]

Does asking for "US operations" mean they are probing for ETBUS?

I'm guessing,
Office and/or‌ Employees = All income is ECI
Some US Customers = Only that US income is‍ ECI
Suppliers/vendors = No ECI

Help me understand this better

Thanks

 

[yngmind]

That's what I feel like to, I have opened a topic to discuss it⁤ - https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...is-requiring-us-operations.46470/#post-327703

 

[daniels27]

Or maybe they are more interested in business from treaty countries that can legally⁤ operate distribution centers in the US without any tax consequences?

 

[uplana]

You need substance for your US company to become a Mercury customer now a days‌ as I read it. So all the typical stuff apply.

 

[MrBaggins]

Will this change or improve now that Trump has taken over?

 

[MrBaggins]

One other thing - will Mercury approve if you can show that you process Stripe‌ payments from US card holders in USD by pulling some kind Stripe payment export?

 

[daniels27]

I would not expect that. Unless you have a physical terminal⁠ and operate it in the US.