Relay alternatives for non-US founders and owners

Relay alternatives for non-US founders: the short answer

Relay is a US business account for US-registered companies. A non-US founder can use it only through a US company, and only if no owner named on the application holds citizenship or residency in one of the 31 countries on Relay's prohibited list. A second list, of 69 countries and territories, decides whether the account can send and receive international wires at all: if any beneficial owner is a citizen of one of them, international wires cannot be enabled. That second list includes Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

A beneficial owner is a person who owns, directly or indirectly, a set share of the company, usually 25% or more, or who controls it. Relay checks every owner named on the application, not only the person applying.

For a founder outside the US, a Relay alternative is one of two things:

• Another US business account for the US company, from a provider whose rules accept where the founders live or which passports they hold.
• A USD account for the company the founder already has, from a provider that accepts that country of registration, with no US company at all.

This guide sets out Relay's rules from its own help pages, its two country lists, its published fees, and the alternatives by the test each provider applies.

Relay's rules for non-US owners, from its own pages

Relay's help center publishes its requirements in several articles, all last updated on 11 August 2026. The table brings them together.

Sources: Relay Help Center, "How to open a Relay business account", "Required documents to open a Relay account by entity type" and "Prohibited Countries", as published on 29 October 2026.

One point needs checking before you apply. Relay's account-opening guide states that every beneficial owner must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN), the US individual tax number. Its required documents page lists "Social Security Number (SSN) or passport number" for beneficial owners and states that non-US citizens use a passport. A founder without an SSN should confirm with Relay which rule applies before forming a company or paying for formation services.

Relay's two country lists

Relay applies two separate country lists to owners. The first decides whether the account can be opened. The second decides whether it can send and receive international wires. The table shows how they apply to founders from some of the countries most often asked about.

Sources: Relay Help Center, "Prohibited Countries" (31 countries) and "Country restrictions for sending or receiving international wires" (69 countries and territories for owner citizenship), as published on 29 October 2026. Relay states that the lists can change without notice.

The account opening list has 31 countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Cambodia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Relay states that it applies to any business owner named on the application, including beneficial owners, and that it cannot open the account if a required owner holds citizenship or residency in a listed country, regardless of where the business is registered.

The international wire list is longer and includes countries that are not usually treated as high risk, such as Bulgaria, Panama and Jamaica. If a beneficial owner is a citizen of a listed country, Relay states that international wires cannot be enabled, wherever the business operates; domestic wires and ACH are not affected. Separately, Relay cannot send international wires to, or receive them from, 24 countries, including Israel, Ukraine and Lebanon.

For a founder whose customers or suppliers are abroad, the second list matters as much as the first. A US company owned by a Kenyan or Filipino citizen can open a Relay account but cannot use it to pay a supplier in China by SWIFT or receive a SWIFT payment from a buyer in Europe.

Relay's published fees for international payments

Relay publishes three plans. The fees that matter most to a business that trades internationally are below.

Source: Relay Help Center, "Overview of Relay subscription plans", last updated 11 August 2026, as published on 29 October 2026. The Scale price is shown by Relay as a limited-time discount.

A local network payment is a transfer paid out through the destination country's own domestic system rather than over SWIFT. Relay's plans page does not state which charge code its SWIFT wires use; ask before relying on the full amount reaching a supplier, as our guide to OUR, SHA and BEN SWIFT charges explains.

Why non-US founders look for a Relay alternative

The reasons below follow from Relay's own published rules.

• No US company. Relay requires a business registered and operating in the US. A founder who wants US customers to pay the company they already have needs a different kind of account.
• Citizenship, not only residence. Relay's account opening test covers citizenship as well as residency. A Nigerian or Pakistani citizen who lives in London or Dubai is still on the list.
• International wires. Owners who are citizens of the 69 listed countries and territories cannot use international wires, which rules Relay out for many importers and exporters.
• US operating presence. Non-US-owned businesses are accepted with an operating presence in the US, so a holding company with no US activity may not qualify.
• SSN. Relay's pages differ on whether every beneficial owner needs an SSN, which matters for founders who have none.

None of these is a judgment on Relay's product. They are the limits Relay has published, and they define which founders it is built for: US small businesses, including some with owners abroad.

Alternatives by the test each provider applies

Each provider tests something different, so a refusal by one says little about the next. The table sets out which test each applies, from its own pages.

Sources: Relay, "Prohibited Countries"; Mercury eligibility; Airwallex eligible countries and territories; Wise, "Can I get USD account details?"; Helm. As published on 29 October 2026. Not a ranking.

Two points follow from the table. First, Mercury's test is where founders live, not their passports, so a founder whose citizenship is on Relay's list but who lives in a country Mercury supports may be eligible there; read Mercury's own list first. Our guide to Mercury alternatives for non-US founders sets out its rules. Second, Wise applies a separate rule to US businesses: it does not issue USD account details to a US business with an address in Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Nigeria or Pakistan, or where the personal profile has an address in those countries or Ukraine.

Airwallex accepts a company registered in Mexico or Brazil through its US entity, and companies in India, the Philippines and Vietnam through its Singapore entity, without a US company. Our guide to Airwallex alternatives lists the locations it does not accept.

Which route fits: a US company or your home company

The choice between the two routes follows from the business, not from the bank account.

Keep the US company, change the provider

This fits founders who formed a US company for reasons beyond banking: US investors, US contracts, US staff or a US sales entity. Check each US provider's country rules against every owner's citizenship and residence before applying. A US company owned from abroad keeps its yearly state and IRS obligations whatever account it uses. Our guide to a US bank account for a foreign company compares the routes.

Bank the company you already have

This fits founders whose only aim was to let US customers pay in dollars, or to pay suppliers abroad. A USD account with US routing details for the home company lets US customers pay by ACH or Fedwire, as they pay any domestic vendor, without a second company. ACH is the low-cost US domestic bank transfer most companies use to pay vendors; Fedwire is the Federal Reserve's same-day system for larger payments.

Local rules still apply. Exporters in Nigeria, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India must bring export proceeds home to local banks within set periods, so an account abroad sits alongside the home account rather than replacing it.

Where Helm fits

Helm is a financial technology company, not a bank. Accounts are held with regulated partner institutions. Helm opens accounts for companies outside the US, so a founder does not need a US company to receive US dollars:

• USD account details in the company's own name: a routing and account number that receives ACH, Fedwire and SWIFT, with EUR and GBP details alongside. See global accounts.
• International payments to suppliers by SWIFT and by local rails in the supplier's currency where available, with the rate, fee and expected arrival shown before sending.
• USDC and USDT received, sent and converted to USD inside the account, where local law allows.
• Trade finance arranged case by case, and a named account manager who answers review questions in writing within one business day.

Helm cannot currently provide USD account details to companies based in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Morocco, Qatar, Japan or South Korea. Founders there should use their home bank's foreign currency account. Helm agrees pricing with each business in writing before the account opens, and shows the rate, the fee and the expected arrival before you confirm each payment.

Questions

References

1. Relay Help Center: How to open a Relay business account
2. Relay Help Center: Required documents to open a Relay account by entity type
3. Relay Help Center: Prohibited Countries
4. Relay Help Center: Country restrictions for sending or receiving international wires
5. Relay Help Center: Overview of Relay subscription plans
6. Mercury: Eligibility and requirements for opening a Mercury account
7. Airwallex Help Center: Eligible countries and territories
8. Wise: Can I get USD account details?

This guide is general information for businesses, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and timings were checked against the sources listed on the review date and may change.