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How to Open a US Bank Account as a Non-Resident Without SSN (Lifetime Guaranteed)
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Jun 18, 2025
How to Open a US Bank Account as a Non-Resident Without SSN. Want to unlock the financial world of the USA but don’t have a Social Security Number (SSN)? You’re in the right place! In this must-watch video, we'll guide you step-by-step on How to Open a US Bank Account as a Non-Resident Without SSN (Lifetime Guaranteed). Discover the secrets to accessing American banking services, tips to streamline the application process, and invaluable insights into the documents you'll need. Don’t let borders hold you back—empower yourself financially today! Hit the subscribe button for expert advice and exclusive updates on international banking! #BankingWithoutBorders #NonResidentBankAccount #FinanceTips
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0:00
so you want to open a US bank account
0:01
but you're not a US resident You don't
0:03
want to waste time and money flying to
0:05
the US for nothing And you're skeptical
0:07
about any of these scammy sounding
0:09
remote opening services Well I was
0:11
recently in the same position and
0:12
luckily I've been able to open more than
0:14
five US bank accounts and two US credit
0:17
cards while being a non-resident So no
0:19
matter whether you're looking for
0:20
offshore USD banking sending USD
0:23
internationally with low fees business
0:26
banking including remote opening
0:28
personal banking including remote
0:30
opening a debit card and an investment
0:33
account or opening an account with any
0:35
of the top five US banks and how to
0:37
easily get any US credit card So if you
0:40
want to jump ahead to your specific use
0:41
case then I'll put the timestamps up
0:43
here somewhere Otherwise let's go Here's
0:45
a little known truth When it comes to
0:47
banking in the US as a non-resident you
0:50
actually have a lot of good options
0:51
available to you and some banks offer
0:54
really fantastic services even though
0:56
they're not wellknown So the hard part
0:58
is knowing which bank is the right
1:00
choice for you I'm going to cover three
1:02
different categories of banks in this
1:04
video So first of all the US banks The
1:08
biggest US banks are Bank of America
1:10
Wells Fargo Chase and City Bank But
1:13
there's also a large number of viable
1:15
smaller banks that you can choose from
1:16
So some of these banks are better for
1:18
certain use cases Some are easier than
1:21
others to open as a foreigner without a
1:23
social security number There is even one
1:25
large US bank that I know of that offers
1:27
remote opening for non-residents I'll
1:30
talk about that in a second You've also
1:31
got offshore US banks And then lastly
1:34
non-bank EMIs or electronic money
1:37
institutions You also need to know how
1:39
to decide which bank account is going to
1:41
be the best for you because it's not
1:42
just about which is the easiest to open
1:44
It also depends what you actually want
1:46
the account for and what features it
1:48
offers and of course safety How safe is
1:50
your money going to be with this bank so
1:52
I'm going to evaluate 13 different banks
1:54
using these three criteria Ease of
1:56
opening safety and features so you can
1:58
pick which is the best US bank account
2:00
for you And of course then I'll explain
2:02
step by step how you can open accounts
2:04
at any of them And by the way I created
2:06
a Google sheet summarizing all of the
2:08
information that I'm about to share in
2:10
the video So if you want to use that and
2:12
follow along with the video the link is
2:13
down below in the description Otherwise
2:15
grab it after you finish watching It's
2:17
going to be pretty useful So imagine if
2:19
there was a banking system that promised
2:21
to be completely connected to the US
2:23
banking system without the need for an
2:25
SSN a social security number or being a
2:28
resident or even going in person to the
2:30
US That sounds promising right well you
2:32
can find all of these benefits in Puerto
2:34
Rico-based banks Now these were the
2:36
first options that I found while I was
2:37
in search of trying to open a US bank
2:39
account remotely Now I want to talk
2:41
about these banks first because while
2:42
they may seem like a great option they
2:44
have one big problem So let me explain
2:46
So the main three Puerto Rican-based
2:48
banks that I found in my search were
2:50
Zenith Bank FV Bank and Strategic Bank
2:52
And of these three I found Zenith Bank
2:54
to be the most interesting So to sign up
2:56
if you go to Zenith Bank's website all
2:58
you need is a passport as proof of ID
3:00
and proof of address Their eligibility
3:02
requirements are pretty good It says
3:03
residents of over 50 countries can but
3:06
the disadvantage is it's not free So
3:07
Zenith charges a $20 a month fee and
3:10
they claim that this is because they're
3:11
a full reserve bank So basically that
3:13
means they're not going to make money by
3:14
lending out your deposits to others like
3:16
most banks do but instead they make
3:18
their money just by charging a monthly
3:20
fee So the idea is you have the security
3:23
of knowing that your assets are there in
3:24
the bank and they're not going to blow
3:26
up At least that's what they claim And
3:28
here is the big problem that I have with
3:29
opening a US bank account with any
3:32
Puerto Rico-based bank So mainland US
3:34
banks are regulated and FDIC insured for
3:37
the first $250,000
3:39
That means if anything happens to that
3:41
bank then your funds up to $250,000 are
3:44
securely backed by the US government You
3:46
get the money back pretty much instantly
3:47
even if the bank goes bankrupt But
3:49
Puerto Rico banks are not regulated in
3:51
the same way as mainland US banks are So
3:53
basically by putting your money into
3:54
these banks you take a much bigger
3:56
gamble and banks do fail sometimes The
3:58
two main business banking choices are
4:00
Mercury and Relayfi I'm a customer of
4:03
Mercury but from everything that I've
4:05
read Relayfi offers a very similar
4:07
service So I'm going to speak mainly to
4:09
Mercury but treat them as being pretty
4:11
pretty equal Both these services have a
4:13
lot of advantages First of all it's
4:15
online only You don't need to go
4:16
anywhere to sign up The user interface
4:18
on the platform is really slick It's
4:20
really modern It works really well for
4:22
whatever you need to do your business
4:24
You can get unlimited virtual debit
4:26
cards which is nice Mercury has a credit
4:28
card as well Relayi doesn't So this is a
4:31
huge benefit if you hold large balances
4:33
Both Mercury and Relayfi are protected
4:35
by a really huge amount of FDIC
4:38
insurance The coverage amounts are 5
4:40
million for Mercury and $3 million for
4:42
Relayfi So I checked this It seemed too
4:44
good to be true but I went and checked
4:46
inside my Mercury account And sure
4:48
enough it's enabled by default So the
4:50
way that insurance coverage works is by
4:52
using what's called a sweep program So
4:55
basically every $250,000 that you have
4:58
they divide it out into different US
5:00
bank accounts so that no one bank
5:01
account is holding like a larger amount
5:03
above the coverage And maybe you don't
5:05
have that much money right now but if
5:06
you're planning to in the future at some
5:08
point then it's really nice to have an
5:10
account that's that secure Speaking
5:11
about the Mercury credit card as well so
5:13
it's super easy to get I just got it
5:15
yesterday actually And the requirement
5:17
is to hold a $25,000 in your balance at
5:20
all times So as soon as I put that money
5:22
in the account within about an hour I
5:24
received an email saying I was eligible
5:26
to get the credit card So I logged into
5:28
my Mercury account and literally a few
5:30
clicks and they issued me a virtual
5:32
credit card and it has 1.5% cash back
5:35
and you can use it straight away I think
5:36
they can send you a physical card too
5:38
which I don't need Just keep in mind you
5:40
need to maintain that $25,000 balance to
5:43
keep that credit card active So the
5:44
Mercury account sounds really great
5:46
There are a couple of big disadvantages
5:48
First of all you need a US LLC obviously
5:50
but you also need and both Relay and
5:52
Mercury say this you need some kind of
5:54
planned or existing operating business
5:56
in the US Now I personally haven't had
5:59
any problems with that for my LLC but
6:01
your experience may differ I have heard
6:03
that they are getting more and more
6:04
strict about that requirement So it's
6:06
possible that you could open an account
6:08
be able to use it and then at some point
6:10
they would actually be asking you to
6:11
have a presence or something that you
6:13
don't have in the US The other
6:15
disadvantage is that not every country
6:16
is supported Mercury does support more
6:18
than Relayfi and so I'm actually
6:20
eligible for a Mercury account but not a
6:22
Relayfi account So both Mercury and
6:24
Relayfi seem like good options if you
6:26
are eligible I can personally highly
6:28
recommend Mercury Of course the big
6:30
problem with Relayfi and Mercury is they
6:32
only support businesses so you can't
6:33
have a personal account And I wish they
6:35
did have personal accounts because the
6:37
services they provide are bestin-class
6:39
But still that's not a problem because
6:40
if you are looking for a US bank account
6:42
for your personal need then I think I
6:44
found the best option for non-residents
6:46
And weirdly no one's talking about it I
6:48
opened my account with this bank not too
6:50
long ago and I'm kind of kicking myself
6:51
I didn't find it sooner because it would
6:53
have made a lot of things much easier
6:54
for me So the bank is Charles Schwab and
6:57
specifically the account you want to
6:59
open is the International Brokerage
7:00
Account So keep in mind that it's called
7:02
a brokerage account but you also get a
7:04
fully functioning bank account and a
7:05
debit card And the list of reasons why I
7:07
like this bank account so much is pretty
7:09
long First it's one of the large banks
7:12
It's not a small or offshore bank It's
7:14
the 11th largest bank by assets There's
7:16
no US address requirement So unlike the
7:18
other banks I'm going to cover letter
7:20
Schwab doesn't ask you for a US address
7:22
And actually this account is only
7:24
available to individuals who don't live
7:26
in the US Remote opening So you can open
7:28
your account completely online You don't
7:30
need to travel to the US at all
7:32
Insurance So unlike most of the previous
7:34
options we talked about up until now
7:36
your funds are insured for up to
7:37
$250,000
7:39
as well And the account comes with one
7:41
of the best debit cards in the world for
7:43
international travel And as it's a
7:44
brokerage account you can invest in US
7:46
securities So the platform has some
7:48
pretty interesting investing features
7:50
Like for example it's the only way that
7:52
I've seen for non- US residents to
7:54
invest in US Treasury auctions So the
7:56
sign up process it's easy It took me
7:58
like 20 minutes The only thing to be
8:00
aware of is when you are going in to
8:02
sign up it asks you for a tax ID number
8:04
That's the tax ID number of your home
8:06
country It's not asking you for a social
8:08
security number What else so there is
8:10
supposedly a $25,000 minimum initial
8:13
deposit but this wasn't enforced And I
8:15
asked customer service about it The guy
8:17
who I spoke to didn't know anything
8:19
about that limit even though I had seen
8:21
it mentioned on the website Note on the
8:23
insurance So the is equivalent to
8:26
FDIC insurance because the account is a
8:28
brokerage account It doesn't actually
8:30
change anything there So basically you
8:32
get $500,000 $250,000 in cash So it's
8:37
the same as FDIC About the debit card
8:39
the reason why the debit card is so good
8:41
is that it has no foreign exchange fees
8:43
So you're getting charged the bank rate
8:45
It has no ATM fees So actually if you go
8:48
and use it at an overseas ATM then
8:50
Schwab will refund you the fees that
8:52
those banks charge you which is really
8:54
nice To get the debit card first of all
8:56
you open your account then you go into
8:58
your account online and you fill out a
8:59
form and it takes about a week to
9:01
process and then they send that debit
9:03
card by courier to your international
9:04
address which is really nice One last
9:06
advantage compared to the other US banks
9:08
that I'm going to talk about Schwab has
9:10
better customer service And this can be
9:12
really important because some US banks
9:14
expect you to go into a branch in person
9:16
to deal with problems But Schwab is
9:18
online only so you won't have that
9:20
Disadvantages there are some Not all
9:22
countries are eligible You'll have to
9:23
check at the signup page It just has a
9:25
list You select the country and it'll
9:27
tell you whether you're eligible and
9:28
there is no credit card or any business
9:30
accounts Overall if you're a non- US
9:32
resident you're looking for a versatile
9:34
and legitimate US bank account without
9:36
the need to go in person to open the
9:38
account This is my preferred option By
9:40
the way it took me a lot of searching to
9:41
find all this out And people are
9:43
literally charging thousands of dollars
9:45
for the information half as good as what
9:46
I'm giving to you guys in this video So
9:48
my only question right now is if you are
9:50
finding this valuable now would be a
9:52
great time to hit that like button Leave
9:53
me a comment as well because I love to
9:55
know that you're enjoying it So if
9:57
you're going to need a credit card or
9:58
you aren't eligible for a Schwab account
10:00
then you still have plenty of other
10:01
options It is possible today to open a
10:03
bank account at pretty much any of the
10:05
top banks in the US And I know this
10:07
because I've personally opened accounts
10:09
with three of the top 10 US banks in
10:11
addition to the Schwab account But there
10:13
are a few tricks that you need to know
10:14
if you want the process to go smoothly
10:16
Now I'm just going to talk about the
10:17
process for the top 10 banks and
10:19
specifically Chase Bank of America City
10:21
Wells Fargo and PNC You can try with
10:24
smaller banks or credit unions I just
10:26
know that all the banks that I just
10:27
mentioned the largest ones have branches
10:29
everywhere in the US And I can pretty
10:31
much guarantee if you follow this
10:33
process you'll be able to open an
10:34
account with at least one of them So
10:36
here's the process to open an account at
10:38
one of these banks as a non-resident
10:40
without a social security number Number
10:42
one choose the bank One thing to keep in
10:43
mind none of the big US banks have
10:46
really great customer service I've heard
10:48
Wells Fargo is very problematic because
10:50
apparently a lot of things that you need
10:52
to do will actually result in your
10:54
account getting locked And when it gets
10:55
locked you have to go there in person to
10:57
solve the issue So obviously it's not
10:59
practical if you live overseas I think
11:01
if you have to choose one of these banks
11:03
Chase is probably going to give you the
11:05
best service but your personal
11:06
experience may differ Step two show up
11:08
in person So if you want an account at
11:10
one of these large banks you have to go
11:12
in person So don't bother paying for
11:14
someone who says they can give you a
11:15
contact or whatever Just go to a bank in
11:17
person Step three bring the required
11:19
documentation So you're going to need
11:21
two IDs and usually but not always a
11:24
proof of address So this is where you're
11:25
going to need to get a bit creative If
11:27
you don't have a US address that you can
11:29
use I'll give you some tips So first of
11:31
all it's completely legal for
11:32
non-residents to open a bank account in
11:34
the US It's not a matter of law It's
11:36
just that the individual banks have
11:38
their own preferences based on their
11:40
target customer base and you know like
11:43
their risk profile and what they who
11:45
they want to target basically And
11:46
ultimately it's actually up to the
11:48
individual banker to approve your
11:50
account or not So this means you need to
11:52
go and talk to the banker sit down with
11:53
them ask them what documents are
11:55
acceptable to them and they'll tell you
11:57
exactly what they need to see So for
11:59
example PNC they don't require address
12:01
verification You can see this on the
12:03
website They accept a US tourist visa
12:05
instead Another tip is once you have one
12:07
account open then you can use the
12:08
statement from this first account to
12:10
pass verification at the other accounts
12:12
because once you get the account you can
12:14
change your address at any time For
12:16
example you can change it to a foreign
12:17
address or you could use something like
12:19
your LLC mailing address Again it
12:22
depends on the individual banker and
12:24
what they're going to accept Next tip is
12:26
to play the numbers game So let's say
12:28
you get rejected which probably won't
12:30
happen but if it does go to the next
12:31
branch over and just try again Try three
12:34
branches of the bank that you want and
12:35
then if that doesn't work then go to a
12:37
different bank Now I've always been able
12:38
to get my account opened the first time
12:40
so I've never been rejected but it's
12:42
completely fine It doesn't change
12:44
anything or there's no like black mark
12:46
against your name if you need to try a
12:48
few times Another hack if you find that
12:50
the reason the bankers are rejecting you
12:52
is because you don't have a social
12:53
security number go to an area that has a
12:56
lot of migrants I've read a lot of
12:57
stories about people coming from Latin
12:59
America and just going to Miami and just
13:01
walking around the city And a lot of
13:03
those banks are used to opening accounts
13:05
either for for people like us who are
13:07
non-residents or for people who are
13:09
living in the US but they don't have So
13:11
that's migrant workers with no social
13:13
security number no visa nothing like
13:15
that And if they're getting back
13:16
accounts then you can too Just a brief
13:18
mention for a smaller bank I just found
13:20
before I was filming this video Ocean
13:22
Bank So I haven't personally used these
13:24
guys but I see that they have accounts
13:26
designed for international customers as
13:28
well So like I said I just found out
13:30
about them I haven't had a chance to
13:31
check if they do online openings but you
13:33
can just go into the website call the
13:35
customer service line and ask Either way
13:37
whether it's online or not that would a
13:39
percent be another option if you don't
13:40
have that US address requirement So now
13:42
you've opened a bunch of US accounts
13:44
What about credit cards now
13:46
unfortunately very few of the banks
13:48
we've talked about will give credit
13:49
cards to non-residents without a social
13:51
security number unless you do this one
13:53
thing So this is how to get almost any
13:55
US credit card as a non-resident The
13:57
main thing that you need is an ITIN or
13:59
individual taxpayer identification
14:01
number This is basically an alternative
14:02
to the social security number It's
14:04
issued by the IRS to people who need to
14:06
file taxes in the US but they don't have
14:08
the ability or they don't have a social
14:10
security number So do consider whether
14:12
getting an ITN meets your actual needs
14:14
For example having the ITN it won't
14:16
create the obligation to file taxes but
14:18
you should probably check with a tax
14:20
adviser whether or not it makes sense
14:22
for you to get one If it does then the
14:23
good news is that having that itin is
14:25
going to make it much much easier to get
14:27
a credit card at any of the major banks
14:29
we've just talked about Remember you can
14:31
open the account without the itin but to
14:33
get a credit card then is the next step
14:35
which needs the itin Now filing for the
14:36
ITION with the IRS can be a bit of a
14:38
painful process I put it off for a long
14:40
time You basically have to scan
14:42
documents and mail and stuff like that
14:44
But I found a company that makes it
14:45
pretty easy and painless to file for the
14:47
ITIN This is why I did it actually
14:50
because it was all remote I didn't have
14:52
to do anything They handled it all for
14:54
me So the company is the ITIN I'll leave
14:56
a link in the description below And
14:58
actually I'll leave a discount code as
14:59
well So if you do get the itin with them
15:01
it'll give you like $50 off So those
15:04
guys make it really easy to get the itin
15:06
you still have to wait like two to three
15:08
maybe even 4 months to get the iton
15:10
number back from the IRS But once you
15:11
have that number then you'll be able to
15:13
apply for almost any credit card again
15:15
with the bank that you're already using
15:17
So the process to get that credit card
15:19
once you have the itin it's going to be
15:21
almost the same as if you actually had a
15:23
social security number It's worth trying
15:25
to apply online So just go to the bank
15:27
go to the website or in your account if
15:29
you have the account already But if that
15:31
doesn't work then you just need to go
15:32
back to a branch in person again But you
15:34
will have that key requirement which is
15:36
the ITIN number Now the first time you
15:38
do this you won't have a US credit
15:40
history So you might need to apply for a
15:42
secured card first And that's basically
15:44
where you have to lock up the balance
15:46
that's equal to the credit limit Then
15:47
after 6 to 12 months or however long it
15:50
takes to build up that US credit score
15:52
try again with your itin and you'll be
15:53
able to upgrade to a better card or just
15:55
get that same card unsecured And that's
15:58
it So by now you know all of the best
16:00
ways that I found to open a US bank
16:02
account as a non- US resident with no
16:04
social security number Hope you found
16:05
this video valuable and enjoy banking
16:07
with your new bank account in the land
16:09
of the
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