Open a US Bank Account from India - 2026 Guide
A US bank account is required to receive Amazon US payouts cleanly. Traditional US banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) won't open accounts for foreign-owned LLCs without a physical visit. Three "neo-banks" - Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business - open accounts fully remotely. Here is the full process.
Easiest: Mercury - fully remote, free, 5-7 business days. Best for most.
Alternative: Relay Financial - also free, slightly more features.
Backup: Wise Business - best for multi-currency. Less robust for Amazon payouts.
Avoid until later: Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo - require US visit.
What's in this guide
Why you need a US bank account
Amazon US deposits seller payouts to a US bank account. You can technically use Payoneer or Wise as a workaround, but for sustained operations a real US bank account in your LLC's name is cleaner - for tax reporting, vendor payments, and payroll if you scale.
You also need a US bank account to:
- Pay USPTO trademark fees
- Pay state annual report fees
- Pay your US CPA for Form 5472 + 1120
- Receive customer refunds and chargebacks (Amazon handles these but a bank account is required)
- Pay US-based contractors (designers, photographers, agencies)
Mercury - recommended
Mercury (mercury.com) is our default recommendation for Indian-founder LLCs. Roughly 28 of the 50+ Indian-founder LLCs we've helped use Mercury.
What you need to apply:
- Your LLC's Certificate of Formation (from your state)
- Your EIN confirmation letter (the IRS letter showing your 9-digit EIN)
- Your Operating Agreement
- Your Indian passport (color scan, both pages)
- Proof of Indian address (utility bill, bank statement, government ID - must show address)
- A US phone number (Google Voice works - free)
- A US business address (your LLC's registered address is fine)
Application timeline:
- Day 0: Submit application online (~20 minutes to complete)
- Day 1-3: Mercury's compliance team reviews documents
- Day 3-5: Identity verification call (sometimes skipped for clean applications)
- Day 5-7: Account approved, debit card mailed to your US address
Cost: $0 monthly fee. $0 minimum balance. Free domestic and international wire transfers (incoming and outgoing). Free debit card.
Limitations: No cash deposits (online-only bank). No physical branches. Some Amazon sellers report Mercury accounts getting flagged if patterns look "unusual" - usually resolved with a quick chat.
Relay Financial - alternative
Relay (relayfi.com) is the closest competitor to Mercury, with a similar onboarding flow. Used by ~12 of our clients.
Differences vs Mercury:
- Allows multiple sub-accounts (useful if you run multiple Amazon brands under one LLC)
- Includes basic AP/AR features built-in
- Slightly slower customer support response (24-48 hours vs Mercury's 12-24)
- Free domestic wires; $5 fee per international wire
When to choose Relay over Mercury: if you plan to run 3+ separate brand businesses under one LLC and want clean sub-account separation. Otherwise Mercury is simpler.
Wise Business - multi-currency
Wise Business (wise.com/us/business) is best when you need to hold and convert multiple currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, INR). Useful for sellers who expand to Amazon UK / EU.
Strengths: excellent currency conversion rates (mid-market FX), genuinely global. Multi-currency account with US routing, UK sort code, EU IBAN, and 10+ other currency receiving accounts.
Weakness for Amazon-only sellers: Wise USD account is technically a "money services" account, not a bank account. Amazon US accepts it, but some downstream services (US payroll, certain merchant tools) don't recognize it as a bank account.
We recommend Wise as a secondary account alongside Mercury, not as a primary.
Traditional banks (Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo)
Yes, you can open a Chase or Bank of America business account for your LLC - but it requires you to visit a branch in person in the US. The branch manager will require:
- Your Indian passport with valid US visa
- EIN confirmation letter
- Operating Agreement
- Certificate of Formation
- Initial deposit (usually $500-2,000)
This is worth doing only after your business has scaled - typically when monthly Amazon payouts exceed $10,000 and you want institutional banking, lines of credit, or higher transaction limits.
Until then, Mercury or Relay handles everything you need.
Common rejection reasons
The 4 most common reasons Mercury / Relay reject applications from Indian founders:
- EIN letter not yet received. You must wait for the physical IRS letter (CP 575). Don't apply with just the SS-4 fax confirmation.
- Address mismatch. Your Indian address proof must show the same address you list in the application. A bill in your father's name to the same address won't work.
- Vague business description. "Amazon seller" is too generic. Use: "Wholesale and direct-to-consumer sale of home textiles via Amazon FBA, sourced from Karur, India."
- OFAC sanctioned regions. If your IP address shows you applying from certain regions, the application gets flagged. Use a clean home/office internet connection for the application.
FEMA: moving money back to India
Once Amazon US payouts accumulate in your Mercury account, you'll eventually want to transfer some back to India. The cleanest pathway under FEMA:
- Wire transfer: Mercury → your Indian savings or NRE/NRO account. Wire reference should be "professional services" or "trade settlement"
- Documentation needed: wire receipt from Mercury, FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate) issued by your Indian bank, and a brief note explaining the source
- RBI compliance: the inward remittance is logged with RBI by your Indian bank as part of standard FEMA reporting
- Tax treatment: the funds are taxable in India as foreign business income. Your CA in India should handle this annually
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra are the three Indian banks with the most experienced foreign-remittance desks. We recommend keeping your Indian bank account at one of these for smooth Mercury-to-India transfers.
Why a US bank account is non-negotiable
Some sellers ask whether they can skip the US bank account and route Amazon payouts elsewhere. In practice it is close to non-negotiable for serious selling, and working around it creates more problems than it solves. Amazon disburses payouts most cleanly into a US account with US account and routing numbers; third-party bridges to foreign accounts add fees, friction, and an extra point of failure during verification. A US business account also lets you pay US suppliers smoothly, keeps business finances cleanly separated from personal money (essential for preserving your LLC's liability protection), and produces the clean records you need at tax time. The account is not a bureaucratic hoop; it is the financial hub of the whole operation.
This is why the LLC, the EIN, and the bank account form a tight sequence: the EIN enables the bank account, and the bank account enables Amazon payouts and supplier payments. Skipping or improvising on the account undermines the structure the LLC was built to provide.
How to avoid the common rejection triggers
Opening a US business account remotely from India is genuinely achievable through modern banking platforms built for online companies, but applications do get rejected, almost always for avoidable reasons. The most common triggers are inconsistencies between documents, a name or address that does not exactly match the LLC formation documents or the EIN letter, an incomplete business description, or applying before the EIN has been issued. Platforms are cautious about foreign-owned entities, so any discrepancy is a reason to decline. The way through is precision: ensure your LLC documents, EIN confirmation, and application details align exactly, present a clear and legitimate business description, and apply only once your EIN is in hand.
It also helps to choose the right platform for a non-resident-owned LLC in the first place, since not every US bank welcomes foreign founders, and applying to the wrong one wastes time on a near-certain rejection. Knowing which platforms are realistic for an Indian-owned LLC, and preparing the application so it sails through verification rather than getting flagged, is exactly the friction that turns a simple step into a multi-week ordeal for sellers doing it blind. Done right, the account opens remotely and becomes the reliable hub that receives your Amazon payouts without holds.
\nA US bank account starts with a US entity. Our US LLC formation service sets up the LLC, EIN, and bank account together, all remotely.
Want this handled for you? See our US business bank account setup.