How to Open a Bank Account in the United States

US Bank Account

Opening a bank account in the United States is a smart choice for operating an LLC. Opening a U.S. checking account online is a viable option for corporate accounts, i.e., in the name of an American company. It becomes even easier when the person requesting to open a checking account in the United States from Italy is a person with a personal account in the United States. In this case, account openings can take just a few hours.

Opening a checking account in America is a recurring request from all digital nomads. In some cases, it's possible to open a corporate or personal account through American banks operating in Italy, but these are difficult to obtain approval. To open a personal online American checking account from Italy without traveling, you'll need an ITIN number  and you'll need to select only specific institutions.

The rule is local presence. You can apply for an ITIN number with us without traveling to the US. We open physical US bank accounts for both personal and corporate clients in two specific US cities: San Francisco, CA, and Miami, FL. The accounts we open in US banks are 100% certified with major banks in the world. We open both personal and corporate accounts. Your presence is not required to open corporate accounts as long as we act as the company manager, but this is particularly expensive and inappropriate for most clients. For non-US residents, a US bank account is associated with an offshore account .

Consider whether an offshore account in a real offshore location is more appropriate for the type of company you open. Studio Panama Italia, as an official American resident agent and law firm specializing in corporate and banking services for Italians and non-US residents, advises, as always, that you only order a US or offshore bank account after having consulted with your accountant or tax advisor and having understood the tax and criminal responsibilities that accompany the process of establishing and maintaining accounts abroad.

Why open a bank account in the United States?

Opening a bank account in the United States gives you access to financial markets, stocks, and trading at the world's leading institutions, as well as access to American credit, which is very easy to obtain if you have a personal ITIN for personal accounts or an EIN and ITIN for a US LLC. You can therefore open a personal bank account in the United States on your own, without our help, simply by having an ITIN and a verifiable US postal address (a bill in your name at that address) and contacting specific banks through our intermediary.

Otherwise, we require your on-site presence and payment of the operating fee to open a physical bank account in the United States, that is, a presence at a branch of the American bank. Opening a bank account in the United States is essential to operating a U.S. LLC . A U.S. LLC is unlikely to open an account outside the United States, due to FATCA, unless you present yourself with capital of at least $1 million.

In that case, some banks, especially in the Cayman Islands and Panama, will make the necessary exceptions. The reason no foreign bank wants to open accounts for an LLC is the struggle with forms and paperwork to remain compliant with the US IRS. FATCA and other mandatory reporting requirements, such as AML and Fincen, are just the tip of the iceberg.

With Studio Panama Italia you can: request your EIN and/or request your American ITIN without traveling to the USA 

How to open a bank account in the United States

Opening a bank account in the United States is one of our clients' most frequent requests. American banks offer modern, reliable, and fast services, making a US bank account an essential tool for those running a US LLC, an online business, or wishing to operate in dollars.
Unlike European accounts, a US bank account guarantees greater privacy, financial stability, and full compatibility with international networks such as Stripe, PayPal, Wise, Mercury, and Bank of America.

Opening a US bank account for an LLC is now simple and legal: Studio Panama Italia provides direct intermediation with US banks and authorized fintechs, allowing you to activate it in less than an hour, even remotely. You'll be able to receive and send payments in US dollars, access corporate cards, multi-currency IBANs, and advanced digital tools to manage your global business. With us, opening a bank account in the United States is quick, secure, and fully compliant with international regulations.

What you need to know to open a US bank account for your company

Opening a US bank account for your company is now a simple, quick, and completely remote process. To open a US bank account in the name of your US LLC, you don't need to be named in the Operating Agreement or be a member of the company: you open the account as the LLC's manager, with full liability. Studio Panama Italia opens US bank accounts for companies incorporated in any US state—Delaware, Wyoming, New Mexico, or Florida—directly at our banking offices in Miami, Florida, and San Francisco, California, without you having to travel.

We partner with several regulated US banks and fintechs, selected based on the client's profile and operational needs. The corporate accounts we open include access to secured and unsecured credit cards, multi-currency accounts, and online platforms for trading, forex, and fund management. US bank account opening is reserved for LLCs established by our firm or for private clients with assets exceeding $50,000. Each account is operational within hours, with a verified EIN, physical and digital cards, and direct support in Italian from our Miami Beach and San Francisco offices.

In addition to opening your bank account in the USA, you will probably be interested in creating a life insurance policy on your tax situation by taking a second tax residence in a country with territorial taxation, such as a residence in Panama or a residence in Paraguay.

You might also be tempted to find out what advantages there are to moving to the Mexican economic giant, taking up residence in Mexico

To open a US bank account for your LLC, you need to open a business account in the US at a US bank. The basic requirements are:

• An LLC incorporated by us
• An LLC that has an EIN requested by us with your first and last name on it
• An LLC that has a clear Operating Agreement with your name on it
• An LLC with a mandatory NAICS number as it is now mandatory for any American bank to request it at the time of opening
• Business Address and Personal Address of the LLC member (we provide separate costs)
• Some banks specifically require a personal ITIN for the company member, you can request one from us online without traveling to the USA.

Here is an explanation of the procedure for opening a bank account in a US bank for a US company. Generally speaking, the procedure described is suitable for opening an account in the United States in the name of the most classic US company opened by non-resident foreigners: the LLC.

At the bank, show up with your passport, documents for opening a US company (LLC), such as the Certificate of Incorporation, Operating Agreement, Certificate of Organization, EIN, and NAICS Code.

Provide a business address, usually the same one on the certificate of organization. Provide an email/physical address where you actually operate (where you keep the accounting books, for example). To open a bank account in the United States, you need an ITIN, which is now required by almost all banks; starting in 2023, CHASE, Bank of America, Choice Financial Group, and Wells Fargo require it. Our Italian-speaking banker (we have Italian partners who work at the bank, so they will open the account for you speaking Italian, bypassing any language gaps) will open the account for you quickly in about 30 minutes. You will only have to sit and wait, as well as answer any questions on the online form that the banker completes with the requirements described above (essential). Once you have opened the bank account in the United States, you will receive a debit card (ATM) and, if you have registered an ITIN, possibly your first credit card. By law, both debit and credit cards must be sent to the same physical address you provide to your American bank when opening an account in the US.

Once you know the requirements for opening a bank account in the United States, you may not always be willing to travel to the States for this purpose, for various reasons, and therefore, valid alternatives for opening a bank account in the US may be considered secondary.

Neobanks partially and often completely satisfy the need for having a bank account in the United States.

Neobanks are next-generation banks that emphasize these parameters:

• American bank with a purely or almost entirely online presence
• Speed ​​of opening an account in the United States and speed of acceptance or denial of opening an American account
• How to open a U.S. Bank account online
• Maintenance costs, receiving money, sending money, and Forex are much lower than traditional American banking
• American bank with multi-currency account options, fast remittance payments anywhere
• Much more transparent in terms of costs and procedures than traditional American banks

CHIME : 

Chime is an American neobank. With 12 million customers and positive reviews since its founding in 2013, Chime, the American digital bank, offers a perfect bank account for all Americans, non-American residents, and expats with a first-time visa in the United States. It does not accept foreigners who are not yet residents of the United States.

JUNO:

JUNO is an American fintech neobank, offering deposits and digital and physical cards as well as access to the crypto market. It's still relatively new and therefore has few reviews.

CURRENT:

CURRENT is another American digital bank with good features such as an online wallet and simple checking account options.

WISE:

The ultimate solution when you can't travel abroad and need a fully featured online bank account. It offers both personal and business accounts. An excellent account with both USD and SWIFT accounts for ACH deposits and IBAN accounts for SEPA deposits. It acts as a remittance provider with excellent costs and fast execution times, which are instantaneous in certain countries like the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

It's best to read their policy carefully about what you can and cannot do, otherwise you risk having your account blocked and closed forever, not the best option for those who operate on accounts in countries like Panama, Paraguay, etc.

REVOLUT:

Like Wise, same services but unlike Wise, requires presence in the US for business accounts, proof of address is required

MERCURY:

This is a 100% online bank, but with all the features you would expect from a bank of the caliber of Bank of America, but 100% online.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mercury is not a simple neobank, it is a real account in the United States, available through CHOICE FINANCIAL. FDIC guaranteed. 

Studio Panama Italia, through our American platform Expat Brokers LLC, managed to obtain a quick and immediate process in just a few hours for opening a new bank account in the USA. All you have to do is open an LLC with us and then you can open a Mercury USA bank account yourself, without incurring any account opening fees, through our presentation link:

https://app.mercury.com/r/expat-brokers-llc 

This link is valid for anyone who makes transactions exceeding USD 10,000 within 28 days of opening an account. It is therefore a link dedicated to speeding up the process and putting you ahead of all the others who are opening an account with Mercury only if you deposit at least USD 10,000 within 28 days of opening the account.

Otherwise, you can take advantage of our opening fee of $850 if you want us to open an account for your LLC. The Mercury bank account is a real bank account, just like any other bank account in the United States. The Mercury bank account is also the only real American bank account that can be opened online remotely without traveling to the USA. Opening a Mercury bank account guarantees security, thanks to the best banking technologies adopted and thanks to the economic strength of the mega American banking group to which it belongs, Choice International. Mercury Bank offers the opening of a bank account for your company directly online, in privacy and security. Millions of customers rely on Mercury Bank and the sophisticated solutions it guarantees. All Europeans are extremely welcome at Mercury Bank. Mercury Bank guarantees the opening of bank accounts to all Europeans who own an American LLC. Not only does Mercury open accounts to everyone, not just Europeans. Americans can also open accounts with Mercury. Furthermore, only Mercury allows you to easily start a corporate credit history with your new American LLC. In fact, by opening an account with Mercury Bank you can get a credit card that has a credit score with American credit agencies.

But how does an American bank account work? What are the features of a U.S. bank account?

A bank account in the US operates the same way as any other bank in the world. It receives money in any currency and converts it into USD before automatically crediting it. International transfers to a US bank require entering the SWIFT information corresponding to the US bank and the US bank account number in the name of the beneficiary (you or a company, etc.). Therefore, for example, transferring money from Italy to an account in the United States requires:

• Beneficiary Name of the account in the United States
• US Bank SWIFT Number
• Beneficiary's account number at the United States bank
• Decide whether the costs are shared (SHARED) or whether to send everything at the expense of the Beneficiary (you must ask the beneficiary if he accepts) or everything at your expense

If you have an account in the United States and want to transfer money to another account in the United States, or if you want to transfer money from a customer's account in the United States to your account in the United States (personal or business), then the ACH method will be used. ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, and is the first method of sending funds electronically, called EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), in the United States and throughout the Americas. What do you need to make an ACH transfer?

• Sender's US Bank Account
• US account of the recipient of the transfer
• Beneficiary account number
• Routing Number of the beneficiary of the account in the USA.

The routing number is a 9-digit code that identifies the US bank of the beneficiary of the wire transfer. Each bank has two routing numbers: the routing number for electronic transfers (such as ACH) and the routing number for manual transfers (almost never used and of no practical interest to you).

Other features of the bank account in the United States are:

• Online and app access
• The transaction token is made via a code sent to your phone number (it's best to get an American number, Google Fi is excellent).
• A second security factor can be the token via email or alternatively physical
• Bank statements in the US are only available online in PDF format.

What is the SWIFT code?

SWIFT is a code that identifies the name, headquarters, and currency of the receiving bank. It is used to globally identify banks and financial institutions. It is also called BIC. The SWIFT code must be used whenever you are preparing to make an international transfer. An international transfer is a money transfer from a bank in one country to another bank in another country outside the European Union. (In Europe, SWIFT is not needed when making transfers between accounts within Europe; the IBAN is used instead.) Therefore, whenever you open an account outside Europe, to receive money to that account from other countries, you must give your SWIFT number to the customer who will pay you, for example, from Italy. The SWIFT code is only used for international transfers between banks in different countries. Even when you have an account outside Europe and want to send money to a bank in Europe, such as Italy, the Italian bank, in addition to the IBAN needed to receive money between European accounts only, will need to provide you with its SWIFT number to receive the money, in addition to the account number. For example, if you are sending from the United States to an Italian bank, let's say UNICREDIT BANCA, then you will need to use Unicredit Banca's SWIFT code, which is UNCRITMMXXX.

We have two of our best exclusive partners for opening bank accounts, offering you the two best options on the market. It's hard to find anything better. We've personally established referral relationships for our clients with two banks. These two banks represent two distinct options for those who decide to travel to the United States to open an account in person, or for those who don't want to travel and choose to open an account remotely.

• For those who decide to travel to the United States and open a local bank account, we offer the opportunity to open an account by clicking the following link and receive a $300 deposit bonus after your first opening deposit of $2,000. Please note that if you are a non-resident foreigner, please click the "Open in Branch" option and not online, as you cannot do so. Open an American bank account at CHASE BANK with a promotion.
• For those who decide to open remotely and feel capable of not making mistakes in the procedure and therefore prefer to do everything online without our help, you can open a bank account in the USA with Mercury. Important: you must deposit at least 10,000 USD within 30 days to open an account referenced by us. Open an American bank account with Mercury with a promotion
• Otherwise, contact us either for the local account opened at CHASE, where we will open an account for you with an Italian banker who works at Chase and where you will open an account speaking Italian or at Mercury through our service, the costs are separate and start from USD 850 to USD 2000 depending on the account and preferences.

Here are the SWIFT codes of the most important banks in the United States

CHASE BANK SWIFT: 

• The SWIFT code for JP Morgan Chase Bank is CHASUS33XXX

BANK OF AMERICA SWIFT:

• Bank of America's SWIFT code is BOFAUS3NXXX

WELLS FARGO SWIFT:

• Wells Fargo's SWIFT code is WFBIUS6SXXX

US BANK SWIFT:

• The SWIFT code of US BANK is USBKUS44XXX

TD AMERITDRADE SWIFT :

• TD Ameritrade's SWIFT code is AMLEUS41XXX

CITIBANK SWIFT:

• CitiBank's SWIFT code is CITIUS33XXX

HSBC USA SWIFT:

• The SWIFT code for HSBC USA is MRMDUS33XXX

US BANK SWIFT:

• The SWIFT code of US BANK is USBKUS44IMT

AXOS BANK SWIFT:

• The SWIFT code of AXOS BANK is BOFDUS66XXX

CHARLES SCHWAB & CO Inc SWIFT 

• The SWIFT code of CHARLES SCHWAB & CO inc is CSCHUS6SWTS