Many entrepreneurs who followed the steps in the guide to opening a bank account in America In this guide, we will talk in detail about opening a Relay Bank account, which you can use as an alternative to Mercurybank and Wise.
Update: Relay Financial does not accept members from Turkey for now (due to global situations). We will update this article if we learn when they start recruiting members again in the future.
What is Relay Bank?
Relay Bank is a digital banking solution that has been serving small businesses for a long time under the name Relay Financial. Relay, which has a partnership structure with FDIC-approved Evolve Bank & Trust, is a free financial structure with a fast approval mechanism that offers digital banking services especially to small businesses and entrepreneurs. FDIC approved Evolve Bank & Trust is a well-formed bank. Wise, formerly TransferWise, uses the Evolve Bank & Trust infrastructure, just like Relay.
What Does Relay Bank Offer?
Up to 20 free accounts
Once you receive Relay approval and your account is opened, you can open up to twenty USD accounts. You can assign separate team members to each account you open and manage different sub-accounts from the same panel within their limits.
50 Virtual or Physical Debit Mastercards
With Relay, you have the opportunity to create exactly fifty debit cards, the limits of which you can set yourself. These cards feature prepaid debit cards, so they are not credit cards. Thanks to these cards, you can use the money in your account to expand your business or allocate it to your team members for online shopping or purchasing goods and equipment. These debit cards are compatible with Google and Apple pay.
Pay by ACH, money order or check
You can make money transfers through the online banking panel provided to you.
integration
Relay is a digital banking solution built with a software mindset. Integrates directly with Xero and QuickBooks Online, can easily connect to Gusto, Transferwise and Expensify.
Can I Open a Relay Bank Account from Turkey?
Yes! This is very easy and possible when you meet the requirements.
Relay does not support individual account opening, but if you are a Turkish citizen with an Usan LLC company, you can open a Relay Bank account in approximately two business days if you have your EIN number and passport. As it is known, such digital banks do not allow opening individual accounts. Both MercuryBank, Brex, and Wise Corporate require you to be an LLC company in order to open an account.
In this context, since Relay is a bank with the same features, it supports opening an account with your LLC company in Usa. In summary, if you are a citizen of the Republic of Türkiye with a passport and an LLC company, you can open a Relay Bank account.
In order to open a digital bank account without going to America, you must have an LLC company in America. the steps in this guide to quickly establish an LLC company in America at an affordable price . After your company is established, quickly apply for EIN ( use the guide here ) and wait for your EIN number to arrive. You can open a bank account in America through Relay with your number and EIN confirmation letter (Cp 575 or 147C).
How to Open a Relay Bank Account?
Once you meet the requirements, you can easily open a Relay account. If it is necessary to review the requirements;
- Establish an LLC company in America ( detailed guide )
- Get the EIN number for your company ( detailed guide )
- A passport with a valid date
- A working and completed website, possibly in English (you can create it in 1 hour with WordPress, Wix or Shopify)
- 10 minutes of time and a computer
After completing these requirements, you can now open your Relay account by following the steps below.
Opening a Relay Bank Account Step by Step
First, log in to https://relayfi.com/
Fill out the registration form correctly. Specify your name, surname, gender, mobile phone number in TR, e-mail (registration with an e-mail with your site's domain name is recommended) and password. Then click the “Done” button
In the second stage, you are asked to enter details about your business. Select the full name of the LLC company you formed in Usa (such as XXX LLC), your business category, and select the two options below as yes, as in the screenshot below. Do not select the job category at the bottom, because these categories will not be approved by Relay.
Continue entering details about your business. In this step, Business address information is requested. Enter your US business mailing address. If you have a USA phone number, if not, you can also enter your TR mobile number, it does not matter.
In this step, you can enter the website you use for your business. It is important to write a description about your website or business in the description section.
In the lower sections, select the company type as LLC and enter the number of employees of your company and your company's formment date.
In the explanations below, you can see the list of documents that will be requested from you to verify your company. The documents that will be requested are:
- Passport of the company owner
- EIN approval letter
- Articles of organization, i.e. company formment document
Note: If you are an Amazon or marketplace seller, is your store link accepted? You can ask Relay support first. We used a consultancy website when opening this account. To avoid risk, you can create a simple website and get approval easily.
In this step, you need to enter your residence address as the company owner. If you reside in Turkey, enter your full address in the correct format without using Turkish characters. Move the Ownership bar all the way (100%). You must do this if your company is a single-owner LLC; you must be at least a 25% partner in an llc to open an account.
Enter your passport number at the bottom and proceed to the next step.
In this step, enter your name, surname and e-mail information as the company owner. If you own more than 25% of the company, select no. Then move on to the next stage.
At this last stage, you need to upload the necessary documents for verification. We recommend that you click on the more info links next to the requested documents and get clues about the requirements while uploading the documents.
- passport photo
- Video verification (Record a video from your phone, save the sentence in the more info link and upload the video you shot to this field)
- Upload the company formation document as a pdf, that is, your Articles of organization document.
- Type your Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Upload your Employer Identification Number (EIN confirmation letter from the IRS) (Cp575 or 147C)
- No need to install anything for doing business
If everything is OK, check again and click the submit button.
After uploading the documents, you will see this screen. And now wait for your account to be approved.
When you access the panel, you will see a yellow warning banner at the top indicating that your account is being reviewed.
If everything goes well and you are not missing anything, you will receive a confirmation email like the one below within a business day or two.
And then you can access the bank customer panel. You can open up to 20 new accounts in USD from the customer panel.
If you want, you can create new debit cards (virtual card or physical card) and create the cards in the name of your team members or your company and set the limit you want.
Important Information: When your account is approved, a physical debit card is automatically created by the system. This card is set to be sent to your US mailing address. As soon as you open your account, write an e-mail to Relay support and request that your card be sent to your address in Turkey or your region of residence instead of the US address. Otherwise, your card will be mailed to your business address in the USA. Your address provider may not be able to receive your card, or it may need to be sent back to Turkey from there. In this case, you may pay extra costs.
As a result, if you have an LLC company and have the necessary documents, you can quickly open an account and get approval through Relay Bank. Relay is a financial institution that offers digital banking services like Wise and Mercury. There is also a paid professional plan, but the free plan will do a lot for your online work.
9 Comments . New Comment
I tried to apply today. Turkey does not appear in the Citizenship section
Yes, they no longer accept members from Türkiye. Apply for Mercurybank. Your account will be approved in a few days at Mercurybank.
Yes, I applied to Mercury, thank you.
Hello, I was working with Brex bank and was happy with it, but it is closing the accounts of small customers as of August 15th. I wanted other friends to know about it too. So I applied to Mercury and I'm waiting. Are you satisfied with the process you use from Relay bank? Also, does Relay send free debit cards like Mercury and Brex to TR?
Hello,
Brex, like other banks, has recently stopped accepting members. The reason for closing old accounts is probably global problems, as in other banks.
Relay bank no longer accepts accounts from Türkiye. Mercurybank, Brex and Relay used to send debit cards, but they no longer allow account opening. (At least for now, we are following the situation like this)
Apart from these, we are testing a few alternatives and will share information when there is any development.
Yes, it is definitely a problem. He also stated that he had put the non-resident applicant on the waiting list at Mercury. Let's see what happens. I will share the developments.
Thanks for the information.
Hello, Relay bank and Mercury Bank are both subsidiaries of the same bank. So which one would you recommend?
Yes, if we add both TransferWise to this list, there are three banks, Evolve bank and Trust bank, which are digital banks using the infrastructure.
Since you can open a free account for both of them, you can alternatively open your accounts and ask for your cards, and you will find them at your disposal.
For our own companies, we use all of them for different purposes, including Wise, Relay and Mercurybank. Recently, we have been using Mercurybank more and more because they have started free money transfers to many countries, including Türkiye.
Those who do not have a passport can continue to use Wise.