US Bank Account from Bangladesh: What Actually Works (2026)

A US LLC is easy to form from Dhaka. The account behind it is the hard part, and the reason is not sanctions.

Mercury's prohibited-countries page shows this plainly. It keeps two separate groups. "Sanctioned" holds Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russian-occupied Ukraine. Bangladesh sits in the other group, "Prohibited countries", next to Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. That second group is a company's own risk policy, not US law. Every other provider below draws its own version of that line, and they draw it in different places.

We read each provider's own page on 2026-10-17. Where a page lists the countries it serves, a missing Bangladesh means no. Where a page lists the countries it refuses, a missing Bangladesh means only that the provider has published no restriction. It does not mean approval. That difference decides most of what follows.

US bank accounts from Bangladesh: the short version

GS's Payment Platform Availability Index carried the same Stripe, PayPal, Wise and Lemon Squeezy readings on 2026-09-08. Nothing moved between the two reads.

Platform by platform

Mercury

Mercury, a fintech business banking platform, is the first account many formation guides name. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

For a founder who lives in Bangladesh, the page settles it. Mercury writes that it is "unable to open accounts for founders who live in – or businesses that operate or do business in – any of the countries and regions listed below. This is based on your country of residence, not your citizenship or nationality." Bangladesh is on the list.

Two things follow from the wording.

• The test is where you live. Mercury adds that a citizen of a listed country who "currently reside[s] elsewhere" may still be eligible, pending review. A Bangladeshi passport holder living in Dubai or London is judged on Dubai or London.
• A stronger application does not change a residence bar. This is a policy line, not a document problem.

GS tracks this list in the Banking Access Index. The index checked Bangladesh against that list on 2026-07-15 and re-read the page on 2026-10-11.

Wise

Wise Business works in two directions, and Bangladesh gets one of them.

Receiving is closed. Wise's help page on USD account details is direct: "You can't get USD account details if your address is in:" and the list includes Bangladesh (source, read 2026-10-17). Bangladesh is also missing from the list of countries where you can hold money in a Wise account. Without USD details there is no US routing number. That number is what a US client's accounts-payable team asks for, and what a Stripe payout needs.

Sending in is open. Bangladesh is on Wise's list of countries you can send money to. Bangladesh is not on Wise's unsupported-countries list either, so registering and sending are not blocked. In practice this makes Wise useful at the far end of the chain: moving USD that already sits in a US account into BDT. It does not make Wise the account the LLC collects into.

Wise is an Electronic Money Institution, not a bank. Its USD details, where issued, are receiving details, not a deposit account in the LLC's name.

Relay

Relay publishes a prohibited-countries page, updated 2026-08-11. Its rule is stricter in form than Mercury's. It covers "any business owner who holds citizenship or residency" in a listed country, beneficial owners included. A Bangladeshi citizen living abroad would be covered too, if Bangladesh were listed.

It is not listed. The list runs from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and includes Pakistan and Nigeria, but not Bangladesh. Relay also writes that it "permits U.S. entities with non-U.S. citizen owners, and Relay also permits businesses based internationally."

That is as far as the page goes. It is a list of refusals, so a missing Bangladesh means no published restriction. It is not a promise to open the account. Relay states that the list "can change without notice," and that it reflects its banking partner's policy. Founder reports point the same way (see below).

Airwallex

Airwallex screens on a different question. Its eligibility page reads: "we're only able to process account applications for businesses registered in the following countries" (source). The United States is on the list. Bangladesh is not.

So a Bangladesh-registered company is out, and a US LLC passes the registration test. The page says nothing about where the owner lives. Owner-residence screening happens in KYC, and Airwallex has not published how it treats a Bangladesh-resident owner.

Payoneer

Payoneer is the rail with a published Bangladesh path. Its page on the bKash partnership (last modified 2026-02-01) describes "24/7 real-time withdrawals" to bKash, with a "minimum withdrawal of only 1,000 BDT". Payoneer also writes that "once the funds are in local currency, bank withdrawals are usually free, depending on the withdrawal method." Local banks may still charge their own fees on the receiving side.

What Payoneer is not: a US bank account for the LLC. A freelancer's Payoneer account belongs to the individual. Its receiving accounts are not a deposit relationship. We did not find a Payoneer page on how it screens a Bangladesh-resident owner of a US company, so that part is unchecked.

Stripe

Bangladesh is not on Stripe's supported-countries list. A business registered in Bangladesh cannot open a Stripe account.

The harder question is a US LLC whose owner lives in Bangladesh. Stripe has no page that answers it directly. The nearest statement is on Stripe's page for Estonian e-residency companies. There, Stripe writes that "the place of residency for individuals associated with your account needs to be located in one of the countries currently supported by Stripe." It then points founders outside those countries to the US: "you may be able to set up your business as a US company by using Stripe Atlas" (source). Stripe's own homepage promo says the same: "Incorporate a US company from anywhere in the world."

Stripe frames a US company as the route. It does not say how a Bangladesh-resident owner fares in its review, so this article does not claim approval.

A changelog line that gets misread. On 2026-05-27 Stripe added Bangladesh bank accounts to Global Payouts ("bd_bank_account : Bangladesh"). That feature lets a business that already uses Stripe pay recipients into Bangladeshi bank accounts. It is about money going to Bangladesh from a Stripe user. It does not make Stripe accounts available to businesses in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh is still absent from the supported list.

PayPal and Xoom

Bangladesh is not among the countries on PayPal's country index. The Asia list runs from Singapore to Vietnam, with Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka on it and Bangladesh absent. That page lists PayPal's country sites rather than stating eligibility in so many words, but there is no Bangladesh site to sign up through.

Xoom, PayPal's remittance service, does reach Bangladesh: bank deposit, mobile wallet or cash pickup. That is a sender's product: someone abroad pays into Bangladesh, and there is no merchant side for a Bangladeshi founder to collect into.

Lemon Squeezy and Paddle

Software sellers have one more route: a merchant of record, which sells to the customer in its own name, handles sales tax, and pays the seller out.

• Lemon Squeezy lists Bangladesh among the countries where it supports bank payouts (source).
• Paddle "works with software businesses anywhere in the world with the exception of the unsupported countries listed below" (source). Bangladesh is not on that list. Paddle adds that it "may from time to time request further information before processing an order or releasing a payment."

Fees, tax handling and payout timing differ a lot between the two. Our Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy comparison covers them.

What founders report, and why "not listed" is not "approved"

Provider pages are one source. Founder reports are another, and here they cut the other way. In a 40-plus-comment r/llc thread, founders writing from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Poland described Mercury, Relay and Airwallex all turning them down. We summarised that thread in our India banking guide in September 2026.

Relay and Airwallex publish no Bangladesh restriction, and founders from Bangladesh still report declines. Both can be true at once. A refusal list records the countries a provider rules out in advance. It does not record what its compliance team decides on a single application. These are community reports, not provider statements, and a thread is a small sample. They are still the clearest evidence that a missing country name is a gap in the page, not a green light.

Where the money crosses into Bangladesh

The US side is only half the structure. Once client money reaches a US account or a rail like Payoneer, it still has to come home. Bangladesh Bank's Circular 22 of 22 July 2026 sets a four-month deadline for service export proceeds, and treats keeping them in a foreign account as a breach of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. At that point Bangladesh Bank's foreign-exchange rules and the NBR's tax rules apply. They govern what counts as a remittance, what has to be brought back, and how that income is taxed. Those rules are in our companion piece, Forming a US LLC from Bangladesh: Bangladesh Bank and NBR rules.

For the US side of the company itself, see getting an EIN without an SSN and how a US LLC owner pays themselves. For the Pakistan version of this same pattern, with a different set of providers closed, see US banking for Pakistani LLC owners.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bangladesh under US sanctions?

No. Mercury's own page separates the two. It puts Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russian-occupied Ukraine under "Sanctioned", and Bangladesh under "Prohibited countries". The restrictions in this article come from each provider's risk policy, not from US sanctions law.

Can I open a Mercury account for my US LLC while living in Bangladesh?

Not while you live there. Mercury's prohibited-countries list names Bangladesh and applies it by country of residence. Mercury writes that a citizen of a listed country who lives elsewhere may still be eligible, pending review.

Why won't Wise give me USD account details?

Wise's help page says you can't get USD account details if your address is in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh is not on its hold-money list. Wise still lets you send money to Bangladesh.

Can I use Stripe with a US LLC if I live in Bangladesh?

Stripe does not say. A Bangladesh-registered business cannot use Stripe. For founders in unsupported countries, Stripe points to forming a US company. It does not publish how it reviews a US company whose owner lives in Bangladesh.

Does Payoneer work in Bangladesh?

Payoneer publishes withdrawals to bKash (minimum 1,000 BDT) and to local bank accounts. It is a receiving and withdrawal rail, not a US bank account for the LLC.

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Key Takeaways

• Bangladesh is not sanctioned. The barriers come from provider risk policy, and each provider draws its line differently.
• Mercury names Bangladesh and applies the bar by residence. Wise refuses USD account details to a Bangladesh address but still sends money into Bangladesh.
• Relay and Paddle publish no Bangladesh restriction, and Airwallex screens on company registration, not owner residence. None of the three says it approves a Bangladesh-resident owner. Founder reports include declines from Relay and Airwallex.
• Stripe and PayPal do not operate in Bangladesh. Stripe frames a US company as the route but publishes no rule on a Bangladesh-resident owner. The May 2026 Global Payouts change is about paying recipients in Bangladesh, not about Stripe accounts there.
• Payoneer (with bKash) and Lemon Squeezy's bank payouts are the two rails that publish a Bangladesh path into local accounts.

Related Reading

• Forming a US LLC from Bangladesh: Complete Guide (2026)
• US Banking for Pakistani LLC Owners: What Actually Works
• Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy vs Gumroad: Fees Compared (2026)
• How to Get an EIN Without an SSN
• How to Pay Yourself From a US LLC as a Non-Resident
• Form 5472: $25,000 Penalty for Non-Resident LLCs

References

• Mercury: Prohibited countries: "based on your country of residence, not your citizenship or nationality"; Bangladesh listed. Read 2026-10-17.
• Wise: Can I get USD account details?: Bangladesh among addresses that can't get USD details. Read 2026-10-17.
• Wise: Where do I need to live to hold money with Wise?: Bangladesh absent. Read 2026-10-17.
• Wise: What countries/regions can I send to?: Bangladesh listed. Read 2026-10-17.
• Wise: Which countries can I use Wise in?: unsupported list; Bangladesh absent. Read 2026-10-17.
• Relay: Prohibited Countries for Opening a Relay Account: updated 2026-08-11; citizenship or residency; Bangladesh absent. Read 2026-10-17.
• Airwallex: Eligible Countries and Territories: by country of business registration. Read 2026-10-17.
• Payoneer: bKash partnership: last modified 2026-02-01. Read 2026-10-17.
• Payoneer: Paying contractors in Bangladesh: local bank withdrawals. Read 2026-10-17.
• Stripe: Global availability: supported countries; Bangladesh absent. Read 2026-10-17.
• Stripe: Companies registered in Estonia through e-Residency: residency of associated individuals; US company via Atlas. Read 2026-10-17.
• Stripe changelog, 2026-05-27: 20 new bank account types for Global Payouts: "bd_bank_account : Bangladesh". Read 2026-10-17.
• PayPal: Choose your country or region: no Bangladesh site. Read 2026-10-17.
• Xoom: Send money to Bangladesh: inbound remittance. Read 2026-10-17.
• Lemon Squeezy: Supported countries: Bangladesh on the bank-payout list. Read 2026-10-17.
• Paddle: Which countries are supported?: unsupported list; Bangladesh absent. Read 2026-10-17.
• r/llc: "US business banking as a nonresident is harder…": founder reports; community source, not provider policy.

Disclosure

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

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