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Payoneer and the alternatives: accounts for founders the banks turn away

The providers that give a US company US account details when Mercury and Wise won't: Payoneer, Grey, Raenest, Airwallex and others, and who each one serves.

Updated 17 September 2026Checked against the sources named in the text

For most founders abroad, Mercury comes first. For founders in Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Bangladesh, the Philippines and a few dozen other countries, Mercury isn't an option, and Wise may not be either. That's where the providers below come in. None of them is a bank, but each gives a US company a way to be paid in dollars.

Payoneer

The oldest and most widely connected of these. A Payoneer account gives a company receiving accounts in US dollars, euros, pounds and other currencies, including US account and routing numbers for ACH, and Amazon, Upwork, Fiverr, Airbnb and most other marketplaces offer it as a payout option. It serves founders in far more countries than the banks do. Its fees, charged on some incoming payments and on conversion, are higher than Wise's, and it charges a yearly fee on accounts that receive very little. It's the default for marketplace sellers and platform freelancers, and a reliable second account for everyone else.

Grey and Raenest

Two services built for African founders and freelancers. Raenest was called Geegpay until 2024. Each gives US, UK and European account details for receiving money, with conversion to local currency and payouts to local banks. Both serve Nigeria, which Mercury and Relay don't, along with several other African countries, and their fees are charged on conversion and payout. Check which of them offers an account for a company as well as for individuals, because that decides whether the account can be in your LLC's name. The Nigeria page has more.

Airwallex

A business account with balances in several currencies, local account details, cards and payment acceptance, for companies registered in the countries Airwallex operates in, which include the US. Whether it takes a US company with a foreign owner depends on where the owner lives and on its review. It's worth a look for a company with real volume in more than one currency.

Relay

A good account for a business based in the US, and rarely the right one for a founder abroad. Relay requires a non-US owner to have a US address and an ITIN or SSN, and bars owners who are citizens or residents of a list of countries that includes Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Lebanon, Iraq, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. If you do have the address and the number, its separate sub-accounts are useful.

Brex and Ramp

Corporate cards and spend management for funded US startups, with business accounts attached. Both prefer companies with US operations or venture funding, so a self-funded foreign-owned LLC usually isn't their customer. Founders with a Delaware corporation sometimes qualify after raising a round.

Choosing

Which provider to try first, September 2026
If you
Start with
Then
Live in a country Mercury serves
Mercury
Wise Business or Payoneer
Live in Croatia or Latvia
Wise Business
Payoneer
Live in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia or Vietnam
Payoneer
Wise Business, if it accepts your company
Live in Nigeria
Payoneer, Grey or Raenest
Another of them as a second account
Sell on Amazon or freelance platforms
Payoneer for payouts
Mercury or Wise for everything else
Have a funded Delaware corporation
Mercury
Brex or Ramp after the round

Questions

The questions this guide gets asked.

If yours is not here, email us at [email protected] before you order.

Payoneer, Grey or Raenest can give you US account details and pay out to Nigerian banks. Mercury and Relay don't serve Nigerian residents, and Nigeria isn't on Wise's list of countries where people can hold money with it.

No. It's a regulated payments company that provides receiving accounts and marketplace payouts. It's widely connected to marketplaces and serves founders in most countries.

Usually only once it has US operations or venture funding. Both are built for funded startups rather than self-funded companies owned from abroad.

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