Why the account happens in person
A US bank has to know who it is doing business with. For an American with a Social Security Number, a credit file and a utility bill, that check runs in the background. For a person with none of those things, the bank does what its rules allow it to do: it verifies you face to face, with original documents, in a branch.
That is why the remote paths keep collapsing. Fintech platforms onboard non-residents online because they are software companies whose accounts sit at partner banks, and their eligibility rules move. A chartered bank meets you once, in person, and then it knows you. Bank of America's page for non-residents puts it plainly: once you have confirmed your eligibility and collected your documents, you meet with a specialist at a financial center. Its small-business application says the same thing from the other side: the business must be US based, and foreign business customers are unable to apply online.
Before you walk in: the introduction
The single biggest difference between a good appointment and a bad one happens before the appointment. A walk-in is a stranger asking a busy branch to take on an unusual file. An introduced client is someone the banker has already heard about, whose documents were described in advance, and who arrives on a booked slot.
This is how our clients' banking days run. One of them, a GTM agency co-founder from Cyprus, described the Chase visit this way: "Chase, you went there with me, you knew the banker, so that always helps. I was able to open up super easy, made me a private client. Then Bank of America, no issues there. Got personal, got company." Private Client status was his own outcome, not a standard result. The part that repeats every time is the first half: the banker knew he was coming.
The appointment, step by step
- Identity. The banker checks your passport and a second form of identification against the application, and records the addresses on your application.
- Purpose. Why you want the account, what the business does, who your customers are, how money will come in and go out. Short, specific, consistent answers work. The story you tell has to match the documents on the desk.
- Source of funds. Where the opening deposit comes from and where the money that will flow through the account is earned. Banks ask everyone this; a non-resident gets asked more carefully.
- Ownership, for a business account. The bank records who owns the company and who controls it. If a partner or spouse owns part of the business, say so before you are asked.
- Signatures, disclosures and the funding deposit. The account exists once it is funded.
- Online banking and cards. Before you leave, set up online access and confirm how the bank will send you verification codes and where it will mail your debit card.
Robert, who runs a media company from Canada, put the value of preparation this way: "He had everything outlined. You want to go to Chase, do this, this, and this. Go to Capital One, do this. He knew all the procedures, knew the best branches. All it took was literally one day."
What the banker needs on the desk
- Passport, plus a second government-issued ID.
- Your ITIN letter from the IRS. It identifies you inside the US system in a way an EIN never can.
- Your company's formation documents and its EIN letter, if you are opening a business account.
- A US mailing address the bank can write to.
- Anything the banker asked for in advance. If they asked for it, bring the original.
Bank of America's page for international professionals lists what a non-resident alien brings: a US mailing address, two unexpired forms of identification, and a tax identification number if you have one. For a non-US founder that number is the ITIN. For a business account the bank also wants to see the company itself.
Personal and business accounts on the same day
A non-US founder usually needs both: a personal account in their own name and a business account for the company. In a branch, with the right introduction and file, they open in the same sitting, and then the next bank opens the next pair. Jack, who runs an AI growth consultancy from Australia, described his day: "Today I spent six, seven hours in banks, but now I have three banking relationships with three of the most powerful institutions in the world."
The personal account matters more than founders expect. It is the relationship the bank later underwrites a personal card against, and it is where the bank sees you keep your own money.
How much to bring
There is no magic number, and no deposit buys an account. What the banker is looking at is whether the balance matches the business you just described. A company doing real monthly revenue that opens with pocket change raises a question; one that funds the account with its own working capital answers it.
Two things to know about the money. It goes into your own checking account, so it stays yours; it is not a fee and it is not collateral. And it is the same liquidity we ask about before we talk about cards, because a banker who sees a funded relationship is a banker who can later say yes to credit.
If a banker says no
It happens, branch by branch, and it is rarely about you. A banker who has never opened a non-resident file may refuse rather than learn; a branch may have a manager who does not want the paperwork. What changes the answer is the introduction, the preparation and the file. Alvaro, a media buyer from Spain, said of his trip: "They explained what I need to say in the banks, how to go about everything, which banks to go to, pretty much everything in detail. There was no guesswork."
When a branch does say no, the answer is the next branch or the next bank on the plan, the same day, with the same documents. That is why the day is planned with more than one institution.
Mistakes founders make in the chair
- Telling a longer story than the documents support. Short, consistent, specific answers win.
- Bringing copies where the bank asked for originals, or a document in a language the banker cannot read without a certified translation.
- Not knowing the business's own numbers: monthly revenue, where customers are, what the account will be used for.
- Asking about credit cards in the first ten minutes. The relationship comes first; the cards are underwritten against it later.
After the account: keeping it alive from abroad
- Log in to online banking from your own device before you fly home and confirm two-factor codes reach you.
- Know where the debit card is going and who will receive it.
- Run real activity through the account: deposits, payments, transfers. A dormant account is the one that gets closed.
- Keep your business address and phone number current with the bank, and answer the bank's letters.
The Miami banking day, the way we run it
We build the base first: your ITIN, your US company with its EIN, the documentation a bank accepts. We introduce you to bankers at the institutions on your plan before you travel and send them the file they will ask for. Then you fly to Miami for one day, the Miami banking day, and we sit with you in the appointments. An e-commerce founder from Latvia summed up the feeling in the chair: "I just came to the bank, I had all the documents, and she's saying, 'You are prepared.'"
One trip, once. The card approval that follows is guaranteed in your agreement; the accounts opened that day are the foundation it rests on.