Mercury Bank, a San Francisco-based digital bank for startups has announced that it will stop supporting accounts from certain regions. The bank will no longer serve startups whose founders have passports of the below listed African countries.

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Maryflygirl:
Mercury Bank, a San Francisco-based digital bank for startups has announced that it will stop supporting accounts from certain regions. The bank will no longer serve startups whose founders have passports of the below listed African countries.

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“Due to recent changes in how we determine account eligibility, we are no longer able to support accounts for businesses with associated addresses located in these countries,” according to emails seen by TechCabal. With the new prohibitions, African startups incorporated in Delaware cannot open Mercury accounts unless the founders live in the U.S.

While Mercury cited those concerns, it has not helped that some affected countries have been on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Greylist since 2023. Countries on the list are subject to additional scrutiny because of deficiencies in money laundering and terrorism financing regulations. “Greylisting adds another layer of risk and complexity to businesses that already perceive Nigeria as a high-risk country for anti-corruption and other financial crime risks,” according to a 2023 KPMG report.

https://techcabal.com/2024/07/23/us-bank-mercury-to-close-accounts-of-nigerian-startups/

Cost of verifying clients (startup founders) in order to satisfy their home country's regulatory regime made it difficult for them to continue doing business in non US jurisdictions

I didn't use their services. Was it popular here?