On July 23, 2024, Mercury said it was offboarding some U.S.-domiciled business customers connected to countries it could no longer support, including Ukraine and Nigeria. The episode was not a blanket ban on Ukrainian passport holders: Mercury said the relevant factor was founders’ location, and its current account guidance, checked October 8, 2026, says eligibility is based on residence rather than citizenship.
What Mercury announced in July 2024
TechCrunch reported on July 23, 2024 that Mercury had stopped supporting some customers whose businesses were domiciled in the United States but whose business or residential addresses were in selected countries, including Ukraine, Nigeria and Croatia. Mercury also cited frequent account activity from locations it could no longer support.
A Mercury spokesperson said the company identified affected accounts using business and residential addresses provided during onboarding and regular KYC/KYB refreshes, as well as frequent locations of account activity measured through IP addresses. The report describes a company account review and offboarding decision; it does not establish that every customer connected to those countries was affected.
Why the Ukrainian-passport wording caused confusion
Mercury’s first help-center wording incorrectly said it could not support founders with a Ukrainian passport. The company later told TechCrunch: “We made an error in our help center article which incorrectly said we could not support founders with a Ukrainian passport.” Mercury said the change applied to companies with founders located in Ukraine, not Ukrainian-passport holders living in the United States.
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That distinction is central: a founder’s residence or location is not the same thing as citizenship. The wording correction did not mean every U.S.-resident Ukrainian citizen was guaranteed an account; account applications and continued access can still be subject to review.
What Mercury’s current account policy says
As checked October 8, 2026, Mercury’s prohibited-country guidance says account-opening restrictions are based on where founders live, not their nationality. It lists Ukraine and Nigeria among the countries where founders living there cannot open accounts. Citizens of those countries who reside elsewhere may still be eligible, subject to application review.
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This is current help-page guidance, not proof that the wording or all eligibility rules have remained unchanged since July 2024. Applicants should read Mercury’s live country guidance and confirm their specific founder residences, company domicile and entity circumstances before relying on eligibility.
Account eligibility and card restrictions are different
Mercury maintains a separate page for countries where its cards are restricted. That page says card attempts in listed countries, or with merchants located in them, are declined. Its Ukraine entry specifies sanctioned regions. A card transaction restriction is not the same rule as whether a founder or company can open an account.
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Who else was affected, according to the report
TechCrunch reported that two Nigerian founders living in the United States said Mercury planned to close their accounts within 30 days. Mercury said passports were not part of those offboarding decisions. Separately, TechCrunch reported that almost 30 accounts linked to startups in Nigeria and other African countries had been restricted in 2022; the report does not provide an exact count or underlying dataset.
The article also described the episode amid federal scrutiny of Mercury partner Choice Bank, but the available reporting cited here does not establish a regulator’s finding that explains the offboarding decisions. Benjamin Dada, identified by TechCrunch as a Nigerian fintech partnerships expert, argued that customers from Nigeria should not be treated as equivalent in risk to customers from Iran or North Korea. That was his assessment, not a regulatory conclusion.
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What affected founders should check before choosing another provider
TechCrunch named Brex, Raenest, Verto and Leatherback in its 2024 coverage as possible alternatives or providers positioned to serve affected customers. Those mentions are historical leads, not confirmation of present eligibility or equivalent services. The article’s reported Brex offer was tied to a $500,000 deposit and $10,000 in card spending; it should not be treated as a current promotion.
Before moving a company’s banking or payments, compare providers on the details that determine whether the service will actually work:
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- Founder and owner eligibility: Check residence and citizenship requirements, including whether every beneficial owner must qualify.
- Company requirements: Confirm accepted company domicile, entity type and operating address.
- Account function: Verify whether the provider offers a full operating account with U.S. account details or only payment and collection services.
- Payments and cards: Check supported inbound and outbound rails, currencies, countries, card issuance, transaction limits and physical-card delivery.
- Access and cost: Review account-review and closure procedures, access to funds during a review, current fees and minimum balances directly with the provider.
The 2024 report does not establish current country coverage or terms for the named providers. Verify those points with each company rather than assuming that an alternative serving one founder or business will accept another.
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