Mercury and Ramp are built for US companies. If your company is incorporated outside the US, sells to customers abroad or pays suppliers and contractors in other currencies, a US dollar account only gets you part of the way. Here is what changes when your business crosses borders: who can open an account, how you get paid, how you pay out, what it costs and where stablecoins fit.
Last checked October 20, 2026. Every fact about Mercury and Ramp links to their own pages.
At a glance
| Limited | Mercury | Ramp | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US company required | No | Yes, plus existing or planned US operations | Yes, plus an EIN and a US physical address |
| Account details in your company's name | USD, EUR, GBP, MXN, BRL, NGN (UAE and Colombia in limited rollout) | US account only | US account only |
| Getting paid by customers abroad | Domestic payment to your local account in six markets, or stablecoins | SWIFT wire, converted to USD on arrival | SWIFT wire into the US account |
| Paying suppliers and contractors abroad | Local currency to businesses in 85+ countries and to individuals in 100+ | SWIFT wire only; 1% fee on non-USD wires | SWIFT USD wire; local currency in about 60 country-currency pairs |
| Card fee on foreign-currency spend | 0% on Gold, 1% on Silver, 2.50% on White | 3% | Markup of up to 3% on some charges |
| NetSuite and ERP integrations | Included on every plan | NetSuite on Mercury Pro, $299 a month | NetSuite and Sage Intacct on Ramp Plus, $15 per user per month plus a platform fee |
| Stablecoins | Self-custodial USDC, USDT and EURC on 11 chains | Not offered | Custodial USDC and USDT; US businesses only, excluding New York |
| FDIC insurance on USD | Yes, through partner banks | Yes, through partner banks | Yes, through partner banks |
| Built for | Companies that operate across borders | US companies operating in dollars | US companies managing US spend |
A US account is not a global account
You need a US company to open either one. Mercury requires a company formed and registered in the United States, with existing or planned US operations. Ramp requires US registration, an EIN and a US physical address. In July 2024 Mercury stopped serving customers with business or home addresses in several countries, including Nigeria and Ukraine (TechCrunch). Limited verifies your company where it is incorporated, across its supported countries. No US entity, no US address.
Your customers pay you by international wire. With Mercury or Ramp, a customer in Europe, the UK, Mexico or Brazil pays a US bank by SWIFT. Mercury cannot hold non-USD balances, so euros, pounds and pesos are converted to dollars on arrival, and on one of its partner banks intermediary banks typically add a 2% to 3% markup to the exchange rate. With Limited, those customers pay your company's own local account as a domestic payment: SEPA in Europe, Faster Payments in the UK, SPEI in Mexico and Pix in Brazil. You can hold the currency, or have it credited as USD or USDC.
You pay out by wire. Mercury sends international payments by SWIFT wire only, with a 1% conversion fee on non-USD wires, and only if your company's legal address is in the US. Ramp adds local-currency payments in about 60 country-currency pairs. Limited pays out in local currency to businesses in 85+ countries and 50+ currencies, and to individuals such as contractors in 100+ countries, to bank accounts and mobile wallets. Every fee and exchange-rate margin is shown before you confirm.
What it costs
Card spend abroad. Mercury charges 3% on every non-USD transaction on its debit and IO cards. Ramp applies Visa's rate plus a markup of up to 3% on some international charges. Limited charges 2.50% on Business White, 1% on Silver and 0% on Gold.
On $50,000 a month of foreign-currency card spend, a 3% fee is $1,500 a month, or $18,000 a year. On Limited Gold the fee is zero, and the membership is $449.99 a year.
Accounting. Limited includes its accounting integrations on every plan, including the free one: QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and more. At Mercury, NetSuite categorizations are listed on Mercury Pro at $299 a month, or $3,588 a year. At Ramp, NetSuite and Sage Intacct need Ramp Plus, at $15 per user per month plus a platform fee.
Stablecoins built in, not bolted on
B2B stablecoin payments grew 733% year over year in 2025, roughly eight times in twelve months (McKinsey and Artemis Analytics). Limited is the only one of the three with self-custodial stablecoin accounts built into the business account: USDC, USDT and EURC across 11 chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon and Tron. You hold the keys.
Mercury does not offer stablecoins; its accounts hold fiat only. Ramp's stablecoin account is custodial: funds sit in a wallet managed by Ramp's infrastructure partners and are held as a different stablecoin at rest. It supports USDC and USDT only, and only US-based businesses outside New York can open one.
FDIC insurance: the same on all three
Mercury, Ramp and Limited are all financial technology companies, not banks. All three hold US dollar balances at FDIC-insured partner banks, and for all three, FDIC insurance covers the failure of the partner bank. Stablecoins are not bank deposits, so FDIC insurance does not apply to them on any platform.
When Mercury or Ramp is enough
If your company is formed in the US, runs in dollars and pays mostly US vendors, Mercury or Ramp will do the job, and Ramp's spend management is strong. Once you invoice customers abroad, pay suppliers or contractors in their own currency, or operate without a US entity, both become a US account you wire money into and out of. That is the business Limited is built for.
Questions founders ask
Can a company outside the US open a Mercury account?
No. Mercury requires a company formed and registered in the United States, with existing or planned US operations.
Does Ramp work for companies outside the US?
Only through a US entity. Ramp requires US registration, an EIN and a US physical address, and its stablecoin account is limited to US-based businesses outside New York.
What is the best Mercury alternative for a company outside the US?
Limited. It verifies your company where it is incorporated and gives it local account details in six markets, local-currency payouts to businesses in 85+ countries, cards with a 0% foreign transaction fee on Gold and self-custodial stablecoins, with no US entity required.
Are Limited's US dollar deposits FDIC-insured?
Yes, through FDIC-insured partner banks, the same structure as Mercury and Ramp. Like them, Limited is a financial technology company, not a bank.
The bottom line
Mercury and Ramp are strong US accounts. Limited is a global one: account details in your company's name in six markets, local-currency payouts to businesses in 85+ countries, a 0% card foreign transaction fee on Gold, every accounting integration included and stablecoins you control. Cross-border payments reached $208 trillion in 2025 (FXC Intelligence), and that is where business banking is heading.
Compare Limited plans or open an account.
Sources
Checked October 20, 2026 unless dated.
- Mercury eligibility: support.mercury.com
- Mercury plans, wire fees and NetSuite on Pro: mercury.com/pricing
- Mercury FDIC insurance and non-bank disclosure: mercury.com/security
- Mercury incoming non-USD payments: Receiving non-USD payments
- Mercury outgoing international payments: Sending international payments
- Mercury card conversion fee: Conversion fees for non-USD card transactions
- Mercury fiat-only accounts: mercury.com/web3
- Mercury country restrictions: TechCrunch, July 23, 2024
- Ramp eligibility: support.ramp.com
- Ramp plans and integrations: ramp.com/pricing
- Ramp FDIC insurance and non-bank disclosure: ramp.com/business-checking-account
- Ramp inbound SWIFT wires: Ramp Operating Account overview
- Ramp international payments: International transfers on Ramp Bill Pay
- Ramp card currency conversion: ramp.com/answers
- Ramp stablecoins: Ramp Stablecoin Account overview
- Limited plans and card fees: limitedapp.com/en/pricing
- Limited partner institutions: limitedapp.com/en/legal
- B2B stablecoin payment growth: McKinsey and Artemis Analytics, February 2026
- Cross-border payments, $208 trillion in 2025: FXC Intelligence, Cross-Border Payments Global Market Sizing Report 2026, March 5, 2026
Disclosures: Limited is a financial technology company, not a bank. USD balances are held at FDIC-insured partner banks, listed on our legal page. FDIC insurance covers the failure of a partner bank, not of Limited, and depends on pass-through requirements being met. Stablecoin balances and local-currency accounts held outside the US are not FDIC-insured.
