Mercury Bank Blocks Fintech Founders From Nigeria, Ukraine, and a Dozen More Countries

The U.S.-based fintech company, Mercury, will offboard startups whose founders reside in or whose businesses are headquartered in 14 African countries and six non-African states. Mercury CEO Immad Akhund stated that this decision impacts customers whose deposits constitute less than 1% of Mercury’s total deposits.

Affected Customers’ Deposits Less Than 1% of Mercury’s

Mercury Bank, a U.S.-based bank for fintechs, has said it will offboard startups whose founders reside in or whose businesses are headquartered in 14 African and six non-African countries. The bank said it made the decision to ease the strain on its operations teams and financial partners.

In a statement on X, Mercury Bank CEO Immad Akhund cited a stricter regulatory environment as forcing the bank to make the “difficult decision.” However, Akhund noted that the decision affects customers whose deposits account for less than 1% of Mercury’s total deposits.

Mozambique, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe are among the African countries impacted by the policy change. Ukraine is among the non-African countries added to the list.

CEO Vows to Revisit Policy in the Future

Commenting on the inclusion of Ukraine, which is home to many successful startups, Akhund said:

Ukraine in particular was a tough one. There are a lot of great startups in Ukraine, but about 20% of Ukraine is sanctioned. Verifying and monitoring which part of a country someone lives into a high standard becomes highly complex at scale and the penalty for making even one mistake is large.

Mercury’s CEO, however, claimed that the decision would likely advance the bank’s compliance program. In Nigeria, where fintech startups have reportedly relied on the bank, the addition of the West African nation to the list has created challenges for founders.

According to a report by Techpoint Africa, Nigerian founders residing in the U.S. have also been affected by this decision. Meanwhile, in his statement, Akhund expressed empathy for international founders and pledged to review the policy in the future.

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