@probiz Welcome to our forum.
Aside from all the info posted above, I do want to add that fintechs have become particularly challenging for internationals since the beginning of 2024. Specifically, if you provide a non-U.S. passport, you are automatically assumed to NOT be living in the U.S. so you have a much larger hurdle to overcome.
Fintechs, and many other financial institutions, don’t just look at whether you have an office or not. They will look at whether it’s credible for you to be doing your “day to day” work at your home or office. So it’s no longer a case of “I have an office”, but that you have to show “I have an office and I am performing work here.”
Normally, this will require you to show some sort of physical use of the office. Installing a utility service under your name is generally one way to show this. For that reason, a lease agreement is usually no longer sufficient these days.
In regards to rejection reasons, Fintechs like to lump all the different reasons for rejecting you due to an address under one general category of “PO Box”. This doesn’t always mean that the address is a PO Box. There may be other reasons – perhaps you didn’t provide sufficient proof that you actually make use of the office (ie. no utility bill under your name). To prove a point, a PO Box is short for “Post Office Box”, which is a mailbox that resides physically at a post office. A PO Box always has the address format like the following:
PO BOX 1234
New York, NY 10001
VPM is not the post office, so none of the addresses, whether mailbox or physical office or home, are considered PO Boxes. From this, you can see that fintechs are just lumping a large group of reasons they reject you under a general category.
With all that said, VPM does not like working with fintechs for many of the reasons specified in this post and previous posts, but specifically for the fact that they are not banks to be begin with. Fintechs are considered a tech company that uses a bank to handle the banking and compliance. This extra layer generally creates more underwriting reviews both on the fintech side and the bank side. More underwriting means more requirements to fulfill.
Just to be clear, it’s possible to open accounts with fintechs, but you have to go through a lot more hoops to get approved. The complexity and hassle of working with fintechs is just too great for many people. That’s why VPM’s physical address services explicitly do not support fintechs because most people do not know how to navigate through this on their own. We make this clear on our website and when you fill out the questionnaire before you sign up for TruLease.
Recommendations
With that said, I personally have some recommendations on increasing your chances for approval:
- Prepare a list of banks to work with. Every bank has different underwriting requirements, so while one bank may decline you, another bank may approve you.
- Open bank accounts with traditional banks. Traditional banks have more control over their own underwriting process. Large institutional banks are also more stable financially and also have their compliance process battle-tested. Therefore, their underwriting review is easier to understand.
- Open bank accounts in person. By opening accounts in person, you reduce the bank’s risk due to identity fraud and other factors. Also, going to the bank in person shows that you’re physically in the U.S. This will provide more credibility to you residing in the U.S. and working at a U.S. office.
- Install utility service. By installing a utility service under your name, it provides further proof that you have access to the office and make use of it. These days, a lease agreement by itself is usually no longer sufficient.
My personal advice is not to open bank accounts with fintechs as your ONLY/PRIMARY bank account. I would recommend that you go with a traditional bank for more stability and safety for your money. Fintech accounts are good as secondary accounts for their “tech features”. But it’s best not to keep too much money in a fintech account. Having more than one bank account will also help you in case one bank decides to suspend your account.
Hope this helps.