Stripe doesn't work in Bangladesh — so use a US LLC that already has its EIN

Stripe does not operate in Bangladesh. Per Stripe's official country list, Bangladesh is not among the supported-country set for native Stripe account creation (stripe.com/global). A Bangladeshi freelancer cannot sign up using a Bangladeshi national ID, a Bangladeshi company, or a BDT-denominated bank account.

The root cause is Bangladesh's foreign-exchange control regime. Bangladesh Bank — the central bank — regulates cross-border payments under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 and the Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions (GFET), with specific circulars restricting outward remittances and foreign card-acquirer relationships (bb.org.bd Bangladesh Bank circulars). These capital controls make it economically and legally difficult for Stripe to underwrite merchant accounts for Bangladesh-resident businesses.

Domestic alternatives don't solve the problem. bKash (Bangladesh's dominant mobile financial service) is limited to BDT, domestic-only, and cannot accept international card payments from your customers abroad. Nagad, Rocket, Upay are similar — BDT wallets, domestic-only. Bangladesh Bank restricts individual outward remittance under its annual caps on personal foreign-exchange quota.

What actually works for international merchants: Payoneer handles Upwork/Fiverr payouts to Bangladeshi bank accounts but is not a merchant processor you can put on your own website. Skrill, Neteller have limited coverage. None give you Stripe-level global card acceptance, Stripe Billing subscriptions, or the SaaS infrastructure the rest of the world transacts with.

The legal workaround used by thousands of Bangladeshi founders: own a US LLC with an EIN, open a US business bank account, and become the owner of a US Stripe account.

The destination is the same for everyone: a Wyoming LLC, an EIN, a US business bank account, and a live US Stripe account. The only question is how fast you get there.

Fastest — buy ready-made. Our ready-made Wyoming LLCs already exist and already have their EIN issued. The moment ownership transfers to you (typically within 24 hours), you can open Mercury and connect Stripe straight away. No state queue, no IRS wait.

Or register fresh — $549. If the exact company name matters more than speed, we'll register a brand-new Wyoming LLC in your chosen name and obtain the EIN for you. The four steps below are what that fresh-registration route looks like end-to-end.

Forming it yourself — the 4 steps

Four mainstream providers sell the same LLC + EIN + bank + Stripe outcome at four very different price points:

Competitor prices as listed on doola.com, firstbase.io and stripe.com/atlas, April 2026.

Payment methods that do NOT solve the Stripe problem

bKash is a BDT mobile wallet regulated by Bangladesh Bank. It handles domestic P2P, merchant payments, and bill pay — but it cannot accept international card payments from a Stripe-powered checkout, cannot settle a US Stripe balance, and is not accepted as a payout destination by Stripe.

Nagad, Rocket, Upay, SureCash are equivalent domestic wallets — BDT only, no international merchant acquiring. Payoneer works as a freelance-marketplace payout channel (Upwork, Fiverr, Amazon Associates) but is not a merchant processor you can embed on your own website or SaaS.

SSLCOMMERZ, ShurjoPay, AamarPay are local Bangladeshi gateways. They accept local debit/credit cards and mobile wallets but do not give you access to the global Stripe network that most US/UK/EU SaaS customers use.

Bangladesh tax and forex considerations

Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue (NBR) taxes residents on worldwide income under the Income Tax Act 2023. Income earned through a US LLC and received into a Mercury account is taxable in Bangladesh regardless of where it lands. Key points:

• Keep complete records — Stripe payouts, Mercury statements, LLC invoices and expenses
• Declare foreign income on your annual NBR return
• When repatriating funds, use Bangladesh Bank-authorised dealer banks (AD Banks) or a Wage Earner's Account / NRB scheme as applicable
• Bangladesh provides a 50% tax rebate on declared foreign-currency freelance earnings via the 0.5% source tax scheme — document properly
• No comprehensive US-Bangladesh income tax treaty exists. Consult a Bangladeshi CA familiar with cross-border freelancing.