Multi-currency banking for Delaware LLCs: when one US-dollar account is not enough

When USD-only is sufficient

US-customer-only revenue, US-customer-only expenses, and quick conversion to home currency: USD-only accounts work. Mercury and Relay both fit this pattern.

Most non-resident bootstrap founders start here. Adding multi-currency complexity has overhead that only pays off at sufficient scale or specific business patterns.

When multi-currency matters

Selling to European customers in EUR or GBP: receiving native-currency payments avoids customer-side FX friction. Paying overseas vendors in their local currency: avoids US-bank-side FX spread.

Holding earnings in multiple currencies for hedging: when home currency is volatile, splitting holdings across USD, EUR, and home currency reduces single-currency risk.

Wise Business provides local account numbers in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, and several others. Customers pay into the local-currency account directly without cross-currency conversion.

Practical multi-currency setup

Wise Business is the standard pick. Open the LLC's Wise account during the formation banking phase (Days 9-10). Activate the currencies you need. Local-account numbers in EUR, GBP, etc. become available within 1-2 days.

Watch the FX spread. Wise's spread is typically 0.3-0.7% above mid-market; competitors often hide higher spreads. For high-volume founders, the spread cost matters.