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Ask HN: Opening an FDIC insured savings account in US as a non-resident?

9 points by solar_warehouse ↗ HN
Seems like companies (or rather neo-banks/Fintechs) like Mercury provide an amazing yield while also being FDIC insured at the same time. This is not generally accessible for people who are residing in 3rd world countries. Is there any alternative banks in the US that natively support non-residents to open an account (remotely or in-person but without a proof of address) and provide FDIC insurance?

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United States banks do not tend to be organized towards meeting the needs of depositors who don't live in the united states and/or aren't authorized to live in the united states. Most of the higher yield accounts are limited to natural persons, so banking through a US company setup for that purpose isn't likely to get you the yields you're looking for, although it could likely get you FDIC protection at near-zero yields, which isn't nothing.

You might have better luck looking for an international brokerage that can let you transact in the US brokered Certificate of Deposit (CD) market. Many of those offerings are also FDIC insured, and the marketplace dynamics may mean the bank only transitively vets the customers, and brokerage vetting may be more flexible?

Of course, a lot of US brokerages also don't want to work with customers who don't live in the us and/or aren't authorized to live in the us.

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