The statement by Mercury Bank’s co-founder highlights their decision to restrict services for Pakistani startups due to a high incidence of fraud among signups from Pakistan. Despite the co-founder’s personal connection to Pakistan, the bank has included Pakistan in a list of countries where account opening and usage are restricted. This decision was based on the observation that more than 10 percent of signups from Pakistan resulted in fraudulent activities, which the bank did not encounter to the same extent in other supported countries.
The co-founder expressed sadness about having to restrict services to Pakistan and suggested that Pakistan needs to address the issue of fraud to potentially resolve the situation in the future. This decision reflects the bank’s approach to risk management and maintaining the integrity of its services amid challenges related to fraudulent activities originating from certain regions.
As a consequence, businesses, startups, and individuals in Pakistan are unable to open new accounts or conduct transactions using Mercury.
According to Mercury’s official website, the complete roster of restricted countries includes
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Belarus (Republic of Belarus)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Rep
- Congo (the Democratic Republic of the)
- Congo (the)
- Croatia
- Cuba (Republic of Cuba)
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran)
- Iraq
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- North Korea (DPRK – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
- Pakistan
- Palestine (State of)
- Philippines
- Russia (Russian Federation)
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan (the)
- Syria (Syrian Arab Republic)
- Ukraine
- Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
This decision comes after federal scrutiny earlier this year involving Mercury’s partner, Choice Bank, for permitting foreign companies to open accounts under precarious conditions.
Now, Mercury has bolstered its risk and compliance teams and updated its eligibility criteria. Customers in specific countries, such as Pakistan, Palestine, and others listed previously, were notified of the closure of their accounts.
