Mercury Bank has decided to close all business account in 37 countries around the world.
This will be effective from 22nd August, 2024.
This move has caused jitters within the continental startup ecosystem.
African countries to be affected include: Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Cameroon, Burundi, Congo Republic, DRC, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Mali, Liberia, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic.
The announcement has led to lamentations from tech startup founders on social media
The tech startup sees the action as discriminatory, citing that they have no choice but to look for alternative banks to furnish their operations.
The digital bank based in San Francisco is heavily relied upon by startups operating within the continent especially because a massive chunk of the funding for the ecosystem is generated in the US.
“We regret to inform you that due to the recent changes in how we determine account eligibility, we are no longer able to support accounts for businesses with associated addresses located in these countries (the mentioned ones),” read an email from the bank.
“Mercury closed my accounts too even with founders living in the US. No proper process or appeal, just carry and go if you have ties to Nigeria. The exact policy that even caused this isn’t even well-explained,” said Akintunde Sultan, co-founder of AltSchool on X (formerly twitter).
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