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Stilt — Free US bank account and card for Immigrants
A bank account for immigrants which is pre-approved and ready to use before you arrive in the US. ZERO Fees - No overdraft fees. No NSFs. No Annual Fee. Ever. Get credit up to $5,000. No SSN Required. Deposits are FDIC insured up to $250K.
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Congrats on the launch, Rohit & Stilt team. As someone who recently relocated to the states, I can relate to many points Stilt solves here and in fact, I was searching for such a solution two months ago.
The closest I found was Nova Credit that helped me use my credit history built with credit card companies in India, and use that to apply for a credit card in the USA.
With bank accounts, Bank of America was able to set up and activate my bank account on day one of arrival. They don't request SSN to open the account, and few other banks don't expect SSN either. In fact, BofA can open bank accounts even with a business/tourist visa. Nova Credit also has a resource section, that lists banks who can open a bank account without SSN. The BofA debit card reached me in 5 days.
Technically, I was able to open my bank account and apply for a credit card using my foreign credit history on day one. By the end of week one, I had a fully functional bank account with a debit card and a credit card. By the end of month one, my credit history in the US was already building. I'm glad Stilt is making this process accessible!
I'd love to test your service and provide feedback too! Good luck!
Definitely wish this existed before. Congratulations on the launch, best of luck :) @rohitdotmittal @priyanksingh_
Hi Naren, thanks for pointing it out. We will update the criteria for the bank account soon. The eligibility criteria are simple - anyone in the U.S. or moving to the U.S. with a valid visa, employment authorization, or residency status is eligible to open an account with Stilt.
Hi everyone,
My name is Rohit and I’m the co-founder and CEO of Stilt. We are excited to bring you the most powerful bank account for immigrants and visa holders. You can get an account on B-1/B-2, F-1, H-1B, J-1, L-1, TN, O-1, DACA and many more visa types.
We bring years of experience in helping immigrants with financial services to our next product. It has all the features to help you get settled financially when you move to the US.
- Open an account in minutes.
- No minimum account balance required.
- Instant Virtual cards for online shopping.
- Credit lines up to $5k. No SSN required.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- No WIRE transfer fee.
- FDIC insured up to $250k.
and a lot more.
@rohitdotmittal Great product!
You are saying that "You can get an account on B-1/B-2 (...) and many more visa types." while in the website it says "B1/B2 and several other visas are not eligible."
Can you clarify that?
@rohitdotmittal Congrats on the launch, looks very cool! Is it possible for an expat like me, who is a US citizen but lives elsewhere, to sign up for a Stilt account + card? For some reason I can't find a bank that'll open an account for me with a debit card because I don't have a residence in the US.
@rohitdotmittal I'm confused. The eligibility says "You need to be physically present in the U.S. during the application process."
@mrahmadawais Hi Ahmad, we also have a lending product and the link may be pointing to eligibility requirements of our unsecured loan product. We will get this fixed.
@fede_nelli1 Hi Fede, we also have a lending product and the link may be pointing to eligibility requirements of our unsecured loan product. We will get this fixed.
I remember how difficult it was to navigate the financial services system when I first moved to the US. This would have been so great to have back then. Congratulations!
@bkim9324 Hi Brian, we only make money when you use our debit card and credit products. It aligns interests and pushes us to build a great product that customers find valuable.
Roommate just went through the problem of making a US bank account, took him a whole month+ to resolve it, during which he couldn't get paid easily, or even transact... glad Stilt's launched this, it's sorely needed
Congratulations @rohitdotmittal . I used the service back in 2016 to refinance my education loan and had a pretty smooth experience. I am really excited to see the services being expanded :)
@satiwick1 Thanks a lot Satwick! We hope to live up to and exceed expectations immigrants.
This is definitely a great product amid the myriad of challenges it may face due to strong competition from incumbent too-big-to-fail banks and fintech-oriented BaaS-supported like Chime, Simple and the rest. Creativity will be key for a successful launch as well as a clever product strategy to keep the brand relevant over time. I wish you the best of success.
As someone who lived this pain when I first moved to US, I am so so glad that this product exists!
Congratulations Stilt team! As an immigrant, I know how hard first few months can be in a new country. Having access to a bank account will alleviate much of that stress. Wish you a lot of success!
@salim_ramees Yes, absolutely. You can sign up and we open the account for you. It will be activated immediately after you arrive in the US. We hope to make it convenient and simple to access all the services soon after you land.
Wait, how is this even legal? Can this be opened by any US citizen? How do you prevent people abusing these kind of accounts to stash away cash from IRS as there is no SSN linkages. How does your IRS reporting works?
@shital_shah Hi Shital, Yes this is totally legal and U.S. citizens can also open an account. By democratizing access to immigrants, we do not exclude people with SSNs. Stilt account is built on top of a real bank behind the scenes. We follow best practices to prevent money laundering and the bank does the same.
Evabot for Slack