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I've been trying to obtain a merchant account for a US business I've started. Problem is, I'm a UK citizen, not a US one. Although I've got a US company and bank account, I've found every merchant requires a Social Security number (because of the Patriot act). I'm wondering what to do next - and whether I have to set up a UK company just to do the payment processing!

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Have a go with merchantplus.com. They're in the process of getting me one (I am pretty sure it's with Chase Bank); I am in the same position as you (non-US citizen with a US company) and I have already been pre-approved.

We're likely to end up with a worse rate then US citizens would, but it's still better then no merchant account.

A federal tax id can usually be used in place of SSN.

I've got a EIN - and it's no substitute to a SS# to the people I've talked to.

The banks I've talked with want the SSN of someone who can qualify for a revolving line of credit equal to your transaction volume. ie, you want to do 30K of money per month, you have to be wealthy enough to swing a $30,000 unsecured bank loan. The "reserve balance" thing is no longer being offered.

The standard is to require a signature (or two) of a guarantor. I don't think they actually check the guarantor's bank account or credit limit though. That said I've only gone to dedicated merchants, and not banks.

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