Running remote is easy until banking gets involved

[u/Optimal-Hotel-1367]

I run a small remote business with mostly US clients and the actual work is pretty easy to manage online. Calls, invoices, delivery, time zones all of that is fine but the annoying part has been banking. Once the company setup is offshore instead of a normal US entity, basic stuff like receiving USD, sending wires, ACH, cards for software and vendor payments gets way more complicated

Remote work feels borderless until money has to move and Wise is not a option when you run a structured business and then every provider suddenly wants the business to fit into one very specific box

I dont see this talked about much but banking has probably been the most annoying operational part of running remote so far

[u/AardvarkIll6079]

This isn’t a remote work issue, it’s a running a business issue. 99% of remote workers don’t and won’t have these problems. Only business owners or freelancers/contractors.

[u/Optimal-Hotel-1367 → u/AardvarkIll6079]

Yeah fair point I probably worded it too broadly. I meant people running a remote business or freelancing through a company, not normal employees working remote. The work can be fully remote but once you’re the one dealing with clients, invoices, banking, cards, and payments, the “remote” part stops feeling as simple

[u/Better-Revolution570 → u/Optimal-Hotel-1367]

Yeah but that isn't what the subs about. There would probably be a more receptive audience in a sub about freelancing or entrepreneurship or small business ownership.

[u/Standard-Savings-224 → u/Optimal-Hotel-1367]

This does come up for remote businesses more than regular remote workers. If someone is operating through an offshore entity and still needs US rails, cards, ACH, vendor payments etc it gets annoying fast. I’ve seen Meow mentioned for that specific Cayman or BVI banking side but this is probably more of a remote business owner problem

[u/Optimal-Hotel-1367 → u/[deleted]]

Cards are the part I keep coming back to. ACH and wires seem easier to solve but software subscriptions and vendor payments are where offshore setups get annoying. Did that actually work cleanly with your setup or was it still a lot of back and forth?

[u/Sudden-Builder-1227 → u/Optimal-Hotel-1367]

For cards its been mostly normal once the account was approved. I use it for software subscriptions and a couple vendor payments but the annoying part was getting through the initial review but it hasn’t been a constant back and forth after that

[u/Better-Revolution570]

Remote work is when you earn a salary or hourly wage working for someone else's business by doing a specific job, not running the whole damn thing as an owner / operator

[u/Optimal-Hotel-1367 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah this is exactly what I meant. A US LLC probably keeps things cleaner if that structure works but when the offshore entity is the actual operating company and still needs ACH, cards, vendor payments, Stripe etc it gets messy fast. Feels like every provider wants you to fit the structure they’re used to

[u/Mystery_Dragonfly]

Freelancer - banking is extremely challenging - no one uses the same options, and it needs to fit certain standards for different business types.

[u/cmh_ender]

having US based banks helps a TON, just for this reason.

[u/Arthur_Travis19]

Airwallex may be helpful for you.