Review · Banks & neobanks for ITIN and international founders
The short version: Current (operated by FinCo Services Inc.) is a US consumer neobank offering fee-free checking, early direct deposit, and a Visa debit card. It is not designed for non-resident founders — it requires an SSN and a US residential address, and its product is oriented toward US consumers rather than international business owners. This review exists because Current appears in cross-provider CFPB analyses and founders occasionally encounter it in comparisons.
If you are looking for a banking option as a non-resident founder, see Mercury, Wise Business, or the best US business bank accounts.
What Current is
Current is a consumer fintech operating through Choice Financial Group, an FDIC-insured bank. It offers:
- Fee-free checking with a Visa debit card
- Early direct deposit (up to 2 days early)
- No minimum balance requirements
- Savings pods with interest
- Instant gas hold removal
It is a consumer product aimed at US residents, particularly those underserved by traditional banks. It does not offer business accounts, does not accept EIN-only applications, and is not accessible to non-residents without an SSN.
Why it appears in this analysis: Current has 2,182 CFPB complaints — the second-largest dataset of the seven providers we examined — and its complaint profile is meaningfully different from the US business banks. That difference is worth documenting for the cross-provider analysis.
What actually happens, by the numbers
Current's complaint record is dominated by day-to-day operational problems rather than the compliance-driven closure pattern seen at Mercury and Relay.
2,182 total complaints. After filtering for freeze, closure, hold, verification and business-account language: 481 usable.
| What people complained about | Count |
|---|---|
| Managing an account | 858 |
| Problem with a lender charging the account | 337 |
| Problem with a purchase on a statement | 149 |
| Closing an account | 145 |
| Incorrect information on your report | 99 |
Closure is 7% of complaints — against Mercury's 55%. The dominant complaint is account management: cards not working, deposits delayed, access problems.
The sub-issues:
| Sub-issue | Count |
|---|---|
| Problem using a debit or ATM card | 387 |
| Transaction was not authorised | 292 |
| Deposits and withdrawals | 203 |
| Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed | 115 |
| Funds not received from closed account | 84 |
| Banking errors | 74 |
The pattern in the filings
70 of 481 filtered narratives describe funds held, locked or frozen. 35 describe no reason being given. 50 describe being asked for documents.
110 mention fraud, risk or suspicious activity — proportionally the highest of the large sets we examined. This is consistent with a consumer product with a younger user base and higher fraud exposure than a business banking product.
How Current responds
| Outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| Closed with explanation | 1,932 |
| Closed with monetary relief | 121 |
| Closed with non-monetary relief | 38 |
121 cases resolved with money changing hands — the highest absolute number of the seven providers, though on a much larger base.
The trend
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 58 |
| 2021 | 151 |
| 2022 | 192 |
| 2023 | 187 |
| 2024 | 250 |
| 2025 | 650 |
| 2026 (to August) | 689 |
The 2025–2026 acceleration is notable. Current's complaint volume roughly tripled from 2024 to 2025 and is on pace to match or exceed that in 2026. We cannot tell you whether this reflects growth, product deterioration, or increased awareness of the CFPB process. It is the sharpest upward trend of any provider in this analysis.
What this means for you
If you are a non-resident founder, Current is not an option — it requires an SSN and a US address, and it is a consumer product rather than a business banking product.
The complaint record is included here because it contributes to the cross-provider picture on the bank account shutdown guide. Current's profile — high fraud citations, operational rather than compliance-driven complaints, and a sharp recent uptick — is a different failure mode from Mercury or Relay, and understanding the difference helps you choose the right tool for the right job.
Where this data comes from, and its limits
The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database is a public record maintained by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Complaints are published with the consumer's narrative and the company's response, personal details redacted.
Three limits.
Complaint data is filed by dissatisfied customers. This records what goes wrong, not how often.
Current's user base is primarily US-resident consumers. This record likely represents its actual customer base reasonably well — unlike providers serving non-residents, where the CFPB under-represents the audience.
Some proportion of any complaint set involves accounts closed for genuine cause. We cannot distinguish those and have not tried.
Data current to August 2026. Next review: February 2027.
Alternatives for non-resident founders
- Mercury — most open door for EIN-only non-residents
- Wise Business — broadest eligibility, payments rail
- Relay — requires ITIN and US address, strong accounting integrations
- Best US business bank accounts — full ranked comparison
- Bank account shutdown guide — cross-provider CFPB analysis
Independence note
This review is based on the public CFPB complaint record and publicly available information about Current's product. We have no affiliate relationship with Current or FinCo Services Inc.
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