Can You Use These Providers From Nigeria? September 2026

Checked September 1, 2026 against each provider's own published policy.

Nigeria appears on no sanctions list among the providers we track. It is not on Mercury's sanctioned countries and regions list, which names Cuba, Iran, North Korea and the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. It is not on Upwork's sanctions-driven list either, which is why Upwork is open to you.

That matters. Nothing in US law prevents a bank from serving a Nigeria-resident founder.

Mercury, Relay and Wise each exclude Nigeria by their own risk policy rather than by legal obligation.

Mercury lists Nigeria among 48 countries under its "Prohibited countries" heading, separate from its sanctions heading:

"we're unable to open accounts for founders living in any of the countries and regions listed below."

Mercury, Prohibited countries.

Relay lists Nigeria among its 31, and tests citizenship as well as residence:

"Relay cannot open a Relay Account for any business owner who holds citizenship or residency in one of the following countries"

Relay, Prohibited Countries. Last updated August 11, 2026. So a Nigerian passport holder living in Berlin is outside Relay's policy too.

Wise excludes by absence rather than by naming you. Its list of 79 territories where you may hold money does not include Nigeria, and an inclusion list says no by silence.

This distinction is worth holding onto: an institutional exclusion is one company's judgment, and other institutions reach different judgments. A sanctions exclusion is not.

1. Stripe. Its residency requirement is scoped to unregistered businesses. Your registered LLC falls under a different sentence:

"Registered businesses must be registered in the US, even if you operate in another country"

Stripe, Requirements for having a US Stripe account.

The obstacle is the payout bank account, not eligibility.

2. Shopify Payments, if you sell through a Shopify store. Its residency rule covers individuals and sole proprietorships only, and it documents a passport route for representatives living abroad. It requires a full US checking account, ACH-eligible.

3. Apple Developer and Google Play, if you build apps. Apple states no residency or citizenship requirement anywhere. Google Play accepts a photo ID "issued in any country" from an organization's authorized representative, while demanding a United States government-issued ID from an individual account. Select the organization account.

4. Upwork, which is open. Its restrictions are sanctions-driven and Nigeria is not on the list.

5. Banking is the hard part, and it is a real project. With Mercury, Relay and Wise all closed, the routes left are a traditional US bank with in-person onboarding, which usually means travelling, or reconsidering whether a US entity fits what you are doing.

Payoneer. No published country eligibility list we could retrieve. Notably, Etsy does not star Nigeria among the sixteen countries whose sellers reach Etsy Payments through Payoneer, so we have no indirect evidence either way.

Amazon. Seller policy pages are login-gated. The 188-country figure in circulation dates from May 2021 and we will not republish it.

If you have opened or been refused either from Nigeria, tell us the month and what happened.

There is no US income tax treaty with Nigeria. Confirmed against the IRS treaty list on September 1, 2026: the entries under N are the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway.

That materially changes the analysis for a Nigeria-resident owner and is almost never explained in guides aimed at this market. What it means for you specifically is a question for a practitioner.