Stripe’s Atlas program promises to create an instant U.S. presence for non-U.S. merchants who want to access the U.S. consumer market and avoid the complications (and costs) of cross-border transactions. The program bundles a Delaware corporation, a bank account and Stripe’s U.S. payments platform.
But as this tech.eu article appropriately points out, there are a number of tax, regulatory and compliance issues. It’s not a simple matter of creating a U.S. shell corporation and bank account. In my experience, the card networks generally take a dim view of businesses which exist on paper but which have no substantial business presence (such as a physical location and people) in the area-of-use jurisdiction in which they operate. And state/federal regulators generally want a “door to knock on” for compliance and regulatory matters.
Stripe’s attempt to convert cross-border to in-country transactions and simplify entry into the U.S. market is admirable, but it’s not quite as simple as the Atlas program would lead you to believe.