For US LLCs & sole props, 4 structural picks.

This sub-pillar is for the US-solopreneur audience: single-member LLC owners (the typical post-Stripe-Atlas freelance or consulting solo operation), solo founders pre-funding (pre-revenue founders before institutional capital where Mercury / Brex / Rho underwriting is structurally aggressive), freelance W-9 contractors who haven\'t yet incorporated (operating under SSN), and sole proprietors with established freelance revenue but no LLC.

The structural distinction from the SaaS-startup or DTC-e-commerce sub-pillars: no-minimum onboarding, SSN-friendly sole-prop tiers, auto-tax tooling (a percentage of inflows automatically diverted to a tax-savings bucket — the most-requested feature among freelance W-9 operators), and simpler accounting-integration depth at the under-$500K revenue tier where QuickBooks Online Simple Start or Xero Starter is the typical bookkeeping setup rather than QuickBooks Plus / Advanced or Sage Intacct.

Novo ranks first for single-member LLC owners running marketplace-side income (Shopify, Etsy, Upwork, Stripe-routed freelance revenue) — the native marketplace integrations are the deepest in the under-$1M revenue category. Mercury ranks second for funded or fast-scaling LLCs where the $5M IntraFi sweep becomes structurally load-bearing past $250K balance. Lili ranks third for sole proprietors who haven\'t incorporated yet — SSN-only onboarding plus auto-tax tooling baked in. Found ranks fourth for freelance W-9 contractors prioritising the auto-tax setting-aside discipline; Lead Bank sponsor migration completed October 2025.

Do I need an EIN to open a US business neobank account as a single-member LLC?

Most platforms require an EIN for LLCs, with the exception of some sole-prop tiers. The IRS issues EINs on Form SS-4 (free, takes 1-2 business days online for US persons; longer for non-US-resident applicants). A single-member LLC technically can elect to file taxes as a sole proprietor on the owner's personal return using SSN, but the standard pattern is to obtain an EIN and use it for the business banking relationship — this preserves the corporate-veil separation between the LLC and the owner and is generally required by IRS Form 1065 for multi-member LLCs anyway. Novo, Bluevine, and Mercury all require EIN for LLC onboarding. Lili and Found accept SSN-only sole-prop onboarding (Found has noted SSN required for KYC even with EIN on file as of 2025-10).

What is the structural fit for a freelance solopreneur who just incorporated an LLC?

Novo or Lili. Novo ships free LLC checking with native marketplace integrations (Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks, Xero, Etsy) — the structural fit for freelancers running marketplace-side income (Etsy, Upwork, Fiverr) or e-commerce side hustles. Lili ships SSN-only sole-prop onboarding plus an auto-tax setting-aside feature (a percentage of each inflow gets diverted to a separate tax-savings bucket automatically) — the structural fit for freelance W-9 contractors who haven't yet incorporated or who want the tax-savings discipline baked into the operating account. Found is the close third option with similar auto-tax tooling plus a Lead Bank sponsor migration that completed in October 2025.

When should a sole proprietor migrate from Lili / Found to Mercury or Bluevine?

Typical migration triggers: (1) operating-cash balance exceeds $250K and FDIC pass-through ceiling becomes structurally load-bearing — Mercury's $5M IntraFi sweep or Bluevine's $3M sweep address this. (2) Vendor / contractor count grows past ~10 and the manual reconciliation friction starts compounding — Mercury IO's API + Ramp Bill Pay automation become cost-effective. (3) Revenue exceeds ~$200K-500K and an external bookkeeper / CPA is added to the workflow — Mercury / Bluevine's deeper QuickBooks / Xero / NetSuite integration matters. (4) The sole prop incorporates as a multi-member LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp — Lili / Found are structurally aligned with single-member sole-prop onboarding and don't scale as elegantly to multi-entity structures.

How does the SSN-only onboarding path affect the structural protection regime?

It doesn't affect FDIC pass-through directly. SSN-only onboarding is a KYC convenience for sole proprietors who haven't obtained an EIN; the deposit is still titled at the partner-bank sponsor under FBO arrangement with FDIC pass-through. The structural caveat: SSN-only sole-prop accounts at Lili / Found / Bluevine sole-prop typically don't access the same product depth as EIN-attached LLC accounts — specifically, multi-user roles, expense management, and ACH-volume tolerance can be more limited. For freelancers with material recurring revenue, the structural recommendation is to obtain an EIN even as a sole proprietor and operate on the EIN-attached tier — most bookkeeping and tax workflows benefit from the separation.

For single-member LLC owners running marketplace-side revenue (Shopify, Etsy, Upwork, Stripe-routed freelance), Novo is the structural fit — native marketplace integrations + free LLC checking + 5 Reserves sub-accounts. For funded or fast-scaling LLCs where the $5M IntraFi FDIC sweep becomes load-bearing past $250K, Mercury. For sole proprietors who haven\'t incorporated yet and want auto-tax setting-aside built into the operating account, Lili. For freelance W-9 contractors prioritising auto-tax discipline plus a Lead Bank (FDIC) sponsor relationship, Found. The structural migration path: most freelancers start on Lili / Found pre-LLC, migrate to Novo when they incorporate, and migrate to Mercury when the operating balance crosses $250K or the vendor / contractor count crosses ~10.