Federal rule sets a floor, not a ban. Under 31 CFR 1020.220(a)(2)(i)(A)(3), a bank must collect an address. For a person, that is "a residential or business street address". For a company, it is "a principal place of business, local office, or other physical location". Note what is missing. The company clause never says street address. The words virtual, mailbox, CMRA and registered agent appear nowhere in the section.
Multi-Way Comparison·Updated August 12, 2026
Virtual Address for an LLC, Which Ones Banks Accept
A buyer comparison of four virtual address services for an LLC, judged on whether the address survives a bank onboarding check.
10 min read
Written byDaniel Wong
Legal & Compliance Analyst
In This Article
- Your bank has two address fields and only one is fussy
- What the four services publish about banks
- Stable names the banks, then names the catch
- Northwest owns the buildings and publishes no CMRA disclosure
- iPostal1 is the cheapest that puts your company name on the box
- Anytime Mailbox contradicts itself, and the help desk version is the true one
- Which one to buy
- Where to put the address when you apply
- Getting out costs more than getting in
- FAQ
Key Takeaways
- No federal rule bans a virtual address. 31 CFR 1020.220 asks a company for a principal place of business, local office or other physical location, and never says street address.
- Banks collect two or three addresses. A rented address usually passes as the legal or mailing address and fails as the operating address.
- Stable is the only one of the four that names banks its customers use, and the same page warns that addresses get flagged at random.
- Northwest publishes no CMRA or Form 1583 disclosure anywhere on its site. Three of the four competitors publish both.
- iPostal1's $9.99 plan carries no company name, so the real floor for an LLC is $14.99 a month.
Quick Answer
One of the four names banks. Stable lists Chase, Bank of America, First Citizens, Brex, Mercury and JPMorgan on a support page dated 6 July 2026. The same page warns that addresses get flagged at random. Stable is also the dearest at $49 a month billed yearly. Northwest is $20 a month and owns its buildings. Anytime Mailbox is cheapest, and its own help desk says most banks reject the address.
Mercury refuses one. Its policy lists virtual addresses, mail centres and registered agent addresses next to PO boxes. Relay accepts one, but only in 1 of the 2 address fields it collects. Put it in the wrong field and Relay refuses too. So the question is not whether a virtual address works. It is which box you put it in.
Your bank has two address fields and only one is fussy
So no federal rule bans a rented address. A mailbox suite is a physical location. The rule hands the call to the bank instead. Section 1020.220(a)(2)(iii) makes each bank write down "when the bank should not open an account" and when to close one after checks fail. The refusal is bank policy, written under a rule that told the bank to write it.
Relay states the split plainly. "You can use a Registered Agent address as your business address, including for non-U.S. residents operating a U.S.-based business. However, a Registered Agent address cannot be used as your operating address or personal address." Its banned operating addresses are a registered agent address, a PO box, and "a virtual mailbox or mailbox rental service". Relay gives a reason. A legal mailing address "does not prove where the business activity actually happens".
Watch Out
Mercury, company address requirements, read 12 August 2026. "We don't accept a P.O. box, virtual address, commercial mail receiving agency, mail center, or registered agent address." Its legal address page is blunter still. "We are unable to make exceptions to this policy." Bluevine ties the requirement to the regulator and names the penalty, a physical business address with proof, or "you'll be required to provide one to avoid account closure".
The pattern is the same in all three. Each collects more than one address. A rented address can sit in the mailing or business slot. It fails in the operating slot. It also fails as your own home address.
What the four services publish about banks
All four sell a street address. They differ on what they admit.
| Provider | Entry price for an LLC | Form 1583 and CMRA disclosure | What it publishes about banks | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stable | $49 a month billed yearly | Calls itself a CMRA, no notarisation required | Names Chase, Bank of America, First Citizens, Brex, Mercury, JPMorgan | Nationwide |
| Northwest | $20 a month mail forwarding | Publishes neither term anywhere on its site | Many banking applications, no bank named | 23 states |
| iPostal1 | $14.99 a month with a company name | Calls itself a CMRA, notary costs $25 | Says traditional banks typically reject them | Nationwide |
| Anytime Mailbox | $7.99 a month, sampled in Wyoming | Calls itself a CMRA, notarisation required | Says most banks do not accept it | Nationwide |
Three of the four say so plainly. They are a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, and you must file USPS Form 1583. That matters, because CMRA status is not a rumour. USPS ships it as a table inside its Delivery Point Validation product. Any address checker a bank licences can read it.
Stable names the banks, then names the catch
Only Stable names institutions. Its support page, dated 6 July 2026, says customers use the address "with financial institutions like Chase, Bank of America, First Citizens, Brex, Mercury, JPMorgan, and more". That claim is the provider's, not ours. We are quoting it, not testing it.
The same page is honest about the limit. "Addresses are usually flagged at random, so your address may go through one day and not the next." Then it hands you a workaround. Open the account on a home or registered agent address. Change it later.
It goes further. A Stable guide for Mercury users tells them to keep the address out of Mercury's legal and operating fields. "Since you are not physically working at the Stable address, you should not use your Stable address here." Only the mailing field.
One more thing separates Stable. It does not need your Form 1583 notarised. "Some virtual mailbox providers require this document to be notarized. Stable doesn't." It runs identity checks in house instead. That is not free notarisation, it is no notarisation, which is a better deal.
You pay for it. Grow starts at $59 a month, or $49 billed yearly. Overage runs $3 a piece. Stable publishes a 50 percent discount for businesses under $1 million in revenue, but the resulting price is not stated anywhere on its site, so treat the sticker as the number. Our Stable review has the full cost breakdown.
Northwest owns the buildings and publishes no CMRA disclosure
Northwest is the odd one here. It sells the address as real estate it holds. "We own our buildings." And, "Our virtual business addresses are real commercial buildings, staffed with locals." Mail forwarding assigns "a unique suite number at one of our company-owned locations", not a PMB number.
On banks it hedges, and the hedge is fair. The addresses "can be used on business formation documents, state filings, websites, marketing materials, and many banking applications", though "individual financial institutions may have their own Know Your Customer (KYC) policies". No bank is named. Read the word many.
Then there is what is absent. We swept 30 pages on the Northwest domain, both hubs, all 23 state pages, the PO box explainer and the international page. The terms 1583, CMRA, Commercial Mail Receiving Agency, notarize and notary appear zero times. Its Texas page goes further. "You won't need to file anything with the United States Postal Service."
Note
Be careful what that proves. It proves Northwest publishes no CMRA or Form 1583 disclosure. It does not prove Northwest is not a CMRA, and we will not claim that. Its signup form runs on JavaScript and we could not read what it discloses at checkout.
Watch which Northwest product you buy. Its own comparison page lists "For opening a business bank account" under the things you should not use its registered agent address for. The business address is a separate purchase.
Registered agent service is $125 a year. That covers an address and five scanned items a year. Mail forwarding is $20 a month to open and scan, $35 to forward the paper. Virtual office is $29 a month with a phone line. The catch is coverage. Mail forwarding and virtual office run in 23 states only.
iPostal1 is the cheapest that puts your company name on the box
The $9.99 plan takes no company name. Its own pricing page says those plans allow up to six recipient names "(no company name)". For an LLC that kills it. The cheapest plan that works is Business Green at $14.99 a month. Prices climb with the address tier you pick.
iPostal1 is open about what it is. "Every iPostal1 location is registered as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency." Form 1583 is required and notarisation costs $25 through its online notary. If you live outside the US, that route is compulsory. Our iPostal1 review covers the upsells.
On banks it publishes both answers. Marketing says the addresses "can be used to satisfy banking address verification requirements where permitted by local banking rules". Its own editorial page says the opposite. "Many banks do not allow it. Some online banks and neobanks may permit their use, but traditional banks typically reject virtual mailboxes."
Anytime Mailbox contradicts itself, and the help desk version is the true one
The sales page says to use the address "to register your business, open a business bank account, receive mail securely". The help desk disagrees. "Most banks do not accept private mailbox addresses for account registration or billing address purposes." It even gives the reason. Banks "may reject CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency) addresses, which is the type of address we provide".
Then read its homepage FAQ. It adds a line the sales page skips. "We don't recommend using your Anytime Mailbox address as your official business address." That is the seller speaking.
Pricing is inconsistent too. The homepage says plans start at $9.99, while the FAQ on that same page says $4.99. We sampled Wyoming and the lowest live listing was $7.99 for a metered address only tier. Prices are set per location, so shop the location, not the brand. Our Anytime Mailbox review has the true first year cost.
None of that makes it a bad mailbox. It is a poor pick for the one job this page is about.
Which one to buy
- Buy Stable if the bank account is the point. It is the only one naming institutions, it skips the notary, and its support desk gives you a workaround when the address gets flagged. You pay roughly triple Northwest for that.
- Buy Northwest if the address is for the public record and your state is on its list. Twenty dollars a month for a suite in a building the company owns is the best value here. If five scans a year is all you need, $125 covers it.
- Buy iPostal1 if you want a cheap box with your company name on it and you bank elsewhere. Budget the $25 notary, and more if you are abroad.
- Buy Anytime Mailbox for mail, not for banking. Its own help desk told you so.
Where to put the address when you apply
This is the part the rest of the internet skips. You will meet three fields and they want different things.
- Legal or registered address. This is the one on your formation paperwork. A rented address usually passes here, and Relay says so outright.
- Operating address, sometimes called principal place of business. This is where the work happens. Put your rented address here and it fails. Mercury, Relay and Bluevine all police this field.
- Your own address. Every beneficial owner is verified as an individual, so this field wants your home. Under 31 CFR 1010.230(b)(2) the bank checks owners using the individual test, and that test wants "a residential or business street address".
If you want the mechanics of why a rented address fails a check in the first place, our guide to the business address that survives verification walks through the USPS flag, the IRS, Stripe and Google. Opening the account itself is covered in our US business bank account guide.
Getting out costs more than getting in
One last buying test. Moving a business address is not a cancellation, it is a filing. Change it on your formation documents and most states charge an amendment fee. Then you tell the IRS separately. So pick as if you will keep it for years. The switching cost decides that for you anyway.
Read next
LLC formation services compared, what each one charges once the first year discount ends
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes, and it depends on the field. Banks collect two or three addresses. A rented address often passes as the legal or mailing address, and it usually fails as the operating address. Mercury refuses it in both. Relay accepts it as the business address and refuses it as the operating address. Stable names six institutions its customers use, while warning that addresses get flagged at random.
No. Federal rule at 31 CFR 1020.220 tells a bank to collect "a principal place of business, local office, or other physical location" for a company. It never says street address for entities. It never names virtual addresses, mailboxes or CMRAs. The refusals are bank policy, written by each bank under a rule that told it to write one.
A Commercial Mail Receiving Agency accepts mail for other people as a business. USPS treats virtual offices as CMRAs too. It matters because the status is not private. USPS ships a CMRA table inside its Delivery Point Validation product, so any address checker a bank licences can see the flag on your suite.
Not always. iPostal1 charges $25 for online notarisation and requires it for customers outside the US. Anytime Mailbox says the form must be notarised. Stable does not notarise at all and runs its own identity check instead. Northwest publishes nothing about Form 1583 anywhere on its site.
Anytime Mailbox was cheapest live. We found $7.99 a month for an address only tier in Wyoming, and it prices per location. iPostal1's $9.99 plan carries no company name, so an LLC starts at $14.99. Northwest at $20 a month buys a suite in a building the company owns.
No. Google's guidance says that if your business rents a mailing address and does not work from it, "that location isn't eligible for a Business Profile". Coworking desks fail the same test. You need your own staff there in business hours, with signage. If you travel to customers, register your real address and hide it.
Sources & References
- 31 CFR 1020.220, Customer identification program requirements for banks
- 31 CFR 1010.230, Beneficial ownership requirements for legal entity customers
- Company address requirements
- Using a registered agent address and operating address for your business
- How do I verify my business address
- Can I use my Stable address for my bank account
- USPS Form 1583, what it is and how to file it
- Get a business address
- Mailbox account FAQ
- Can the address be used as a bank address
- Delivery Point Validation
About the Author
Legal & Compliance Analyst
Daniel grew up in the shadow of Silicon Valley but chose the legal route over engineering, working as a paralegal for a corporate law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. He realized that early-stage founders were constantly making catastrophic legal mistakes because they couldn't afford a $500/hour attorney, prompting his move to B2B media.
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