Accepting In-Person Payments in the U.S. as a European/Offshore Company – Viable Solutions?

[nurredon]

Hey everyone,

I’m hoping someone here might have some insight into a tricky scenario.

I want to accept physical (card-present) payments in the U.S. (in USD) for a European or offshore-registered company, but I’d like to avoid setting up a U.S. entity if at all possible. The ideal setup would be having a POS device in the States, processing card transactions directly for the foreign entity.

I’ve thought about a few angles:

• Android POS Terminals from Alibaba:
  Maybe configuring an online merchant account on a custom Android POS. I also thought this might still trigger a 3DS challenge flow at the point of sale, which feels awkward and clunky. It might be possible to bypass 3DS, but that still seems less than ideal for a smooth checkout experience.
• Instant Crypto Conversion:
  Another idea is to accept the card payment in the U.S., immediately convert it into USDT (or another stablecoin), and then off-ramp that crypto into FIAT for the offshore company’s bank account. The downside is this could get expensive, and I’m not sure how seamless it would be in practice.
• Use a Payment Processing / Agency LLC:
  While I don't love this idea, I recognize this might be the only choice: having an LLC (ideally registered as an MSB or other payment processing business) that collects the payments and releases them to my foreign-owned company. However, they might get in trouble because this income could potentially be ECI.
• Having a European POS device that charges in USD:
  Could you not be able to just have a POS device in Europe that accepts payments in USD and ship the physical device to the US?

So I’m curious—has anyone found a payment processor, acquirer, or platform that allows card present or direct card acceptance for a foreign business without a U.S. entity, even if it’s an unconventional approach?

I'm not sure this is relevant, but my foreign entity can have a real US bank account to settle in if needed, although again ideally I would like to avoid this.

Any insights, suggestions, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnLocke]

You need to post threads like this in the appropriate forum!

The thread has now been moved.

 

[nurredon]

OK thanks a lot @JohnLocke!!

 

[redeye]

I want to accept physical (card-present) payments in the U.S. (in USD) for a European or offshore-registered company, but I’d like to avoid setting up a U.S. entity if at all possible. The ideal setup would be having a POS device in the States, processing card transactions directly for the foreign entity.

Legally it is never going to happen. It's against Visa & MC's regulations. You need to have a business in the US.

 

[nurredon]

I appreciate the input! That’s exactly why I’m exploring creative solutions—there might be alternative ideas out there. If a US entity truly becomes necessary, perhaps it could operate as a money-processing entity or an 'agency' of sorts? The goal here is to find a structure that minimizes US scrutiny