Read the field label, then the bank’s help page
The following is what the institutions themselves publish. Secondary blogs that collapse this into “CMRA = automatic reject everywhere” are useful color. They are not the rulebook.
| Institution | What they say they will not take | What they say they will take | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | P.O. box, virtual address, commercial mail receiving agency, mail center, or registered agent as the physical place of business. FAQ language also excludes registered agent, P.O. box, and UPS box for principal place of business. | A commercial or residential place you actually work. Home is explicitly allowed in eligibility copy. | Company address requirements; eligibility |
| Relay | Operating address cannot be a registered agent, PO Box, or virtual mailbox / mailbox rental. Same exclusions for each owner’s personal address. | Home (U.S. or international) or a physical office. A registered agent may be the legal address if the operating address is real and separate. | Registered agent vs operating address (updated August 11, 2026) |
| Bluevine | Registered agent addresses and P.O. boxes “will prevent you from opening your account.” A later profile article also refuses “mail service addresses.” The application page we read does not define virtual offices. | Physical location of the business, including a home if you work there. | How to apply; update information |
| Stripe Issuing, Treasury, Opal, Corporate Card | Registered agent addresses and CMRA / mailbox / virtual address services. Error code invalid_address_cmra_address. |
A physical U.S. presence. Appeals want a lease, utility bill, or similar proof that you operate there. | Address validation |
None of those pages say “iPostal1 is banned by name.” They ban a class of address. A UPS Store “Suite,” an Anytime PMB, and a Prestige coworking mailbox are the same class if the location is a registered CMRA.
The three consumer products, scored for banking
USPS PO Box
Postal mailbox- B-
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
A box inside a post office. Street-addressing ('PO Box street address') is still a PO Box for legal and bank purposes.
CMRA: No — it is a USPS box, which is a different rejection reason
Pack-and-ship store mailbox (e.g. The UPS Store)
In-person CMRA mailbox- C
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
You rent a box at a retail mail center. Many stores also resell iPostal1 or Anytime software.
CMRA: Yes — USPS treats these stores as CMRAs
iPostal1
Marketplace network- C-
- Banking / KYC
- F
- Google Business Profile
- F
Software platform licensed to independent pack-and-ship stores, UPS Store locations, coworking desks, and office buildings. Local operators handle mail.
CMRA: Yes — every partner location is a CMRA
Official page · Affiliate link
iPostal1 stands in for the virtual-mailbox class. Anytime Mailbox and PostScan Mail take the same banking grade. See the head-to-head.
Side-by-side
| Option | Model | CMRA likely? | Signup friction | Packages | Starting price (cited) | Mail / Bank / GBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USPS PO Box | Postal mailbox | No — it is a USPS box, which is a different rejection reason | No Form 1583. You apply with USPS. Two IDs still apply for the box. | USPS mail only, unless the office offers Street Addressing and even then private carriers are inconsistent. | Set by USPS by box size and city. Check the local post office; do not use a blog average. | B- / F / F |
| Pack-and-ship store mailbox (e.g. The UPS Store) | In-person CMRA mailbox | Yes — USPS treats these stores as CMRAs | Form 1583, usually notarized or witnessed in the store. | Strong for in-person pickup. Scanning exists only if the store is on a virtual-mailbox platform or you pay them to email photos. | Set by the franchise or independent store. We do not publish a made-up national average. | C / F / F |
| iPostal1 | Marketplace network | Yes — every partner location is a CMRA | USPS Form 1583 plus two IDs. Provider offers online notarization (reported $25). | USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL reported accepted. Open-and-scan and shred are typically per-item fees. | From $9.99/mo personal; $14.99/mo business at Standard locations. Select, Premium, and Prestige addresses cost more. | C- / F / F |
| TruLease (VirtualPostMail) | Banking-grade lease address | Designed as a commercial lease, not a mailbox rental. Banks still decide. | Lease paperwork, proof of funds for some plans, and Form 1583 for the bundled mailbox. | Mail is bundled, often weekly. This product is sold for proof of address, not for same-day scans. | Vendor marketing shows office rent 'as low as $350/month' plus deposits. Third-party 2026 reviews have cited a ~$100/mo base package. We have not independently confirmed a single current sticker. | C+ / C+ / F |
| Registered agent (not a mailbox) | Legal service of process | Not a mailbox product. Some agents also sell mail scanning as an extra. | Formation paperwork. No Form 1583 unless you also buy a CMRA mailbox. | Court papers and state notices. Not Amazon boxes, not IRS junk, not vendor catalogs — unless you buy a separate mail product. | Varies by state and vendor. iPostal1 has advertised a $99/year add-on in a subset of states — that is still not a mailbox substitute. | D / F / F |
What still works, if the bank is telling the truth
- Home, if you work there. Ugly on a public LLC filing. Clean on Mercury and Relay operating-address copy. Bluevine says the same for people who work from home.
- A real office or studio you occupy. A lease and a utility bill in the company name are what Stripe lists on appeal.
- A banking-grade lease product such as TruLease, which sells a one-year commercial lease and an optional utility bill in the company name. VirtualPostMail’s own page warns that a landlord-named utility bill “generally won’t work to satisfy bank requirements.” We grade that product C+ for KYC: purpose-built, not promised.
- A registered agent as the legal line only — and only at banks that say so (Relay does; Bluevine does not).
USPS street-addressed PO Boxes are still PO Boxes. Shoeboxed quotes the USPS Customer Agreement for Premium PO Box Service: you may not use that street-address option as your place of business on legal documents. If a cheap “virtual address” geocodes to a post office, walk away. Punch the candidate into a map first.
Google is not a bank, and it is stricter about storefronts
Even a home that passes Mercury can fail Google if you try to pin a storefront you do not have. Google’s representation guidelines reject remote mailboxes and virtual offices. If you travel to customers, hide the address as a service-area business. Do not use the UPS Store as your pin.
Practical sequence
- Decide whether you need scans (mailbox), a public principal office line (often a CMRA is enough for a Secretary of State), an operating address for a neobank (usually home or a real lease), or a Maps listing (real occupancy).
- If you need both privacy and a neobank, expect two addresses: a CMRA for mail and filings, plus the home or lease the bank asked for. Lying about occupancy is how accounts get closed later.
- Complete Form 1583 before you print a CMRA address on bank paperwork — not because the bank wants the form, but because the mailbox will not be live.