Mercury

What is Mercury?

Mercury is a San Francisco-based fintech company founded in 2017 by Immad Akhund, Max Tagher, and Jason Zhang. The platform provides digital banking services specifically designed for startups, technology companies, and small businesses. Mercury is not a bank itself but partners with FDIC-insured institutions—Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and (previously) Evolve Bank & Trust—to provide banking services.

Mercury launched its business bank accounts in 2019 and has since grown to serve over 200,000 companies. The platform processed $156 billion in payment volume in 2024 and generated $500 million in revenue. In March 2025, Mercury raised $300 million in Series C funding led by Sequoia Capital at a $3.5 billion valuation, bringing total funding to approximately $452 million.

The company gained significant traction following the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in March 2023, reportedly acquiring over $2 billion in deposits within days and retaining 92% of those customers six months later. According to Kruze Consulting, nearly 40% of new startups choose Mercury as of 2024, and over 50% of Y Combinator companies use the platform.

Main Features

Business Checking & Savings: FDIC-insured accounts with no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, and no overdraft fees. Up to $5 million in FDIC insurance through Mercury's Vault program using sweep networks across partner banks.

Mercury IO Corporate Card: A Mastercard charge card offering unlimited 1.5% cashback on all spending. No annual fee, no personal guarantee required, and no credit check. Credit limits are based on account balance. Virtual cards can be issued instantly for team members.

Mercury Treasury: A cash management solution offering yields up to 4.36% APY (rates vary) on idle cash. Powered by portfolios from J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Morgan Stanley. Minimum balance of $250,000 required. SIPC insured up to $500,000.

Bill Pay: AI-powered accounts payable that automatically parses invoices, detects duplicates, and populates bill details. Multi-layered approval workflows with Slack integration. Supports ACH, wire, and check payments.

Invoicing: Generate professional invoices and accept payments via credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, wire, ACH transfer, and ACH debit. Automatic payment matching and recurring invoice support.

Expense Management: Issue corporate debit and credit cards to employees with custom spending limits. Lock cards to specific merchants, detect duplicate subscriptions, and set company-wide spend policies.

Accounting Automations: Sync transactions automatically to QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite. AI-powered transaction coding and categorization.

Venture Debt: Term loans up to 48 months for startups that have raised $2M+ from institutional investors. Mercury receives warrants in exchange.

Working Capital Loans: Available for e-commerce businesses operating 6+ months with $250K+ annual sales.

Pricing

Mercury operates on a freemium model with three tiers:

Plan	Monthly Cost	Key Features
Mercury (Free)	$0	Checking & savings, debit/credit cards, free domestic & international USD wires, basic invoicing, bill pay, integrations
Mercury Plus	$35/month	Enhanced invoicing (recurring, branding), advanced bill pay, reimbursements for 5+ users, ACH debit ($1/transaction)
Mercury Pro	$350/month	Dedicated support, enriched NetSuite automations, expanded bill pay capabilities

Additional Fees:

Service	Fee
Domestic wire transfers	Free
International USD wire transfers	Free
Currency exchange (non-USD wires)	1%
ACH transfers	Free
Check sending/receiving	Free
Mercury Treasury	Tiered fee starting at 0.05% annually
Mercury Personal	$240/year subscription
Credit card payments (via Stripe)	2.9% + $0.30

Security & FDIC Insurance

Mercury provides enhanced deposit protection through its Vault program:

• Standard FDIC insurance: $250,000 per depositor
• Mercury Vault: Up to $5 million through sweep networks across partner banks (20× industry standard)
• Mercury Treasury: SIPC insured up to $500,000 (not FDIC insured—investment account)

Security measures include built-in fraud monitoring, two-step authentication with tokens, full activity logs, and industry-standard data encryption.

Integrations

Mercury offers extensive integrations with:

• Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite
• E-commerce: Shopify, Stripe, Amazon
• Payroll: Gusto
• Other: Slack (for payment approvals), API access for custom integrations

Who Should Use Mercury?

Ideal For:

• Venture-backed tech startups
• Y Combinator and accelerator companies
• E-commerce businesses
• SaaS companies
• VC funds
• Digital agencies and consultants
• Crypto/Web3 companies
• Life science and healthcare startups
• Climate tech companies
• LLCs and incorporated businesses

May Not Be Suitable For:

• Cash-heavy businesses (no cash deposits supported)
• Sole proprietors (Mercury requires business entity)
• Businesses needing physical bank branches
• Companies requiring traditional business loans or lines of credit
• International businesses without US presence
• Businesses preferring in-person customer support

Considerations

Mercury has established itself as the go-to banking platform for startups, with an NPS score reportedly above 80 (vs. 34 industry average). The platform excels at combining banking with financial workflow tools like bill pay, invoicing, and expense management—competing directly with Brex and Ramp.

However, there are limitations to consider. Mercury doesn't support cash deposits, which is problematic for retail or cash-intensive businesses. The savings account earns minimal interest (0.001% APY)—Treasury is needed for meaningful yields but requires $250K minimum. Mercury also doesn't offer traditional lending products like business loans or lines of credit.

The company has been profitable for over two and a half years (10 consecutive quarters of EBITDA and GAAP net income profitability), which provides stability. In March 2025, Mercury announced it would end its relationship with Evolve Bank & Trust (which faced FDIC enforcement actions) and migrate customers to Choice Financial Group and Column N.A.