Mercury Business Checking Review 2023
Tricia has nearly two decades of experience in commercial and federal government lending. Her expertise is highlighted throughout small business loan content on Fit Small Business.
Ricci Recto has two years of writing experience creating digital marketing content for finance clients. She specializes in business banking.
This article is part of a larger series on Business Banking.
Mercury is an excellent choice for tech startups looking for an affordable online business checking account. Its account has no monthly fees, wire transfer fees, automated clearing house (ACH) fees, opening deposit requirements, or minimum balance requirements.
The account doesn’t support cash deposits or draw interest. However, it provides a number of useful tools and services, such as integrations and discounts for popular business software, access to investor networks, venture debt, and high-yield treasury accounts for customers with balances over $250,000. All companies incorporated in the United States are eligible to open accounts, except sole proprietors and trusts.
Mercury is a business financial technology platform backed by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured partners Evolve Bank & Trust and Choice Financial Group. All Mercury accounts come with Mercury Vault, which provides additional protection as it gives you the option to place your deposits into either partner’s sweep program rather than a single bank. Sweep programs spread across a network of FDIC-insured program banks, increasing FDIC insurance to $5 million.
What We Like
- No minimum deposit to open an account
- Free wire and ACH transfers
- No monthly fees and fee-free transactions
What's Missing
- Accounts unavailable to sole proprietorships and trusts
- Lacks paper check-writing abilities
- Checking and savings accounts don’t earn interest
Features
- FDIC insurance of up to $3 million when opting into sweep networks through Mercury Vault
- Savings account provided when opening a checking account
- Issue employee debit and credit cards
- Has an IO Mastercard that earns automatic 1.5% cashback for all spending
- Offers a high-yield Mercury Treasury account on balances over $250,000
- Accounts integrate with major accounting software, such as QuickBooks and Xero
- Set customer user permissions for your team members
- Access multiple business entities with single sign-on (SSO)
- Read-and-write application programming interface (API) access
How Mercury Stacks Up With Its Competitors
Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | Cash Deposit Fee | ATM Fee | Minimum Opening Deposit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Business Checking | N/A | N/A; bank doesn’t accept cash deposits | None at Allpoint ATMs | None |
 Business Checking | 2.00% on balances of $250,000 or less† | $4.95 per deposit; accepted at Green Dot locations | None at 38,000-plus MoneyPass ATMs nationwide | None |
 Business Checking | N/A | None; cash is deposited through money orders/cashier’s checks | Refunds all ATM fees | None |
*Providers are financial technology (fintech) platforms backed by and FDIC-insured through a supporting bank partnership (Evolve Bank & Trust for Mercury, Coastal Community Bank for Bluevine, and Middlesex Federal Savings for Novo).
†Only accounts that meet Bluevine’s monthly activity requirements qualify to earn interest. Learn more through Bluevine’s page on how to earn interest.
When Mercury Is a Good Fit
- You want to extend your FDIC insurance: With Mercury Vault, you can opt into a sweep network to distribute your deposits across multiple FDIC-insured banks and gain FDIC insurance of up to $3 million.
- You need a free business checking account: Mercury has no minimum opening deposit and charges no fees for monthly maintenance, ACH, or wire transfers.
- You are or aim to become a large-scale startup: In our list of the best banks for startups, we named Mercury the best provider for large-scale incorporated startups. The platform helps startups grow by providing access to investor databases and networking opportunities with fellow startup founders and startup investors.
- You need access to business software integrations: Mercury is in our roundup of the best online business banks because its platform integrates with a number of popular business software, such as QuickBooks, Xero, Shopify, Stripe, Zapier, Amazon, and PayPal.
When Mercury Isn’t a Good Fit
- You need to deposit cash regularly: As a fintech solution, Mercury lacks physical locations and doesn’t support cash deposits. Bank of America is a better alternative since its basic account offers a fee-free cash deposit allowance of $7,500. Read our Bank of America business checking review to learn more.
- You’re a sole proprietor: Mercury doesn’t open accounts for sole proprietors, whereas the online-only banking solution Novo accepts most business entity types. See how they stack up through our comparison of Mercury vs Novo business checking.
- You want to earn interest: The only interest-earning Mercury product Mercury Treasury is exclusive to accounts with balances of $250,000 or greater. Bluevine provides 2.00% APY on balances of $250,000 or less to any account that can meet its monthly activity requirements. Our Bluevine vs Mercury business checking comparison can help you determine which account is better for you.
Check out our guide to the best small business checking accounts for additional recommendations.
Mercury Business Checking Overview
Mercury Business Checking Requirements
Mercury requires applicants to have a company incorporated in the US and a federal employer identification number (EIN). International founders are allowed to apply, unless they’re located in the following countries:
- Belarus
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Crimea
- Cuba
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Iran
- Iraq
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Nicaragua
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Republic of Congo
- Russia
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
When applying, you’ll be asked to prepare the following documents:
- Company formation documents
- IRS-issued EIN document
- US government ID or international passport for each founder or majority (at least 25%) owner
You must also provide owner profiles for any individual who owns at least a 25% stake in your company. Each owner profile should include the following information:
- Full name
- Title
- Ownership percentage
*If you’re unsure which type of company formation document applies to your business entity type, refer to our guide on how to open a business bank account.
Mercury Business Checking Features
Mercury’s free checking account comes with several features that can benefit your startup or tech-based business.
Mercury Vault
All Mercury accounts come with Mercury Vault, which is a risk management tool that monitors your accounts and provides real-time suggestions for maximizing fund protection.
With Mercury Vault, you can
- Get up FDIC insurance of up to $3 million by opting into either Evolve Bank & Trust or Choice Financial Group’s (depending on which partner bank your funds are located in) sweep network to spread your funds across multiple FDIC-insured banks
- Protect excess funds by investing in Mercury Treasury’s Vanguard money market fund, which is 99.5% composed of US government-backed treasury products
Physical & Virtual Debit Cards
You can issue and manage debit cards easily and quickly. Virtual cards can be created when your account is opened, while physical cards arrive in the mail in a few days. You can replace lost or stolen cards through the dashboard.
Free ATM Usage in the Allpoint Network
You can withdraw money from one of 55,000 Allpoint network ATMs, free of charge. Mercury won’t charge any fee if you use an out-of-network ATM, but you may have to pay third-party ATM operator fees.
Savings Accounts
If you have a checking account with Mercury, you can also open an additional savings account. However, this account doesn’t draw interest.
Mobile App
Through the Mercury mobile app, you can:
- View balances and cash flow
- Track transactions
- Manage payment and transfer requests
- Deposit checks
- Transfer money
- Pay recipients with wire transfers and ACH
- Manage credit and debit cards
It has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store (based on 1,200+ reviews) but only 3.5 on Google Play (based on 100+ reviews). Users found the app well-designed and easy to navigate. However, many complained that the login process takes too long.
Software Integrations
Mercury’s accounts are fully integrated with QuickBooks and Xero. You can sync your transactions automatically between your account and your software. In addition, you can integrate with other software services such as Shopify, Stripe, Zapier, Amazon, and PayPal.
Custom Software Access
You can assign users to one of three levels of access within the app: admin, bookkeeper, and custom access.
- Users with admin access will receive a debit card and can move money, add team members, and change permissions.
- The bookkeeper permission allows for access to transaction history and statements but doesn’t let the user initiate transactions and change user permissions.
- Those with custom access can be given access by admins to move money, either with admin permission or not. They won’t be able to access security settings and manage team members.
Mercury uses SSO access to allow you to manage multiple business entities with one sign-on. It also uses time-based, one-time passwords for two-factor authentication.
Read-and-Write API Access
Mercury provides read-and-write API access. This lets you customize your banking dashboard, create custom sweep rules for account transfers, reconcile transactions faster, and make mass payments.
Transfer Funds, Deposit Checks & Send Payments Electronically
Through Mercury, you can send domestic and international wires and automated clearing house (ACH) payments for free. You can also send digital checks for free directly from your dashboard.
You cannot send physical checks but you can deposit them into your Mercury account. There are check limits based on business verification and transaction history, but those can be adjusted. However, Mercury doesn’t allow you to deposit cash or money orders into your account.
Mercury Perks
With Mercury Perks, you gain access to 100+ deals on popular business software, such as Amazon Web Services, QuickBooks Online, and Slack. Types of deals include discounts, credits, and extended free trials. Visit the Mercury Perks page for a complete list of available deals.
Other Mercury Products
Mercury Treasury
If your account balance exceeds $250,000, you’re eligible to open a free Mercury Treasury account, which places your money into treasury bills, CDs, commercial paper, and other investments to generate competitive yield. Currently, Mercury Treasury earns an APY of approximately 4.50%, but the rate changes regularly. The higher your balance, the higher your yield rate.
Mercury Treasury funds are insured under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) for up to $500,000.
Mercury Treasury Solutions With Morgan Stanley
Mercury Treasury account holders with balances of $25,000,000 or greater are eligible for Mercury Treasury Solutions With Morgan Stanley, which gives access to Morgan Stanley’s short-duration fixed-income portfolio management team. The team helps create personalized investment portfolios to optimize yield on treasury accounts.
Venture Debt
If your business has a Mercury account and has raised venture capital within the last year, you may be eligible for Mercury’s venture debt, which is a term loan with an interest-only period of up to 18 months, followed by a repayment period of 48 months.
IO Corporate Credit Card
Mercury offers the IO Mastercard to businesses with at least $50,000 in their Mercury account. It has no annual fees or credit check requirements and gives you 1.5% automatic monthly cash back for all domestic and international spending. You can issue unlimited virtual and physical cards for your employees. To ensure responsible card usage, you have the ability to change user permissions and monitor all company spending.
Read our Mercury IO Mastercard review for more information.
Investor Database
The Mercury website has an investor database page that lists active seed and pre-seed investors with their preferred industries, potential check sizes, and contact information.
Mercury Raise
Applying for the Mercury Raise program gives you the chance to pitch your startup to top investors and founders. Successful applicants can attend events, get mentorship, or even receive funding.
Mercury Bridge
The Mercury Bridge program lets you participate in a series of five group discussions with fellow startup founders. There are peer groups for first-time founders, female founders, founders at the fundraising stage, early-stage founders, and experienced founders.
Mercury Business Checking User Reviews
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Good user interface (UI) and reliable platform | No explanation for account closures or rejected applications |
| Fast wire transfers | Slow check clearing times |
| Minimal fees | |
Mercury has a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot1. Users liked that the platform charges minimal fees. Many also said that they liked the platform’s UI and found it easy to use and navigate. However, several said that they found Mercury’s check-clearing times slower than other banks.
The majority of negative reviews, which tend to come from applicants who had either failed to open accounts with Mercury or users that had their accounts closed abruptly, criticized the company for an alleged lack of transparency. Unsuccessful applicants complained that Mercury didn’t provide clear reasons for their rejection. In a similar vein, customers that had their accounts closed said that Mercury didn’t provide clear justifications for the closure.
Bottom Line
The Mercury business checking account is best suited to the growing startup. Its lack of day-to-day banking fees helps keep costs low at early stages, while access to treasury accounts and sweep networks can protect your wealth once you’ve scaled. Outside of business checking, it offers a number of resources that can help boost business growth, including programs for investor networking and peer discussions. Additionally, its integrations with several of today’s most popular business software help streamline day-to-day business operations.
User Review Reference:
1TrustPilot
