Mercury

E-money or payment institution · San Francisco, United States

Mercury is a San Francisco fintech, not a bank, that gives USD business accounts to US-registered companies through partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., with FDIC sweep coverage up to USD 5 million. Mercury reports more than 300,000 customers, USD 248 billion of transaction volume in 2025 and USD 650 million of annualised revenue as of the third quarter of 2025; it publishes no deposit or balance sheet figure. The base plan is free, domestic wires and ACH cost nothing, and non-USD international wires carry a 1% fee. In April 2026 the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to charter Mercury Bank, N.A. in Salt Lake City.

Legal name: Mercury Technologies, Inc.
Regulated by: Not a chartered bank: deposits held at partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. (Members FDIC), OCC (preliminary conditional approval of 24 April 2026 to charter Mercury Bank, N.A., Salt Lake City; final approval still pending), FDIC (deposit insurance application for the proposed bank under review), SEC (Mercury Advisory, LLC, registered investment adviser for Mercury Treasury)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2017
Website: mercury.com

Scores, 0 to 10

10.0Startups & VC-backed companies

Built for startups: Mercury's own annual letter reports that one in three US startups use it and that it onboarded 2.4 times more AI companies in 2025 than in 2024, alongside venture debt and its Mercury Raise investor network. · source

9.5United States

Nationwide USD accounts through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. with FDIC sweep to USD 5 million, ACH and wires free, and foreign founders of US companies accepted. · source

9.5Lowest fees

USD 0 monthly fee on the base plan, free ACH, free domestic wires and free USD international wires (SHA); paid plans are USD 29.90 and USD 299 per month. · source

8.5Fast digital onboarding

Application is fully online for any US-registered company; founders need not be US residents, and residential addresses abroad are accepted as principal place of business. · source

8.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

US-registered companies with founders living abroad apply fully online; refusals are based on a published list of prohibited countries of residence such as Afghanistan, Belarus, Indonesia and Iraq. · source

8.0Best interest on business balances

Treasury yields up to 3.89% net as of 28 August 2026, but that top rate assumes more than USD 20 million on deposit, and Treasury itself requires USD 250,000 across Mercury accounts. · source

8.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Mastercard debit and IO charge cards, one physical card per team member and unlimited virtual cards, 1.5% cashback on IO, but a 3% conversion fee on every non-USD card transaction. · source

7.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

USD business account with software integrations and USD 0 ACH, but no acquiring and no foreign-currency collection accounts. Free checking with API, MCP and CLI access, invoicing with Stripe card payments, Treasury up to 3.89% yield, venture debt and SAFE support, but USD accounts only. · source

7.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Mercury states it has no express restrictions on buying crypto through a business account and that outgoing wires carry the business name so exchanges such as Coinbase and Gemini can credit them, checked September 2026. · source

6.5Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot 4.0 out of 5 from 2,768 reviews, with 67% five-star and 21% one-star. · source

6.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Mercury says it banks thousands of crypto and web3 startups, DAOs and funds, which implies exchange proceeds are accepted, but it refuses money services businesses and exchanges as clients and publishes no source-of-funds process for crypto proceeds; evidence on incoming exchange wires is thin. · source

4.5Financial strength & stability

Not a chartered bank and carries no agency rating; the OCC's April 2026 preliminary conditional approval requires Mercury Bank, N.A. to open with at least USD 300 million of paid-in capital and to hold a Tier 1 leverage ratio of no less than 10% for its first three years. · source

4.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

USD-only accounts; international wires go out by SWIFT with a published 1% conversion fee on non-USD currencies and no multi-currency holding. USD-only accounts with sub-accounts and API access but no multi-currency holding, cash pooling or hedging. · source

2.5Crypto-friendly bank

Eligibility page lists money services businesses among industries Mercury cannot open accounts for, which covers exchanges and other VASPs. · source

1.5Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Money services businesses, which include payment firms and EMIs, are listed as an industry Mercury cannot serve. · source

1.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

No letters of credit, guarantees or supply-chain finance are offered; the product set is accounts, cards, venture debt and bill pay. · source

1.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

The eligibility article states Mercury cannot open accounts for businesses in adult entertainment, cannabis or internet gambling, nor for money services businesses. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Mercury's crypto page answers 'Can I hold crypto in my Mercury account?' with no: accounts hold fiat only, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Mercury's invoicing and payment tools take ACH, wire, real-time payment and card only, with no crypto or stablecoin acceptance, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Bitcoin

Mercury offers no bitcoin buying, holding or transfer; accounts hold fiat only, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Ethereum

Mercury offers no ether buying, holding, transfer or staking; accounts hold fiat only, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Mercury has no stablecoin accounts or payouts; a September 2026 comparison of startup banking platforms names Brex, Slash and Meow as the ones with native USDC and lists Mercury as crypto-tolerant but not stablecoin-capable. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.