Mercury Banking for Startups: 2023 Review

Mercury is an online banking platform that includes both a business checking account and a business savings account with no monthly fees. Note that the star rating for this review corresponds to Mercury’s business checking account, not the overall platform. 

Designed with startups in mind, Mercury offers scalable digital tools — plus, every account provides read-write application programming interface access to truly customize your banking. Unlike some online competitors, however, Mercury cannot accept cash deposits.

Mercury banking is best for small-business owners who:

• Want a free business banking platform with no transaction fees.

• Prefer to manage the entirety of their finances online.

• Don’t need to deposit cash using an ATM or branch location.

• Would like to be able to customize their banking using digital tools and integrations.

Mercury banking at a glance

How Mercury banking works

Account options: As Mercury is not a bank, its checking and savings services are provided by Evolve Bank & Trust and Choice Financial Group. Mercury says its accounts are eligible for insurance of up to $5 million by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That’s higher than the $250,000 standard because Evolve Bank & Trust and Choice Financial Group use so-called “sweep networks” to hold funds across a number of financial institutions. 

The standard Mercury banking platform includes both a business checking account and a business savings account. Account holders with balances of more than $250,000 can also access Mercury Treasury, an automated cash management account that allows you to put extra funds into U.S. government securities and money market funds to earn a higher yield.

Account eligibility: You must have a U.S. company with a federal employer identification number to be eligible for a Mercury account. Mercury cannot open accounts for trusts or businesses in the money services, adult entertainment, marijuana or internet gambling industries.

How to apply: Visit the Mercury website to create an online account and complete and submit your application.

• Required information: Basic details about you and your business, including your Social Security number, are required. You’ll also need to provide this information for any co-founders, as well as owners with 25% or more ownership or officers who have control over your finances (e.g., a chief financial officer).

• Required documentation: You'll need to provide government-issued ID for you and any co-founders, as well as owners with 25% or more ownership or officers who have control over your finances; the business formation document (varies based on your entity type); and an employer identification number verification from the IRS.

» MORE: What you need to open a business bank account

Next steps: Once you’ve been approved, you can fund your account, send payments and manage your transactions and spending. You’ll be able to download the Mercury mobile app, add users to your account and integrate with third-party business tools.

Additionally, you’ll receive your business debit card within eight to 10 days after your account has been approved — however, you can also generate virtual cards from your Mercury online account.

It’s important to note that initial check deposit limits are based upon business verification and your transaction history. Mercury may adjust this limit. Once enabled, you can deposit checks through the Add Funds flow; e-checks are not currently accepted.

Where Mercury banking stands out

No fees: The Mercury online banking platform — including both a business checking account and a business savings account — has no monthly fees, no transaction fees, no minimum opening deposit requirement and no minimum balance requirement. In addition, Mercury offers fee-free access to withdraw cash through the Allpoint network and does not charge for out-of-network ATM use, though you may face fees from the ATM provider.

Mercury also has no overdraft fees, does not charge to send or receive checks and offers free domestic and international wire transfers (a 1% currency exchange fee applies to transfers not in U.S. dollars).

Digital tools: With Mercury, you have access to built-in digital tools that allow you to send and receive online payments, track transactions and cash-flow analytics and monitor spending. Mercury offers the ability to create virtual debit cards, as well as manage your debit card — edit spending limits, freeze your card, add it to your mobile wallet — through its app.

Additionally, Mercury gives you the ability to add as many team members as you want to your account, with two options for user access. You can add users as admins, allowing them to move money, receive a debit card and change permissions, as well as add users as bookkeepers, allowing them to only access your transaction history and statements.

Moreover, Mercury allows you to integrate your account with third-party business tools, such as QuickBooks and Xero.

API access: Mercury includes read-write API access with all accounts — in other words, developer access to its banking software — a particularly noteworthy feature for startups and other tech-focused businesses.

With this API access, you can customize and automate your Mercury account by designing internal dashboards, making bulk payments, creating transfer rules, reconciling transactions and more.

Where Mercury banking falls short

No cash deposits: The Mercury banking platform cannot accommodate traditional cash deposits — a difference between Mercury and some other online business checking account providers. Although some businesses may be able to find alternative solutions if they need to deposit cash occasionally, it may be problematic for others that deal more frequently in cash.

Low savings rate: Mercury comes with a built-in business savings account, but you won’t get a strong return for parking idle cash there. The current APY on that account is 0.001%, which is far below the national average (0.37% APY, according to the FDIC). Mercury Treasury accounts offer a stronger return — with yields of up to 4.68% annually, as of this writing —  but you’ll need at least $250,000 in your account to qualify and more than $20 million to get that highest return.