Mercury Bank Review 2022

Small business owners constantly need to think about their marginal expenses. The bank or banking platform that they choose to use can have a significant impact on their financial well-being. Because a business owner’s choice in a bank is important, we encourage business owners of all kinds to carefully research their available options.

Mercury is a digital banking platform that includes both business checking accounts and business savings accounts. Let’s take a closer look.

What is Mercury Bank?

Mercury is a banking platform designed to help make banking easier for startups. The company’s founders have ample experience in the startup industry and sought to address common goals and issues faced by members of this community. Mercury allows startup managers to complete a wide range of financial transactions and keep a close eye on each of their accounts.

Mercury Bank Features

Mercury highlights several key features:

•   API Access: using the platform’s application programming interface (API), users can create custom payment solutions aligned with their needs
•   User Permissions: the platform can be easily shared with other team members, whose roles and access can be customized
•   Integrations: Mercury can be integrated with Shopify, PayPal, Amazon, QuickBooks, and other essential business platforms
•   Cash Management: idle funds can be deployed to earn small returns (this is separate from the saving account’s APY)
•   Security: two-factor authentication helps reduce the risk of having valuable information stolen
•   Mobile App: the app can be accessed via iPhone and other Apple products, making it possible to monitor and manage accounts from anywhere

The company’s “Mercury Tea Room” is available to users with more than $250,000 in their account. In addition to being sent tea by the company—yes, you read that right—the tea room also includes perks such as automated cash management and partner rewards.

Customer Service

Mercury appears to value creating strong relationships with its employees. Generally, feedback for customer service is positive, though there are still certainly quite a few complaints. The company can be accessed via your account or via email. The company’s partnership with FDIC-insured banks also helps create access to deeper resources and increased credibility. 

Ease of Use

Overall, the company’s website and app are both fairly easy to use. The app features a well-organized home page, along with clear paths to most essential features. However, some components of Mercury’s platform, such as the customized API, require some outside knowledge in order to be fully leveraged.

How Mercury Bank Works

Mercury is a banking platform, not a bank itself. The platform is partnered with Evolve Bank and Trust, a company that helps provide Mercury’s FDIC-level financial security. The bank is available for US companies that have an employer identification number, meaning that its services cannot be accessed by sole entrepreneurs. The company is based entirely online, making it easier to develop a lean banking model. Though the primary target market is startups, it is used by many other types of businesses.

To create a Mercury account, you will need to have an employer identification number (EIN), not just a social security number. You will also need to provide information for all individuals that have more than 25 percent ownership of the company. Once this information has been organized, you will be able to create an account using either the Mercury app or the company’s website on desktop. 

Mercury Bank Pricing

Mercury Bank uses a banking model that is in line with most other alternative lenders. The company is based entirely online and does not include many of the fees that you will charge at other banks.

Chase Bank—the largest bank in the United States—currently has a $12 monthly fee for its “Chase Total Checking” checking account (though there are several ways this fee can be waived). The company, like most other traditional banks, also has fees for things, such as wire transfer fees (which can cost $15 to $35) and overdrafts (which is usually $34 but can vary by account).

Chase does offer free ACH transfers, which helps distinguish it from some other large banks. However, Chase’s overall fee and pricing structure tend to make it much more expensive than Mercury, especially for businesses that are operating at a much smaller scale.

Monthly Service Fees

Mercury currently has no monthly service fees, regardless of how much money is in a given account.

Account Opening Fees

One of the most commonly cited benefits of using Mercury is that there are no fees for opening a new account. Additionally, there is no account minimum nor will there be any charges for having nonsufficient funds in the future.

ACH Transfer Prices

Keeping in line with the company’s lean banking model, Mercury offers its user free ACH payments and free ACH deposits. However, both ACH payments and ACH deposits are limited to $500,000 per day (each).

Wires

Mercury offers both wire payments and wire deposits for free. This makes the platform different from many of its competitors, who tend to charge $15 or more per wire (and some don’t even allow incoming wires, at all). Wire payments are limited to $5,000, while wire deposits are limited to $5 million per day. Cash withdrawals are also limited to $2,000 per day, which can be problematic for some cash-reliant businesses. 

Integrations Available

Mercury can be integrated with many other extremely popular platforms, including:

•   PayPal
•   Amazon
•   QuickBooks
•   Shopify

Cross-platform integration makes it easier for businesses to create a comprehensive financial management plan. However, some users have noted that the platform’s incompatibility with Android makes it more difficult to integrate the full team.

Mercury Bank Pros and Cons

Mercury is an innovative banking platform that has helped numerous startups thrive. It also has its fair share of drawbacks.

Pros

Some of the company’s pros include:

•   Absolutely no initial fees (opening fees) or minimum account requirements
•   No future monthly fees or fees for ACH, wire transfer, and most other transactions
•   Superior benefits for larger accounts that gain access to the “Mercury Tea Room” (access is available for all accounts with $250,000 or more
•   Great tools for managing finances and integrating with other platforms; Mercury can be easily customized and adapted to meet your business’ banking needs
•   Broad ATM network made accessible through the Allpoint partnership; Mercury users can withdraw from more than 55,000 ATMs without needing to pay a fee

Cons

On the other hand, the company’s cons include:

•   Lack of access for sole proprietorships—this excludes about 85 percent of small businesses within the United States (access can be granted by forming an LLC, partnership, etc.)
•   Does not accept cash deposits
•   App can only be used by Apple products, not yet available for Android users
•   Extremely low rate for both checking and savings accounts (currently, the APY is 0.001 percent—almost nothing)

Who Mercury Business Checking is Best For

There are many great small business banking platforms currently available. Mercury is ideal for small business owners that:

•   Are in the startup stage of the business cycle
•   Have minimal cash needs/ do not need to deposit cash into their accounts
•   Want a banking platform that can be easily integrated with other tools
•   Are comfortable doing their banking via a digital platform and do not need to visit a physical branch
•   Want to avoid the high fees that come with other banks

Mercury may be lacking in a few areas—there are some missing features (such as the ability to make cash deposits), there is no physical location, and the interest rate it offers is extremely low. However, the platform’s great interface and lack of fees make it an appealing option for forward-thinking startup owners on a budget. If you are willing to accept the oversights, Mercury may be worth considering—we encourage all business owners to explore multiple banking options. 

Who Should Reconsider Using Mercury Bank

Mercury has helped a lot of startups gain control of their finances and move beyond the traditional banking model. However, there are still some startups that might want to reconsider creating a Mercury account:

• Businesses that lack an EIN
• Businesses that want strong returns from their savings or checking account
• Sole proprietorships, freelancers, and independent contractors
• Businesses that need to make frequent cash deposits

Conclusion

Overall, Mercury provides a great alternative to traditional banks. Its tools and platform are specifically designed to be used by startups and other businesses in the early stages of the business cycle. The platform is easy to use and has very few fees, though there are numerous restrictions and low returns that make it undesirable in certain situations. Still, the platform is a great example of how the small business banking environment is rapidly changing.