Mercury Review
Mercury is a financial technology company that holds business deposits at partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., and adds cards, bill pay, invoicing, accounting sync and a public API for US startups and small businesses.
Independently scored, one dimension at a time. Every dimension is sourced, and we say whether a claim is published, reported, or estimated.
The docs describe a hosted MCP server in beta with 30 read tools and 5 write tools, where payment and transfer requests wait for approval in Mercury (docs.mercury.com, checked 11 October 2026). A REST API with scoped tokens, a sandbox, webhooks and an official CLI sit alongside it, and the in-app Command agent shipped on 16 June 2026 per the release notes. The beta label and a marketing page that still calls MCP read-only keep it short of a top mark.
The pricing page publishes all three plans, the payment fee table, the foreign exchange fees and a plan comparison, and the Treasury page dates its yield and fee figures (checked 11 October 2026). Marks come off for FAQ lines that lag the table, such as a reimbursement cap removed on 23 July 2026, and for API volume fees and custom plans that are not priced in public.
Checking, savings, debit and IO credit cards, bill pay, invoicing, ACH, wires, mailed checks, checkbooks and real-time payments are all on the pricing page (11 October 2026), with venture debt, working capital loans and a separate Treasury securities product. Gaps: no cash deposits, no non-USD balances, real-time payments only through Column N.A., and a Choice deposit agreement that describes the business deposit account as not interest-bearing.
The site says the online application takes 10 minutes and lists the documents needed: formation documents, the IRS EIN letter and ID for the controller and each 25 percent owner (mercury.com FAQ, 11 October 2026). Recipients import by CSV, bills forward to a dedicated inbox, and the switch page describes guided migration with accounts run in parallel. The approval time is not stated on the homepage, FAQ or business banking page, and certain industries and founder countries are excluded.
QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite connect directly, with GL codes, classes, receipts and scheduled sync (accounting integrations page and release notes, 11 October 2026). NetSuite categorization and rules need the Pro plan, no Sage Intacct connector is listed, and invoices sync as bank feed entries without GL coding. Payroll wire drawdowns, HRIS sync, Slack approvals, webhooks and CSV export round it out.
Mercury's FAQ lists admin, bookkeeper, custom and card-only access, and the release notes add custom roles (15 December 2025) and separation of duties on payment approvals (10 April 2026). MFA is enforced and the security page states SOC 2 Type II. The partner-bank disclosure sits on every page read on 11 October 2026 and links to the sweep bank lists. No SSO, SOC 1 report or exportable audit log is described on the pricing, security or FAQ pages, and the security page still names Evolve Bank & Trust in two answers.
Users are unlimited per the FAQ, and the product adds venture debt, working capital loans and Treasury as a company grows. Limits bite early for some: US-formed entities only, dollar balances only, real-time payments only on Column N.A. accounts, and loans unavailable to businesses operating in California (mercury.com, 11 October 2026). Per-company payment limits and API rate limits are not published; the Choice deposit agreement lists only minimum limits.
The pricing page lists email and in-dashboard support for every plan, with a dedicated relationship manager only on Pro or for accounts with $10 million or more. The pricing and contact pages list no phone line or response-time target. Trustpilot showed a 3.9 score from 2,855 reviews on 11 October 2026, with 67 percent five-star and 21 percent one-star; the complaints centre on slow replies and account restrictions (reported).
Broad, low-fee banking software for US startups; deposits stay at partner banks while its charter is pending.
Written by the Audit Friendly research team. No vendor edits, no sponsored placement.
Mercury sells software on top of bank accounts held elsewhere. The base plan is $0 a month (published) and includes checking and savings, debit and credit cards, bill pay with approval rules, invoicing, enriched sync to QuickBooks Online and Xero and a bank feed for NetSuite, with 1099 filing at $5 a form. ACH, domestic wires, USD international wires and checks carry no Mercury fee (published, checked 11 October 2026). The vendor claims more than 300,000 customers. The API, command-line tool and beta MCP server are documented in public. Of the three peers compared on this page, Rho's API is read-only and Relay lists none.
The catch is structural. Mercury is still a technology company, and deposits sit at Choice Financial Group or Column N.A. The OCC gave conditional approval for Mercury Bank, N.A. in April 2026, and FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals were still pending on 11 October 2026, so account terms may change again if the charter completes. The product is US-only in practice: the company must be formed in the United States, balances are in dollars, and cash deposits are not supported. NetSuite categorization is locked to the Pro plan at $350 a month, no Sage Intacct connector is listed, and a named relationship manager needs Pro or a $10 million balance. Trustpilot reviews split sharply, with 21 percent one-star ratings that cite slow support and account restrictions (reported, checked 11 October 2026).
Before moving the operating account, confirm in writing which partner bank will hold it, because real-time payments are limited to accounts provided through Column N.A. Ask how account numbers, routing numbers and agreements would change if Mercury Bank, N.A. opens. Get the transaction limits that apply to the company, since the published deposit agreement lists only minimum limits. If NetSuite is the ledger, price Pro at $350 a month, or $299 on annual billing. If Treasury is in scope, read the Mercury Advisory brochure first: it is a securities account with an annual fee of 0.15 to 0.60 percent.
- US-formed startups that want payables, invoicing, cards and accounting sync inside the operating account at $0 a month
- Finance leads on QuickBooks Online or Xero who want coded transactions and matched receipts pushed to the ledger on a schedule
- Teams that want scripts or AI agents to read balances and queue payments for human approval through a documented API or MCP server
- Businesses that take in physical cash or need balances held in currencies other than US dollars
- Companies formed outside the United States, money services businesses, cannabis, adult or internet gambling operators, and trusts
- NetSuite shops that want categorized sync below the $350 a month Pro plan, and Sage Intacct shops, which have no listed connector
The jobs a finance team actually hires Mercury for
Jobs, mapped to how finance teams actually buy.
Pay vendor bills with approval rules from the operating account
Bills arrive by upload or a forwarding inbox and are read with OCR. Approval policies run by dollar amount, non-admins can approve, and separation of duties stops creators approving their own payments. Payment goes out by ACH, wire, check or real-time payment, and the bill syncs to the ledger with its GL code.
Send domestic and USD international payments without wire fees
ACH, domestic wires, USD international wires and checks carry no Mercury fee on any plan. Paying a vendor in local currency costs 1 percent of the converted amount across 40+ currencies. Intermediary banks can still deduct fees from USD international wires unless the $15 OUR-coded option is used.
Push coded transactions and receipts to the ledger on a schedule
Transactions take GL codes and classes inside Mercury, receipts match to card spend, and a scheduled sync pushes reviewed items to the ledger. Enriched sync and automatic categorization are free for QuickBooks Online and Xero. NetSuite gets a bank feed on every plan and categorization only on Pro.
Let an AI agent prepare payments that a person approves
Through the beta MCP server an agent can read balances and transactions and create payment or internal transfer requests to existing recipients. Each request waits under Needs approval in Mercury, and the docs say the AI tool cannot approve it. Category and note edits apply at once, so review those scopes before granting them.
Invoice customers and collect by ACH, card or wire
Unlimited invoices are included on the base plan, with card payments processed by Stripe and wires or ACH transfers received free. Recurring invoices and ACH debit collection start on Plus at $35 a month. Invoices sync to the ledger as bank feed entries once paid, without GL coding.
Give a team cards with limits and receipt rules
Virtual and physical debit and credit cards can be issued with custom limits, merchant locks and receipt requirements. The IO credit card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A., and its limit follows the company's balances, so it can fall after large withdrawals. Companies under a $15,000 balance repay daily.
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What it actually costs
Here's what it really costs: published rates where a vendor lists them, aggregated quote data where they don't, plus a path to your own number.
Checking and savings, debit and credit cards, bill pay, unlimited invoices, reimbursements, bank feeds for QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite, and enriched sync for QuickBooks Online and Xero. No minimum balance or overdraft fee (published, checked 11 October 2026).
Adds recurring invoices, ACH debit collection on invoices at $1 a transaction, unlimited 1099 filings and 6 months of Xero.
Adds a relationship manager, NetSuite categorizations and ACH debit collection on invoices at $0 a transaction.
The pricing page says to get in touch with the team for custom pricing and plan options; no figures are published.
Same-day and next-day ACH, domestic wires, mailed checks, up to six checkbooks a year and real-time payments carry no Mercury fee on any plan. Real-time payments are available only on accounts provided through Column N.A.
Standard SHA wires are $0 to the sender and intermediary banks may deduct fees from the recipient. The OUR-coded option costs a flat $15 so intermediary fees are charged back to Mercury.
Applies to wires converted into one of the 40+ supported currencies. The FAQ invites companies exchanging more than $200,000 to ask about fees.
Applies to business debit cards and IO credit cards. The pricing table shows 3 percent; the business disclosures page says up to 3 percent.
The site says no interest or annual fees and 1.5 percent cashback on credit spend. Issued by Patriot Bank, N.A. Balances under $15,000 repay daily; 30-day terms start at a $15,000 balance.
Card payments on Mercury invoices are processed by Stripe, and the FAQ quotes the typical Stripe rate. ACH transfer, wire and check payments on invoices are free to receive.
Federal and state 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC filing on the base plan. Plus and Pro include unlimited filings.
Double-entry accounting ledger built into the account, launched 16 September 2026 per the release notes. The Books page says it is built to replace QuickBooks.
What it actually takes to go live
The site states: "Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC." (https://mercury.com/, read 11 October 2026). The partner bank on a given account appears on its statements, and the two banks support different features. Mercury says it received OCC conditional approval in April 2026 to establish Mercury Bank, N.A., and that FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals are still pending. Until a final charter is issued, the company remains a technology company working through partner banks, and account terms may change if the bank opens.
The pricing page says: "Mercury Treasury is offered by Mercury Advisory, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Yield subject to investment risk." The Treasury disclosures add that "Treasury accounts are not FDIC insured, are not bank deposits" and may lose value (https://mercury.com/legal/disclosures/treasury, read 11 October 2026). Securities are held at Apex Clearing Corporation, and Mercury Advisory charges 0.15 to 0.60 percent a year on positions. Access needs $250,000 across Mercury accounts. Review it as an investment product with its own brochure.
The FAQ says cash deposits are not supported, at ATMs or otherwise, and adds that the product may suit cash-heavy businesses poorly (https://mercury.com/faq, read 11 October 2026). Accounts hold US dollars only. International wires can be sent in 40+ currencies at a 1 percent fee, but nothing can be held in them. A business that collects or holds foreign currency needs a second provider.
The plan table shows bank feed import for QuickBooks Online, Xero and NetSuite on every plan. Incremental enrichment, automatic categorization and categorization rules cover only QuickBooks Online and Xero until Pro, at $350 a month or $299 on annual billing (https://mercury.com/pricing, read 11 October 2026). The FAQ on the same page is looser and ties enriched NetSuite automations to a paid plan starting at $35 a month, so get the plan confirmed in writing. No Sage Intacct connector is listed, and CSV export is the fallback for other ledgers. Treasury transactions are excluded from GL coding, and invoices sync without GL codes.
The release notes say real-time payments are available on accounts provided through Column, N.A. (25 August and 29 September 2026). Payroll wire drawdowns reached both banks only on 28 September 2026. Customers have also been moved between banks before: Mercury announced in March 2025 that it was leaving Evolve Bank & Trust, and American Banker reported that customers would migrate in cohorts (reported, 14 March 2025). Ask which bank the account will sit at before relying on a feature.
The pricing page lists email and in-dashboard support for every plan and a dedicated relationship manager on Pro; a footnote extends that to business accounts with $10 million or more (read 11 October 2026). The pricing and contact pages list no phone number or response-time target. Trustpilot showed 3.9 from 2,855 reviews on 11 October 2026, with 21 percent one-star; its AI-generated review summary cites slow customer service responses, account restrictions and delayed wire transfers (reported). Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews.
Scored on what an outside agent can actually reach: the documented API, how it authenticates, and whether the vendor ships an MCP server.
Exists: Mercury runs a hosted MCP server at https://mcp.mercury.com/mcp and documents it at docs.mercury.com, where the section is labelled Beta (checked 11 October 2026). The release notes date the launch to 29 December 2025, with read-only access at that point. The docs list official integrations for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Perplexity, Gemini Enterprise, Grok Bot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Notion and Replit. A search of the public MCP registry on 11 October 2026 found no first-party Mercury entry, only an unofficial community server, so the first-party endpoint is found through Mercury's own docs.
Scope: The docs list 30 read tools covering accounts, balances, statements, transactions, recipients, cards, users, invoices, customers, Treasury positions and webhooks. Five write tools exist. requestSendMoney and requestTransferMoney create requests that must be approved in Mercury before money moves, and the docs say the AI tool cannot approve a request itself. createCategory, editCategory and updateTransaction apply immediately with no approval step. The MCP server cannot create recipients, issue cards or create invoices; those actions sit in the REST API. Mercury's API marketing page still described MCP access as read-only on 11 October 2026, while the docs updated that week describe the write tools.
Turnkey: Setup is per user through OAuth, and the docs say nothing needs configuring on Mercury's side. Write scopes are separate consents, and an existing read-only connection must be reauthorized to gain them. The docs say a Claude connector session lasts about 3 days. Mercury says it does not offer a self-hosted MCP server. Outside MCP, the REST API issues tokens in three tiers: read only, read and write, and custom scopes. A read and write token can initiate transactions without admin approval and requires an IP allowlist, so the approval gate depends on which token an admin issues.
In-product AI: Mercury Command, released on 16 June 2026 per the release notes, takes plain-language requests to send payments, issue cards, categorize transactions and create transfer rules. The vendor says Command acts only with explicit approval and respects existing permissions. Bill Pay reads invoices with OCR, receipts are matched to card transactions, and transactions are categorized automatically. No accuracy figures are published, so outcome claims remain the vendor's own.
Mercury, kept current
Mercury released double-entry accounting software inside the account. It is listed at $35 a month and waived until 31 December 2026.
PYMNTS reported that Mercury raised $200 million at a $5.2 billion valuation and said it had more than 300,000 customers. Mercury stayed independent and privately held.
Mercury announced conditional approval for a national bank charter, per Payments Dive on 29 April 2026. Final OCC authorization and FDIC and Federal Reserve approvals were still pending, and partner banks keep holding deposits.
Release notes announced the hosted MCP server for AI tools, with read-only access at launch. The docs read on 11 October 2026 label it Beta and describe 30 read tools and 5 write tools, with payments created as requests for approval.
Mercury said it applied to the OCC for a national bank charter and to the FDIC for deposit insurance, and named a proposed chief executive for Mercury Bank.
The Paypers reported on 13 March 2025 that Mercury would move customers from Evolve Bank & Trust to Column N.A. or Choice Financial Group. American Banker added that the migration would run in cohorts over a period of months (reported).
Mercury FAQ
The base plan is $0 a month with no minimum balance (published, checked 11 October 2026). Mercury Plus is $35 a month and Mercury Pro is $350 a month on monthly billing, or $29.90 and $299 a month billed annually.
A typical small company on QuickBooks Online or Xero can run on the base plan. ACH, domestic wires, USD international wires, checks, bill pay and invoicing carry no Mercury fee. Expect to pay 1 percent on non-USD wires, up to 3 percent on non-USD card spend, Stripe fees on invoice card payments and $5 per 1099 filing.
A mid-size company on NetSuite should budget for Pro at $350 a month, because NetSuite categorization sits on that plan. Mercury Books is listed at $35 a month and is waived until 31 December 2026.
The Choice Financial Group deposit agreement, last updated 24 September 2026, says closure is requested by written notice to Mercury's help address and is honored within three business days plus the time needed to settle pending transactions. Remaining funds may be returned by check to the address on file or to a linked account.
Before closing, download statements from the Documents tab and export transactions by CSV; the FAQ confirms both. The public API also returns statement PDFs, transactions, recipients and invoices, so history can be pulled by script. Paid plans stay active until the end of the billing period, and the subscription addendum says unused time is not refunded.
Move recurring payments, payroll drawdowns and customer remittance details first, since account and routing numbers stay behind. Treasury positions are securities held at Apex Clearing Corporation, so ask how they are sold or transferred before the bank account closes. Mercury's help center has a closing guide; confirm the current steps with support.
Companies must be formed and registered in the United States or a US territory, have existing or planned US operations, and have a principal business address that is a real street address, which can be outside the US (mercury.com FAQ, checked 11 October 2026). Founders can live abroad, except in the countries on Mercury's restricted list.
Mercury says it accepts most US companies except money services businesses and those involved in adult entertainment, cannabis or internet gambling, and it cannot open accounts for trusts. Applicants need formation documents, the IRS EIN letter and government ID for a person with operating control and for each owner of 25 percent or more.
The site says the application takes 10 minutes. The homepage, FAQ and business banking page do not say how long approval takes, so ask before setting a cutover date.
Yes, within limits. Mercury runs a hosted MCP server, in beta, that connects Claude, ChatGPT and other tools through OAuth (docs.mercury.com, checked 11 October 2026). An agent can read accounts, transactions, statements, recipients, cards and invoices.
An agent can ask for money to move but cannot move it alone through MCP. With the write scopes granted, it can create a payment request to an existing recipient or an internal transfer request. The docs say each request needs approval in Mercury, that the AI tool cannot approve it, and that a confirmation in chat does not count as approval.
Category and note changes apply immediately, with no approval step. Separately, an admin can issue a read and write API token that sends payments without approval from an allowlisted IP address. That is a control decision for the finance lead, and request-only scopes keep a person in the loop.
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