Mercury's bid to become a US bank after rapid growth

Mercury has grown from a startup-focused banking app into one of the most widely used financial platforms among venture-backed US companies. It has applied for a national bank charter as it seeks to move beyond its partner-bank model.

The San Francisco-based fintech, founded in 2017, provides online banking services to businesses. It serves about 200,000 companies and processes roughly USD $150 billion in annual payment volume. Mercury operates in a crowded field of fintechs targeting startups and online-first companies, a segment that expanded rapidly over the past decade and drew heightened attention after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023.

Mercury is not currently a bank. Customer deposits are held at chartered partner banks, while Mercury provides checking and savings accounts, cards, and money-movement tools through its web interface and application programming interface.

Founding roots

Mercury was founded by Immad Akhund, Max Tagher, and Jason Zhang. Akhund previously co-founded the mobile advertising network Heyzap. The founders positioned Mercury as a response to slow account opening, limited online services, and manual processes that startups often associated with business banking.

The team spent more than a year building the product and securing partnerships with regulated banks to hold deposits. Mercury launched its first business checking accounts in early 2019. Early adoption was concentrated among technology startups, and the company reported monthly customer growth of about 30% to 40% shortly after launch.

Product range

The platform offers FDIC-insured business checking and savings accounts, debit cards, and a corporate charge card, along with ACH transfers, domestic wires, invoicing, and multi-user access. Core accounts have no monthly fees or minimum balances, according to the company.

Deposits are held at partner institutions, including Choice Financial and Column National Bank. Mercury's software sweeps customer funds across those banks. This structure can keep up to about USD $5 million per customer within FDIC insurance limits across multiple banks, above the standard USD $250,000 per bank.

Mercury generates revenue from interest on deposits, interchange fees on card transactions, and fees for premium services. In 2022, it introduced a corporate charge card, Mercury IO, offering 1.5% cashback. It also moved into lending through venture-debt and working-capital products arranged via partner financiers.

In 2024, Mercury added financial-management tools, including automated bill payments, invoicing, and expense-management features. That year, it also introduced Mercury Personal, a consumer product offering personal checking accounts and debit cards.

Scale and funding

Mercury's growth tracked the rapid expansion of the US startup ecosystem through the early 2020s. Two years after launch it had about 40,000 customers and roughly USD $4 billion in deposits, with customers in more than 200 countries. By late 2024, it employed about 800 people.

Mercury has raised roughly USD $500 million across multiple rounds. It raised about USD $20 million in a Series A in 2019, valuing the company at around USD $100 million. A Series B in 2021 brought in USD $120 million at a valuation of about USD $1.6 billion. A Series C in 2025 raised USD $300 million, valuing the business at about USD $3.5 billion.

Mercury reached profitability a few years after launch, the company has said. It also reported about USD $500 million in annual revenue by 2024, a notable figure in a sector where many consumer and business fintechs have struggled to sustain margins as interest rates and funding markets shifted.

Charter application

In December 2025, Mercury said it had applied to become a chartered national bank. The plan is to create a federally regulated, FDIC-insured institution called Mercury Bank. A charter would allow Mercury to hold deposits and make loans directly under its own banking licence rather than relying on partner banks for deposit custody.

As part of its preparations, Mercury appointed Jon Auxier, formerly chief financial officer of SoFi Bank, as Chief Banking Officer. The hire adds traditional banking leadership as the company engages with regulators and builds the functions required for a nationally chartered institution.

Competitive pressures

Mercury's growth has not displaced legacy banks for most US companies. Established institutions still dominate business banking, supported by branch networks, cash services, and a wider range of lending products. Many startups maintain multiple banking relationships, using fintech platforms for day-to-day money movement and cards while relying on traditional banks for other services.

Mercury competes with fintech firms offering corporate cards, spend management, and banking-like services, including Brex and Ramp. The segment often depends on bank partnerships, creating a mix of competition and collaboration between fintech platforms and regulated institutions.

Mercury's rise has increased pressure on incumbents to improve digital onboarding and online tools. It has also sharpened regulatory questions about fintech models built on top of insured banks, particularly since 2023, when Silicon Valley Bank's failure prompted venture-backed companies to diversify cash holdings across multiple providers.