Mercury vs Novo: Which Business Bank Is Better?

Round by round

1. Round 1🧘 How Simple Is the Account?Novo wins
   Mercury5/10

   Full finance stack

   Checking, savings, treasury, IO card, bill pay, invoicing, API

   • Scales with a growing company
   • Overkill for a solo operator

   Source: Mercury product disclosures

   Novo9/10

   One account, zero complexity

   • Nothing to manage, no tiers, no way to trigger a fee
   • Up to 20 budgeting envelopes (Reserves) inside the one account

   This round goes to Novo.

2. Round 2🌍 Outgoing WiresMercury wins
   Mercury9/10

   $0/wire

   Free domestic and USD international wires

   • Free domestic and USD international wires, no per-transfer cap
   • Only optional premium/same-day processing or non-USD FX carries a fee

   Source: Mercury fee schedule

   Novo4/10

   Flat fee/wire

   Outgoing domestic wire fee; not built for international wiring

   • Incoming wires free
   • Charges to send money out, no international focus

   Source: Novo fee schedule

   This round goes to Mercury.

3. Round 3📈 Yield on Idle BalancesMercury wins
   Mercury8/10

   ~4.47%

   Mercury Treasury, SIPC-covered securities product, needs $250K+

   • Promotional yield also applies to eligible checking and savings balances
   • Not FDIC-insured — it's an investment product

   Source: Mercury Treasury disclosures

   Novo1/10

   0%

   Reserves are budgeting envelopes, not interest-bearing

   • No yield on any balance, at any size
   • Reserves are budgeting envelopes, not interest-bearing accounts

   Source: Novo product disclosures

   This round goes to Mercury, hands down.

4. Round 4🛡️ FDIC CoverageMercury wins
   Mercury9/10

   $5M FDIC

   Insured Cash Sweep across multiple partner banks

   • 20x the standard FDIC limit of $250,000
   • Spreads deposits automatically across partner banks

   Source: Mercury FDIC disclosures

   Novo4/10

   $250K FDIC

   Single partner bank, Middlesex Federal Savings — no sweep network

   • Hard ceiling above the standard $250K
   • Only one FDIC partner bank — no multi-bank sweep

   Source: Novo FDIC disclosures

   So this round goes to Mercury.

5. Round 5🛍️ E-Commerce IntegrationsNovo wins
   Mercury5/10

   NetSuite + API

   Aimed at in-house finance teams, not storefronts directly

   • QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite sync in one place
   • Heavier, finance-team-oriented toolkit, not built for storefronts directly

   Source: Mercury integrations disclosures

   Novo8/10

   Native e-commerce sync

   Direct Stripe/Shopify/Square/Wave integrations plus Novo Invoices

   • Built specifically for small online sellers
   • Also includes Novo Invoices and a perks marketplace

   Source: Novo integrations disclosures

   This round goes to Novo.

6. Round 6🏧 ATM Access While TravelingNovo wins
   Mercury4/10

   Not emphasized

   Digital-first design; no highlighted ATM network or refund program

   • No proprietary ATM network
   • No fee-refund program, unlike Novo

   Source: Mercury product disclosures

   Novo8/10

   ~$7/mo refunded

   Out-of-network ATM fee refunds, domestic and international

   • Effectively any ATM, anywhere, works
   • Refunds apply at both domestic and international ATMs

   Source: Novo ATM disclosures

   Round to Novo on that. Free ATM refunds almost anywhere beat no program at all.

Which one is for you?

Side by side

Mercury

Novo

Overall score

6.2

Best

5.6

Price

See price

See price

Signup Bonus

2.7

2.3

Cash Deposits

1.2

1.0

Head-to-head findings

Signup Bonus

No standing cash bonus

No standing cash bonus

Cash Deposits

$0

$0 — no cash deposits accepted

Record

Head-to-head record

5–4

2–7

Head-to-heads won

56 %

22 %

Rounds won

52 %

46 %

Pros

• Treasury yield up to ~4.47% on balances over $250K
• IO credit card offers straightforward 1.5% cashback
• Free domestic and USD international wires
• Twenty times the standard $250,000 FDIC limit

• No fee, no minimum, nothing to track
• Unlimited transactions, no per-item fees
• Payouts sync automatically into your books
• Novo Invoices included for client billing

Cons

• Treasury is SIPC, not FDIC — a different risk profile
• Support is largely email-only
• No points or bonus tied to the checking account
• Premium/faster processing and non-USD FX transactions still cost

• No branch, no cash-load partner, no workaround
• Would need a second account for cash-handling businesses
• No branches or in-person support
• No built-in card acceptance

More business bank accounts match-ups