Mercury vs Relay: Which Business Bank Is Better?

Round by round

1. Round 1💵 Cash DepositsRelay wins
   Mercury1/10

   $0 — not accepted

   Mercury accepts no physical cash under any circumstance

   • Hard disqualifier for any cash-handling business
   • Support is online/email only, no branches to fall back on

   Source: Mercury deposit disclosures

   Relay9/10

   90,000+ retailers

   Cash accepted at partner retailers and compatible Allpoint ATMs

   • Rare among fintechs — genuine cash acceptance
   • Also 55,000+ fee-free Allpoint ATMs

   Source: Relay fee schedule

   Round to Relay on that. Cash acceptance beats none every time, especially for walk-in businesses.

2. Round 2🗂️ Money OrganizationRelay wins
   Mercury5/10

   Unlimited virtual sub-accounts

   Single core balance, organized programmatically via API

   • Fits a developer-driven, single-balance setup
   • Not built around envelope-style budgeting

   Source: Mercury product disclosures

   Relay9/10

   20 accounts / 50 cards

   Official Profit First Professionals platform with percentage auto-transfers

   • Nobody else does native Profit First allocation like this
   • Up to 20 real checking accounts and 50 debit/credit cards

   Source: Relay Starter plan disclosures

   This round goes to Relay.

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

   ~4.47%

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

   • Real yield for a company parking six figures, up to ~4.47%
   • Not FDIC-insured — it's an investment product

   Source: Mercury Treasury disclosures

   Relay4/10

   up to 2.68%

   Top rate needs the paid Scale plan; checking pays 0%

   • FDIC-backed bank-deposit yield, not a securities product
   • Top 2.68% tier requires the paid Scale plan (~$90-$120/mo)

   Source: Relay pricing disclosures

   This round goes to Mercury — that yield gap was hard to ignore.

4. Round 4🌍 Wires, Especially InternationalMercury wins
   Mercury9/10

   $0/wire

   Free domestic and USD international wires

   • Free wires are genuinely rare among business accounts
   • Fees apply only to optional same-day or non-USD FX processing

   Source: Mercury fee schedule

   Relay5/10

   ~$5-$10/wire

   Outgoing wire fees on Starter; free outgoing on paid Grow/Scale

   • Incoming wires always free, domestic and international
   • Outgoing domestic ~$5 and international ~$10 on the free Starter plan

   Source: Relay fee schedule

   So this round goes to Mercury for truly free outgoing wires without fine print.

5. Round 5🧮 Bookkeeper CollaborationRelay wins
   Mercury6/10

   NetSuite + API

   Deeper software integrations, aimed at in-house finance/dev teams

   • QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite sync plus an API
   • Built more for a controller or developer than a hands-on bookkeeper

   Source: Mercury integrations disclosures

   Relay8/10

   Bookkeeper access + receipt capture

   Official Profit First Professionals platform with collaborator access

   • Official banking platform of Profit First Professionals
   • Receipt capture plus percentage auto-transfer rules

   Source: Relay integrations disclosures

   This round goes to Relay.

6. Round 6🚀 Who Each Bank Was Built ForMercury wins
   Mercury8/10

   $5M FDIC

   Multi-bank Insured Cash Sweep, built for venture-backed companies

   • Raised $300M in 2025 at a $3.5B valuation
   • IO corporate card offers 1.5% cashback

   Source: Mercury FDIC disclosures

   Relay7/10

   $3M FDIC

   Thread Bank sweep, built for everyday operating businesses

   • Founded in 2018, aimed at everyday small businesses and bookkeepers
   • FDIC coverage tops out around $3M, less than Mercury's $5M

   Source: Relay FDIC disclosures

   So this round goes to Mercury, with bigger backing and stronger cash protection.

Which one is for you?

Side by side

Mercury

Top ratedRelay

Check price

Overall score

6.2

6.9

Best

Price

See price

See price

Signup Bonus

2.7

3.7

Cash Deposits

1.2

7.6

Head-to-head findings

Signup Bonus

No standing cash bonus

~$50 base + referrals

Cash Deposits

$0

90,000+ retailers / Allpoint ATMs

Record

Head-to-head record

5–4

7–1–1

Head-to-heads won

56 %

88 %

Rounds won

52 %

59 %

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

• Up to 20 checking accounts, 50 cards
• Official Profit First Professionals platform
• Included free on Starter plan
• Accepts cash — rare among fintechs

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 teller window; retailer middleman
• Best rates locked behind paid tiers
• No branches — online-only
• Toronto-based; sponsor-bank migration in 2023

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