Mercury IO Business Credit Card Review

Pros

• Simple, flat-rate rewards program
• Partner discounts & offers
• No monthly or annual fees
• All-in-one platform for banking, accounting, and expense management

Cons

• Only available to businesses formed in the United States

What Is Mercury’s IO Business Credit Card?

Disclosure: This video is sponsored by Mercury and is included for informational purposes.

Mercury’s IO is a corporate credit card offered by the financial technology company, Mercury. (The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®.) Startups and businesses with a Mercury account may be eligible to receive this card.

IO has no monthly or annual fees. Physical and virtual cards can be issued to employees, allowing you to easily track expenses, set spend controls, and earn unlimited cashback rewards.

IO is ideal for startup businesses looking for an all-in-one platform that combines banking*, spend management, lending, and accounting. There are no credit checks or personal guarantees required. Mercury uses factors such as your Mercury balances, company size, spending patterns, and fundraising history to determine eligibility and credit access.

To top it off, IO has no monthly or annual card fee.

Disclosure

*Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A.; Members FDIC.

Mercury Corporate Card Rewards & Perks

With Mercury’s IO card, you’ll receive unlimited 1.5% cash back* on every purchase. Cash is automatically deposited into your account at the end of the month, so there’s no complex points system or complicated redemption process to worry about — just automatic cash back credited to your Mercury account.

In addition to these rewards, you can also cash in on discounts and offers through Mercury’s partners. These offers can be accessed through Mercury’s Perks page and include:

• QuickBooks Online: 30% off for 6 months
• Gusto: 3 months free
• Slack: 25% off plan upgrades
• Rippling: 6 months free
• AWS: Up to $5,000 in Activate credits

Disclosure

*The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.

Mercury Credit Card Pricing & Fees

Similar to other top corporate credit cards, IO has few fees. Because it is a charge card that is paid off daily or monthly, there is no interest. You also don’t have to worry about other common fees, including annual fees, monthly fees, late fees, or fees for employee cards.

There is, however, a foreign transaction fee. This fee is up to 3% on all IO transactions made in currencies other than USD.

Mercury offers a free plan, so you can avoid a monthly fee. However, if you want to access features like recurring invoicing or ACH debits, you must sign up for one of Mercury’s two paid plans that start at $35/month.

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for IO, you must have a Mercury account. Mercury accounts are open to US-based businesses with an EIN.

Sole proprietors and certain high-risk businesses are ineligible.

Once you’ve opened an account, you may qualify for IO immediately. Once your Mercury account balances hit $15,000, you may qualify for 30-day payment terms.

There is no credit check, so your personal credit will not be affected if you apply and is not used for underwriting. There is no personal guarantee required.

You can navigate to the Credit Card section of your Mercury dashboard to find out if you’re eligible.

Most customers start with daily repayment terms. Customers with at least $15,000 in total Mercury balances may qualify for higher limits and choose monthly or daily repayment terms.

IO Features

IO is part of Mercury’s financial stack, which allows you to track expenses, set spend controls, issue employee cards, and even use basic accounting tools all within one intuitive, user-friendly platform.

These tools all combine to form a great package for businesses — specifically startups — that need banking, business tools, and corporate cards in one spot. Best of all, you don’t have to subscribe to a paid plan to take advantage of many of these great features (although you will have to upgrade for ACH debits, branded invoices, and extra employee reimbursements).

This covers the basics, but Mercury has several other great features worth talking about:

• Spend Policies: Create company-wide spend policies that require employees to upload receipts or add notes for any transaction that exceeds a specified amount.
• Business Credit Building: Mercury reports IO payment history to Experian, Equifax, and Dun & Bradstreet, so you can easily establish and build your business credit.
• Accounting Tools: Mercury accounting features include automatic categorization, invoicing, and integrations with QuickBooks and Xero. A NetSuite integration is available to Pro plan subscribers.
• Slack Integration: Approve payments and view balances directly within Slack.
• Checking & Savings: When you sign up for Mercury, you’ll get fee-free checking and savings accounts. You can even sign up for up to 15 checking accounts for budgeting purposes.
• Funding: From venture debt capital to working capital loans, Mercury offers access to the funding you need to grow your business.

Customer Service

Mercury’s customer support is primarily handled through email. You can access a form directly from your account, as well as a phone number to use for urgent issues.

Mercury has plenty of support resources on its website, including FAQs and a company blog. Mercury also has social media profiles on X/Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and videos are available on its YouTube channel.

A dedicated relationship manager is available to Pro plan subscribers or account holders with a minimum balance of $10 million.

Overall, Mercury’s customer support has positive reviews. However, some customers have complained about slow responses, which is something to keep in mind.

Mercury Credit Card Reviews

Mercury gets mostly positive reviews online. While it isn’t accredited by the BBB, it receives an A+ rating on the platform. It also has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot based on over 2,000 reviews.

Is Mercury Safe?

Mercury is a financial technology (fintech) company, not a bank.

The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®.

Checking and savings accounts are provided through Mercury’s bank partners Choice Financial Group and Column N.A.; Members FDIC.

Some of the measures used to protect user data include encrypted passwords, two-factor authentication, fully encrypted database, and third-party penetration testing.

How Does Mercury’s IO Compare To Other Cards?

IO has a lot going for it: no surprise fees, virtual and physical employee cards, and flat-rate cash-back rewards. But how does it stack up against the competition?

Final Verdict: Is Mercury’s IO Business Credit Card Worth It?

Mercury makes it easy to do everything from creating virtual cards for employees to setting custom spend controls. While the 1.5% unlimited cash back rate is pretty good, the fact that it isn’t limited to certain categories and redemptions are automatic each month makes it even better.

Throw in partner discounts, no hidden fees, fee-free checking and savings accounts, and a host of other features, and IO is a great choice for businesses that meet Mercury’s requirements.