Mercury Expands into Ecommerce Banking
Immad Akhund, CEO of Mercury, on the business models of fintechs vs. banks
Mercury’s growth in e-commerce shows that it is no longer just a startup bank, it is becoming a broader operating account for internet businesses with heavy card spend and constant cash movement. That matters because e-commerce merchants use banking differently from venture backed startups. They run supplier payments, ad spend, chargebacks, and cross border wires every day, which creates more chances to earn interchange, FX, and deposit revenue.
-
The customer mix is deliberate. Mercury started by serving small startups that SVB often ignored, then expanded into bootstrapped companies, e-commerce, consultants, and investors. That diversification reduces exposure to one ecosystem and gives Mercury a wider base of deposits and payment activity.
-
E-commerce is especially attractive because spend often sits on cards, not payroll. In B2B fintech, that usually means better interchange economics than venture backed software startups, whose biggest outflow is often ACH payroll. That is why vertical fintech products keep targeting merchants, agencies, and other high card spend segments.
-
This also explains the competitive shape of the market. Horizontal players like Mercury and Brex start with a broad SMB product, then newer entrants go deeper into verticals such as e-commerce and marketing agencies with more tailored underwriting and workflows. The same pattern is now visible with Slash targeting merchants and agencies that mainstream products underserve.
The next phase is deeper segmentation inside business banking. Mercury is likely to keep looking more like a financial operating system, with products and go to market tuned for distinct groups such as merchants, agencies, investors, and startups. As more neobanks chase the same customers, the winners will be the ones that best match workflows to each vertical while keeping the core account simple.