Durable Revenue Engines vs Subsidized Growth
Immad Akhund, CEO of Mercury, on the business models of fintechs vs. banks
The real divide after 2021 was not fintech versus bank, but durable revenue engines versus subsidized growth. Mercury was built to make money each time customer balances sat on platform, cards were used, wires moved, or venture debt was extended, so it did not need to pretend free banking alone was a business. That mattered as easy capital disappeared and many fintechs discovered that a slick front end on rented bank infrastructure was not enough.
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Mercury had four concrete revenue streams by early 2023, deposit revenue share from partner banks, card interchange, FX and wire fees, and venture debt economics. That mix made profitability possible without depending on another fundraise.
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The 2021 cohort often chased growth on top of cheap BaaS infrastructure. Once capital tightened, the weak model was exposed. Thin wrapper neobanks with little differentiation, low switching costs, and no strong customer lifetime value started disappearing or consolidating.
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The strongest survivors added either specialization or software. Brex is the clearest contrast, starting from cards and banking but moving into paid expense software, while Mercury stayed centered on startup banking and treasury workflows tied to deposits and money movement.
This pushes fintech toward fewer, larger platforms that control a real workflow and monetize more than one financial action. The winners will look less like promotional banking apps and more like operating systems for specific business customers, with banking, payments, treasury, and software bundled into one daily product.