Mercury vs Relay vs Bluevine: the best online business bank for your business

Mercury, Relay and Bluevine are the three online business banks most new US businesses consider first. All three have a free plan, open accounts online, connect to accounting software and hold deposits at FDIC-insured partner banks. Pick the wrong one, though, and you'll feel it every month: in fees for cash you can't deposit, interest you're not earning, or accounts you have to fake with spreadsheets.

The right choice depends mostly on three things: whether you handle cash, whether you want your balance to earn interest, and how you get paid.

The plans side by side

Published prices and rates on the day we checked. Interest rates change often.

Mercury

Mercury is built for startups, and especially for software companies and founders outside the US. Its free plan covers checking, savings, cards and the basics most businesses need. Mercury Plus, at $29.90 a month, adds recurring invoices and ACH debit invoicing at $1 per transaction. Mercury Pro, at $299 a month, adds a relationship manager and free ACH debit invoicing.

Wires are where Mercury stands out. Domestic wires are free to send and receive. International wires in US dollars can be sent for free, or for a flat $15 if you want to cover intermediary bank fees so the full amount arrives. Wires in other currencies carry a 1% conversion fee.

Deposits are held at Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., and Mercury's sweep network spreads larger balances across up to 20 banks for up to $5 million of FDIC coverage, the highest of the three.

Mercury supports US companies with founders anywhere in the world, as long as the company is US-formed and the founders don't live in a country on its prohibited list. That makes it a common choice for founders abroad.

The catch is cash. Mercury doesn't accept cash deposits at all, and says plainly that it may not suit businesses that need frequent cash deposits or withdrawals.

Best for: startups, SaaS and online businesses, founders outside the US, businesses paid by wire. Skip it if: you take cash.

Relay

Relay is designed for small businesses that want to manage money in pieces. Its free Starter plan includes up to 20 checking accounts per business, up to 50 debit and credit cards, unlimited users, invoicing, and integrations with QuickBooks and Xero. Savings accounts pay 1.19% APY on Starter.

That many accounts sounds like overkill until you use them. Owners set up separate accounts for taxes, payroll, profit and each major expense, and move a percentage of every payment into each. It's the easiest way we know to stop spending the money you owe the IRS.

Relay's paid plans raise the savings rate and add controls. Grow, at $30 a month, pays 1.87% APY on savings and adds approval rules, recurring invoices and bookkeeping automations. Scale, at $90 a month, pays 3.21%, allows up to 50 checking accounts and removes the fee for same-day ACH.

Cash is easy. You can deposit cash at Allpoint+ ATMs with your Relay debit card, with no fee from Relay or the ATM, up to $1,000 per deposit, usually available the same business day. Green Dot retail locations also accept deposits, but charge their own fee of up to $4.95.

Deposits are held through Thread Bank, which can place them at program banks in its sweep network for up to $3 million of FDIC coverage.

Best for: small businesses with a team, owners who want separate accounts for taxes and expenses, businesses that take some cash. Skip it if: you need free international wires or more than $3 million insured.

Bluevine

Bluevine stands out for paying interest on checking. Its free Standard plan pays 1.3% APY on balances up to $250,000, if each month you either spend $500 on its debit card or receive or deposit $2,500 in customer payments. Most active businesses hit one of those easily.

Its paid plans raise the rate. Plus, at $30 a month, pays 1.75% APY on balances up to $250,000 with no activity requirement. Premier, at $95 a month, pays 3.0% on all balances. Both monthly fees can be waived, by keeping a higher balance or meeting other conditions Bluevine sets out.

Cash is possible but costs a little. You can deposit at more than 90,000 Green Dot retail locations for $4.95 per deposit, with a $2,000 daily limit and a $7,500 30-day limit. Allpoint+ ATMs cost $1 plus 0.5% of the deposit. Outgoing wires cost up to $15. Bluevine offers up to $3 million of FDIC coverage by spreading deposits across several banks.

Best for: businesses that keep a working balance and want it to earn interest without paying for a plan. Skip it if: you deposit cash often, or send many wires.

Is a paid plan worth it for the interest?

Paid plans mostly buy a higher interest rate, so the question is simple arithmetic: does the extra interest beat the monthly fee? Using the rates on the day we checked, and ignoring waivers:

• Bluevine Standard, free, earns about $260 a year on a $20,000 balance, $650 on $50,000 and $1,300 on $100,000, if you meet the monthly activity target.
• Bluevine Premier ($95 a month, 3.0%) beats Standard once you keep about $67,000 or more. Bluevine Plus ($30 a month, 1.75%) only beats Standard above about $80,000, and its rate stops at $250,000.
• Relay Grow ($30 a month) beats the free plan's savings rate once you keep about $53,000 in Relay savings. Relay Scale ($90 a month) needs about the same balance to justify its fee over the free plan, with more accounts and free same-day ACH on top.

For most new businesses holding less than $50,000, the free plans are the right answer. Revisit the question once your balance grows, and check whether the fee can be waived, since that changes the math entirely.

Software and integrations

All three connect to the accounting tools small businesses use. Relay lists integrations with QuickBooks and Xero on every plan. Mercury Plus includes six months of Xero free, and Mercury Pro adds NetSuite categorizations for larger companies. Whichever you choose, connect it to your bookkeeping on day one, so transactions flow in automatically rather than piling up for tax season.

Three businesses, three choices

A SaaS startup with a founder in India. Customers pay through Stripe, the company pays contractors abroad by wire, and nobody handles cash. Mercury: free domestic wires, cheap international ones, the highest FDIC coverage and a track record with founders abroad.

A five-person design agency. Clients pay by ACH, payroll runs every two weeks, and the owner wants to set money aside for taxes. Relay: separate accounts for taxes, payroll and profit, cards for each employee with spending rules, and accounting integrations, all on the free plan.

A local catering business. Some customers pay cash, most pay by card, and the business keeps $40,000 in checking between big events. Bluevine or Relay. Relay if cash comes in often, since Allpoint+ deposits cost nothing. Bluevine if the balance matters more, since 1.3% on $40,000 is about $520 a year.

What none of them do well

All three are strongest for businesses that live online. None has branches, none is ideal for heavy daily cash, and none offers the range of loans a traditional bank with a long relationship can. Many owners keep an online bank for daily operations and open an account at a local bank or credit union when they need cash handling or a credit line.

Questions to ask before you open

• How do your customers pay you? Card, ACH and wire favor any of the three. Cash narrows it to Relay or Bluevine.
• How much will you keep in the account? Under $50,000, interest won't decide much. Above it, Bluevine's rates and Mercury's higher insurance coverage start to matter.
• Who else needs access? Relay's unlimited users and spending rules suit a team.
• Where do the founders live? Mercury is the most established of the three with founders outside the US.

Switching is easy

The cost of choosing "wrong" is low. Opening a second account takes minutes, and you can move your payment details, payroll and subscriptions over a few weeks. If your needs change, from an online-only startup to a business that takes cash, change banks.

How we compared

Plans, fees and rates come from each bank's own pricing and help pages, checked on the dates in the sources list. We haven't yet opened accounts with all three, and the note at the top of this page says so. Rates in particular move with the market, so treat them as a snapshot.

For the documents you'll need and the steps to apply, see our guide to opening a business bank account. If you're a founder outside the US, our guide to starting a US company from abroad covers banking in that context.