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Mercury vs Relay vs Wise

Three accounts, three different jobs.

Mercury, Relay, and Wise are three distinct options for US companies. They overlap, but each emphasizes a different job — and none is an FDIC-insured bank itself.

none of the three is an FDIC-insured bank itself

What all three have in common.

All three publish online application or verification paths for US companies and request information about the business and its owners. None of the three is an FDIC-insured bank itself. Mercury describes itself as a fintech company whose banking services are provided through partner banks. Relay describes itself as a financial technology company, not a bank, with banking provided by Thread Bank. And Wise describes itself as a Money Service Business registered with FinCEN, not a bank.

This matters because deposit insurance works through the partner banks, not merely through the brand on the login screen. The FDIC's third-party banking-app guide explains why the specific bank relationship, account structure, and records matter. Read each provider's current disclosure to understand how funds are held and which protections apply.

Each, in its own words.

Mercury

All-in-one business banking

  • –Business checking and savings accounts for US companies
  • –Cards, spend management, payments, and invoicing in one place
  • –Describes itself as a fintech company, not a bank

Relay

Many accounts, tight control

  • –Business checking built around multiple sub-accounts
  • –Savings, Visa debit and credit cards, and expense management
  • –Describes itself as a fintech company, not a bank

Wise

Money across borders

  • –Multi-currency accounts for sending, receiving, and converting
  • –Holds balances across many currencies with local account details
  • –Describes itself as a Money Service Business, not a bank

How to choose.

Decide from the job, not the brand. If your core need is a US business checking account with cards, spend controls, and day-to-day operations, start with the partner-bank platforms — Mercury or Relay — and compare their current features and fees on their own sites. If your core need is holding and moving money in multiple currencies, Wise's multi-currency structure is what you should be comparing against.

You may use more than one: a US business account for operations and a multi-currency service for international receipts or payouts. They are not always substitutes for each other.

Compare the current product.

Product names, features, eligibility, fees, and partner relationships can change. Use this page to choose the questions, then use each provider's live disclosures for the answers.

  1. 01

    Can this exact company apply?

    Match the entity's registration country, operating location, industry, owners' countries, and address evidence against the provider's eligibility rules. Do this before comparing features.

  2. 02

    Who legally provides the account or service?

    Read the banking-partner, safeguarding, and deposit-insurance disclosures. The logo on the app does not by itself tell you where funds sit or what happens if a bank or nonbank company fails.

  3. 03

    Which money movements do you need?

    List how customers pay, which currencies arrive, how suppliers are paid, where cards are used, and how money moves to another country. Compare those exact rails rather than a generic feature count.

  4. 04

    How will your team operate it?

    Check permissions, bookkeeping exports or integrations, approval workflows, support, and the current fee schedule. A feature only matters when it matches the way your company actually works.

The thing that matters more than the brand.

Eligibility. Each provider sets its own rules about which countries, industries, and business activities it will onboard, and those rules change. A provider your friend uses may not accept your country of residence, or your industry, or your address. Check the current eligibility on the provider's own site before you apply. Start with Mercury's eligibility guide, Relay's signup requirements, and Wise's US business-verification guide.

There is no universally “best” of the three — only the one that fits your entity, your country, and your money flow. That decision starts further back, with a clean company record and an EIN. See opening a US bank account as a non-resident and opening one without an SSN.

Form the company, then pick the account that fits.

Corppy handles formation and EIN and guides your bank application — the provider still makes the final call.

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