Mercury vs Novo Business Checking: Which is better?

Mercury and Novo are two options for companies that want to open an online checking account. This review comparing Mercury vs. Novo business checking will help you decide which is the right service for you.
Both offer the same basic product: an online checking account. However, they come with additional features that might appeal to different businesses.
Mercury vs Novo Business Checking Accounts Overview
Before you dive in and look at the details of each bank, it’s important to know a bit about the companies you might be working with.
Novo was founded in 2013 in New York and focuses primarily on serving small and medium-sized companies.
Mercury is the newer company, founded in 2019 in San Francisco. It describes itself as banking for the next generation of startups and offers many services that could appeal to startups, such as help with funding and growing a company.
Mercury Services and Features | Novo Services and Features |
---|---|
Business checking | Business checking |
Send check, wire, and ACH payments online | Virtual business debit card |
Virtual and physical debit cards | Invoicing tools |
Rewards credit card | Set aside money with Reserve accounts |
Business savings account | Integrates with many business apps, like Stripe and Quickbooks |
Discounts on business services | Bill payment |
Business financing | Discounts on business services |
Mercury vs Novo Business Checking Accounts Comparison
When you’re comparing Mercury and Novo, you should be thinking about your company’s banking needs. Think about which checking account will meet your needs most effectively.
However, you should also think about the other services that Mercury and Novo offer. If both checking accounts fit the bill, the additional services that Mercury and Novo will be the tiebreaker that helps you make your decision.
Mercury | Novo | |
---|---|---|
Best for | Companies that want business financing | Companies that want an almost completely fee-free experience or that can benefit from app integrations and discounts |
Minimum deposit | None | None |
Monthly fee | None | None |
Requirements to avoid monthly fee | N/A | N/A |
Other fees | 1% for currency exchange | $27 insufficient funds fee, $27 uncollected funds returned fee |
Other features | Business credit card, Business savings account free with business checking | Reserve accounts |
Both companies offer relatively similar checking accounts. Neither charges a monthly fee, which means you don’t have to worry about your balance slowly dwindling over time. Novo does have a minimum opening deposit, but at $50 it should be relatively easy for any company to meet.
Because both accounts are so similar, the main things you’ll have to consider are the additional services each bank offers.
Mercury Additional Features
Mercury offers many additional tools alongside its business checking.
Business funding
Mercury bills itself as a bank for startups, so it’s not surprising that it helps companies with funding. Through Mercury Capital, you can get help with funding options such as:
- Venture debt
- Daily payouts from eCommerce
- Revenue-based financing
- R&D tax credits
- Equity
Business savings
Every Mercury business checking account comes with an associated savings account. The account has no fees and pays a strong rate of interest, letting your business grow its nest egg over time.
Rewards credit card
While Mercury gives every business a debit card they can use to make purchases, it also offers a business credit card with no fees and a simple 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
Qualifying for the card is simple but might not be easy for every business. All you need to do is maintain a $50,000 balance in your account. There’s no credit check or personal guarantee.
Discounts
Mercury gives business owners discounts on a wide variety of services, which can be a huge savings for new companies. Some of the available discounts include:
- $25,000 in Amazon Web Services credit
- 30% off 6 months of QuickBooks
- Advertising credits for SnapChat, AdQuick, and Decibel
- 25% off Slack
- 3 free months of Gusto payroll services
Novo Additional Features
Novo also gives its customers a few useful features outside of its checking account.
Invoicing tools
Novo offers invoicing tools built into your checking account. You can easily send invoices and request payments through apps like Stripe, Square, or PayPal, or use ACH payments to save on fees.
Reserve Accounts
Novo lets business owners add up to five Reserve accounts to help with budgeting. These work like separate accounts you can use to set aside cash for things like taxes or payroll. Money moves between Reserve accounts instantly and you can set up rules to automate your savings.
Business app integrations
Novo integrates with popular business tools to make running your company as easy as possible. Some of the integrations available include:
- Stripe
- Square
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Quickbooks
- Slack
- Etsy
- eBay
Discounts
Like Mercury, Novo offers discounts on popular business services and apps, including:
- Stripe
- Google Cloud
- Google Ads
- Usto
- Hubspot
- Quickbooks
Novo claims that the total savings available exceed $5,000.
Why Choose Mercury Business Checking?
There are many reasons to choose Mercury Business checking for your business.
You want an almost entirely fee-free experience
One of the big draws of Mercury is that its checking account is almost 100% fee-free. In fact, the only fee the bank charges is a 1% fee for foreign currency conversion.
If you do all of your business in US dollars, that means you’ll never have to pay a fee when you use Mercury. Even things like wire transfers are completely free at the bank.
You’re a startup that needs funding
Mercury is a startup-focused bank and it offers a lot of funding options for growing companies. If you’re hoping to turn your startup into a larger company and want help with funding in the form of loans or equity sales, Mercury is equipped to help you.
You want to earn interest on your business’s cash
Mercury’s business checking account comes with a savings account that offers a solid interest rate. You can store your company’s extra cash in the account to help it grow over time. This contrasts with Novo’s Reserve accounts, which don’t offer interest.
Why Choose Novo Business Checking?

Read 2023 Review
- Award-winning free business checking account with no monthly fees
- Trusted by over 200,000 businesses See More Highlights
- Refunds all ATM fees worldwide
- Apply online in under 10 minutes
- Set aside funds for taxes, payroll and other expenses using Novo Reserves
- Create and send professional invoices in seconds for free
Novo also has plenty of arguments in its factor. You might want to go with the bank if any of these apply to you.
You want to easily send invoices
Every business needs to be able to send invoices and get paid for its goods and services. Novo is a great bank to use if you send a lot of invoices.
With Novo’s built-in invoicing tools you can quickly send and track invoices. You can also accept payment through many apps, such as Stripe or PayPal, or even request ACH payments.
You use many business apps
Novo integrates with dozens of popular business applications from Slack to WooCommerce to Stripe. If you’re running a high-tech business with lots of apps, this can make it easy to track everything through one dashboard.
You use services where Novo offers a discount
Novo offers a discount on many services, including services that it integrates with. It claims that companies can save more than $5,000 on these services, making that a big draw if you use the apps it has partnered with.
Bottom Line
Both Mercury and Novo are strong options if you’re in need of a business checking account. If you’re a fast-growing startup, Mercury will likely be the better fit while companies with a lot of business apps and tools will prefer Novo for its integrations.
However, before you settle on one or the other, make sure to do your due diligence and compare all your options to find the best bank for your business.
Compare Novo and Merucury with Other Business Banks:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Novo bank reliable?
Novo bank is highly reliable and easy to work with. If you do run into issues, Novo has phone support available from 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays.
Is Mercury online bank safe?
Yes, Mercury is a safe bank to work with. It has partnered with Evolve Bank & Trust to offer FDIC insurance to all of its accounts.