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Mercury launches two exclusive investment funds for businesses' idle cash. Aug 18, 2026 Business banking fintech Mercury wants to offer its customers more ways to earn yield on idle cash while keeping that money in its ecosystem. The company today rolled out two Mercury-exclusive investment funds, partnering with Morgan Stanley Investment Management and State Street Investment Management. The launch is the company's latest effort to keep customers' cash on its platform as competitors like Brex, Ramp and Rho offer their own ways for businesses to invest excess funds, including through high-yield investment products that offer liquidity. Mercury wants to spare founders from "having to go out and piece together multiple different banking relationships," CFO Dan Kang told This Week in Fintech. "We've negotiated some of the best yields for you, and you get this in one seamless platform." Customers can access the funds through Mercury Treasury, the company's service for investing excess business cash. Mercury Treasury offered investment funds before, but those products were also available outside Mercury. The new funds are only for Mercury customers. To qualify, businesses must hold at least $250,000 on Mercury's platform. The annual management fee ranges from 0.15% to 0.60% depending on customers' total balances, with larger customers paying less. MCRYX, an ultra-short bond fund offered by Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is available now. It offers a net annual yield of up to 3.88%, though that maximum applies only to customers with more than $20 million in deposits across their Mercury bank accounts. MRGXX, a share class of State Street Investment Management's government money-market offering, is expected to become available in the coming weeks. It carries a lower expense ratio than Mercury's previous government money-market fund. The funds are designed to be liquid: Customers can retrieve money from the State Street fund the same day, while the Morgan Stanley fund can offer next-day access. Unlike a savings account, however, the investments are not FDIC-insured and may lose value. MCRYX has a floating net asset value and carries principal risk. Kang said Mercury sought to limit those risks by selecting lower-risk investments. "We want to make sure that the portfolios that we put forward really make sense, [and] that they're safe and sound," he said. Mercury chose investment funds rather than a high-yield savings product because banks can change deposit rates or limit their highest rates to certain balances. The funds' yields also fluctuate, but they're driven by market conditions rather than set by Mercury. "For a customer, having certainty that you will earn yield on your funds goes a long way," Kang said. "The bank could pull that back at any moment in time." Later this year, Mercury plans to add Treasury Ladders, letting customers spread their cash across U.S. Treasury securities with different maturity dates. In May, Mercury raised $200 million in a TCV-led Series D that valued the company at $5.2 billion.

Best bank accounts for Freelancers 2026: Mercury vs Relay vs Wise. Mercury, Relay, and Wise Business are the top free bank accounts for freelancers in 2026. Here is which one wins for your situation - and why you need a separate account at all. FreelancePick Editorial Team · Aug 13, 2026 Every freelancer needs a dedicated bank account separate from personal finances. It simplifies taxes, protects your LLC liability, and makes bookkeeping effortless. Here are the best bank accounts for freelancers in 2026 - all free. Why freelancers need a separate bank account. Before FreelancePick rank the options, here is why mixing business and personal funds is a costly mistake: * Tax prep is a nightmare: Finding business expenses buried in your personal account wastes hours every tax season. * LLC protection is void: Operating an LLC while co-mingling personal and business funds can "pierce the corporate veil" - destroying the liability protection you paid to establish. * Bookkeeping takes 10x longer: Accounting software connects to one account and auto-categorizes transactions. Mix personal in, and every transaction needs manual review. * Professionalism: Clients pay a business name, not your personal name. The good news: the best freelancer bank accounts are all free. Quick comparison: best bank accounts for Freelancers 2026. | Mercury | Relay | Wise Business | Novo | Found | | Monthly fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | | Min balance | None | None | None | None | None | | LLC required | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | | Tax buckets | Manual | Automatic | Manual | No | Automatic | | International | Limited | No | Excellent | No | No | | Accounting sync | QuickBooks, Xero, Wave | QuickBooks, Xero | QuickBooks, Xero | QuickBooks, Xero | Built-in | | Best for | Overall | Tax savings | International | Simple banking | Self-employed | 1. Mercury - Best overall free bank account for Freelancers. Mercury is the top pick for most freelancers. It offers a clean, modern banking interface with no monthly fees, no minimum balance, and excellent integrations. Key features: - Free checking and savings accounts - No monthly fees, no transaction fees for ACH - Virtual and physical Visa debit cards - Integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, Stripe, Gusto, and more - API access for tech-savvy freelancers - Up to $5M FDIC insurance via partner banks The catch: Mercury requires a US-formed LLC or corporation. Sole proprietors operating without an entity cannot open a Mercury account. If you operate as a sole proprietor, look at Wise or Found instead. Best for: Freelancers with an LLC who want the best free business checking with excellent accounting integrations. 2. Relay - Best for Automatic tax savings. Relay is a business banking platform that lets you create up to 20 checking sub-accounts and automatically route a percentage of every deposit to each. This makes it the best bank for freelancers who struggle to save for quarterly taxes. Key features: - Up to 20 free checking sub-accounts (e.g., "Operating," "Taxes 30%," "Emergency") - Automatic percentage-based routing - set it once, forget it - Free tier available; Relay Pro is $30/month for extra features - Integrates with QuickBooks and Xero - Up to $3M FDIC coverage via partner banks - Requires an LLC or corporation How Relay's tax buckets work: Set up a "Taxes" sub-account and configure it to automatically receive 28% (or whatever your estimated rate is) of every incoming deposit. You never accidentally spend your tax money. Best for: Freelancers who want to automate quarterly tax savings and keep operating funds, tax reserves, and emergency funds completely separate. 3. Wise Business - Best for international clients. If you work with clients in Europe, Canada, Australia, the UK, or anywhere else that pays in a foreign currency, Wise Business is essential. It gives you local bank account numbers in 10+ currencies - so European clients send a local EUR transfer to your Wise EUR IBAN, with zero international wire fees. Key features: - Local account details in EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, SGD, USD, and more - Currency conversion at the real mid-market rate (0.4-0.7% fee, much lower than banks) - No monthly fee for the account; fees apply only on conversions and some transactions - Available to sole proprietors - no LLC required - Integrates with QuickBooks and Xero - FDIC-equivalent protection varies by country Example savings: A UK client pays you £3,000. Via a traditional bank, you pay a $25-$45 SWIFT fee and get a 1.5-3% poor exchange rate. Via Wise, the client sends a local bank transfer to your Wise GBP account. You convert at the mid-market rate for a 0.5% fee - saving $50-$100 on a single invoice. Best for: Freelancers with international clients who pay in foreign currencies. 4. Novo - Best simple free business checking. Novo is a free business checking account with a clean app and solid accounting integrations. It's simpler than Mercury or Relay but works well for freelancers who want no-fuss banking without the advanced features. Key features: - No monthly fees, no minimum balance - Integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe, Shopify, and more - Reserves feature lets you set aside money for taxes and expenses - Requires an LLC or corporation Best for: Freelancers who want straightforward free business checking with solid integrations and no complexity. 5. Found - Best for Sole proprietors without an LLC. Found is a banking + bookkeeping hybrid built exclusively for self-employed workers. It does not require an LLC - you can open an account as a sole proprietor under your own name or a DBA. Key features: - No LLC required - available to sole proprietors - Built-in expense categorization and basic bookkeeping - Automatic tax set-aside based on your income - Free tier available; Found Plus is $19.99/month for more features - No monthly fee on the free plan Best for: Sole proprietors who are not ready to form an LLC but want banking designed for self-employed workers. How to choose. You have an LLC and want the best overall experience: Mercury You want to automate tax savings: Relay You have international clients paying in foreign currency: Wise Business You're a sole proprietor without an LLC: Found You want simple, no-fuss banking with good integrations: Novo Setting up your freelance banking the right way. * Open your business account (Mercury, Relay, or Wise - takes 10 minutes) * Connect it to your accounting software (Wave, QuickBooks, Xero - takes 5 minutes) * Set up a tax reserve: Move 25-30% of every client payment to a separate savings sub-account or bucket labeled "Taxes" * Give clients your business account details - all future payments go directly to your business account, never personal This setup eliminates most freelance bookkeeping pain and ensures you never scramble for tax money at the quarterly deadline. #freelance bank account #mercury #relay #wise #business banking #best bank account freelancers #2026 Join freelancers who get its tool comparisons, tax tips, and deadline reminders every month. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Tax Information Notice This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Tax laws change frequently. Always consult a qualified CPA or Enrolled Agent for your specific situation.

Mercury unveils Mercury Spend with AI Agent Cards and Intelligent Budgets. Technology company Mercury announced the rollout of Mercury Spend, an expanded corporate spend management platform engineered to manage both team and artificial intelligence agent transactions. As early-stage founders and scaling enterprises operate with leaner, highly automated workforces, Mercury Spend integrates intelligent budgeting, self-enforcing expense policies, and a specialized class of corporate cards designed explicitly for autonomous AI agents. Unlike traditional third-party spend management software that requires complex setup, external software integrations, and manual configuration, Mercury Spend is built natively into Mercury's core financial dashboard. This embedded architecture gives leadership teams direct real-time visibility over cash positions, corporate runway, and operational expenses within a unified system. "Companies can be smaller and faster than they were two years ago, and they're a mix of people and agents doing real work," said Immad Akhund, CEO and co-founder of Mercury. "Founders need a scalable and programmatic way to manage spending, understand where money is going, and automate the busywork of receipts and accounting. With Mercury Spend, founders can give their teams and agents a real spending infrastructure, not just a card." Core infrastructure: Intelligent Budgets, Agent Cards, and AI integration. Mercury Spend provides scaling organizations with a centralized spend governance architecture built around modern, hybrid workflows. Key capabilities of the platform include: Dynamic Intelligent Budgets: Enables founders and operators to instantly set up targeted expense accounts for software procurement, corporate travel, or marketing campaigns. Automated policy limits decline unauthorized point-of-sale transactions and restrict card usage by specific merchant names or Merchant Category Codes (MCC). Dedicated AI Agent Cards: Allows human operators to issue dedicated corporate cards to autonomous AI software agents. Created exclusively by human managers, these agentic cards operate within unalterable spending caps, providing auditable and instantly cancellable transaction capabilities for agentic workflows. Automated Accounting & Policy Enforcement: Automatically categorizes transaction data into assigned accounting ledgers. The platform captures receipts by scanning connected corporate Gmail inboxes or through SMS submission. To maintain strict compliance, cards automatically freeze when required memos or receipts are missing until the user fulfills the record. Conversational AI Command Layer: Connects every spend management feature to Command, Mercury's natural language AI interface. Executive users can manage budgets, audit cash runway, issue invoices, and configure automated accounting rules through conversational text prompts without navigating complex dashboard menus. Modern design collaboration. To mark the commercial release of Mercury Spend, Mercury also debuted a limited-edition IO physical corporate card created in collaboration with celebrated sculptor, ceramicist, and designer Simone Bodmer-Turner. Derived from a custom sculpture created for Mercury, the physical card features a tactile, dimensional finish achieved through layered printing techniques.