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Mercury vs Flutterwave

Of the 170 countries we track, Mercury onboards businesses in 1 and Flutterwave in 12 (and 153 more with limits). Both serve businesses in 1.

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For a business registered in

Onboards businesses in United States

Mercury

Available

Flutterwave

Available

Accept payments

Mercury

Invoices your customers pay by card or ACH debit, also available through the API.

Flutterwave

Online payment acceptance through checkout, payment links, invoices, a store builder and POS. Local methods include cards, bank transfer, bank account debit, USSD, mobile money and M-Pesa, depending on currency. Flutterwave says it collects in 30+ currencies.

Pay people abroad

Mercury

Domestic ACH and wires, international wires, and API payments to saved recipients.

Flutterwave

Transfers from your balance to bank accounts, mobile money or other Flutterwave accounts, singly or in bulk, plus cash pickup in Egypt. Bank transfer guides cover Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and international USD, EUR and GBP. Egypt bank transfers are off by default.

Multi-currency account

Mercury

US dollar checking and savings with FDIC insurance through partner banks, plus Treasury for idle cash.

Flutterwave

Virtual account numbers for receiving NGN and GHS bank transfers (by default for merchants in Nigeria and Ghana; others must ask). NGN-only wallets (payout subaccounts) can be created for your users. Flutterwave also holds a Nigerian microfinance banking licence and offers a Flutterwave MFB business account.

Business cards

Mercury

Debit cards and the IO corporate credit card with spend controls.

Flutterwave

Flutterwave Issuing: virtual dollar and naira cards via dashboard or API, and physical naira cards for customers or employees (contact sales). Country eligibility is not stated.

Stablecoins

Mercury

Not offered

Flutterwave

Stablecoin wallets and transfers: fund a USDC/USDT/RLUSD wallet from NGN, USD, GBP, EUR or GHS balances and send to wallet addresses on Solana, Ethereum, Base or Polygon.

Yield on idle cash

Mercury

Mercury Treasury invests idle cash in government money market funds and, since August 2026, an ultra-short bond fund. It is not FDIC insured, may lose value, and carries a 0.15–0.60% fee.

Flutterwave

Not offered

Yield on idle cash

A return on money you are not using. How safe it is depends on where the return comes from, not on how high the rate is.

Where the return comes from

Mercury

Low risk, not insuredMoney market fundModerate riskShort-term bond fund

Flutterwave

No yield offered

Is the money protected?

Mercury

Money market fund: Not a deposit and not insured. The fund holds short-term government debt and aims to keep its value stable, but that is not guaranteed. Broker protection (SIPC in the US) covers the broker failing, not investment losses.Short-term bond fund: Not insured, and the price moves every day, so you can get back less than you put in.

Flutterwave

–

Does the rate change?

Mercury

Floats daily with central bank rates, so it falls when rates are cut. Moves with interest rates and bond prices.Last seen: Up to about 3.6% net, for the largest balances (May 2026)

Flutterwave

–

Fees

Published prices only, with the date we read them. Many providers negotiate prices instead.

How pricing works

Mercury

Mercury's core banking is $0 per month. Paid plans are Plus and Pro ($29.90 and $299 per month on annual billing; Mercury's FAQ says paid plans start at $35/month). ACH and domestic wires are free; USD international wires are free (or a flat $15 to send as OUR); non-USD international wires carry a 1% conversion fee; non-USD card transactions carry an international transaction fee (rate not stated on the page).

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Published prices

Mercury

Base plan (US): $0 per monthPaid plans (US): Plus $29.90/month and Pro $299/month (annual-billing prices shown, 15% off); FAQ says paid plans start at $35/monthDomestic transfers (US): ACH, domestic wires and real-time payments freeInternational wires (US): USD international wires free (SHA; intermediary bank fees may be deducted from what the recipient gets), or a flat $15 to send as OUR so intermediary fees are charged to Mercury; 1% conversion fee on non-USD international wires (contact Mercury if exchanging over $200K)Card FX (US): International transaction fee on non-USD debit and credit card transactions (rate not stated on the pricing page)

Flutterwave

–

What you can sell

From each provider’s acceptable use policy. “Restricted” means allowed only with approval or conditions, or banned for part of the category.

Software and digital goods

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Crypto

Mercury

RestrictedCrypto exchanges cannot open accounts. Mercury says it supports many other crypto and Web3 businesses (startups, DAOs, funds); accounts hold fiat only.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Lending and financial services

Mercury

RestrictedMoney services businesses cannot open accounts. Other financial services (e.g. funds) are not excluded.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Gambling

Mercury

Not allowedInternet gambling businesses cannot open accounts, and the Terms bar online gambling transactions even where legal.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Adult content

Mercury

Not allowedAdult entertainment businesses cannot open accounts.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Dating

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Firearms and weapons

Mercury

Not allowedMercury's Web3 FAQ says it can't work with businesses that sell firearms, weapons or ammunition. This is not repeated on the eligibility article.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Cannabis and CBD

Mercury

Not allowedCannabis businesses cannot open accounts; the Web3 FAQ adds CBD and cannabis-derived products.

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Supplements

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Pharmacy and telemedicine

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Travel

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Multi-level marketing

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Free-trial subscriptions

Mercury

Not stated

Flutterwave

Not yet researched

Platform & marketplace

Run payments for other businesses: sign them up, take a cut, pay them out.

Sub-accounts for your users

Mercury

NoMercury’s API manages your own accounts; there is no product for creating accounts for your users.

Flutterwave

PartlySubaccounts are bank accounts that receive split payments. Flutterwave says the platform, not Flutterwave, is responsible for vetting merchants it adds.

Split payments and platform fees

Mercury

NoNot a payment processor.

Flutterwave

YesSplit an incoming payment and a commission between one or more subaccounts, by percentage or flat amount.

Embeddable UI

Mercury

NoNo embeddable components.

Flutterwave

PartlyPrebuilt checkout options (Inline, Standard, HTML checkout), payment links and a store builder. No white-label onboarding or payout components were found.

Pay out to your users

Mercury

PartlyAPI payments to saved recipients by ACH or wire. Fine for paying vendors, not built for paying a platform’s users at scale.

Flutterwave

YesBank, mobile money, wallet-to-wallet and cash-pickup transfers across many African countries, plus USD, EUR and GBP; Flutterwave cites 40+ payout countries.

Embedded finance for your users

Give your users financial products under your brand.

Accounts that hold money

Mercury

NoNot offered to platforms.

Flutterwave

PartlyPayout subaccounts create NGN-only wallets with a dedicated virtual account number for your end users. The FaaS page also advertises branded deposit accounts via API. Non-NGN user accounts were not found.

Cards for your users

Mercury

NoCards are for your own team.

Flutterwave

YesVirtual dollar and naira cards via API, and physical naira cards for your customers or employees.

Financing for your users

Mercury

NoNot offered to platforms.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedFlutterwave Capital lends to Flutterwave's own merchants in Nigeria, through partner banks. No product for platforms to offer loans to their users was found.

Consumer apps

Build for individuals, not just businesses, the way Bridge allows.

End users can be individuals

Mercury

NoMercury Personal is Mercury’s own consumer banking; you cannot build consumer products on it.

Flutterwave

PartlyPayout-subaccount wallets can be created for consumers, and the FaaS page advertises KYC and consumer deposit accounts. Consumer onboarding requirements are not documented.

Consumer wallets or accounts

Mercury

NoNot offered to platforms.

Flutterwave

PartlyNGN-only wallets held on behalf of your consumers (payout subaccounts).

Consumer cards

Mercury

NoNot offered to platforms.

Flutterwave

PartlyThe FaaS page advertises branded virtual and physical consumer debit cards. No developer documentation of a consumer card programme was fetched.

Stablecoins

Dollar-backed tokens as a payment and treasury rail.

Accept stablecoins

Mercury

NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.

Flutterwave

PartlyFlutterwave's stablecoin docs mention transactions to and from wallet addresses and stablecoin-to-fiat conversion, but document only outbound transfers. No inbound stablecoin collection flow was found.

Hold stablecoin balances

Mercury

NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.

Flutterwave

YesA stablecoin wallet balance funded by converting from fiat balances.

Pay out in stablecoins

Mercury

NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.

Flutterwave

YesSend USDC, USDT or RLUSD to external wallets on Solana, Ethereum, Base or Polygon. Cross-stablecoin transfers (USDC to a USDT address) are not supported.

Issue your own stablecoin

Mercury

NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).

Regulatory risk in United States

Mercury

No stablecoin products

Flutterwave

Low risk

AI agents

Build with AI tools, and let AI agents shop and pay.

Official MCP server

Mercury

YesHosted MCP server in beta: AI assistants can read balances, transactions, cards and recipients, with OAuth sign-in.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNo MCP server is published on Flutterwave's own pages. Community servers exist on GitHub but are not official.

Checkout for AI agents

Mercury

NoDoes not process checkout payments, so there is nothing for an agent to check out with.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).

Cards for AI agents

Mercury

Not confirmedNot found in public materials.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).

Working with them

How easy it is to get started.

Self-serve signup

Mercury

YesApply online.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot researched yet.

Published pricing

Mercury

YesFree core plan; paid plans are published.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot researched yet.

Public API and sandbox

Mercury

YesREST API for accounts, transactions, payments and invoicing, with webhooks and OAuth for partner apps.

Flutterwave

Not confirmedNot researched yet.

Coming soon

Announced but not launched. These are plans, not products you can sign up for today: timing often slips, and some never ship.

Announced, not yet live

Mercury

Awaiting approvalMercury Bank, N.A.No date given · Includes United States

Details and sources →

Flutterwave

Nothing announced

In short

Countries onboarded

Mercury

1 of 170

Flutterwave

12 of 170

Designed for

Mercury

US startups that want a fast, API-friendly bank account, including founders based outside the US.

Flutterwave

Businesses that need local collection and payouts across many African countries, plus US, UK and EU collection, from one account.

Limitations

Mercury

Only for US-registered companies, and not designed for building products on top of.

Flutterwave

Products differ by country and currency, and Flutterwave does not say what businesses outside its 12 named countries can use.

	Mercury Business banking	Flutterwave Regional processor
Onboards businesses in United States	Available	Available
Accept payments	Invoices your customers pay by card or ACH debit, also available through the API.	Online payment acceptance through checkout, payment links, invoices, a store builder and POS. Local methods include cards, bank transfer, bank account debit, USSD, mobile money and M-Pesa, depending on currency. Flutterwave says it collects in 30+ currencies.
Pay people abroad	Domestic ACH and wires, international wires, and API payments to saved recipients.	Transfers from your balance to bank accounts, mobile money or other Flutterwave accounts, singly or in bulk, plus cash pickup in Egypt. Bank transfer guides cover Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and international USD, EUR and GBP. Egypt bank transfers are off by default.
Multi-currency account	US dollar checking and savings with FDIC insurance through partner banks, plus Treasury for idle cash.	Virtual account numbers for receiving NGN and GHS bank transfers (by default for merchants in Nigeria and Ghana; others must ask). NGN-only wallets (payout subaccounts) can be created for your users. Flutterwave also holds a Nigerian microfinance banking licence and offers a Flutterwave MFB business account.
Business cards	Debit cards and the IO corporate credit card with spend controls.	Flutterwave Issuing: virtual dollar and naira cards via dashboard or API, and physical naira cards for customers or employees (contact sales). Country eligibility is not stated.
Stablecoins	Not offered	Stablecoin wallets and transfers: fund a USDC/USDT/RLUSD wallet from NGN, USD, GBP, EUR or GHS balances and send to wallet addresses on Solana, Ethereum, Base or Polygon.
Yield on idle cash	Mercury Treasury invests idle cash in government money market funds and, since August 2026, an ultra-short bond fund. It is not FDIC insured, may lose value, and carries a 0.15–0.60% fee.	Not offered
Yield on idle cashA return on money you are not using. How safe it is depends on where the return comes from, not on how high the rate is.
Where the return comes from	Low risk, not insuredMoney market fundModerate riskShort-term bond fund	No yield offered
Is the money protected?	Money market fund: Not a deposit and not insured. The fund holds short-term government debt and aims to keep its value stable, but that is not guaranteed. Broker protection (SIPC in the US) covers the broker failing, not investment losses.Short-term bond fund: Not insured, and the price moves every day, so you can get back less than you put in.	–
Does the rate change?	Floats daily with central bank rates, so it falls when rates are cut. Moves with interest rates and bond prices.Last seen: Up to about 3.6% net, for the largest balances (May 2026)	–
FeesPublished prices only, with the date we read them. Many providers negotiate prices instead.
How pricing works	Mercury's core banking is $0 per month. Paid plans are Plus and Pro ($29.90 and $299 per month on annual billing; Mercury's FAQ says paid plans start at $35/month). ACH and domestic wires are free; USD international wires are free (or a flat $15 to send as OUR); non-USD international wires carry a 1% conversion fee; non-USD card transactions carry an international transaction fee (rate not stated on the page).	Not yet researched
Published prices	Base plan (US): $0 per monthPaid plans (US): Plus $29.90/month and Pro $299/month (annual-billing prices shown, 15% off); FAQ says paid plans start at $35/monthDomestic transfers (US): ACH, domestic wires and real-time payments freeInternational wires (US): USD international wires free (SHA; intermediary bank fees may be deducted from what the recipient gets), or a flat $15 to send as OUR so intermediary fees are charged to Mercury; 1% conversion fee on non-USD international wires (contact Mercury if exchanging over $200K)Card FX (US): International transaction fee on non-USD debit and credit card transactions (rate not stated on the pricing page)	–
What you can sellFrom each provider’s acceptable use policy. “Restricted” means allowed only with approval or conditions, or banned for part of the category.
Software and digital goods	Not stated	Not yet researched
Crypto	RestrictedCrypto exchanges cannot open accounts. Mercury says it supports many other crypto and Web3 businesses (startups, DAOs, funds); accounts hold fiat only.	Not yet researched
Lending and financial services	RestrictedMoney services businesses cannot open accounts. Other financial services (e.g. funds) are not excluded.	Not yet researched
Gambling	Not allowedInternet gambling businesses cannot open accounts, and the Terms bar online gambling transactions even where legal.	Not yet researched
Adult content	Not allowedAdult entertainment businesses cannot open accounts.	Not yet researched
Dating	Not stated	Not yet researched
Firearms and weapons	Not allowedMercury's Web3 FAQ says it can't work with businesses that sell firearms, weapons or ammunition. This is not repeated on the eligibility article.	Not yet researched
Cannabis and CBD	Not allowedCannabis businesses cannot open accounts; the Web3 FAQ adds CBD and cannabis-derived products.	Not yet researched
Supplements	Not stated	Not yet researched
Pharmacy and telemedicine	Not stated	Not yet researched
Travel	Not stated	Not yet researched
Multi-level marketing	Not stated	Not yet researched
Free-trial subscriptions	Not stated	Not yet researched
Platform & marketplaceRun payments for other businesses: sign them up, take a cut, pay them out.
Sub-accounts for your users	NoMercury’s API manages your own accounts; there is no product for creating accounts for your users.	PartlySubaccounts are bank accounts that receive split payments. Flutterwave says the platform, not Flutterwave, is responsible for vetting merchants it adds.
Split payments and platform fees	NoNot a payment processor.	YesSplit an incoming payment and a commission between one or more subaccounts, by percentage or flat amount.
Embeddable UI	NoNo embeddable components.	PartlyPrebuilt checkout options (Inline, Standard, HTML checkout), payment links and a store builder. No white-label onboarding or payout components were found.
Pay out to your users	PartlyAPI payments to saved recipients by ACH or wire. Fine for paying vendors, not built for paying a platform’s users at scale.	YesBank, mobile money, wallet-to-wallet and cash-pickup transfers across many African countries, plus USD, EUR and GBP; Flutterwave cites 40+ payout countries.
Embedded finance for your usersGive your users financial products under your brand.
Accounts that hold money	NoNot offered to platforms.	PartlyPayout subaccounts create NGN-only wallets with a dedicated virtual account number for your end users. The FaaS page also advertises branded deposit accounts via API. Non-NGN user accounts were not found.
Cards for your users	NoCards are for your own team.	YesVirtual dollar and naira cards via API, and physical naira cards for your customers or employees.
Financing for your users	NoNot offered to platforms.	Not confirmedFlutterwave Capital lends to Flutterwave's own merchants in Nigeria, through partner banks. No product for platforms to offer loans to their users was found.
Consumer appsBuild for individuals, not just businesses, the way Bridge allows.
End users can be individuals	NoMercury Personal is Mercury’s own consumer banking; you cannot build consumer products on it.	PartlyPayout-subaccount wallets can be created for consumers, and the FaaS page advertises KYC and consumer deposit accounts. Consumer onboarding requirements are not documented.
Consumer wallets or accounts	NoNot offered to platforms.	PartlyNGN-only wallets held on behalf of your consumers (payout subaccounts).
Consumer cards	NoNot offered to platforms.	PartlyThe FaaS page advertises branded virtual and physical consumer debit cards. No developer documentation of a consumer card programme was fetched.
StablecoinsDollar-backed tokens as a payment and treasury rail.
Accept stablecoins	NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.	PartlyFlutterwave's stablecoin docs mention transactions to and from wallet addresses and stablecoin-to-fiat conversion, but document only outbound transfers. No inbound stablecoin collection flow was found.
Hold stablecoin balances	NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.	YesA stablecoin wallet balance funded by converting from fiat balances.
Pay out in stablecoins	NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.	YesSend USDC, USDT or RLUSD to external wallets on Solana, Ethereum, Base or Polygon. Cross-stablecoin transfers (USDC to a USDT address) are not supported.
Issue your own stablecoin	NoNo stablecoin product found in public materials.	Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).
Regulatory risk in United States	No stablecoin products	Low risk
AI agentsBuild with AI tools, and let AI agents shop and pay.
Official MCP server	YesHosted MCP server in beta: AI assistants can read balances, transactions, cards and recipients, with OAuth sign-in.	Not confirmedNo MCP server is published on Flutterwave's own pages. Community servers exist on GitHub but are not official.
Checkout for AI agents	NoDoes not process checkout payments, so there is nothing for an agent to check out with.	Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).
Cards for AI agents	Not confirmedNot found in public materials.	Not confirmedNot found in public materials (provider's own pages checked).
Working with themHow easy it is to get started.
Self-serve signup	YesApply online.	Not confirmedNot researched yet.
Published pricing	YesFree core plan; paid plans are published.	Not confirmedNot researched yet.
Public API and sandbox	YesREST API for accounts, transactions, payments and invoicing, with webhooks and OAuth for partner apps.	Not confirmedNot researched yet.
Coming soonAnnounced but not launched. These are plans, not products you can sign up for today: timing often slips, and some never ship.
Announced, not yet live	Awaiting approvalMercury Bank, N.A.No date given · Includes United States Details and sources →	Nothing announced
In short
Countries onboarded	1 of 170	12 of 170
Designed for	US startups that want a fast, API-friendly bank account, including founders based outside the US.	Businesses that need local collection and payouts across many African countries, plus US, UK and EU collection, from one account.
Limitations	Only for US-registered companies, and not designed for building products on top of.	Products differ by country and currency, and Flutterwave does not say what businesses outside its 12 named countries can use.

Common questions

Is Mercury or Flutterwave available in more countries?

Flutterwave. Of the 170 countries we track, Mercury onboards businesses in 1 and Flutterwave in 12 (and 153 more with limits). Both serve businesses in 1. Only Flutterwave: Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Netherlands and 152 more.

What do Mercury and Flutterwave offer?

Accept payments: Mercury yes, Flutterwave yes. Pay people abroad: Mercury yes, Flutterwave yes. Multi-currency account: Mercury yes, Flutterwave yes. Business cards: Mercury yes, Flutterwave yes. Stablecoins: Mercury no, Flutterwave yes. Yield on idle cash: Mercury yes, Flutterwave no.

How do Mercury and Flutterwave differ for platforms and embedded finance?

Sub-accounts for your users: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Split payments and platform fees: Mercury no, Flutterwave yes. Embeddable UI: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Pay out to your users: Mercury partly, Flutterwave yes. Accounts that hold money: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Cards for your users: Mercury no, Flutterwave yes. Financing for your users: Mercury no, Flutterwave not confirmed. End users can be individuals: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Consumer wallets or accounts: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Consumer cards: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Accept stablecoins: Mercury no, Flutterwave partly. Hold stablecoin balances: Mercury no, Flutterwave yes. Pay out in stablecoins: Mercury no, Flutterwave yes. Issue your own stablecoin: Mercury no, Flutterwave not confirmed. Official MCP server: Mercury yes, Flutterwave not confirmed. Checkout for AI agents: Mercury no, Flutterwave not confirmed.

Who is Mercury designed for?

US startups that want a fast, API-friendly bank account, including founders based outside the US. Limitations: Only for US-registered companies, and not designed for building products on top of.

Who is Flutterwave designed for?

Businesses that need local collection and payouts across many African countries, plus US, UK and EU collection, from one account. Limitations: Products differ by country and currency, and Flutterwave does not say what businesses outside its 12 named countries can use.