Our partner bank model
Mercury works with several FDIC-insured banks to provide essential banking services, such as depository accounts, debit cards, FDIC insurance through sweep networks, and the ability to send and receive money. As Mercury expands its network of bank partners, customers may have the option to switch partner banks.
This article will walk you through what it means to switch to another partner bank on the Mercury platform and what happens during the process.
The information in this article applies only to customers using the Mercury partner bank switch product experience. If you are working directly with customer support or a relationship manager to switch your Mercury partner bank, your experience will differ from what is outlined below. In this case, please direct any questions to support or your relationship manager.
What does it mean to switch to a different Mercury partner bank?
Switching partner banks means that your deposited funds held at one of Mercury’s FDIC-insured bank partners will be moved to another bank partner on the Mercury platform. Switching does not change how you use and experience Mercury. Your logins, settings, recurring payments, and, if applicable, IO cards & Mercury Treasury account will remain unchanged.
Making the switch involves first reviewing and updating your company information, followed by a transition phase that generally lasts 60-90 days in which both your old accounts and new accounts are active simultaneously. You will be provided with key dates & deadlines for your transition via email and within Mercury.
During the transition phase, both your new and old accounts will be active, and you will receive new account numbers and new debit cards. This gives you ample time to fully transition to your new accounts and update payment information with vendors while keeping your day-to-day operations running smoothly.
Existing active physical and virtual debit cards will be canceled once your new bank accounts are opened and physical & virtual debit cards for new accounts will be issued immediately by the new bank.
What happens to my old accounts?
- Immediately after the switch: You’ll be encouraged to stop using your old accounts, but you can still send and receive funds with these accounts during the transition phase. Any funds sent to your old accounts will be automatically routed to your new accounts. Checks cannot be deposited into old accounts.
- At the end of the transition phase: Your old accounts will be disabled, and all remaining balances will be transferred to your new accounts. At this point, you won’t be able to send or receive money from the old accounts, and automatic routing of inbound funds to new accounts will stop. Payments sent to the old accounts after this date will fail with the exception of ACH returns, which will continue to process until final closure.
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Final Account Closure: 2-4 weeks after the end of the transition phase, your old accounts will be permanently closed. No further transactions can be processed, but you’ll continue to have access to your transaction history and statements on the Documents & Data page.
Detailed Process Overview & FAQ
The Mercury partner bank switch product experience will guide you step-by-step through the process of switching to a different Mercury partner bank, transitioning account settings, transferring funds, and closing your accounts at the previous bank.
1. Review your company information
Before making the switch, we’ll ask you to confirm that your company’s information is up-to-date and update any outdated information. Our team will then review your information and confirm you are ready to open new accounts, which takes 1–3 business days.
2. Your bank accounts
- Once you agree to applicable terms and conditions, we’ll prompt the new bank to open accounts for you. These accounts will have new account and routing numbers.
- Your old accounts’ settings — such as auto transfer settings, authorizations, and user permissions — will carry over to the new accounts.
- Your old accounts will remain open throughout the transition period.
- On the date specified in your partner bank switch communications, your old accounts will be disabled from sending or receiving funds with the exception of ACH returns. Any remaining balances in your old accounts will be transferred to your new accounts within 1–3 business days.
- Your accounts will be fully closed on the date outlined in your partner bank switch communications.
3. Your debit and credit cards
- Credit cards: Your IO credit cards will continue to work, but all future payments will be made from the account at the new partner bank which is replacing the primary account used for repaying IO at the old partner bank.
- Debit cards: As soon as new accounts are open, your physical and virtual debit cards will be canceled. We’ll issue replacements for active debit cards immediately, but some team members may be required to complete their profile and/or provide their mailing address before receiving them. They will receive email notifications and tasks in Mercury if this is necessary.
4. Payments and deposits
- Incoming payments will be automatically routed to your new accounts until your old accounts are disabled after the transition period. We’ll remind you to notify anyone who sends you money that your account details have changed.
- Scheduled outgoing payments will also be updated to send from your new accounts, except for ACH debits also known as ACH pulls, which will need to be updated by the external companies that pull funds from your accounts.
- If you are a Mercury Plus or Pro subscriber, future subscription payments will be debited from your new accounts. Your payment date will not change.
5. Account balances
- After you agree to the terms of your new accounts, we'll transfer your balances to your new accounts. The process may take up to two business days.
- You can specify how much to keep in the old accounts to avoid disruptions while you update payments with external parties, like ACH debits.
6. Transferring Payments
We'll help guide you through the process of transferring the remaining payments and accounting links to your new accounts. If you don’t finish all your tasks in one session, you can find them later in your tasks. You will have the full transition period to update that information, after which your old accounts will be disabled.
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ACH debits (also known as ACH pulls)
- In Mercury, you will see a list of all your ACH debits from the last year, as well as instructions on how to share your new account information with each company that has initiated ACH debits.
- People or companies that send money to your accounts
- During the account transition phase, we’ll reroute any payments made to your old accounts to your new accounts. Those transfers should take 1–2 business days.
- After the transition phase, payments sent to the old accounts will fail. You’ll need to notify other parties of your new account numbers before that date.
- We will provide you with the list of all people and companies that have sent funds to you previously and updated payment instructions to share with these parties if necessary.
How will my team be notified?
- Email & in-app notifications: Mercury will notify all users whose physical or virtual debit cards were reissued. Some team members may be required to complete their profiles before receiving their new virtual and physical cards. They will be notified via email and will receive a task in Mercury.
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Interface changes: Your Accounts and Account Details pages will show key information about the upcoming changes to your accounts. A badge with a countdown will appear on your old accounts, indicating when they are scheduled to be disabled.
Disclaimers:
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Checking and savings accounts are offered by our bank partners Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. Deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Checking and savings account deposits may be held by sweep network banks. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through insurance to apply. Learn more here.