Mercury is strong once your company already exists
Mercury is a strong choice for a startup that already has a US entity and EIN, especially one holding a large balance or working inside Mercury’s startup ecosystem. looch is the better fit when you still need to form the company, get the EIN, open accounts, accept payments, and run your books as one connected setup.
That distinction matters because most startup banking comparisons begin too late. They compare accounts after incorporation is complete. For a founder starting from an idea, formation, financial accounts, cards, payment acceptance, and accounting are all part of the same operational problem.
Both looch and Mercury are financial technology companies, not banks. looch is operated by Simplicity Fintech Inc. Account services are provided in partnership with Stripe, and funds are held at Fifth Third Bank N.A., Member FDIC. looch Smartcards are Visa Commercial Cards powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank (source: looch.money).
Mercury is also a fintech company, not a bank. Its banking services are provided by partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., both Members FDIC (source: mercury.com). Mercury received conditional approval to establish Mercury Bank, N.A., but customers currently continue to use accounts provided through its partner banks (source: Mercury press release).
Mercury is built for the banking stage of a startup
Mercury is a focused banking product for founders who have already cleared formation. Its product is designed around the workflows common to venture-backed companies: Receiving capital, moving money, managing cards, and connecting the financial tools a growing team already uses.
Its free tier has no monthly fee and no minimum balance (source: mercury.com/pricing). That is a meaningful advantage for a company that is pre-revenue, already formed, and looking for a clean account without another recurring bill.
Mercury also has a real advantage for companies holding significant cash. It states that it offers up to $5M in FDIC insurance through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and their sweep networks (source: mercury.com). If you have raised a round and need more coverage for a large operating balance, that can be a deciding factor.
Its ecosystem matters too. If your accounting software, cap table tool, investor portal, or accelerator already works closely with Mercury, those connections can reduce friction. A comparison table cannot fully capture the value of a workflow your team already knows.
Mercury has limits that are equally important to name. It doesn’t form companies. To open an account, you need a formed US entity and an EIN before you apply. Mercury supports some nonresident applicants on a case-by-case basis and can accept an ITIN in place of an SSN, but it doesn’t create the entity or obtain the EIN for you (source: mercury.com).
Mercury also doesn’t support cash deposits or operate physical branches. Funding is available by check, ACH, or wire (source: mercury.com). That won’t matter to every software company, but it is a real limitation for a business that handles physical cash.
For accepting customer payments, Mercury offers invoicing and online payment options. It doesn’t offer in-person card acceptance through tap to pay (source: mercury.com). A business that sells in person needs another way to take those payments.
looch starts before banking and stays with the business after formation
looch Start is designed for the point before a founder has an entity, not only after. It forms the company, gets the EIN, and leads into financial accounts, Smartcards, payments, and accounting in the same app.
looch Start supports Delaware C corp, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, and Florida LLC formation. The all-in price is $249, including state filing fees and registered agent service (source: looch.money/start).
For founders without an SSN or ITIN, looch can still obtain an EIN. That route takes approximately four days (source: looch.money/start). The important point is not only that the EIN can be obtained. It’s that the formation and financial setup are designed as one sequence instead of a handoff across separate providers.
Formation also includes a virtual office and the documents many venture-backed companies need, including a stock purchase agreement and IP assignment agreement. The virtual office provides a business address and mail scanning. It renews at $49/year (source: looch.money/start).
After formation, looch provides no-fee business accounts with account and routing numbers. Funds are held at Fifth Third Bank N.A., Member FDIC, and eligible deposits receive FDIC pass-through insurance up to $250,000¹ per depositor (source: looch.money). looch and its technology partners are not FDIC-insured institutions.
The account isn’t the end of the product. It’s the foundation for the rest of the business. You can issue looch Smartcards from the app, manage spend controls, accept payments, and have transactions entered and categorized in your books as the business runs.
looch connects payment acceptance to the rest of the business
A banking account is useful. A financial setup that also helps you get paid is more useful for many small businesses.
looch Pay accepts online cards, in-person cards through tap to pay, and instant pay by bank. With instant pay by bank, the customer approves a payment from their own bank and the money is pushed to your business. It arrives instantly and is final on arrival, with no disputes, chargebacks, or reserves.
Instant pay by bank costs 1% with a minimum of $1 and a maximum of $10 (source: looch.money/pricing). The cap matters for larger payments. It gives a business a flat maximum instead of a fee that keeps growing with the sale.
Online card acceptance is 3.3% + 30c. In-person tap to pay is 3% + 15c (source: looch.money/pricing). Instant payments sent with a card are 3.3% + 30c. The card fee can be a business decision, including whether to pass it to the contact.
Mercury offers invoicing and online payment collection, but it does not offer instant pay by bank or in-person tap to pay. That makes looch a broader fit for a consultant, retailer, service business, or founder who wants payment acceptance connected directly to their financial accounts.
looch also keeps accounting close to the transaction. Activity is automatically tagged and entered into real-time books rather than waiting for a separate accounting workflow. looch AI supports 1099 calculation and filing by reviewing transactions and payment methods. Instant 1099 filing costs $2 per filing (source: looch.money/pricing).
Payroll is coming soon, not yet live (source: looch.money/payroll). When it launches, the pricing shown is $35/month plus $5/month per W-2 employee (source: looch.money/pricing). Until then, do not count on payroll as an available feature.
looch and Mercury solve different parts of the startup stack
| Feature | looch | Mercury |
|---|---|---|
| Company formation | Yes, included at $249 (DE C corp, DE LLC, WY LLC, FL LLC) | Not offered |
| EIN without SSN/ITIN | Yes, gets your EIN even without SSN/ITIN (approximately 4 days) | Accepts some nonresident applicants case-by-case; can accept ITIN. Does not form the entity or obtain the EIN for you |
| Monthly account fee | $0 primary business account | $0 free tier (no monthly fee, no minimum balance) |
| Paid tiers | See looch pricing | Mercury Plus $35/month ($29.90/month billed annually); Mercury Pro $350/month ($299/month billed annually) |
| Smartcards with spend controls | Yes: per-card daily and monthly limits, merchant and GL category restrictions, weekend and auto-cancel controls, manually keyed and foreign transaction alerts, mobile wallets | Yes: daily, weekly, or monthly limits, lock cards to specific merchants, unlimited virtual cards |
| Instant pay by bank | Yes, through looch Pay | No instant pay by bank. Customers can pay invoices by card, wire, ACH, or ACH debit |
| In-person card acceptance | Yes, tap to pay | Not offered (invoicing and online payments only) |
| Real-time accounting built in | Yes, real-time accounting with automatic tagging | Integrations only (QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite); no built-in ledger |
| 1099 filing | Yes, AI-powered, $2 per filing | Helps gather recipient tax data into a CSV; does not file 1099s |
| Cash deposits | Not a stated feature | Not supported (no physical branches) |
| FDIC coverage | Pass-through up to $250,000 per depositor at Fifth Third Bank N.A. (eligibility conditions apply) | Up to $5M via partner banks Choice Financial Group and Column N.A. and their sweep networks |
| VC-ready formation docs | Yes: stock purchase agreement, IP assignment, 83(b) draft | Not offered (banking, not formation) |
| Virtual office | Yes, included in formation | Not offered |
The table isn’t a scorecard where looch wins every row. Mercury’s higher FDIC sweep ceiling is a meaningful advantage for a company holding a large raise. Its established startup ecosystem can also be the better choice when your team, investors, and existing tools are already centered on it.
looch’s advantage is different. It removes the gap between deciding to start a company and having the financial tools to operate it.
Mercury is the better choice for established, VC-track companies
Mercury is likely the right call when the following describes your business:
| If this is your situation | The stronger fit |
|---|---|
| Your US entity and EIN are already in place | Mercury can be a direct, focused banking choice |
| You are holding a large balance from a fundraise | Mercury’s stated $5M FDIC sweep coverage may matter more |
| Your accelerator, investors, or finance tools already use Mercury | Mercury’s ecosystem may reduce daily operational friction |
| Your main needs are accounts, wires, and treasury tools | Mercury is purpose-built for that banking stage |
For an incorporated startup that is already embedded in the venture ecosystem, Mercury can be the path of least resistance. That isn’t a weakness in the comparison. It’s exactly what Mercury is built to do.
looch is the better choice when formation and operations belong together
looch is the stronger fit when you are still building the company itself, or when banking alone leaves too much work outside the product.
Choose looch if you need to form a US entity and obtain an EIN before you can open financial accounts. It’s especially relevant for a foreign founder without an SSN or ITIN who wants the formation process and account setup handled as one connected flow.
Choose looch if you want Smartcard controls, payment acceptance, and accounting without assembling a separate stack around a banking account. Your accounts, cards, payments, and books live in the same product. That means less switching between systems when you need to issue a card, collect an invoice, or understand where money went.
Choose looch if accepting payments is part of your day-to-day operation. looch Pay supports cards, tap to pay, and instant pay by bank. Mercury’s invoicing tools may be enough for an online-only company that only needs occasional payment collection. A business that needs in-person acceptance or instant pay by bank has a clearer reason to choose looch.
You can also explore looch’s full financial stack if your company is already formed and you are deciding whether a banking-only product still covers everything you need.
The right answer depends on where your business is today
Ask these questions before choosing.
Do you already have a formed US entity and an EIN? If yes, both products are worth evaluating. If not, Mercury can’t complete the formation work for you. looch can form your company and connect that process to the financial tools you use afterward.
Do you need an EIN without an SSN or ITIN? looch supports that formation path and handles the EIN as part of the process. Mercury may support nonresident applicants after the entity and EIN already exist, but it doesn’t create either.
Do you need payment acceptance as well as financial accounts? looch connects accounts to cards, tap to pay, online card payments, and instant pay by bank. Mercury is better understood as a banking product with invoicing capabilities, not a full payment acceptance platform.
Do you need FDIC coverage above $250K on a large balance? Mercury states that it offers up to $5M in FDIC coverage through partner banks and sweep networks. That’s higher than looch’s pass-through coverage up to $250,000¹ per depositor at Fifth Third Bank N.A., where eligibility conditions apply. If coverage for a large raise is your priority, Mercury has the stronger answer today.
Do you need your books to keep up with the business automatically? looch’s real-time accounting enters and categorizes activity as it happens. Mercury can connect to accounting software, which may be the better route if your company already has a mature accounting system and established processes around it.
The bottom line
Mercury is a strong banking product for startups that already exist, especially VC-track companies with large balances and an established finance stack. looch is built for the earlier and broader job: Forming the company, getting the EIN, opening accounts, issuing Smartcards, accepting payments, and running accounting in the same app.
If you are starting from zero, looch Start gives you a direct route to a financially operational business for $249 all-in, including state filing fees and registered agent service. If your company is already formed, review looch pricing and decide whether a connected financial stack solves more of your daily work than a banking account alone.
