• Business banking fintech Mercury is expanding into personal banking.
• The new accounts, dubbed Mercury Personal, will offer advanced banking tools such as free wire transfers, multiple debit cards with account-level controls, and will pay 5% APY on savings accounts at launch.
• Mercury Personal will allow users to easily switch between their business and personal accounts and will cost users $240 per year.

The planet Mercury may be in retrograde, but that didn’t stop business banking fintech Mercury from launching its new retail banking service this week. The new offering, Mercury Personal, creates a personal banking experience for entrepreneurs, investors, and builders who want a self-serve banking option to help optimize their personal finances.

Choice Financial Group is serving as the sponsor bank for Mercury Personal. The new personal accounts will offer individuals advanced digital banking tools, including the ability to create rules around auto-transfers, multiple debit cards, customizable permissions for additional account users, access to $5 million in FDIC insurance, and 5% APY interest on savings accounts at launch.

Launching into the consumer digital banking space may place Mercury in the same category as other popular digital banks like Chime. However, Mercury is seeking to differentiate itself from the majority of digital banks, many of which target underserved consumers. Instead, Mercury has made it clear that it is targeting entrepreneurs, founders, and investors with its advanced banking tools and capabilities.

“As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Mercury’s launch, introducing Mercury Personal marks not just our expansion into consumer banking, but a step forward in growing our relationships with the founders and tech leaders we serve,” said Mercury Co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund. “By offering personal banking for founders and investors, we’re able to deepen our relationship with them. Mercury Personal is a strategic move toward helping people and businesses operate at their best. This is our next step in building a generational company that innovates, supports, and grows alongside the most ambitious companies and individuals.”

Other factors differentiating Mercury’s new personal bank account offering are fee-free domestic wires and ACH transfers, worldwide ATM reimbursements, and the ability to easily switch between business and personal bank accounts.

The cost is also a differentiating factor. While Chime boasts fee-free banking and a multi-card service like Greenlight charges $60 to $180 per year, Mercury Personal will charge $240 per year at launch. Depending on how a customer uses the account, however, the $240 could be worth the free wire transfers and 5% APY (though the bank makes it clear that the rate can change at any time).

There is currently a waitlist for Mercury’s personal banking accounts. The fintech expects general availability to open up later this year.

Mercury was founded in 2017 and has since been entirely focused on serving small businesses and investors. The fintech is currently under regulatory scrutiny from the FDIC for allowing users in Russia, Pakistan, and Myanmar to open accounts and for facilitating fund transfers between Saudi Arabian businesses.

Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

• Codat launched a Supplier Enablement data product with an aim to help businesses replace paper checks.
• The Supplier Enablement tool recruits suppliers to accept virtual card payments instead of checks by allowing card issuers to access the right ERP data.
• The Supplier Enablement tool is currently in production with select J.P. Morgan commercial clients.

Paper checks were invented in 1762, and yet we can’t seem to completely eradicate the antiquated payment technology. Business data API startup Codat is seeking to change that, however. Today, the U.K.-based company announced the launch of its new Supplier Enablement data product.

The new product allows businesses to share their spend and supplier data from ERP systems and accounting software. To reduce the need for checks, the Supplier Enablement tool recruits suppliers to accept virtual card payments instead of checks by allowing card issuers to access the right ERP data.

Piloting the launch is J.P. Morgan, which is using the new offering to allow its commercial clients to efficiently manage supplier payments using virtual cards. By connecting to the current supplier and spending data, clients can easily set up and expand their payment programs. The new Supplier Enablement tool replaces outdated payment files with secure API connections, which facilitates better data analysis and drives higher spending per client.

“With the rapidly-growing adoption of virtual cards for B2B payments, we felt the time was right to release a new data product specifically designed to transform supplier enablement and accelerate how the value of payments innovation is realized in the market,” said Codat CEO Peter Lord. “Codat’s ongoing collaboration with J.P. Morgan has been hugely valuable in helping us develop products that maximize the value of data sharing for financial institutions and their business clients.”

Codat was founded in 2017. In addition to Supplier Enablement, the company offers a Bank Feeds API that allows clients to push transaction data straight to their accounting software; Sync for Commerce, which provides merchant accounting integrations for POS and eCommerce platforms; Sync for Payables, a tool that allows customers to build accounting integrations for AP automation; Sync for Expenses, which allows clients to build accounting integrations for corporate card providers; and a Lending API.

Photo by cottonbro studio

• HighRadius is launching a B2B payments platform.
• The new platform will have three main components to help businesses lower costs: Payment Gateway, Surcharge Management, and Interchange Fee Optimizer.
• HighRadius has more than 800 clients, including 3M, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and others.

Treasury Management software company HighRadius announced plans late last week to launch a B2B payments platform. The new tool will help HighRadius clients facilitate global payments for their end users.

HighRadius’ B2B payments platform, which aims to improve payment processes across 100+ global payment methods, is comprised of three main products. Each product is available in HighRadius’ single, standalone platform that will help companies make it easier for their customers to disburse payments globally.

The first product, Payment Gateway, supports more than 150 currencies from eCommerce, order management, and other digital commerce channels, creating a more cost-effective B2B payment solution. Surcharge Management helps companies validate surcharge applicability and pass on interchange fees to their buyers. The solution simplifies things for clients by automatically abiding by regional regulations, which vary by state and card brand. Finally, Interchange Fee Optimizer will automatically populate any missing data and will ensure the payment adheres to pre-configured rules in order to verify that the customer receives the lowest possible interchange fees.

“Payments are a critical part of a customer’s digital experience, and 70% of organizations are not satisfied with the customer experience they offer,” said HighRadius Chief Product Officer Sayid Shabeer. “Our goal is to reduce credit card processing costs through PCI-compliant payment solutions across all digital channels. The Interchange Fee Optimizer will ensure customers offer this at the lowest possible cost.”

Texas-based HighRadius was founded in 2006 and counts 800+ clients, including 3M, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Sanofi, Engie GBS Solutions, Kellogg Company, Danone, and Hershey’s. The company earned unicorn status in 2020 when it raised $125 million in Series B funding. Sashi Narahari is CEO.

Photo by Frans van Heerden

• Santander is launching its Openbank digital banking brand in the U.S. and Mexico.
• Openbank currently serves two million customers across Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Argentina, and counts $19.3 billion (€18 billion) in deposits.
• Santander aims to launch in the new regions in the second half of this year.

Spain-based mega bank Santander announced plans to launch a new digital offering in the United States under the Openbank brand in the second half of this year. 

Santander launched Openbank in 1995 as a telephone bank. The bank moved online in 1999, becoming an online broker for real-time trading in domestic and international markets. Openbank currently offers payment cards, including debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, and travel cards; personal loans and mortgages; bank deposit tools; home, life, car, and digital insurance; as well as mobile banking capabilities and PFM tools. Openbank serves two million customers across Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Argentina, and counts $19.3 billion (€18 billion) in deposits.

“Openbank is the largest digital bank in Europe by deposits with among the highest customer loyalty and satisfaction,” said Openbank Executive Chair Ana Botín. “We remain committed to growing our business in the United States, the largest financial services market in the world, leveraging our proprietary technology and global expertise to deliver a winning customer experience.”

In addition to launching Openbank in the U.S., Santander also announced it will be rolling out the digital bank to users in Mexico around the same time.

To promote the U.S. launch, Santander global ambassador and golfer Jon Rahm and his team will wear an Openbank logo on their shirts during all golf competitions, starting at the Masters in Geogria this weekend. “The golfer will help Santander and Openbank increase their visibility in North America, where Santander has a significant presence,” the bank explained.

Many non-U.S.-based digital banks have experienced difficulty launching in the U.S., citing the difficulty to obtain a banking license from the U.S. OCC. As Finovate Analyst David Penn wrote in a blog post yesterday, “…it has not been easy for financial institutions outside the U.S. to secure approval to operate within the U.S. For example, Monzo, a U.K.-based challenger bank, tried and walked away from the process in 2021 when approval seemed unlikely. Unfortunately, new U.S.-based firms looking for bank charters have only fared a little better. For every Savi Financial, there is a New Canaan Bank.” Openbank should not have the same issue, however, as the bank will likely rely on Santander’s banking license it received after buying out Sovereign Bank in 2008.

Photo courtesy Santander