Azlo Vs Mercury For Online Small Business Banking
IMPORTANT UPDATE: 6/8/2021 -
Since writing this review of Azlo Vs Mercury, Azlo has been shut down by their parent company, BBVA USA.
I am now recommending people sign up for Bank Novo, which offers an excellent alternative to Azlo. You can read more about Novo in my Novo Vs Mercury review
I’ve left the original review below for those that want to keep reading below.
Check out my Novo business banking review that is now updated.
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Technology is great, isn’t it?
I started a new company at the beginning of 2020 and I needed a business bank account where I could deposit Paypal and Stripe payments.
Because of past business ventures, I already had business bank accounts at multiple other banks… namely Chase, BoA, and Citibank. But I wanted to keep things separated and open a new account in the middle of Covid-19.
Yikes!
So I researched around and came up with several online banks that specialized in remote business checking accounts online and decided to try to open 2 accounts at the same time.
One with Azlo, and another with Mercury.
I did not prefer either bank, but Mercury really pushed how they were made for startups and all this hype about FinTech on their side, etc. Blah Blah.
I just wanted someone to give me an account so I can start processing revenue and pushing forward with my company. No hassle.
So in July, I started the process to open a business checking account at Azlo and Mercury at the same time. I figured if one denied me, I would still have another shot with the other bank.
Worse case, I have 2 business checking accounts. However, both of them are free and have no fees so it’s not something I’m wasting IF I landed them both.
Azlo’s process was really straight forward. They asked for my business papers and some general info and within 2 business days, they had already reviewed my paperwork and asked for more info. I submitted the additional information and my account was open and ready to use the same day.
Overall, everything was pretty easy and fast. And way less hassle than Chase where I had to spend over an hour at a branch while they asked me hundreds of questions about my business for KYC back in 2018.
Mercury on the other hand… Well, let’s just say if you don’t mind moving slower than molasses off a turtle's back, they might be an OK choice.
My application to Mercury was submitted on the same day as Azlo’s. I didn’t hear back from them until 3 business days after the application when they asked for more info.
So I submitted the info they needed and waited 5 more additional business days where they again asked for even more info about my business.
Mind you, I gave them the same information as I did Azlo. They should have everything they need, right?
The more info they needed this 2nd time around was if I could submit invoices and contracts to prove I have clients.
What?
Maybe I am a new business owner with no clients yet. Maybe I need this account so I can deposit funds from Stripe and Paypal.. so I can have clients!
It’s been another full 2 business days since that last request and still crickets from Mercury.
This whole time I have been waiting on Mercury, I have already setup AND verified my Paypal account with Azlo AND received my business checking debit card from Azlo AND have already deposited money into my Azlo account!
That means my business is up and running and making money with Azlo while Mercury is out milking cows on my account opening.
Moving at the speed of business is important folks. Don’t lose money because someone else is preventing you from starting.
You could be losing money with Mercury just waiting on them to accept and approve your application. It’s going to be even longer waiting on deposit verification and a debit card as my account is still not approved.
And sure, it might have been 10 business days. But that’s going on 14 total days of waiting. TWO WEEKS to open a checking account that another bank was able to open within TWO BUSINESS DAYS.
And what’s extremely funny about this, Mercury touts they are built for startups that want to scale. Here are some pics below:
Yeah, if Mercury thinks their bank account helps you “Step into the year 2020”, then Azlo must be a century ahead and I’m living in the future of 2120.
All that tech and can’t open a bank account? What an embarrassment for Mercury.
And yeah, I get tech is hard and we are living in COVID.. but if you can’t adapt then maybe you need to find a solution. Your competitors are in the same landscape and doing way better.
In 2019 Mercury secured more than $20m in funding. They probably have had more rounds than that, but I haven’t checked. Think they could have hired some “bank account opener reps”?
I’m sure Mercury would like to know just how their competitors are eating their lunch right now. That’s why I wrote this article.
Right now, Azlo has treated me well, and making money with my company has not been an issue with them.
Azlo gets 5 stars from me. However, I am going to start reviewing a few other business bank accounts like Novo, Small Business Bank ( their real name ), and NorthOne in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for those and any update I may get from Mercury about why it takes 2 weeks to just open the account ( and possibly longer to get a debit card or deposit verification ).
*UPDATE #1*
I finally got my Mercury account opened. Total elapsed time, 18 total days. More than half a month.
It took a full 10 days for them to respond to an email I sent in, which is the only way you can ask for help or respond to Mercury when problems and issues come up.
Would you wait 10 days for your bank to help you out?
*UPDATE #2*
30 days since first account opening and I finally get my debit card.
Geez…
Mercury says they don’t track the mailing of the card, which is odd since just about every major bank has been able to not only expedite, BUT track, mailing of any debit or credit card I’ve needed from them over the last 20 years.
I just can’t personally see Mercury being the future of banking for small businesses if they can’t even expedite or track the mailing of cards.
*UPDATE #3*
I’ve changed my recommendation to Bank Novo.
Azlo’s parent company BBVA USA has decided to close Azlo and another bank app, Simple. Quite sudden if you ask me.
I also had issues with their support team 2 weeks before they decided to close up shop which was unlike Azlo.
From what I can tell, BBVA USA is selling to PNC Bank. I’ve been a PNC Bank customer before and I can tell you I left PNC years ago and never want to go back.
For now, look out for my Bank Novo review coming in a few days. I’m very happy about the move!
