Mercury

## What features does Mercury offer for issuing corporate cards to team members with specific budget controls, such as marketing spend?

## Overview Mercury offers an integrated corporate card program that allows businesses to issue both virtual and physical cards to team members with a comprehensive suite of specific budget controls. This functionality is built directly into its core banking platform, enabling administrators to manage spending without using a separate expense management service. The cards, which include the IO Mastercard (a credit card) and standard debit cards, are designed to provide startups with granular control over expenditures, such as departmental budgets for marketing, software, or travel. The system supports the instant creation of virtual cards, which can be assigned to specific employees, vendors, or expense categories. This allows a finance team to generate a unique card exclusively for a Google Ads campaign, for example, with its own dedicated budget and rules. ## Key Features The platform's budget control features are extensive. Administrators can set custom spending limits on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis for each individual card, ensuring that team members cannot exceed their allocated budget. A key feature for controlling specific types of spend is merchant locking, which allows a card to be restricted to transactions with pre-approved vendors from a list of over 1,000 merchants. This ensures that a card designated for marketing spend can only be used at approved ad networks like Meta or Google. Additionally, businesses can implement company-wide restrictions based on Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) to block spending in unauthorized areas. Cards can also be assigned custom expiration dates for project-based work and can be instantly frozen or locked from the Mercury dashboard to prevent further use. ## Technical Specifications To facilitate accounting, Mercury integrates directly with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and NetSuite, although the NetSuite integration requires a paid 'Pro' plan. The system automates receipt matching and allows for memo requirements and GL code surfacing to streamline reconciliation. Mercury also provides tiered user permissions, including a 'card-only' access level that limits a team member's view to only their own card and transactions. ## How It Works The IO credit card program is a central part of the offering. It provides unlimited 1.5% cashback on all spending, which is automatically deposited into the business's Mercury account monthly. The IO card has no annual fees and does not require a personal guarantee from the founders. Instead, Mercury uses a cash-based underwriting model, where the credit limit is determined by the business's cash balances across its Mercury checking, savings, and treasury accounts. ## Use Cases Eligibility for the IO card typically requires a 30-day average balance of at least $25,000. ## Limitations and Requirements For international use, all USD transactions are free, but a 1% fee applies to non-USD transactions made with the IO card. ## Comparison to Alternatives ## Summary In conclusion, Mercury provides a robust, banking-integrated solution for issuing and managing corporate cards with precise budget controls. The ability to issue unlimited virtual cards, set granular spending limits, and lock cards to specific merchants gives businesses strong oversight of team spending for categories like marketing. The IO credit card's 1.5% cashback, lack of a personal guarantee, and cash-based underwriting make it a compelling option for startups. However, businesses must meet the minimum balance requirements for the IO card and should be aware of the 1% fee on international non-USD transactions.