The new AMEX Small Business Credit Card - 1.5% back on purchases!
A new credit card has been created that offers 1.5% back on purchases in an effort to serve businesses that are too small to qualify for AMEX or Brex cards.
![Mercury co-founders. Left to right: chief technology officer Max Tagher, chief operating officer ... [+]Tagher, chief operating officer Jason Zhang and chief executive officer Immad AkhundMercury](/uploaded_images/1050295865f017013abac36fd9913dbd_1662987785.jpg)
Mercury's new corporate charge card, IO, is a welcome addition to the crowded fintech sector. With its technology-based approach, Mercury offers a better way to manage corporate finances, including credit cards.
Mercury is on the rise, and it's poised to change the banking landscape as we know it. The company's innovative approach to banking – offering basic accounts to small startups and then rolling out more advanced products as their businesses grow – is proving to be a winning formula. With a $1.6 billion valuation after its latest funding round, Mercury is definitely one to watch in the coming years.
Mercury has quickly expanded its customer base over the past year, going from 45,000 businesses at the end of 2021 to 80,000 today. The company's IO card is designed to serve startups that often don't qualify for existing corporate card programs or receive insufficient credit limits. Mercury's customer base is mostly small companies – only around 2,000 of them have more than $1 million in their accounts. The goal of the IO card is to help these small businesses grow and succeed.
Mercury's approach to customer service has always been about providing the best possible experience for even the smallest customers. Mercury's processes are designed to scale up or down as needed, so that every customer feels valued and supported.
Rho and Ramp are two expense management companies that are focused on serving businesses of different sizes. Rho specializes in servicing mid-sized businesses while Ramp serves a wide range of businesses from small-to-medium sized to enterprise clients. Both companies have seen success in their respective markets and have been able to gain a loyal customer base. However, earlier this summer, Brex, a corporate card competitor, announced that it would close the accounts of small-to-medium sized businesses as it shifted focus to serving enterprise clients. This created an opportunity for Rho and Ramp to expand their reach and gain more market share. Rho and Ramp have both taken advantage of this opportunity and are now focusing on servicing the small-to-medium sized business market. This is a smart move by both companies as this market is underserved and has a lot of potential for growth. Both Rho and Ramp are well-positioned to succeed in the small-to-medium sized business market and I expect them to see continued success in the months and years to come.
I believe that Mercury will be a very successful company. Akhund has a lot of experience in starting companies and he has been very successful in the past. I think that Mercury will help to launch many new businesses, just like Akhund has done in the past. Mercury will be a great addition to the startup accelerator Y-combinator.
As an entrepreneur, I was very frustrated with the banks I had to use. Their products hardly worked, were always breaking, had lots of fees, and it was really difficult to use customer service. So all these frustrations that everyone has with banks – I couldn't see why we couldn't do better. I decided to create a bank that would be customer-centric, with products that actually worked and were easy to use. I wanted to create a bank that had great customer service and was transparent with its fees. And that's what we've done with our bank.
Mercury is currently providing funding for IO card holders, but is planning to partner with a bank in the future to cover the expenses. This would allow the company to grow its business and provide better service to its customers.
The corporate card market is ripe for disruption. For years, American Express has held a monopoly on the space, offering sleek cards with generous rewards. But now, fintech startups are beginning to enter the market, offering more flexible card options and spend management tools. This is good news for businesses, who will now have more options to choose from when it comes to corporate cards.
I predict that the corporate card market will continue to grow in popularity, with more and more companies offering these cards to their employees. I believe that Brex and Ramp will continue to be two of the biggest players in this space, but that Mercury will also continue to grow and compete with them.
This paragraph provides a clear vision of how Mercury plans to extend credit to its clients. By taking into account both cash on hand and historical data, Mercury will be able to make more informed credit decisions. This will allow the company to extend credit to more businesses, and Akhund projects that the typical card limit will be 20% of the account balance.
As a fintech company, Mercury is focused on providing financial services to early stage businesses. This is reflected in their lower qualifying requirements for their corporate card, which is $50,000 compared to Ramp and Brex's minimum balances of $75,000 and $100,000 respectively. This makes Mercury a more attractive option for businesses that may not have access to venture funding.
Despite the challenges faced by fintech companies in recent times, Mercury founder and CEO Akhund is confident about the future. He points to the company's strong financials, with $15 million in revenue last year and a $120 million fundraise in July 2021 valuing the company at over 100 times revenue. With $90 million in cash on hand, Akhund believes Mercury can weather the current storm and emerge even stronger.
