Mercury vs Qonto
short answerBoth are traditional neobanks. Mercury pays yield on balances. Compare custody, license, FX markup and fees field by field below.
Mercury: Startup banking; 200K+ companies.
Qonto: 500K+ SME clients across FR/DE/ES/IT.
Side by side
| Mercury | Qonto | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | traditional | traditional |
| Audience | SMB & startups | SMB & startups |
| HQ | San Francisco, US | Paris, FR |
| Founded | 2017 | 2016 |
| Custody | Custodial | Custodial |
| Regulation | Partner-bank model | License pending (partner model today) |
| License detail | Partner banks (Choice, Column) | Payment institution (ACPR); pursuing credit license |
| Card | MC · Business debit + credit | MC · Business debit |
| Cashback | 1.5% (IO card) | — |
| Yield | Treasury yield | — |
| FX markup | 3% currency conversion fee on all non-USD card transactions (Mastercard rate) (2026-07) | Entry card 2% on non-EUR card payments; Plus 1%; X plan 0% (business only) (2026-07) |
| Services | fiat pay-in (bank rails), fiat pay-out (bank rails), own IBAN / account no., virtual cards | fiat pay-in (bank rails), fiat pay-out (bank rails), own IBAN / account no., virtual cards |
| Stablecoins | No | No |
| KYC | Yes | Yes |
| Regions | North America | Europe |
| Reported users | — | — |
go deeperFull profiles: Mercury · Qonto — or run your own comparison of up to four in the directory.
Figures compiled from public sources, for comparison only — not financial advice. "Up to" rates change constantly; always confirm with the issuer. Spotted an error? Suggest a fix.