What Mercury Financial does

Mercury Financial is a U.S.-based financial technology company that develops and manages the Mercury® credit card, a credit-building product designed for near-prime consumers—working Americans with less-than-perfect credit who lack access to mainstream credit. The company operates a direct-to-consumer model, with the Mercury Card issued through First Bank & Trust (Brookings, SD) under licenses from Mastercard and Visa, and distributed via a digital application funnel, mobile app (Mercury Cards App, available on iOS and Google Play), and affinity partnerships with organizations including NEA, SEIU, Best Western, and Spirit Airlines. Its product features—no security deposit, zero fraud liability, cash back rewards, FICO score access, Easy Pay automatic payments, and Amazon Shop with Points integration—are aimed at differentiating the card in the credit-building segment.

The business model is interest-and-fee driven: Mercury earns revenue on a $3.2 billion credit card receivables portfolio across 1.3 million customer accounts, with pricing individualized based on creditworthiness assessments. Underlying technology includes card-issuance infrastructure via First Bank & Trust, digital wallet integrations (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay), and proprietary automation frameworks that improved validation speed and reliability for credit platforms handling billions of dollars in transactions. Marketing is digital-first, leveraging the company website, mobile app stores, organic social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), PR coverage in Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Benzinga, and Fintech Futures, and third-party targeted advertising.

Mercury Financial raised approximately $339 million in disclosed funding across rounds from Green Visor Capital, Moatable, and Neuberger Berman between 2014 and 2023. On September 11, 2025, the company was acquired by Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: ATLC) for approximately $166.5 million in cash, and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary, with the Mercury brand and card products continuing under Atlanticus's portfolio of near-prime credit card businesses.

Name

Mercury Financial

Legal name

Mercury Financial LLC

Website

https://mercuryfinancial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Mercury Financial is a U.S. fintech that issues the Mercury® credit card for near-prime consumers seeking to build credit, operating through bank partner First Bank & Trust with 1.5M+ cardholders and $3.2B in receivables. Acquired by Atlanticus Holdings in September 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Credit Cards

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (522210), Credit Card Issuing (52221)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro primary industry

Subprime / Credit-Building Credit Cards (FSAKABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Credit Score Monitoring & Credit Building (FSAGADAE), Virtual / Digital-First Credit Cards (FSAKABAK)

Keywords

• Consumer credit cards
• Credit building services
• Near-prime lending
• Personal credit products
• Fintech credit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Credit Card Interest and Fees: Mercury Financial generates revenue through credit card interest charges, annual fees, and various transaction fees associated with the Mercury credit card issued for near-prime consumers.
2. Credit Card Receivables: The company manages a $3.2 billion credit card receivables portfolio, generating revenue through interest income on outstanding balances held by near-prime cardholders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Mercury Financial develops and issues the Mercury® credit card for near-prime consumers seeking to build credit, distributed through bank partner First Bank & Trust under Mastercard and Visa licenses. The card requires no security deposit, offers zero fraud liability, unlimited cash back rewards, and free FICO Score access. The Mercury Cards mobile app provides account management, payment scheduling, payment splitting, Easy Pay automation, and rewards redemption for over 1.5 million cardholders in the US.

Product overview

Mercury Financial offers a single credit card product (the Mercury® Card) designed for near-prime consumers seeking to build credit, issued through bank partner First Bank & Trust. The company provides a companion mobile application (Mercury Cards App) that enables customers to manage their account, make payments, track their FICO® Score, and redeem rewards. The product ecosystem focuses on financial inclusion for underserved populations, offering cash back rewards, fraud protection, and credit-building tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mercury® Card: Credit card product designed to help consumers build better credit, featuring no security deposit, zero fraud liability, cash back rewards, and access to FICO® Score.
• Mercury Cards App

Products and services

• Mercury® Card A credit card designed for near-prime consumers to build credit, issued by First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated or Visa USA Incorporated. The card features no security deposit, zero fraud liability, unlimited cash back rewards on eligible purchases, fair credit lines that grow with responsible usage, access to FICO® Score at no additional cost, and eligibility for the Amazon Shop with Points program. The card is accepted worldwide via swipe, dip, tap, online, and mobile wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay).
• Mercury Cards App Mobile application for Mercury® Card cardholders to manage their account on iOS and Android, including checking balance, paying bills, viewing statements, redeeming rewards, scheduling and splitting payments, setting up Easy Pay automatic payments, accessing FICO® Score, and using digital wallets. The app is available as a free download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1.5 million customers choose Mercury credit card
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• First Bank & TrustcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFirst Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD is the issuing bank for the Mercury credit card. Mercury Financial operates as a service provider to FB&T, facilitating access to credit for consumers on behalf of the bank. The card is issued pursuant to a license by Mastercard or Visa USA.
• Spirit AirlinescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpirit Airlines partnered with Mercury Financial for the Free Spirit Points Mastercard co-branded credit card, issued by First Bank & Trust. The partnership served near-prime borrowers and represented an important ancillary revenue channel for the airline. Benefits for the card ceased after March 31, 2026 during Spirit's bankruptcy proceedings.
• NEA (National Education Association)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNEA (National Education Association) is listed as a partner organization, offering Mercury credit card products to their members as an employee/member benefit.
• SEIU (Service Employees International Union)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSEIU (Service Employees International Union) is listed as a partner organization, offering Mercury credit card products to their members as an employee/member benefit.
• Best WesternminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBest Western is listed as a partner organization, with Mercury Financial likely offering co-branded or affinity card products.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationThe Mercury credit card operates under a license from Mastercard International Incorporated, enabling global acceptance and payment processing capabilities.
• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationThe Mercury credit card operates under a license from Visa USA Incorporated, enabling global acceptance and payment processing capabilities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Credit One Bank: Credit One Bank is a direct peer — one of the largest U.S. issuers of credit cards specifically targeting non-prime and credit-building consumers, with cash back rewards, free credit score access, and digital account management, mirroring Mercury's value proposition.
• Mission Lane: Mission Lane issues Visa credit cards to near-prime consumers seeking to build or rebuild credit, with individualized pricing and a focus on financial inclusion — directly comparable to Mercury's target customer and underwriting approach.
• Avant: Avant provides credit cards and personal loans to near-prime consumers via a digital-first platform, with mobile app management and individualized credit terms — closely aligned with Mercury's product, customer, and channel strategy.
• Upgrade: Upgrade offers credit cards and personal loans to near-prime borrowers through a mobile-first digital experience, with credit monitoring and rewards features that directly overlap Mercury's positioning in the digital credit-building segment.

Emerging players

• Petal: Petal issues credit cards to consumers with limited credit history using alternative underwriting data, targeting a similar near-prime and thin-file customer base as Mercury with a digital-first product.
• Self (formerly Self Lender): Self offers credit-builder loans and secured credit cards designed to help consumers establish or rebuild credit, addressing the same financial inclusion segment Mercury targets, though through a different primary product format.
• Kikoff: Kikoff is a digital credit-building platform offering small credit lines and secured cards aimed at thin-file consumers, addressing the same near-prime audience as Mercury through a low-friction mobile-first experience.

Broad incumbents

• Capital One: Capital One is a broad incumbent credit card issuer with a dedicated near-prime / credit-rebuilding product line (QuicksilverOne) and secured card products, competing for the same customer segment as Mercury but at vastly greater scale and across many other consumer segments.
• Discover Financial: Discover is a broad incumbent card network and issuer offering the Discover it Secured card as a flagship credit-building product, competing for Mercury's customer base with an established brand and rewards franchise.
• OneMain Financial: OneMain Financial is a broad incumbent consumer finance company offering personal loans and credit cards to non-prime borrowers across the U.S., addressing the same underserved customer segment Mercury targets with a larger branch-based distribution footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mercury_fin
• Facebookfacebook.com/MercuryFinancialLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mercuryfinancial-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/mercuryfinancial_llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercury Financial