News from the Wire

Mercury launches AI-native payroll

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 — 17:20:35 (UTC)

Oct 20, 2026 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Mercury Launches AI-Native Payroll

Pay your team where you do the rest of your banking,* with AI automations that do the grunt work for you

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercury, the technology company providing radically different banking* for over 450,000 customers, today launched Mercury Payroll,** bringing payroll directly into the Mercury experience. Mercury Payroll lets founders pay employees and contractors and offer benefits from the same account they already use to manage their money, with AI-powered capabilities through Mercury Command*** that help simplify payroll tasks and reduce administrative work. Mercury Payroll also handles tax and payroll compliance needs so that founders can focus their time on what matters most: building their business.

Mercury Payroll brings payroll alongside the money that powers it, giving founders a direct path between hiring someone and paying them. - Share

“Hiring your first employee is one of the biggest moments in building a company, but what comes immediately after, like setting up payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance is far more complicated than it needs to be,” said Immad Akhund, co-founder and CEO of Mercury. “In 2026 with AI we can make what was toil for entrepreneurs as easy as a quick chat. We’re launching Mercury Payroll so paying your team can feel as simple as moving money in Mercury.”

Payroll is one of the largest recurring transactions a business makes, yet it has historically existed separately from the account where a company manages its money, requiring founders to onboard to another provider, connect banking information, configure tax and state registrations, and reconcile activity across systems. Mercury Payroll brings payroll alongside the money that powers it, giving founders a direct path between hiring someone and paying them.

Mercury Payroll joins banking, cards,* spend management, invoicing, bill pay, accounting, and Mercury Command, Mercury’s AI agent, giving founders a complete view of their company’s finances in one place. Command works across all of it, so founders can analyze their full financial picture and take actions through simple natural-language requests.

With Mercury Payroll, customers can:

Get set up quickly: Mercury already has existing customers’ EINs and entity details on file, so they can set up their first payroll run in under 15 minutes. New hires onboard themselves, entering their own tax forms and direct deposit details.

Pay employees and contractors: Run W-2 employee payroll, pay 1099 contractors in the U.S., and issue bonuses and other one-time payments directly from a Mercury account.

Simplify payroll tasks with AI: Use Mercury's AI agent, Command, to help with payroll tasks like updating an employee's salary, adding overtime hours to a pay run, adding recurring reimbursements, deductions or earnings to an employee, issuing bonuses, and more.

Hand off payroll tax and compliance: Mercury Payroll files and remits federal and state payroll taxes, handles W-2s and 1099s at year-end, handles unemployment claims, and reviews state agency correspondence. Mercury’s in-house team registers companies in new states as they hire, with coverage in all 50 states.

Offer benefits: Access health insurance, 401(k) options through Human Interest**** or a self-managed plan, and HSA, FSA, ICHRA, and commuter benefits.

Mercury Payroll is available to eligible Mercury business customers at no cost through the end of 2026, then $100 per month + $50 per month for each person paid that month.***** Learn more at [mercury.com/payroll].

About Mercury

Mercury is radically different banking* — engineered from the ground up to hold, move, and help you truly understand your money like never before. Everything you need is built in: cards, invoicing, bill pay, spend management, real-time insights, accounting, and a financial AI agent. And because it all lives in one place, it gets smarter the more you use it — surfacing what you need, when you need it, in ways a patchwork of tools never could.

To join the more than 450K customers that trust Mercury, visit mercury.com.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.

Source: Company press release.

Categories: New Product