Mercury Launches AI Agent Credit Cards for Startups

Silicon Valley banking platform Mercury launched AI agent cards on March 18, 2024, a new feature designed to allow artificial intelligence agents to make purchases on behalf of businesses. This development reflects a significant shift in startup team composition, where AI agents are increasingly integrated alongside human employees. Mercury's AI agent cards are virtual credit cards that provide businesses with enhanced controls over automated spending decisions. The feature aims to offer a balance between granting agents autonomy and maintaining oversight, allowing for detailed auditing of agent expenditures. Immad Akhund, co-founder and CEO of Mercury, noted that customers were already manually issuing virtual cards to AI agents, prompting the development of a more integrated and controlled solution. Mercury, established in 2019, has become a popular banking solution for software-centric entrepreneurs, initially gaining traction with founders from the startup incubator Y Combinator (YC). Akhund, who was a part-time partner at YC in 2017, designed Mercury to cater specifically to the needs of these founders. The company experienced substantial growth following the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. During that period, Mercury rapidly enhanced its services, including increasing FDIC insurance coverage, which attracted $2 billion in deposits and 8,700 new customers within days. Mercury has maintained profitability on a GAAP basis for the past four years, reporting over $650 million in annualized revenue. The company states it currently serves one in three U.S. startups. Further indicating the rapid growth in the AI sector, Mercury reported onboarding more than double the number of AI startup customers in 2025 compared to the previous year. The introduction of AI agent cards signifies Mercury's adaptation to the evolving landscape of startup operations, where AI integration is becoming a standard component of business infrastructure. This move by Mercury positions the company to capitalize on the increasing adoption of AI agents in corporate environments, providing essential financial tools to manage and streamline their operations. The company's proactive approach to integrating AI-specific financial tools underscores its commitment to supporting the growth and efficiency of the startup ecosystem, particularly within the burgeoning AI industry. The new cards are part of a broader expansion of Mercury's spend management tools, aiming to provide comprehensive solutions for businesses leveraging AI for operational tasks.