Head to head in Business Banking
Mercury vs Airwallex Explore (US)
Only Mercury says it does not need a US physical address, which decides most applications from abroad. Mercury and Airwallex Explore (US) both charge nothing for the first year.
The address rule each bank publishes for owners abroad, then twelve monthly fees plus any fee to open. Every figure this site holds on both products is below, side by side. Of 7, 4 differ; those rows carry a rule and the rest are left quiet.
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US physical address needed
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- Not statedCalculated from attributes verified Sep 2026
What it says about the address
- Mercury
- A verifiable home or office address, in the US or abroad; no PO boxes, virtual addresses, mail centres or registered agent addressesVerified against the source Sep 2026
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- Not stated in its US document requirementsVerified against the source Sep 2026
Owners living outside the US
- Mercury
- Yes; founders from outside its prohibited countriesVerified against the source Sep 2026
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- Yes; owners who are not US persons give a passportVerified against the source Sep 2026
Fees, first yearidentical
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- $0Calculated from attributes verified Sep 2026
Monthly feeidentical
- Mercury
- NoneVerified against the source Sep 2026
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- NoneVerified against the source Sep 2026
US physical address needed
- Mercury
- NoVerified against the source Sep 2026
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- Not statedVerified against the source Sep 2026
One-time fee to openidentical
- Mercury
- $0Verified against the source Sep 2026
- Airwallex Explore (US)
- $0Verified against the source Sep 2026
Mercury
Mercury
| Criterion | Weight | Score | PointsContribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opens without a US physical address | 70% | 5.00 | 3.50 |
| Fees in the first year | 30% | 5.00 | 1.50 |
| Total | 100% | 5.0 |
Excellent tier. Weights are published on the methodology page; a change to any of them is a rubric version bump, not a silent edit.
Open to founders anywhere outside its prohibited countries, for a US company with existing or planned US operations. The address it asks for is the company's principal place of business, which can be a verifiable home or office abroad; it refuses virtual addresses, mailbox services and registered agent addresses. No monthly fee; ACH, domestic wires and USD international wires are free, and conversions cost 1%.
Who this suits
Nothing in this product's verified data distinguishes it from the rest of this table.
Who it doesn’t
No verified figure in this table counts against this product. We don't manufacture a drawback to balance the page.
Airwallex
Airwallex Explore (US)
| Criterion | Weight | Score | PointsContribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opens without a US physical address | 70% | 2.50 | 1.75 |
| Fees in the first year | 30% | 5.00 | 1.50 |
| Total | 100% | 3.3 |
Standard tier. Weights are published on the methodology page; a change to any of them is a rubric version bump, not a silent edit.
The Explore plan is free. Its US document list accepts a passport from owners who are not US persons, alongside the EIN letter and the formation certificate; it does not say which business addresses it accepts. Domestic USD transfers are free, international SWIFT payments $15 to $25, and conversion 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies.
Who this suits
Nothing in this product's verified data distinguishes it from the rest of this table.
Who it doesn’t
No verified figure in this table counts against this product. We don't manufacture a drawback to balance the page.
Cite this pageplain text or BibTeX
Plain text
Points Architect. "Mercury vs Airwallex Explore (US): verified comparison." Rubric 2026.1. Verified Sep 2026. https://pointsarchitect.com/compare/mercury-vs-airwallex-us
BibTeX
@misc{pointsarchitect-compare-mercury-vs-airwallex-us,
title = {Mercury vs Airwallex Explore (US): verified comparison},
author = {{Points Architect}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pointsarchitect.com/compare/mercury-vs-airwallex-us}},
note = {Verified Sep 2026; rubric 2026.1}
}Canonical URL https://pointsarchitect.com/compare/mercury-vs-airwallex-us. Every row in the attribute table has its own anchor, so a single fee can be cited without citing the whole record.