Step 5: Team set-up and training

Traditional banks are quietly costing your clients — and your firm — time, money, and sanity. From sneaky monthly fees to outdated onboarding processes, it’s death by a thousand charges. But there’s a smarter way. Mercury helps you eliminate unnecessary friction, with modern banking built for founders and the accountants who support them.

Let’s look at 10 hidden pain points in your clients’ finances and banking — what to look for, real examples of what others are saving, and how to switch confidently.

Big banks charge $15–$30/month just to keep an account open. Mercury: $0. Simple. (And with Mercury for Accountants, you get a free subscription to Mercury Pro, our premium tier.)

Do you know how much you or your client is paying?

• Search for “monthly service fee” or “maintenance fee” in the last 12 months of bank statements (easy with a CSV version). 
• Tally per account to see the cost of simply having a bank account. 

Traditional banks penalize lower balances. Banks often require $1K–$10K min. Mercury: no penalties, no pressure.

Check if your clients are maintaining artificial balances or being charged low-balance fees when reviewing their bank statements. Your clients’ idle cash could be doing more for them.

Through Mercury’s partner banks, your clients get up to $5M in FDIC insurance via sweep networks, unlike other banks that cap their FDIC insurance at $250K (that’s 20x the coverage).

A few ways to check that your clients’ funds are safeguarded:

• Look at account balances >$250K. Is that risk managed? 
• Show clients how to compare coverage limits.

Traditional banks can charge $15–$50 per wire. Mercury allows users to send free domestic and international wires in USD, with an option to cover recipient fees for $15. Those savings add up fast.

How much are your clients paying to move their own funds?

• Review the past month’s bank fees for “wire incoming” or “wire transfer.” 
• Multiply the monthly volume by the fee. 
• Project the annual cost — you may uncover thousands of dollars in unnecessary spend.

Mercury offers transparent, competitive FX. Banks often hide big markups. Check global payroll just by switching from traditional bank FX rate, as FX fee differences of ~2–3% on $ 100k+ international payments. 

Are hidden FX fees quietly draining your clients’ international payments?

• Pull a recent international payment and compare the actual FX rate to market benchmarks 
• Calculate the percentage difference — 2–3% on six figures adds up fast. 
• Multiply that by your monthly or annual payment volume to find your true cost of banking globally.

Redundant systems don’t just cost money — they cost clarity. If your clients are toggling between cards, spreadsheets, and external tools, they’re probably losing visibility and efficiency. Mercury includes virtual cards, spend controls, and smart transaction categorization. No need to bolt on extra apps or spreadsheets. 

How many tools are you using just to track expenses, and what’s it costing you?

• Look at what’s currently in use for expense tracking and approvals.
• Tally the monthly software costs for expense tools, team cards, or spend tracking. 
• Evaluate: Are the tools overlapping? Is reconciliation slow or confusing?

Big banks still struggle with nuanced team access. Mercury offers granular control — role-based access without bank visits. How long does it take to add or remove someone from your bank account?” If your answer includes words like ‘days,’ ‘forms,’ or “I don’t know who still has access,” it’s time for an upgrade.

• Ask: “Can you easily manage user roles today—or does it require external support?”
• Identify: Any recent delays, access errors, or users with more permissions than they need?
• Evaluate the security and efficiency risk of poor access control

Forget driving to a branch to report a flagged international payment verify a check. Mercury offers responsive in-app and email support, and real humans (yes, humans!) reply fast. No more waiting in line at a branch. Speed and service shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

When was the last time you enjoyed a support experience with your bank? Support should be an extension of your operations, not a blocker.

• What’s your average resolution time with your current bank?
• Do support requests lead to more confusion than clarity?
• Would a faster response have saved time, avoided an error, or solved the issue before it became a fire drill?

Mercury was built for quick online setup, no branch visit, and no legacy processes slowing things down.

How long does it really take to open a new account or issue a card today? If onboarding feels like a process from 2005, it’s probably costing you time, focus, and momentum.

• Time how long it takes to open a new account or credit card with your current provider
• Count the number of forms, calls, logins, or branch visits required
• Ask: “Is this setup experience aligned with how fast your business moves?”

Mercury’s UI is clean, intuitive and built for clarity. Big banks often confuse more than help. Clunky portals and endless dropdowns. Time saved is money saved. Easier on your client. Think about how much time you lose trying to find what you need in your bank portal. If it takes more clicks to export data than it does to explain cash flow, give Mercury a try. 

Then log in to a traditional bank and note how long it takes to:

• Find a specific transaction
• Export monthly statements
• Understand your cash position at a glance

With Mercury, clarity is the default, and time saved is profit earned. In the end, it’s clear which platform would make your job easier.

Imagine a better way to bank

You’ve seen what legacy banking is costing you and your clients — in fees, time, and missed opportunities. Switching doesn’t require a revolution. It starts with just one account.