By PYMNTS | October 20, 2026
FinTech company Mercury added an artificial intelligence-native payroll solution to its offerings so that founders can pay employees and contractors from the account they already use to manage their money, the company said in a Tuesday (Oct. 20) press release.
With AI-powered capabilities through Mercury’s AI agent, Mercury Command, the new Mercury Payroll is designed to simplify payroll tasks, reduce administrative work, and handle tax and payroll compliance needs, according to the release.
The payroll capabilities join a Mercury experience that already includes banking, cards, spend management, invoicing, bill pay, accounting and Mercury Command. The combination gives founders a complete view of their company’s finances, together with the ability to take actions through natural-language commands, per the release.
Mercury Payroll is designed to simplify tasks such as setting up payroll, taxes, benefits and compliance, Mercury Co-Founder and CEO Immad Akhund said in the release.
“In 2026, with AI we can make what was toil for entrepreneurs as easy as a quick chat,” Akhund said. “We’re launching Mercury Payroll so paying your team can feel as simple as moving money in Mercury.”
We’d love to be your preferred source for news.
Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!
Mercury’s customer base was initially concentrated among venture-backed startups, but it now extends across eCommerce, professional services and a broader collection of digitally native businesses, Akhund told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in June.
“We really think about banking as, ‘How do we build all of this financial software to help your business run?’” Akhund said. “It’s not just the checking and savings account.”
AI is central to Mercury’s strategy. The company offers one track focused on highly technical businesses already operating through AI-native environments, and another track focused on bringing AI directly into Mercury’s interface for customers who want simpler access to automation, Akhund said.
“We want to expose AI features to them,” Akhund said, describing tools that help customers analyze transactions, understand cash flow and complete multistep operational tasks.
Mercury raised $200 million in a May funding round that valued the company at $5.2 billion.
When announcing the round, Akhund said: “I started Mercury because banking should do more than be a vault; it should help customers run the best business possible.”
For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily AI newsletter.