blog · 2026-01-20 · 8 min

Mercury, Airwallex, Qonto, Aspire: pick from the incorporation, not the homepage

US C-corp, APAC trade, French SAS, SEA SME — four products, four home markets, one bad habit of calling them all banks.

If the company is Delaware, Mercury is the opening account. If the company pays suppliers in AUD, CNY, and EUR, Airwallex or Wise Business. If the company is a French SAS, Qonto. If it is a Singapore Pte Ltd with team cards, Aspire.

None of these is your local tax authority

A global account is not a substitute for a statutory local current account where the law requires one. Read the country page.

On the desk

Mercury

The US start-up current account, built with partner banks.

4.6

7.6Solid

activeFeaturedBusiness banking

HQ: San Francisco
Fee: Free core operations

Review

Airwallex

Global business accounts from a Singapore-born payments company.

4.5

8.3Strong

activeFeaturedBusiness banking

HQ: Singapore
Fee: Account often free

Review

Qonto

The French (and European) business account founders actually open.

4.6

7.7Solid

activeFeaturedBusiness banking

HQ: Paris
Fee: Paid plans from a small monthly

Review

Aspire

Southeast Asian business account, cards, and bill pay.

4.5

7.7Solid

activeBusiness banking

HQ: Singapore
Fee: Free starter

Review

Wise

The mid-market FX rail everyone else is measured against.

4.7

8.6Strong

activeFeaturedNeobankBusiness banking

HQ: London
Fee: Free personal

Review

All journal