Mercury IO’s new physical card is a Simone stone-texture edition. Standard shipping is free

What happened

Mercury replaced the IO physical card. The face is a pale stone texture, with the chip, brand mark, and Mastercard sitting in the hollow of a sculpture. Open the tray and you see the rest of the same piece. That matches the official making-of post.

The post is titled A commitment to craft, set in stone, by Tamara Rahoumi. While preparing what the team calls the latest and largest IO upgrade — Spend controls included — they treated the card as a craft object. They worked with western Massachusetts ceramicist Simone Bodmer-Turner. She used sandy, unpolished sculpture clay for a stone-like surface. Card maker Thales pressed that relief into a resin layer that still fits card-thickness rules. Packaging is by OOOOAAAA Studio, produced by Petra & Holum.

On 20 August 2026 Mercury’s official account on X said all limited-edition IO cards ship in this packaging, and pointed to mercury.com/spend-management. Spend is live for Mercury banking customers. Companies that bank elsewhere can buy Spend on its own.

What is free to apply for

The IO product page: no personal guarantee, no personal credit check for IO sign-up. Unlimited 1.5% cashback. The card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A., under a Mastercard license.

Support says most U.S. businesses qualify for introductory IO on day one with Mercury: daily repayment, lower limit. About $15,000 total at Mercury unlocks higher limits and monthly terms. The IO balance cannot exceed cash held at Mercury. Check Cards > Credit on the web: if you qualify, you are prompted to set it up; if not, you see how to apply.

Physical cards: admins use Add Card, pick Credit, then physical or virtual. One physical IO per teammate, unlimited virtual cards. Virtual details work as soon as the card is created. Standard shipping is free. U.S. mail is often 1–2 weeks; another help article says cards usually leave the next business day and take about 5–7 business days in the U.S. Expedited IO shipping costs extra.

Metal is separate. Admins with about $50,000 on deposit get a metal IO at no extra cost. Below that, plastic is the default — same features, different material. You can still buy metal for $49 plus shipping; it posts as a Physical card upgrade fee.

Companies that do not open a Mercury deposit account can apply for IO-only: virtual cards plus metal physical cards, the same 1.5% back, no annual fee. That is its own application, not a signup gift.

Official post on how the card was made Spend IO Who qualifies for IO

Carddoger take

This is a new physical design for IO, not a new rewards program. You still get 1.5% on a charge card. What changed is the face, the box, and Spend budgets and receipts.

If you already bank at Mercury and Credit is available under Cards, issue the card there. Standard physical shipping does not cost extra. Do not mix metal with this stone limited packaging: metal is about deposit size or a $49 upgrade.

If you have no account yet, open banking first and watch the Credit prompt, or see whether IO-only is open to your company. Eligibility, limits, and delivery follow the live dashboard.

Mercury’s post, the Spend and IO pages, and the help center win. This is not account or credit advice.