# Mercury Brand Voice

> Ambitious, streamlined, and radically efficient.

## Positioning
Mercury is a fintech company providing business banking and financial tools for startups and ambitious entrepreneurs. It positions itself as a redesigned alternative to traditional banking headaches by consolidating cards, payments, and treasury into a single, high-velocity platform.

## Voice principles
*   **Action-Oriented:** Use active verbs that emphasize speed and momentum (e.g., "tackle," "move," "run").
*   **Confident:** State value propositions plainly without fluff or excessive adjectives.
*   **Empathetic to Founders:** Acknowledge the "headache" and "runaround" of traditional finance while offering a "pro" solution.
*   **Transparent:** Clearly define the nature of the business (fintech, not a bank) and the specifics of pricing and yields.

## Tone by context
| Context | Tone |
|---|---|
| Marketing Hero | Bold, disruptive, and visionary. |
| Product Features | Practical, efficient, and benefit-focused. |
| Compliance/Legal | Precise, factual, and cautionary. |
| Pricing | Simple, accessible, and value-driven. |

## Lexicon
- **Use:** Radically different, ambitious, seasoned pro, total visibility, headache, runaround, level up, stand the test of time.
- **Avoid:** Traditional banking jargon, slow-moving, bureaucratic, complex, "disruptive" (use "radically different" instead).

## Messaging do's and don'ts
*   **Do:** Focus on the time saved (e.g., "10 minutes," "in seconds," "couple of clicks").
*   **Do:** Use contrasting "Stop/Start" or "Before/Now" structures to highlight improvement.
*   **Do:** Emphasize the all-in-one nature of the platform to eliminate a "patchwork of tools."
*   **Don't:** Refer to Mercury as a bank without the fintech disclaimer.
*   **Don't:** Use passive voice when describing user actions.
*   **Don't:** Over-promise on speed without providing a specific timeframe.

## Evidence
- "Banking’s been a headache. Now, it’s a help."
- "Get started fast. And never stop moving."
- "Watch bills pay themselves."
- "Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank."
- "Reconcile receipts without the runaround."