Relay is a financial technology company offering business banking services to small businesses through its partner Thread Bank (Member FDIC). Founded in 2018 and backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Relay provides business checking and savings accounts with FDIC coverage up to $3 million through Thread Bank’s sweep program. The platform operates entirely digitally with no physical branches.
The product is built around multi-account organization. Businesses can open up to 20 individual checking accounts and 2 savings accounts under one login, each with its own routing and account number. This structure is particularly well-suited to the Profit First methodology, where businesses allocate revenue into separate accounts for taxes, payroll, operating expenses, and profit. Up to 50 physical or virtual Visa debit cards can be issued with individual spending limits and merchant restrictions.
Relay’s free Starter plan includes no monthly fees, no minimum balance, no overdraft fees, and ACH transfers. The Grow plan at $30/month adds automated bill pay, free outgoing domestic wires, same-day ACH, and 1.55% APY on savings (versus 0.91% on Starter). The Scale plan at $90/month increases checking accounts to 50 and raises savings APY to 2.68%.
The main competitive strength is the combination of multi-account structure, no-fee banking, and native integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero — positioning Relay well against Mercury for businesses that do not need startup-specific features.
The main weakness is the Thread Bank relationship. Thread Bank received an FDIC enforcement action in 2024, and users report occasional sudden account freezes with slow resolution. Relay also lacks multi-currency support for international operations.