PaymentsMercury and the GDPR: agreement, role and data location.
Mercury is a payments tool. Its role depends on the activity, it publishes its data processing agreement, and the data location depends on your account. Below: what to check and how to declare it.
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In short
- Category
- Payments
- Usual role
- Depends on the activity
- Data location
- Often United States, check your account
- Agreement
- Published by the vendor
What does Mercury do with personal data?
Manage customer payments, subscriptions where applicable, invoicing and billing. That is how Privacyboard describes a typical use of Mercury, as a starting point you can edit.
The data usually involved: names, Email addresses, Account identifiers, Payment details, Postal addresses, Contract & billing data
Is Mercury a processor or a controller?
the DPA covers Mercury Payroll only; for banking Mercury and its partner banks act as controllers.
Privacyboard does not prefill a role for this vendor on purpose. You are asked to choose, since the answer changes what your privacy policy says and which agreement matters.
Where does Mercury store personal data?
Mercury is usually associated with United States, but the location can depend on your plan or settings. Privacyboard prefills it as a starting point that you should check in your account.
What Mercury says (read on 2026-11-05): Mercury “primarily Processes Payroll Personal Data in the United States” Source: https://mercury.com/legal/data-processing-addendum
How to find yours: Check the provider’s privacy center or data processing terms.
If the data is processed outside the European Economic Area, Articles 44 to 49 require a transfer mechanism, such as standard contractual clauses, an adequacy decision or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Your privacy policy should name it.
Which legal basis usually applies to Mercury?
For the usual use of Mercury, companies most often rely on performance of a contract and legal obligation (GDPR Article 6(1)). Taking payment is part of the contract, and invoices must be kept as accounting and tax law requires.
Many payment providers also act as independent controllers for fraud prevention and legal checks, on their own basis.
This is a starting point, not legal advice: the basis belongs to your activity, and you confirm it in your register.
Does Mercury have a data processing agreement?
Checked on 5 November 2026. Vendors change their pages, so check the date.
Yes. Mercury publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep.
What we noted when we opened the page: Mercury Payroll Data Processing Addendum, last updated 16 Oct 2026; covers payroll data only, not banking. Contracting entity Mercury Technologies, Inc. Data primarily processed in the US; EU SCCs, Swiss SCCs and UK Addendum for transfers.
A page that exists does not mean you are covered. Whether the agreement applies to you depends on your plan and on what you accepted, so record the decision yourself in your vendor list.
Read the Mercury agreementHow to declare Mercury
- 1
In your privacy policy
Name Mercury as a recipient, say what it is used for (manage customer payments, subscriptions where applicable, invoicing and billing) and mention any transfer outside the EEA. Articles 13 and 14 ask you to tell people who receives their data.
- 2
In your vendor list
Add Mercury with its purpose, the data involved, its role, its region and a link to the agreement. Privacyboard prefills all of this, you confirm or correct it.
- 3
In your processing register
Link Mercury to the activities that use it, so each record shows its recipients. Article 30 asks the register to list the categories of recipients.
What to check before relying on Mercury
- Work out whether the provider acts as your processor, as an independent controller, or as both for different activities.
- Say in your privacy policy that payment data is handled by the provider and for what purpose.
- Record the provider as a recipient of customer names, emails and transaction data.
- Check retention rules the provider applies for legal and fraud reasons.
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Questions, answered.
Is Mercury GDPR compliant?
Privacyboard does not certify vendors. Compliance depends on how Mercury is configured and used, on the agreement you have with it and on your own practices. What can be checked is documented here: it publishes a data processing agreement, the usual role and the data location. Read the agreement itself before relying on it.
Does Mercury have a DPA?
Yes. Mercury publishes the text of its data processing agreement on its own website. Article 28 of the GDPR requires a written contract with every processor, so this is the document to read and keep. You can read it at https://mercury.com/legal/data-processing-addendum.
Is Mercury a data processor?
It depends on the activity. the DPA covers Mercury Payroll only; for banking Mercury and its partner banks act as controllers.
Which legal basis applies when I use Mercury?
For the usual use of Mercury, companies most often rely on performance of a contract and legal obligation (GDPR Article 6(1)). Taking payment is part of the contract, and invoices must be kept as accounting and tax law requires. Many payment providers also act as independent controllers for fraud prevention and legal checks, on their own basis.
Where does Mercury store data?
Mercury is usually associated with United States, but the location can depend on your plan or settings. Privacyboard prefills it as a starting point that you should check in your account. What Mercury says (read on 2026-11-05): Mercury “primarily Processes Payroll Personal Data in the United States” Source: https://mercury.com/legal/data-processing-addendum
Do I need to mention Mercury in my privacy policy?
Yes, if Mercury handles personal data for you. The GDPR asks you to tell people who receives their data (Articles 13 and 14). Name the vendor or its category, say what it is used for and mention any transfer outside the EEA.
How do I add Mercury to my vendor list?
In Privacyboard, pick Mercury from the catalog. The purpose, the data, the suggested role and a link to its agreement are prefilled, and you confirm each one. Creating a workspace is free.
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Privacyboard is not affiliated with Mercury. Names and logos belong to their owners and are used only to identify the tool. This page summarises public documents as checked on 1 November 2026; it is guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify any vendor.