The 10 Best Business Bank Accounts
Where Should You Open a Business Bank Account?
The answer to this question depends on a lot of factors. How mature is your business in terms of growth and revenue? How do your customers pay you? How do you pay your vendors? Do you expect to earn interest on the money you hold in your checking account? Can you afford to pay fees on transactions?
Access to cashflow is a big part of running your business. Without cashflow, you can't operate. So being able to deposit or withdraw money quickly, with the least amount of hassle, will partly determine whether you're successful in your entrepreneurial endeavors. For example, if you can't make payroll happen in the timeframe your employees expect, they will complain or even quit. Or, if you can't pay your bills on time, you'll be assessed fees and fines that put a dent in your bottom line.
Sunday, March 26th
2023 Business Bank Account Reviews
Novel
With over 130 currencies, virtual credit cards, and integration with several popular payment processing systems, Novel especially helps non-U.S. entrepreneurs work within the U.S. banking system but supports banking outside of it as well. It enjoys a good reputation with its domestic and international clients and has features for people globally, so we can recommend it as the best all-around bank for business purposes.
Relay
Relay is an automated online banking and money management platform that is partnered with Evolve Bank & Trust to fulfill the banking transactions of small businesses. Relay is dedicated to making banking easier for small businesses in a sector of the economy that typically benefits large corporate banks. It's a really well-structured and innovative bank with good customer reviews that we can heartily recommend.
NorthOne
NorthOne is an easy and quick way to deposit business cash, as it only takes a few minutes to open a deposit account. It's a fairly new bank, having been founded in 2017 and launched in 2019, and focuses on the needs of businesses as received from interviews of thousands of small business owners. It's a great little bank with good ideas and room to grow and improve.
Bluevine
Bluevine and its associated bank, Coastal Community Bank, offer bank accounts with no monthly fee or minimum balance and unlimited transactions. On top of that, they offer 1.5% interest on eligible accounts and multiple sub-accounts for organizing your cash flow. They have a great customer service reputation, are easy to sign up for and use, and allow you to have sub-accounts. Bluevine is definitely a business bank to consider.
Novo
Novo comes close to meeting many expectations business owners have with business banking. They have no monthly fees, a low initial deposit requirement, no minimum balance requirements, no recurring fees or transfer fees, and they integrate with many financial technology platforms. Where they fall down is not having a way to deposit cash, no interest-earning accounts, and some negative reviews from customers that haven't been responded to. If you enter a banking relationship with Novo, go in with eyes wide open.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is a large consumer bank with business banking features. Founded in 1852 and widely recognized for decades in the past by its stagecoach logo, Wells Fargo has evolved to become a global financial service. But with that growth has apparently come a distance between what its customers want and what Wells Fargo provides. We're advising to stay away from Wells Fargo for business bank accounts.
Chase
Chase has a big name and presence in terms of ATMs and clout. They have a huge percentage of assets among the banking industry heavy hitters. Unfortunately, this does not translate well over to customer sentiment about them. There are far too many negative reviews and complaints for us to recommend Chase for your business banking.
US Bank
US Bank is a big bank with lots of assets and a huge footprint in the American and global banking and financial system. It has plenty of features that may work for large enterprises and medium-sized companies with lots of financially-savvy personnel and patience, but it is a poor selection for small businesses due to complicated fee structures and bad customer service.
Capital One
Capital One is a big, well-known bank with a recognizable brand. But it also has big problems keeping customers pleased with its services. It's a good idea to skip using Capital One and use another higher-rated service instead.
Axos
With Axos you can get various business banking and savings accounts, each with its own sets of features, rules, and limitations. There's a lot to unpack with Axos, so you'll want to spend some time on their website and speak with a representative as you research your specific business banking needs. However, it has a large number of negative reviews (and almost no positive ones), so we suggest you steer clear of Axos for your business bank.
Continued from above...
When looking for a business bank account, you will want as many convenience options as you can find. You want a bank that works for you and improves your financial success, not one that makes you feel like you are working for the bank and that they keep taking your money.
We've broken down this review of business banking into several key criteria to compare between options. Not every bank has every option available, but these are among the most common we've found:
- Fees. What fees will you be charged for using ATMs, depositing or withdrawing cash, sending wire transfers either domestically or internationally, or from bank to bank? Fees are too often overlooked by consumers of banking services but those fees can quickly add up. It's important to read all the fine print and make calculations as to how much money, on average, you need to have in your account to avoid fees.
- ATMs. For some businesses, having easy access to no-fee ATMs is critical, especially if you're buying goods or paying employees or vendors regularly in paper money. Being able to deposit cash is another task some businesses cannot do without.
- Integration with accounting or accountants. Banks that provide connections to popular accounting software or payment systems have an edge over banks that don't. The same goes for banks that allow you to add team members such as accountants, bookkeepers, or other similar roles to your bank accounts. Delegating financial tasks can create a measurable difference in productivity.
- Ease of transfers to personal accounts. Transferring money between financial institutions, to other businesses, or even to yourself should not be a chore. And it should happen as fast as possible. Some banks take up to a week or more to complete funds transfers. The best banks complete them either instantly or within 1-3 business days.
- Bill pay. If you don't pay your bills, you can't stay in business. Having to remember to pay them on a specific schedule can be tedious and is prone to error. Instead of putting payment schedules on a calendar, expect your bank to make it easy to pay your bills online on a recurring basis. That way you can focus on what your business was made for: serving customers.
- Ability to have multiple accounts under one. Savvy financial planners advise individuals and businesses to set aside cash reserves for taxes, bills, payroll, expenses, and other purposes that are easy to forget but essential to financial success. There is a growing number of banks who recognize the value of this and provide subaccounts or "envelopes" for storing money for a rainy day.
- Minimum deposit required. Startups are usually low on money at the beginning. They can't afford to have too much money exit their cash flow. So having to deposit a minimum amount to start a business checking account can be a problem. Fortunately, there are banks that don't require a minimum deposit to start an account.
- FDIC insured. To avoid another Great Depression-era financial disaster, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ensures that if there's ever a massive failure of the banking system, you'll be able to obtain at least $250,000 of what was lost. Every bank we reviewed is FDIC insured. Very few banks are not, if any.
- Limits to the number of monthly transactions. Let's say your business has a really successful quarter, but as a result the number and amounts of banking transactions begins to exceed your bank's imposed limits. Do you really want to be blocked or pay a lot of money to your bank for the privilege of being their customer? In our review, we included banks with low or no monthly transaction limits or costs.
TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed and ranked the most popular providers of business bank accounts available today. We hope this information helps you choose a bank that will make it easy and affordable to manage your money!
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