If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, then you might want to consider setting up a business checking account.
If you don’t keep your work and personal accounts separate (especially during tax season, chances are you could be putting your business and finances at risk.
9 Unique Checking Accounts for Entrepreneurs
- Novo
- Radius
- Chase
- BlueVine
- Huntington
- Axos
- U.S. Bank
- NBKC
- Statrys
Do you need a business checking account?
As an entrepreneur, having a business checking account is crucial because you would want to keep your incoming and outgoing transactions completely separate on an independent merchant account.
And these are a few common uses you can use for your business checking account:
- Deal with the payroll;
- Accept credit card payment;
- Pay business insurance;
- Track expenses
- Watch for incoming funds;
- Collect money
Plus, when the tax-man comes, you don't want to be caught doing business with a personal checking account. You'll
And here’s 10 business checking accounts we’ve sort out for you to have a glimpse of the advantages and disadvantages of all the most popular choices of business checking accounts by entrepreneurs for you to pick out the best one personalized for you and your business.
Novo
Now, it is not without reason that it’s one of the number one choices for entrepreneurs.
Essentially, Novo is a digital banking platform where you can do the application completely online without having to waste time going into the bank branch for it.
Everything is pretty much free except for certain circumstances like uncollected funds return or insufficient funds.
Other than that, it is a pretty ideal banking option for all the side-hustlers and business owners out there.
For: freelancers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs.
Characteristics: completely online + new online application takes only 10 minutes
Minimum deposit: $50
Benefits:
- Free ACH transfers
- No minimum balance requirements
- No monthly maintenance fees
- Refunds at all ATMs
- Zero earns interest
- Free mailed checks
- Free incoming wire transfers
- Business tools access e.g. Xero, Zapier, Slack, etc.
How it works: Novo will provide you with a debit Mastercard, and you can use it for online point-of-sale or online purchases, or you can access cash at any in-network ATMs.
Radius
Again, similar to Novo Bank, Radius is an online-only banking platform, and that it offers a customized checking account for businesses.
For: businesses with high volume of transactions
Characteristics: It also pays your interest: earn 0.1% APY on balances over $5,000.
Minimum Deposit: $100
Benefits:
- Free unlimited transactions e.g. upcharges, zero penalties
- 24/7 access to accounts
- Manage digital invoices
- Pay bills
- Deposit checks
- Send ACH payments
- Receive wires
- On signature-based credit transactions, earn unlimited 1% cash-back
How it works: All you need to do is just take a quick 5-minute online application and you’re all good to go. After that, your account will come with a debit card that gives you a 1% give-back, which is especially beneficial for business-related purchases.
Chase
If you own a start-up or small-scale business that is seeking or experiencing growth, then Chase might be it for you.
It has its own mobile app and other banking tools available for you everywhere.
They also offer the physical branch if you’re a traditional type of person.
Benefits:
- Affordable: $15/month (fees can be waived if you maintain $1,500 in your account)
- Unlimited electronic deposits
- Mobile check deposit
- Wire transfers
- Free transactions: 100 per month
- Free cash deposits: $5,000 per statement cycle
How it works:
Step 1: all you need to do is just open a Chase Business Complete Banking Account on their mobile or website
Step 2: Deposit $2,000 within the first 20 business days upon the opening of the business account
Step 3: 5 qualifying deposits has to be done within 60 days (include Chase QuickDeposit, debit card purchases, and wires.
Step 4: Balance need to be maintained for 60 days
And that’s not it. You can also receive $300 cash upon new account-opening:
Bonus offer:
Good thing about it is that when you open a new Chase Business Complete Checking℠ account, you receive $300 as long as you deposit $2,000 into the account within the first 20 business days upon the opening of the account and maintain the balance for 60 days.
BlueVine
Just like the above banking solution, except that you can earn interests and it’s a pretty much fee-free banking option for entrepreneurs out there.
Who is it for: primarily for startup companies that do businesses online
Characteristics: You earn 1% interest on your balance up to $100,000
Minimum deposit: None
Benefits:
- No minimum balance requirements
- No maintenance fees
- Unlimited transactions each month
- Pay vendors and bills by using ACH, wires, cheque
- 38,000 ATM access worldwide
- 2 free checkbooks
How it works: Through the dashboard, you can easily set up recurring or one-time payments. You can also pay by using the more than 70,000 GreenDot locations worldwide.
Huntington
It is a pretty affordable option for small businesses as it is famous for its unlimited transactions for free.
They also have physical branches you can go to as well so it’s not exactly a pure digital one.
Characteristics: Huntington also has a tool called “The Hub” for its clients. There are also other digital tools including cash flow forecasting and cash positioning.
Who is it for: larger scale businesses that have a stable revenue
Minimum deposit: None
Benefits:
- Zero minimum monthly balance
- No interest bearing
- Over 1,500 ATM access
- Low monthly maintenance fee: $20
- Free deposit (up to 10,000 in either branch or ATM)
- Cash flow monitoring
- Sweep services
- Bonus tools included e.g. discount on payroll services
- Overdraft protection
How it works:
If you have an unlimited business checking account, Huntington Bank offers you one of the services.
Bonus Services:
- 10% off payroll services
- Deposit scan ((up to 50 per month)
- Fraud tool
- Returned deposit items (up to 25 per month)
- 2 free incoming domestic wires (per month)
AXOS
Now, if you’re looking for a virtual bank that is more international and trustworthy, then maybe AXOS is the one for you.
With over $11.8 billion worth of assets, the publicly-traded company may be what
Although it might be low in cost in so many different ways, it does have a higher requirement compared to other similar alternatives.
Characteristics: they have pretty high transaction limits up to 200 debits in their free-tier, including ACHs, deposits, transfers, and more each month. Another thing is that they have no yields.
Who is it for: both new businesses and international-scale businesses
Minimum deposit: $1,000 (with no monthly maintenance fees)
Benefits:
- No minimum deposit balance requirements
- No earns interest
- Unlimited ATM free reimbursement domestically
- First 50 checks free
How it works:
Now, there are no physical branches for this platform. Literally, it’s 100% done online. So, there is really no in-person interaction.
Account-opening bonus:
Here’s the good news: if you open an Axos Bank Basic Business Checking account, AXOS will give you a $100 welcome bonus offer. All you need to do is to just keep an average daily balance of $5,000 in the first 3 months, and there you have it, extra money.
U.S. Bank
If you’re a small business or working as a side-hustler with moderate cash flow or transactions, then this online bank might suit you.
They have certain limits in using the accounts but the fact is, most small businesses won’t hit those limits so you have zero worries about it.
Characteristics: Although it might be free in many of the services but then these accounts have zero interest-earning, so if you might have to take note of that.
For: small to medium scale businesses in the U.S.
Minimum deposit: zero
Benefits
- No monthly fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- Monthly transactions: 125 (25 free cash deposits units per month)
- Able to connect to connect to business money market
- Over 4,800 ATMs available in 28 States with the U.S.
- Anti-check fraud features allow merchants to accept customer checks without any risks
How it works:
Depends on your cash-flow cycle and business size, there are different business checking accounts that the U.S. bank offers for you, here’s the following:
- Platinum business package: they charge you $25 monthly maintenance fee, but you can actually waive it if you have an average collected checking balance of $25,000 or $75,000 combined average.
- Gold business package: for this one, it is slightly cheaper, it charges $20 monthly maintenance fee in which can also be waived if you have an average collected checking balance of $10,000 or $25,000 combined.
- Silver business package: it comes with no monthly maintenance fees so it’s perfect for new and small businesses.
- Premium business package: the fee of this analyzed account basically varied. Depending on your balance, your earnings credit can easily offset the maintenance and transaction fees.
NBKC
NBKC is actually a great business-checking solution for small businesses that are going on a budget.
Characteristics: This Midwest bank is one of the MoneyPass ATM networks, you can withdraw from over 32,000 ATMs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico fee-free! It also has its desktop-
For: SMEs that have a tight budget on business accounts
Minimum deposit: none
Benefits:
- Zero monthly maintenance fees
- Unlimited transactions
- No hidden fees (e.g. overdraft, stop payment, incoming domestic wire fees
How it works:
You can use their mobile and online banking tools and services to handle your business checking matters. By using their add-on services, you can use customize your account however your business needs.
Statrys
Here's a bonus business checking account!
Statrys, while not actually a bank, provides global business accounts to clients worldwide in 11 currencies, 100 % online.
Statrys is a completely virtual business account that is located in Hong Kong, but you can optionally add-on other accounts that are localized to their currency's regions like with the Euro if you plan to open up shop in the EU, or USD for the US.
Characteristics: This virtual business account is not a bank, however, it does provide services that traditional banks never provide to SMEs like FX forwarding, multi-currency accounting, and more.
For: small to medium scale businesses around the world that have a registered entity in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the Virgin Islands.
Minimum deposit: zero
Benefits:
- Access to 11 major currencies
- 100% digital account, can apply online
- Very competitive Transaction Fees
- Optional Local Currency Accounts in Euro with USD and GBP coming soon
- Forex Services available for foreign currency payments
Open a Statrys Business Checking Account in less than 48 hours, and get access to 11 currencies.
