The Best Banks for Small Business – Buy Side from WSJ – The Wall Street Journal

If you run a small business, you’re busy enough. You deserve a checking account that offers minimal hassle, without any gimmicks or sneaky fees that lower the balance you work so hard to earn. And a little interest might be nice too.

There are plenty of options. Big-name national banks often have multiple checking accounts oriented toward small businesses, whether you are a freelancer just starting out or you run a family business with dozens of employees. 

---

---

But not all business accounts are created equal. Many come riddled with fees. It isn’t just monthly maintenance costs you’re familiar with from consumer checking accounts. You may also have to contend with per-transaction charges that kick every time you write a check or deposit cash above a monthly limit.

In addition, convenience can also be a big factor, in a way it might not be for your personal bank account. If you handle a lot of cash in your business, depositing it to an online bank can be cumbersome, even with the most advanced technology.

To find the best business banks, we evaluated two dozen of the biggest institutions, looking for accounts that are easy to use, with low or no fees, and that don’t require large balances. For more specifics about how we vetted our picks, see the How We Picked section at the bottom.

---

Best overall

American Express

Key stats for Business Checking•No minimum opening balance

• 1.3% APY interest earned on checking deposits up to $500,000
• No monthly maintenance fee
• No overdraft fee
• No direct cash deposits 
• Unlimited electronic deposit/payment/ACH transactions 
• No out-of-network ATM fee

Why we picked it: If you’re already a cardholder with an American Express personal or business card, this business checking account has a lot to recommend it, with very few drawbacks. There is no minimum to open the account and no monthly maintenance fee. There are also no fees assessed for many everyday transaction types, such as ACH (a common type of electronic funds transfer), incoming wire transfers and mobile check deposit. Moreover, you’re not constrained by a set number of free transactions per month, a relative rarity in this category. You also have the option to use paper checks. 

Amex is one of relatively few banks that offers a competitive interest rate on its business checking account, with a current APY of 1.3% on balances up to $500,000. If you’re on the lookout for a new business credit card, the American Express Business Gold Card is Buy Side’s pick for Best Business Credit Card. We found this combination of a decent return on your deposited funds plus a lack of annoying transaction fees to be a clear winner. 

Caveats: Although Amex is part of the MoneyPass ATM network, which gives you access to 37,000 fee-free ATMs in the U.S. the bank is online-only—there are no physical branches and you can’t deposit cash into the account directly. 

As noted above, you also have to have an American Express business or personal card. The good news is that even cards with no annual fee like the Blue Cash Preferred—which Buy Side highlighted in its roundup of the Best Cash Back Cards—are eligible.

Other banks we considered

Capital One 

Capital One also offers a small-business Basic Checking account with minimal fees, but deposited funds in that account don’t earn interest. If you don’t have—or don’t want to get—an American Express card, this account is a solid alternative.

Axos Bank

With Axos’s Small Business Interest Checking, you get a decent APY on deposits below $50,000, but balances of $50,000 or higher earn much less. There is also a $5,000 minimum balance to avoid the monthly maintenance fee.

---

Best for Full-Service Business Banking

JPMorgan Chase 

Key stats for Chase Business Complete Banking

• No minimum opening balance
• No interest earned on checking deposits
• $15 monthly maintenance fee
• $34 overdraft fee (if account is overdrawn by more than $50)
• Up to $5,000 cash deposits per month (not including deposits at ATMs)
• Unlimited debit/in-network ATM transactions, 20 in-person transactions monthly
• $3 out-of-network ATM fee

Why we picked it: As befits a banking behemoth, Chase has three different small business checking accounts, the most basic of which is Chase Business Complete Banking. The account gives you unlimited debit and in-network ATM transactions, and up to $5,000 in cash deposits monthly without a fee.

While free cash deposits are common at big national banks, it’s one area where traditional banks have an edge over their digital counterparts: It can be a pain to deposit cash into an online bank account. Chase’s more than 4,800 domestic branches—the largest bricks-and-mortar footprint of any American bank—basically guarantees that wherever your business expands to, you’ll be able to locate a branch nearby. Chase offers an integrated payment platform called QuickAccept for processing credit card sales, and it’s the issuer of two of our top credit cards for business.

While there is a $15 monthly maintenance fee, Chase offers a number of ways to avoid it. These include: keeping a balance of at least $2,000 in the account, making $2,000 net charges monthly on an affiliated business credit card, receiving $2,000 in monthly deposits via a Chase payment platform, linking the account to a Chase Private Client Checking account, or being a member of the military. 

Caveats: You get 20 in-person transactions a month, which Chase defines as deposits or withdrawals made through a teller, or paper checks written on the account. That is low compared with other banks in this category. Other national banks we evaluated have transaction limits ranging from 50 to 250 per month, although some count electronic transactions toward those totals. 

After the first 20 transactions each month, additional transactions cost 40 cents each, so if you expect a lot of your banking activity to take place in person, this might not be your best fit. 

Other banks we considered

Citibank

CitiBusiness Streamlined Checking also lets you deposit up to $5,000 in cash monthly, but you need an average balance of at least $5,000 in the account to avoid the $15 monthly maintenance fee. Citi also has a much smaller bricks-and-mortar footprint than its other megabank peers, with fewer than 1,000 domestic branches and a presence concentrated in just six big metro areas: New York; Chicago; Miami; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Bank of America

If you have a cash-heavy business, the Business Advantage Fundamentals Banking account lets you deposit up to $7,500 a month in cash without incurring additional charges, and gives you up to 200 check or teller transactions monthly.

If you’re not a high-balance “Preferred Rewards” member, you have to make at least $250 in monthly debit purchases or maintain a $5,000 minimum balance to waive the $16 monthly maintenance fee, though. Bank of America is also one of the few institutions that charges a fee—$5, in this case—if you have to replace a debit card. 

---

Best for SBA Loans

Huntington National Bank

Key stats for Business Checking 100

• No minimum opening balance
• No interest earned on checking deposits
• No monthly maintenance fee
• $36 overdraft fee (if account is overdrawn by more than $50)
• Up to $5,000 cash deposits per month 
• 100 transactions per month
• $3.50 out-of-network ATM fee

Why we picked it: The Small Business Administration’s most common loans are those made through its 7(a) lending program, and Huntington National Bank originates the highest number of 7(a) loans by a large margin, which means the bank is well-versed in working with the many new business owners seeking out these loans.

It offers three tiers of business checking—Business Checking 100 is the cheapest and most no-frills of the trio—so entrepreneurs aiming to expand their business have options if they find their needs evolving over time. 

Caveats: If you want to download your account activity automatically into a platform like QuickBooks, you’ll have to pay $15 a month. (You can do it manually for free.) As the account name implies, you get 100 transactions a month—which Huntington defines as checks paid, deposit tickets, most deposited checks, incoming ACH transfers, debit purchases and bill payments—which might not be enough for some businesses. There is also a 50-cent charge per Zelle transaction. 

Other banks we considered

Live Oak Bank 

This digital bank is the biggest SBA 7(a) lender when measured by dollars lent, but you can’t make cash deposits directly to its Small Business Checking account, and there are no branches for in-person banking.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo does the most 7(a) lending among big national banks and has nearly 4,800 branches in the U.S. Its Initiate Business Checking account has a $500 minimum balance to avoid the $10 monthly maintenance fee, but its overdraft fee schedule is less forgiving than some of its rivals, and the bank took last place in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study. 

---

Best for Mobile Payments

Square

Key stats for Square Checking

• FDIC coverage via Sutton Bank
• No minimum opening balance
• No interest earned on checking deposits
• No monthly maintenance fee
• No overdraft fee
• No cash deposits 
• Unlimited electronic deposit/payment/ACH transactions 
• No out-of-network ATM fee

Why we picked it: If you’re already familiar with the Square ecosystem and a regular user of its eponymous payments platform, there’s a lot to like about this business checking account, particularly for business owners who don’t handle a lot of cash transactions. 

Square Checking is refreshingly fee-free, with no minimum balance requirements or monthly maintenance fees, and money you make on sales through Square hits your account immediately. Square also doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. 

Caveats: Like most of its digital brethren, there’s no way to deposit cash directly—and unlike many online banks, Square isn’t part of a network like MoneyPass that gives you access to fee-free ATMs. Square Checking is not an interest-bearing account, although you do have the opportunity to earn interest—the current APY is 1.75%—with a linked business savings account. 

Other banks we considered

Relay

Neobank Relay (FDIC insurance comes via its partner bank, Evolve Bank & Trust) has a Business Checking account with minimal fees and the ability to integrate with third-party software like QuickBooks, Plaid and Gusto, but it doesn’t offer the opportunity to open and link a savings account so you can earn interest.  

Novo

Neobank Novo, which provides FDIC insurance through Middlesex Federal Savings, F. A., offers a Business Checking account—and a highly rated app for both IOS and Android users—that integrates with payment platforms like Stripe, PayPal and Square and doesn’t charge onerous fees, but you have to buy a money order if you want to deposit cash, and your deposited funds don’t earn interest.  

---

Best for Earning Interest

Bluevine

Key stats for Business Checking

• FDIC coverage via Coastal Community Bank
• No minimum opening balance
• 2% APY interest earned on checking deposits if conditions are met
• No monthly maintenance fee
• No overdraft fee
• Up to $7,500 cash deposits per month, but needs to be conducted via a third party
• Unlimited transactions electronic deposit/payment/ACH transactions 
• $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee

Why we picked it: If you want to put the money in your business checking account to work, Bluevine offers a generous 2% APY—the highest we’ve seen in this category—on deposits up to $100,000. You have to meet some conditions on a monthly basis—either spend $500 using your debit card, or receive at least $2,500 in customer payments. But there’s no minimum account balance or monthly maintenance fee. Bluevine also doesn’t charge fees for everyday transactions like ACH transfers. 

Bluevine’s IOS mobile app has a ranking of 4.5, and its Android mobile app has a 4.6 ranking (both out of 5). It doesn’t charge any fees if you want to integrate your account with third-party payment, point-of-sale or accounting platforms. 

Caveats: As is the case with most online financial institutions, the process for depositing cash isn’t seamless, and there’s a $4.95 fee to do so. While both the Android and IOS Bluevine mobile apps have decent rankings, some user reviews mention glitches or other operational frustrations, which could be a hassle if you plan to do most of your banking from a mobile device.

Other banks we considered

LendingClub 

Tailored Checking lets you earn 1.5% APY on up to $100,000 (and a fraction of a percent on deposits above that amount), plus cash back rewards for using your debit card. While the account doesn’t come laden with fees for everyday activities, it does charge a $10 monthly fee unless you keep a minimum balance of $500. Its mobile app ratings are a bit lower than Bluevine’s.

QuickBooks

Accounting software giant Intuit offers the QuickBooks Checking account (with FDIC insurance provided through partner Green Dot Bank). You can earn interest at a competitive rate—currently 1.75% APY—on money sorted into up to nine “envelopes” within the account, but you also have to also use QuickBooks as well as the QuickBooks Payments processing platform.

How we picked

To pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Banks for Small Business, we evaluated small-business checking accounts offered by two dozen traditional and digital banking institutions. We looked for business checking accounts that offered the best combination of convenience, low fees and features that make running a business easier, like integration with other business technology platforms and the availability of (or ability to connect with) payment processing systems. 

We also took into consideration the ability to earn interest, since business accounts are likely to have higher balances than personal checking accounts, as well as other products such as business credit cards or loans offered by the banks.

All of our picks are either FDIC members or are fintech neobanks that have partnered with FDIC-member banks, which ensures that account holders’ deposits are protected. 

The rates we used to make our selections were collected in December 2022. Since we periodically update the story to reflect recent market conditions, the rates you see here in the story are current as of the updated dateline.