10 Best Banks for Small Businesses for 2024

Small business owners all have different banking needs, but there are some standard features and banking services you should look for in any business account you're considering. The best bank for small business will offer features such as:

  • Low fees
  • Unlimited transactions and cash deposits
  • Variety of account options
  • Add-ons such as payroll services or invoicing
  • Mobile banking features
  • Solid and reliable customer service

Here are some of today’s best banks for small business owners so you can more easily make that decision.

Business AccountsBest For
Chase Business Complete Checking
Chase Performance Business Checking
Chase Platinum Business Checking
Chase Business Total Savings
Chase Business Premier Savings
Best for in-person bankingRead More
Axos Basic Business Checking Account
Axos Business Interest Checking
Axos Business Premium Savings
Axos Business Savings
Axos Business Money Market
Axos Non-Profit Money Market
Best for welcome bonusRead More
Novo Bank Logo 2022Novo Business Checking AccountBest for online product sellersRead More
Bluevine Business CheckingBest for earning interestRead More
Lili Logo 2024Lili Basic
Lili Pro
Lili Smart
Lili Premium
Lili High-Yield Savings Account
Best for early cash accessRead More
LendingClub LogoLendingClub Tailored CheckingBest for cash backRead More
Found Business CheckingBest for non-cash businessesRead More
nbkc bank logonbkc Bank Free Business Checking
nbkc Bank Business Money Market
Best for no feesRead More
NorthOne Connected Bank AccountBest for budgetingRead More
Innovator Business Checking
Innovator Money Market Savings
Best for pairing with a savings accountRead More

1. Chase Bank Business Banking®

  • Welcome bonus: Up to $400
  • Transactions: Unlimited electronic transactions (some transaction limits do exist)
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $15 (waivable)
  • Minimum balance requirements: None
  • ATM fees: No fees in-network, $3 at an out-of-network ATM

Chase is the largest bank in the country, with more than $3.9 trillion in assets and over 4,700 branches — so, if being able to bank in person is important to you, then Chase might be the way to go for your business accounts. Chase also has a full suite of both business and personal accounts so you could do all your banking there.

If you accept credit cards in your business, Chase QuickAccept allows you to accept credit card payments directly into your account. For swipe, dip, or tap transactions, the fee is 2.6% + $0.10; for manual entry or payment link transactions, the fee is 3.5% + $0.10.

Chase Business Checking Accounts

Chase offers three business checking accounts. Each comes with different fees and transaction limits, with the higher-tier accounts offering the best features.

  • Chase Performance Business Checking®
  • Chase Platinum Business Checking℠

Each comes with a monthly fee ($15, $30, and $95, respectively), but these can be waived by maintaining a minimum daily balance ($2,000, $35,000, and $100,000, respectively).

There are unlimited electronic transactions, but there are limits if you write paper checks or like to do transactions with a teller. The first 20 teller or paper check transactions are free — after that, there is a $0.40 per transaction charge.

If you deposit a lot of cash, you'll also want to be aware that you can only deposit $5,000 per month in cash before a fee kicks in.

You'll also pay $3 at an out-of-network ATM.

For more features and higher limits, the Chase Performance Business Checking allows 250 free transactions per month and a fee-free $20,000 monthly cash deposit. The Chase Platinum Business Checking permits 500 fee-free transactions per month, and $25,000 monthly cash deposits without an additional fee.

Both offer unlimited electronic deposits and incoming wires, as well as complimentary fraud protection services.

Chase Business Savings Accounts

Chase Bank has two interest-earning savings accounts for businesses:

  • Business Total Savings℠ is for businesses that are just starting with their savings plan or have a lower savings balance.
  • Business Premier Savings℠ is for businesses with higher savings balances that want to maximize their earnings or save for business expansion.

Both come with a monthly fee ($10 and $20, respectively), each of which can be waived by maintaining a minimum average ledger balance ($1,000 for Total Savings and $25,000 for Premier) or by linking another Chase account.

Chase also has business CDs, with terms ranging from 31 days to 10 years, no monthly service fees, and a $1,000 minimum deposit.

Chase Business Credit Cards

Chase offers a whole suite of business credit cards, all of which offer cash back or rewards points. Some, such as the Ink Business Unlimited® and the Ink Business Cash®, come with no annual fees, while others range from $95 to $450, depending on the benefits offered.

There are several co-branded business credit cards with airlines and hotels, including United, Southwest, IHG, and Hyatt. If your business has you frequently flying the skies, you can earn points from your trips and take advantage of perks such as upgraded boarding and free checked bags.

Most of Chase's business credit cards also come with generous welcome offers, such as a $1,000 cash-back bonus with the Ink Business Premier℠, after you spend $10,000 in your first three months of account opening.

Check out our full review of Chase Business Complete Banking.

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If so, you may want to check out Bonsai – one of the easiest to use all-in-one product suite for freelancers and small businesses.

Bonsai offers a complete financial management solution. It includes accounting, taxes, invoices, payments and banking.

Besides financial optimization, Bonsai also offers integrated client and project management: contracts & e-signing, proposals, scheduling, CRM, client portal, client forms & questionnaires, and hundreds of free legally vetted customizable templates. So you can manage all aspects of your business in one place.

>> Learn more about Bonsai

2. Axos Bank Business Banking

  • Welcome bonus: Up to $400
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: None
  • Minimum balance requirements: None
  • ATM fees: Unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements

Axos Bank has been in the banking business for 20 years and offers a variety of business banking solutions, including checking and savings accounts, merchant services, and treasury management. They also partner with ADP to offer payroll services, with your first four months free. For their merchant services, you can get a $100 Visa gift card if they can't beat the prices of your current provider.

Axos can keep banking costs low because of its focus on lean management and innovative banking technology. And they’ve got a live-person customer service center that’s open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Axos Business Checking Accounts

The company’s Basic Business Checking Account is great for small business owners. It comes with unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements, no monthly maintenance fees, and no minimum balance requirements.

Or, if your business has cash reserves, you may be more interested in Axos Bank's Business Interest Checking. It offers up to 1.01% APY as of publishing and a low monthly fee of $10 — although this can be waived if you have an average daily balance of $5,000 or more. It also has a low minimum opening deposit of $100 and unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements.

Both of Axos Bank's business checking accounts also come with a generous welcome offer.

Until June 30, 2024, you can get a $400 bonus with promo code NEW400.

To qualify for the bonus you will have to jump through some hoops. To get the full bonus you'll have to fund the account within 30 days and then maintain a balance in your checking account of over $50,000 for five statement cycles, complete 10 point-of-sale transactions each month, and connect bill pay to your checking account.

You can earn a partial bonus by keeping between $25,000 and $50,000 in the account if you can't maintain a balance of $50,000.

Axos Business Savings Accounts

Axos has several account options for helping your business save money, including savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs. All have APYs up to 0.20% as of publishing.

  • Business Premium Savings: No monthly fees or minimum deposit.
  • Business Savings: No monthly maintenance fees with a minimum $2,500 average daily balance. Minimum $1,000 opening deposit.
  • Business Money Market: No monthly fees with a minimum $5,000 average daily balance. Minimum $1,000 opening deposit.
  • Non-Profit Money Market: No monthly maintenance fees with a minimum $2,500 average daily balance. Minimum $1,000 opening deposit.
  • Business CDs: Terms from 3 months to 5 years. Minimum $1,000 opening deposit.

Here's our full review of Axos Bank if you want to learn more.

Get started with Axos Bank

3. Novo Business Banking

Novo Bank Logo 2022
  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: None
  • Minimum balance requirements: None
  • ATM fees: Reimbursed up to $7 per month

Novo is fintech platform that was built specifically for business owners. They partner with Middlesex Federal Bank in Massachusetts so that bank deposits are FDIC-insured.

The Novo small business checking account is perfect for business owners who sell a lot of physical products, whether that is online or in person. They integrate well with Stripe, Square, Shopify, Etsy, and ebay. And if you manage your business accounting online, which you probably do, they also integrate with Gusto, Quickbooks, Xero, Zapier, and Slack too.

Novo has a feature they call Novo Boost, which allows you to get your Stripe payments 95% sooner. A nice perk for those who bring in the bulk of their revenue through Stripe.

You can also send unlimited, customized invoices right from your Novo business checking account.

Here's our full review of Novo Business Checking if you want to learn more.

Get started with Novo

4. Bluevine Business Banking

  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $0
  • Minimum balance requirements: None
  • ATM fees: $0 at MoneyPass Network

Bluevine is a bank that was created especially for small business owners. The Bluevine Business Checking account is a free small business checking account and the company also offers lines of credit and other benefits such as vendor and bill pay.

They’re FDIC-insured up to $3 million through their partnership with Costal Community Bank, and they have a phone and an email customer service option.

Bluevine Business Checking Account

With Bluevine's Business Checking, you can earn 2.00% APY as of publishing on bank balances up to $250,000. To qualify for the 2% APY you'll have to spend $500 a month with your debit card or receive $2,500 a month in customer payments via mobile check deposit, ACH, wire transfer, or through merchant services. Cash deposits do not count toward customer payments.

The account syncs with Quickbooks and you can add bills to bill pay simply by taking a picture of them. The details will upload and you can pay the bill; you can even set the bill to autopay every month.

There are no monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, overdraft fees, incoming wire fees, or ACH fees.

Bluevine Business Credit Card

The Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard has no annual fee and unlimited 1.5% cash back on everyday business purchases. It also comes with perks such as car rental insurance and identity theft protection, plus discounts on products such as Quickbooks Online, TurboTax, Adobe Creative Cloud, and McAfee.

To be eligible for the card, you must first open a Bluevine Checking account. If you're already a customer, you’ll receive an email and a notification on your Bluevine dashboard once you're eligible. If you're new to Bluevine, you'll be prompted at account setup to confirm that you want to be notified once you're eligible.

Here's our full Bluevine review if you want to learn more.

Get started with Bluevine

5. Lili Business Banking

  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $0 – $55 depending on plan
  • Minimum balance requirements: None
  • ATM fees: No fees at MoneyPass locations

Lili is a neobank that is FDIC-insured through Choice Financial Group. In addition to offering various business checking accounts and a high-yield business savings account, Lili has accounting and invoicing software that enables you to categorize transactions, attach receipts to expenses, and generate monthly cash flow reports.

Lili also has a unique Early Payment feature, which allows customers to access funds from incoming ACH transfers up to two days before they arrive in their account.

Lili Business Checking Accounts

Lili offers four levels of small business checking accounts:

  • Lili Basic: No monthly service fee, free ATM withdrawals at MoneyPass ATMs, free incoming domestic wire transfers, and no foreign transaction fees. Get your direct deposit up to two days early. No minimum deposit requirements.
  • Lili Pro: Everything from Basic as well as the ability to earn cash back rewards on your debit card. Automatic tax savings and fee-free overdraft of up to $200 if you qualify. Access to a high-yield savings account. Expense management tools. $15 monthly fee.
  • Lili Smart: Everything in Pro plus additional bookkeeping and financial tools for automating reports, creating and sending invoices, instantly accepting payments, and producing pre-filled business tax forms. $35 monthly fee.
  • Lili Premium: Highest-level plan. Get everything Lili Smart offers, plus a dedicated account specialist and priority support. $55 monthly fee.

Lili Business Savings Account

Lili also has a business savings account; however, it's only available to Pro, Smart, and Premium account holders. If you open one of these accounts with Lili, you can then access a 4.15% APY as of publishing on up to $100,000.

Best of all, the savings account only requires a minimum balance of $0.01.

Here's our full Lili review if you want to learn more.

Get started with Lili

6. LendingClub Business Banking

LendingClub Logo
  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $10 (waivable)
  • Minimum balance requirements: None, but $100 to open the account
  • ATM fees: $0 and unlimited 3rd party fee rebates

With LendingClub's Tailored Checking account, you can earn 1% cash back on purchases made with your debit card. That's cash back on your debit card, not something you see every day.

You'll also earn interest on the balance in your checking account. You'll earn 1.5% APY on balances under $100,000.

There is a monthly service fee of $10, but it is waived if you keep a minimum balance of $500 in the account. Plus, LendingClub will reimburse you for all third-party ATM fees.

The account connects with Quickbooks, and you can create and send digital invoices right from the account. When a customer pays their invoice, the money will appear in your Tailored Checking account as early as the next day. You can track your open invoices right in the banking app.

Get started with Lending Club Tailored Checking for Business

7. Found Business Banking

  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $0
  • Minimum balance requirements: None

Found's online business checking account has zeros in all the right places. No transaction limits, no monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirements. It also offers unlimited free ACH transfers.

Found connects to all your favorite business apps, such as Quickbooks, Stripe, Cash App, PayPal, Square, Venmo, eBay, and more. You'll also be able to categorize expenses and save receipts in the app, making tax time that much easier.

It doesn't seem you have access to an ATM though, so this is something to know. You can make cash deposits, but you do so at one of over 79,000 participating retailers. The Found app will generate a barcode the cashier can scan, and you'll make your deposit with them. There is a $2 fee for depositing cash, and you can deposit up to $7,000 per rolling seven days and up to $4,000 per rolling 30 days.

Here's our full Found review if you want to learn more.

Get started with Found

8. nbkc Bank Business Banking

nbkc bank logo
  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly maintenance fee: $0
  • Minimum balance requirements: None

nbkc is an online bank that promises no minimum balance requirements, no overdraft fees, no stop payment fees, no fees for incoming wires, and no fees to use bill pay or to deposit checks in person or through their app.

You can also create, send, and manage invoices, and nbkc's Business Solutions Specialists can offer cash management support to help you optimize your available funds and make the most of your interest income.

nbkc Bank Business Checking Account

The nbkc Bank Free Business Checking is very competitive in terms of what it offers business owners, since it has very few fees and a $0 minimum balance.

There are a few add-ons that you can pay for, which might make life easier, but they are optional. For example, for $15 a month, you can add on the ability to send or receive ACH transactions. You can also add on the ability to make deposits at your desktop with a scanner for another $15 a month. Finally, for $5 a month, you can add on a fraud prevention tool that automatically matches checks against a list of known scammers.

Domestic wires are $5 each, and international wires are $45.

nbkc Bank Business Savings Accounts

With nbkc, you can open business savings accounts in the form of a money market account or CDs. Their Business Money Market offers an APY of 2.75% as of publishing, with a minimum balance of just $0.01.

CDs are available in terms of 3 months to 5 years, with APYs ranging from 0.10% to 4.50% as of publishing, depending on the term length you choose. All options require a minimum opening deposit of $1,000.

Here's our full review of nbkc bank if you want to learn more.

Get started with nbkc

9. NorthOne Business Banking

  • Welcome bonus: $20 bonus to new customers
  • Transactions: Transaction limits apply, but they are generous
  • Monthly Maintenance fee: $10
  • Minimum balance requirements: $0 ($50 deposit required to open)
  • ATM fees: $0

NorthOne promotes itself as a business banking app for integrating your cash flow and payments. Its unique feature is that it allows you to set up virtual envelopes for budgeting purposes. This allows you to plan ahead so you know you can cover upcoming expenses. Need to save up to buy extra inventory for Christmas? Or to replace your laptop? You can set up an envelope and fund that future expense.

The mobile app allows you to deposit checks, make transfers, and make cash deposits through Green Dot ATMs. You can pay bills via bill pay on the app but it not free. A digital payment is $0.50 and physcial check is a $1 fee per transaction.

There are some transaction limits, but they are generous and probably aren't limits you will bump into very often, if ever. Cash withdrawals at the ATM are limited to $2,000 and 5 transactions per day. Card transactions at the point of sale have no transaction limits, but there is a dollar limit of $5,000 per day.

There are no ACH debit limits, either on transaction numbers or amounts. ACH outgoing payments are unlimited in frequency but are limited to $10,000 per day and $300,000 per month. There are also no limits to the number of wire transfers you can do but the amount is limited to $200,000 per day and $6 million per month. And NorthOne has over 300,000 in-network ATMs.

Your money is FDIC-insured through NorthOne’s banking partner, The Bankcorp Bank.

Here's our full review of NorthOne if you want to learn more.

Learn more about NorthOne

10. Grasshopper Bank

  • Welcome bonus: None
  • Transactions: Unlimited
  • Monthly Maintenance fee: $0
  • Minimum balance requirements: $0 ($100 deposit required to open)
  • ATM fees: $0

Grasshopper is a digital bank that promises a focus on driving small businesses forward. It stands out for offering the potential to earn a high APY on your deposits, charging minimal fees, and even the ability to earn cash back on daily purchases.

Its Innovator Business Checking account comes with a tiered APY of up to 2.25% as of publishing. To access the full APY, you'll need to maintain a balance between $10,000 and $250,000 — if your balance is outside that range (either higher or lower), the rate is 1.51.%. You can also get 1% cash back on everyday debit card purchases.

With this account, there are no minimum balance requirements (apart from a $100 initial deposit), no maintenance or overdraft fees, free domestic wires and ACH transfers, and fee-free ATM withdrawals at MoneyPass and SUM machines nationwide.

After opening a checking account with Grasshopper, you have the option to open their Innovator Money Market Savings, which offers an APY of up to 3.75% as of publishing. To score this APY, you'll need to maintain a balance of $25,000 in your MMA.

Other perks of business banking with Grasshopper include a free Autobooks membership built into the app and your online banking, and integration with Quickbooks or other accounting software programs. You can also access Grasshopper's Small Business Marketplace, which features perks and discounts for Grasshopper partners such as Slack, Ramp, and Visa.

In addition to its checking and savings products, Grasshopper also offers business financing options, including SBA lending, as well as commercial real estate and API banking services.

Learn more about Grasshopper

How to Choose the Best Bank for Small Business

Choosing a small business bank is a big deal, and there is a little more to think about when looking at business bank accounts compared to a personal bank account.

To make sure that you choose the best business bank account for you, you'll first want to understand your needs.

Transaction Limits

The first thing to know about business bank accounts is that they often have transaction limits, especially on free business checking accounts. And the limits can be quite low, sometimes as low as 100 transactions per month.

For the most part, every bank on this list has unlimited transactions — that was one of the main requirements we looked for when choosing the banks for this list. However, if you choose an account with transaction limits you'll want to make sure you know what they are and that you can comfortably stay within the limits. Because while $0.10 or $0.15 per transaction doesn't sound like a lot, it can add up pretty quickly.

Cash Deposits

The second thing to think about is whether or not you'll need to make a lot of cash deposits. This is another thing that business bank accounts often limit. If you go over these cash deposit limits they will charge you a fee per $1,000 in deposits. If you run a business that does a lot of cash transactions (a coffee shop, for example), you may find yourself paying more than you expected just to make a deposit.

Also, if you go for one of the online business checking accounts it may be difficult to make cash deposits. Even if you don't have limits, not being able to walk into a brick-and-mortar bank might make it harder to do business on a day-to-day basis.

Rates and Fees

As you're comparing business bank accounts, take a look at their fee schedules and interest rates. Some banks offer ways for you to waive monthly fees, such as by performing a certain number of transactions or linking accounts, or to avoid fees by limiting certain activities, such as cash deposits.

If you're saving up for expansion or other expenses, and want to earn a bit of interest on your money, consider a bank that offers a business savings account or a business interest checking account.

Additional Services

Other considerations when looking for the best business checking account are other features or services you may need. If you have accounting software already (or are planning to use it) then you may not need the ability to send invoices, but you will want to make sure it can connect to your accounting program.

On the other hand, if you only send one or two invoices a month, maybe being able to handle that through your banking app might be all you need, and having a bank that provides that service might be perfect.

Also, think of future services you may need:

  • Will you need funding in the future?
  • Will you need to take credit cards?
  • Will you need to do payroll someday?

These are all things your bank can help you with and it can be nice to have everything in one place. You can also get these services from other places outside of where you keep your business bank account, so they aren't deal breakers, but it's something to consider.

Finally, while you are looking for a bank that can handle your business finances you may want to also consider your personal finances. It could be easier to have all your money in one place.

Related: Safest Banks in the U.S.

How to Open a Business Bank Account

You'll need a few things to open a business bank account. Requirements vary from state to state and from bank to bank but you'll most likely need an EIN, or employer identification number. These are free and easy to get. Just head over to the IRS and apply. You'll have one within the next few minutes. This is like a Social Security number for your business, so keep it safe.

You may also need a Tradename document from the Secretary of State showing that you own that business name, or some other kind of documents showing that this is your business, such as your business's formation documents. If you need a business license you may need to bring that as well.

If you are opening an online business bank account then the requirements should be clearly on the website when you begin your application. If you are opening the account in person, you might want to call ahead, just to make sure you have everything you need before you go down there. That way you get it done in one sitting.

Why You Should Have a Business Bank Account

Having a business bank account keeps your personal and business finances separate, which is very important.

First off, it helps you to see if you are actually making money. If money is flowing in and out of your personal checking account it can be hard to know exactly how much money your business is making. On the other hand, it's hard to fool yourself when all your business transactions are in one place and you only have an income after your business expenses have been paid.

Secondly, having your business bank account separate will make tax time much easier. You can run a profit and loss report and see exactly what your profits (or losses) were.

Lastly, if you have an LLC, having your personal and business funds separate will provide an extra layer of protection. You want to avoid what's called “commingling of funds” and having separate bank accounts is crucial to avoid this. You want a clear separation between your business bank account and your personal account. This way, if your business gets into legal trouble you'll have an easier time keeping your personal funds out of the mix.

Summary

If you have a business, no matter how small, you are going to want a business bank account. It will help you know exactly what your business profits are and help protect your personal finances should your business get into any trouble.

When choosing a business bank account you'll want to make sure that you don't bump up against any transaction limits or cash deposit limits. Also, look for accounts with no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements, especially when you are first getting started.

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About Laurie Blank

Laurie Blank is a blogger, freelance writer, and mother of four. She’s psyched about teaching others how to manage their money in a way that aligns with their values and has been quoted in Bankrate.

She's a licensed Realtor with Edina Realty in Minneapolis, Minnesota (also licensed in Wisconsin too) and has been freelance writing for over six years.

She shares powerful insights on her blog, Great Passive Income Ideas, that will show you how you can create passive income sources of your own.

Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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