Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Want to jump straight to the answer? My top pick for the best business checking account is Novo Bank or Axos.
A good checking account can elevate your business’ finances.
Whether you’re running a large company or a side hustle, you’ll need to separate your business transactions from your personal finances.
For the most part, a business checking account functions like a personal checking account. However, business checking accounts typically have extra fees, minimum balance requirements, and monthly transaction limits.
So before you open a new account, it’s important you find a bank that meets your specific business needs.
Top 8 Best Business Checking Accounts For 2021
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of business checking accounts on the market today.
From small local banks to large national chains and online-only banking, there are really only twelve accounts that I would consider.
- Novo Bank — Best online-only business banking for freelancers and entrepreneurs
- Axos Business Interest Checking — Online-exclusive bank with competitive returns up to 0.81% APY
- Mercury — Best business bank for tech startups
- Chase Business Complete BankingSM — Best checking account for small businesses
- LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking — Best online business checking for unlimited cash back and transactions
- BlueVine — Best business checking for small businesses and startups
- TD Business Convenience Checking — Up to 500 free transactions each month
- Huntington Unlimited Business Checking — Unlimited transactions best for larger businesses with high cash flow
The majority of these are free business checking accounts. Some do have a monthly fee, but it’s fairly easy to get those waived by meeting reasonable requirements.
I’ll give you an in-depth review of the top business checking accounts below. We’ll cover the top features, benefits, prices, and any potential drawbacks that should be taken into consideration.
The Best Business Checking Account Reviews
#1 – Novo – Best Online-Only Business Checking Account For Freelancers and Entrepreneurs
- Online only banking
- Ideal for freelancers & entrepreneurs
- No minimum balance
- Free ACH transfers
Novo is an online-exclusive business checking account intended for freelancers and entrepreneurs.
They have transparent pricing and no hidden fees. You can apply for a Novo account in less than ten minutes online.
These are some of the notable highlights for Novo business checking:
- No minimum balance requirements
- No monthly maintenance fees
- Free ACH transfers
- Free incoming wires
- Free mailed checks
Novo lets you open a new business checking account with just $50.
This is a modern banking solution. You can integrate your account with Zapier, Xero, Slack, and other tools that your small business is currently using.
Since it’s online, you can’t walk into a physical branch. So if your business has in-person banking needs, then Novo isn’t for you.
However, Novo will reimburse you for ATM fees imposed by other banks. So you’ll still be able to access cash from anywhere without paying an extra fee.
#2 – Axos Business Interest Checking – Best Online-exclusive bank with competitive returns
- No annual fees
- Exclusively online banking
- Earn up to 0.81% APY
- $100 opening deposit
Axos Business Interest Checking offers an excellent online-only checking service with no annual fees.
Some great features of the account:
- Earn up to 0.81% APY
- $100 minimum opening deposit
- Pay no monthly maintenance fee with an average daily balance of at least $5,000
- Up to 50 free items per month, $0.50 per item thereafter (includes debits, credit, and deposited items)
- Up to 60 items per month for Remote Deposit Anywhere (includes monthly per item processing limitation)
- Unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements
- No annual fees
The online and mobile banking solutions from Axos are exceptional, as you would expect from an online-exclusive bank. You can deposit a check from anywhere using your mobile device.
Overall, Axos Business Interest Checking is suitable for small business owners with modest banking needs.
#3 – Mercury –Best business bank for tech startups
- Free business bank accounts
- Accounting software integrations
- Built for tech startups
- Exclusive perks if account is over $250k
Mercury is an online financial service providing free business checking and savings accounts, aimed directly at tech startups. With free accounts, free domestic and international wires, no minimum balances, and automatic cash management tools, Mercury is a great option for tech-focused small businesses and startups.
Mercury works with FDIC-insured banks to store all deposits, and all accounts are insured up to $250,000. To make your online business bank account as useful as possible, Mercury has integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, Gisto, Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, and more.
One significant perk is that all Mercury business accounts are free. And if you hold a balance of $250,000, you get invited to the Mercury Tea Room, which gives you exclusive perks like discounts on other online tools and services, credits for free ads, discounts on developer tools, a free tea now and then, and more. You’ll also get access to Mercury Treasury, an automatic cash management account that puts money into securities and money market funds.
An important note is that Mercury is not currently available to sole proprietors, despite being marketed to startups. Despite this and the lack of cash deposits, Mercury has a broad knowledge base and tools well-suited to tech startups. Apply for an account now.
#4 – Chase Business Complete BankingSM – Best Checking Account For Small Businesses
- Same-day deposits
- Earn $300 when you open a new account
- Accept payments on the go
- Excellent customer support
Chase Business Complete BankingSM is a great checking solution for small business owners due to their lucrative bonuses, excellent customer support, and different ways to waive monthly fees.
They also have a great payment processing option that allows you to accept payments on the go.
Top benefits and highlights of Chase Business Complete BankingSM include:
- Earn $300 when you open a new Chase Business Complete Checking account. For new Chase business checking customers with qualifying activities.
- More ways to waive fees. Multiple options to waive the Monthly Service Fee, including maintaining a minimum daily balance or purchases on your Chase Ink® Business credit card
- Built-in card acceptance. Accept card payments anytime, anywhere in the U.S., and get transparent pricing with Chase QuickAcceptSM
- Same-day deposits with QuickAcceptSM. Free up the cash you need to keep your business moving forward with same-day deposits at no additional cost.
- Alerts to help you stay on top of your account activity.
- Easy account management through Chase Business online and the Chase Mobile® app.
- Unlimited electronic deposits, ACH and Chase Quick DepositSM.
- Convenient access to 16,000 ATMs and more than 4,700 branches.
Chase also offers 24/7 customer service for customers. This is fantastic for those any issues, big or small, that might come up.
They offer the tools you need to manage your growing business, including some of the best business credit cards on the market today. Overall we find that Chase Business Complete BankingSM is one of the best checking accounts for small businesses.
#5 – LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking – Best Online Business Checking For Unlimited Cash Back and Transactions
- Unlimjted cash back
- 0.10% APY
- No minimum balance
- Unlimited ATM transactions
LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking offers a very lucrative online business checking account that offers unlimited cash back.
You’ll also be able to immediately start earning 1%+ cash back on “signature-based” credit transactions that you make using their debit card. It takes just minutes to open an account too and you can get started as soon as you do.
Couple that with their unlimited transactions along with their ATM fee reimbursement, and this makes LendingClub Bank’s Tailored Checking a very good option for bootstrap businesses and entrepreneurs.
Here’s a more comprehensive list of their standout features:
- 0.10% APY
- Unlimited ATM transactions with fee rebates
- No monthly fee for balances more than $5,000
- No minimum balance required
- Intuitive mobile app
- 1% cash back on certain credit purchases
- Unlimited transactions
- Integrations with Mint, Quickbooks, and Quicken
Overall, LendingClub Bank offers a very solid digital business checking account. Get started in less than 10 minutes today.
#6 – BlueVine – Best Business Checking For Bootstrappy Entrepreneurs
- No monthly fees
- No insufficient funds fees
- Unlimited transactions
- No minimum deposits
BlueVine Business Checking offers great accounts tailored to entrepreneurs.
Seriously, just take a look at their features:
- No monthly fees
- No minimum deposits
- No “insufficient funds” fees
- Unlimited transactions
- 1% interest rates
No monthly fees or minimum deposits or insufficient funds fees should be music to any entrepreneur’s ears.
Easily set up one-time or recurring payments through their dashboard. Also, you’ll be able to easily pay vendors via ACH, wire, or check.
As for downsides, there aren’t many. They have a 38,000 ATM network—though it might be difficult to find an ATM within network depending on your location.
BlueVine also gives you live support, though advisors are only available during office hours. That’s Monday through Friday 8am – 8pm ET.
#7 – TD Business Convenience Checking Plus – Best Checking Account With up to 500 Free Transactions a Month
- No monthly fee with $1500 balance
- 500 free transactions/month
- Mobile deposits
- Overdraft protection
You can open a TD Business Convenience Checking Plus account with just $100. However, you’ll need to maintain a $1,500 daily balance to waive the $25 monthly maintenance fee.
If you link a personal checking account to your Business Checking Plus account, TD Bank counts your combined balance between the two accounts toward the daily minimum. So this is a great choice for business owners who already have an account at TD Bank.
Let’s review some of the account benefits:
- 500 free transactions per month
- Up to $5,000 in cash deposits per cycle
- Overdraft protection
- Online statements and mobile deposit
- Up to four signers
While TD Business Convenience Checking Plus does have a high maintenance fee, you’ll benefit from more free monthly transactions. For comparison purposes, Chase Total Business Checking has a $15 fee for just 100 free transactions each month.
Plus, it’s easy to waive TD’s $25 fee by maintaining a low combined balance between two accounts.
Even though you’re limited to $5,000 free cash deposits each month, you’re only charged $0.25 per $100 thereafter. So an additional $5,000 cash deposited in a cycle ($10,000 total) would cost you $12.50. That’s just 0.13% of your deposits, which is next to nothing.
TD Bank gives you access to other services, like merchant solutions, business loans, and business lines of credit.
#8 – Huntington Unlimited Business Checking – Best Business Checking For Large Businesses With High Cash Flow
- Great for large companies
- Unlimited transactions
- Overdraft protection
- $10,000 free cash deposits/month
Huntington Unlimited Business Checking is a top option for larger organizations. If you have a higher monthly transaction volume, some of the other accounts on our list won’t fit your needs.
The top features and benefits of Unlimited Business Checking from Huntington include:
- Unlimited transactions
- Overdraft protection
- Online and mobile banking
- Free text and email alerts
- Up to $10,000 free cash deposits each month
Huntington does charge a $20 monthly maintenance fee for this account. But it’s waived with a $10,000 combined balance between all of your eligible Huntington Bank accounts.
With an Unlimited Business Checking account, Huntington Bank allows you to choose one of the following bonus services as well:
- Fraud tool
- Huntington deposit scan (up to 50 per month)
- 10% off payroll services
- Two free incoming domestic wires per month
- Returned deposited items (up to 25 per month)
This bank also has a tool called “The Hub” for business checking accounts. It comes with several digital tools for things like cash positioning and cash flow forecasting. The Hub is a great resource for managing your revenue and expenses.
How to Find the Best Business Checking Account For You
All business checking accounts are not created equally. The best choice for one business might not be ideal for yours.
This is the methodology that you should use when you’re evaluating business checking accounts. I’ll explain each feature in greater detail below.
Fees
Service fees and monthly maintenance fees are common for business checking accounts. In most cases, these fees fall somewhere in the $10 to $50 range.
But there are still plenty of free business banking solutions. In fact, seven of the eleven accounts on our list don’t have monthly fees.
While the remaining four contain fees, you can easily waive them by maintaining a minimum account balance. There’s no reason to pay these fees if you can avoid them.
Balance Requirements
Some banks require a minimum opening deposit. So choose a bank with a reasonable opening deposit minimum based on your situation.
If you’re launching a startup and don’t have a ton of cash on hand, you can open some accounts with as little as $50 or $100. Some banks don’t require a minimum opening deposit at all.
In addition to the opening deposit requirement, some accounts will charge for you falling below a certain minimum daily balance. Make sure that your cash flow is enough to maintain your minimum requirements without getting penalized.
Transaction Limits
Personal checking accounts will rarely, if ever, cap the number of transactions you can make in a billing cycle. But that’s not the case for most business checking accounts.
Depending on the bank, activities like deposits, withdrawals, and transfers count toward a monthly limit. Some banks will restrict the number of in-person transactions you can make while offering free unlimited electronic transactions.
For the most part, free monthly transaction limits start at 100. TD Business Convenience Checking allows for 500 free transactions per month. Other banks give you unlimited transactions, with a few contingencies.
You’ll pay a small fee for each transaction over your monthly limit. This is usually somewhere in the $0.25 to $0.50 range.
Mobile Banking and Online Accessibility
Every bank offers some way to access your account online or through a mobile app. But with that said, some of these digital solutions are definitely better than others.
Choose a business checking account that lets you deposit checks remotely, set up account alerts, and pay invoices automatically.
I do nearly all of my business banking from a mobile app, and I’m sure you’ll want that convenience as well.
Branch Locations
Some banks are region-specific, while others are large national chains. It’s important to choose a bank near your business location if you need to access a branch for anything.
However, there are several business checking accounts that are online-exclusive. These banks don’t have any physical locations, and can be a huge advantage if your transactions are exclusively digital.
Online-only banking is very popular for freelancers and entrepreneurs working remotely.
But those solutions aren’t for everyone. For example, if your business accepts cash, you’ll definitely need access to a physical branch for in-person deposits.
Additional Banking Services
This may not be important to you immediately, but it’s nice to have a bank that will provide you with additional services as your business grows.
Whether it’s merchant services for credit card processing, additional accounts, or a business loan or line of credit, it’s easier to get these from a bank where you have an existing relationship.
Always look at what else a bank has to offer beyond your immediate checking account needs today.
Conclusion
Every business owner needs a business checking account. But everyone has different banking needs, which is why finding the best business checking solution can be difficult.
These are the eight best business checking accounts on the market today:
- Novo Bank — Best online-only business banking for freelancers and entrepreneurs
- Axos Business Interest Checking — Online-exclusive bank with competitive returns up to 0.81% APY
- Mercury — Best business bank for tech startups
- Chase Business Complete BankingSM — Best checking account for small businesses
- LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking — Best online business checking for unlimited cash back and transactions
- BlueVine — Best business checking for small businesses and startups
- TD Business Convenience Checking — Up to 500 free transactions each month
- Huntington Unlimited Business Checking — Unlimited transactions best for larger businesses with high cash flow
There’s an account for every type of business on this list. From freelancers and startups to small businesses and larger organizations with high transaction volumes, I’m confident that you can find a checking account from one of the options above.
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