In this 6-minute read:
- Best small business checking accounts
- Credit card options
- Things to watch out for
It’s important for every business, big or small, to have its own bank account. This helps you as the business owner to keep your personal and business finances separate, which makes things much simpler when tax season rolls around.
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Most banks offer some kind of business account, and some offer several. So, it can be difficult to narrow down your options and determine which one is the best for your business.
We’ve pulled together a small list of some of the best banking accounts for small businesses to help you in your search.
And, because it can be nice to keep your checking and credit accounts with the same vendor, we’ve included the best credit options from each of these banks as well.
Chase Total Business Checking
The Chase Total Business Checking account is a great starter for small businesses. The fees are low and they have tons of awesome benefits that your business should take advantage of.
Features of a Chase Total Business Checking account:
- Low monthly service fee of $15/month (this is waived if you keep a daily minimum of $1,500 in your account)
- 100 transactions per month with no charge
- Unlimited electronic deposits
- $5,000 in cash deposits per statement cycle without additional fees
- International wire transfers
- Account alerts
- 16,000 ATMs and 5,000 branches
- $200 cash bonus*
*You can qualify for the $200 cash bonus with the Chase Total Business Checking account if you deposit $1,000 into your account within 20 days of opening it, maintain that balance for 60 days, and complete at least 5 qualifying transactions within those 60 days.
Credit cards from Chase
Chase has some great credit card options for small businesses too. We’ve included three cards and the benefits they can offer your business.
Chase Ink Business Unlimited
- $500 bonus cash back when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months
- Unlimited 1.5% cash rewards for every business purchase you make on this card
- 0% annual interest in the first 12 months, and 14.99%-20.99% after that
- No annual fees
Chase Ink Business Cash
- $500 bonus cash back when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months
- 5% cash rewards for select business purchases
- 0% annual interest in the first 12 months, and 14.99%-20.99% after that
- No annual fees
Chase Ink Business Preferred
- 80,000 bonus points ($1,000 in travel rewards) when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months
- Earn additional reward points on select business categories and travel expenses
- 17.74%-22.74% annual interest
- $95 annual fee
Capital One Spark Business Checking
Capital One Spark Business Checking is another popular checking account for small businesses. They offer some great rewards and convenient benefits to make banking with them easy. And a bonus, the Capital One Spark plan has an entire suite of banking options, including lines of credit that your business should definitely take advantage of (more on these below).
Features of Capital One Spark Business Checking:
- First deposit minimum of $250
- Monthly fee of $15 (maintain a balance of $2,000 to waive this fee)
- Unlimited fee-free transactions (including deposits, withdrawals, and transfers)
- Free electronic invoicing
- 100% digital checking account complete with mobile and desktop apps
Credit cards from Capital One
Here are some of the credit cards that you can get with the Capital One Spark suite, and if you have Spark Card and a checking account, your monthly maintenance fee for the checking account will be waived.
Capital One Spark Cash
- $500 bonus cash back when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months, and $1,500 when you spend $50,000 in the first 6 months
- $0 annual fee for the first year, $95 after that
- 18.74% APR
- Unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase
- Free employee cards with spending limits
- No foreign transaction fees
Capital One Spark Miles
- 50,000 bonus miles when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months, and 150,000 bonus miles when you spend $50,000 in the first 6 months
- $0 annual fee for the first year, $95 after that
- 18.74% APR
- Unlimited 2x miles per every dollar spent
- Free employee cards with spending limits
- No foreign transaction fees
Capital One Spark Cash Select
- $200 bonus cash back when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months
- $0 annual fee
- 0% APR for first year, then 14.74%-22.74% after that
- Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase
- Free employee cards with spending limits
- No foreign transaction fees
Axos Bank Basic Business Checking
Axos bank is a great option for you if you want your banking experience to be completely digital. They don’t even have any physical banking locations, but they do offer surcharge-free ATM transactions when you use their national ATM network.
Features of the Axos Bank Basic Business Checking account:
- Minimum opening deposit of $1,000
- 200 free transactions each month (after that each transaction costs 30 cents)
- 60 free deposits each month with their remote deposit capabilities
- No monthly service fees
- First set of 50 checks free
- Compatible with Quickbooks
Axos Bank doesn’t offer credit card options like other banks. They do offer some lending options, but these are on a much larger scale than most small businesses are looking for. If you want the Axos Bank checking account experience, we recommend choosing a Capital One Spark card to go along with it.
Some things to watch out for when choosing a business bank account
Looking at the features of different business checking accounts can make them seem appealing, but it’s important to be aware of any fees they might be hiding before going all in.
Here are some common fees that banks aren’t typically upfront about, so be sure to know which fees will be associated with the bank account you choose for your business.
Monthly transactions
Most banks put a limit on the number of free transactions you can make with your business checking account. And then there will usually be a 30-50 cent fee for each transaction after that. Make sure you know what your limitations are.
Balance and deposit requirements
If your account balance falls below a certain amount, you may be subject to some additional fees. Know what that amount is for your bank and be sure to keep that average or daily balance where it needs to be.
Service fees
Check with your bank to see if there’s a monthly service or maintenance fee associated with your account. Most banks do require a monthly maintenance fee but will waive this if you keep a certain balance in your account or have multiple products with them.
Cash deposit fees
Even though a bank may say they have “unlimited free transactions,” this doesn’t usually include cash deposits. Most checking accounts allow you up to a certain dollar amount in fee-free transactions, and then after that they’ll start charging you a small amount to deposit more cash within a statement period.
For example, you may be allowed to deposit $5,000 in cash each statement cycle, and after that they’ll charge you $1 for every $1,000 you deposit. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s good to be aware of these fees.
Bank location and size
The size and location of your bank is important to be aware of, especially if you travel a lot. If your bank doesn’t have a wide network of ATMs and you frequently need to pull out cash while traveling, then you might start racking up the fees from ATM transactions.
Find out where your bank has ATMs and if it has a network of ATMs outside of their own that you can use without a surcharge.
It all comes down to doing your research and knowing which banking option is the best for your business. How many transactions or deposits are you making? What is your cash flow like? Do you prefer working with a local, hometown bank, rather than a bank with branches across the US? These kinds of questions can help you determine the best options for you.
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As you are considering the type of bank account you want to use, it’s good to know what your cash flow looks like and how you can continue to increase your revenue.
Solutions like Womply’s business insights software can help you know all of your revenue trends, transaction history, customer spending habits, competitor benchmarking, and much more. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!