Looking for the best small business checking account? You’ve come to the right place.
Opening a checking account is a crucial step when starting a business. Separating your personal and business finances helps you manage your company’s money, keep track of costs, see how your business is growing, and get on top of your payroll. It’s also a great way to avoid headaches come tax season.
Luckily, we’re here to help. We’ve reviewed the 16 best small business checking accounts so you know exactly what you’re in for before you sign up.
As you’ll see below, we look at a range of factors when reviewing (and choosing) checking accounts. These include monthly fees, opening deposit requirements, signup bonuses, interest rates, ways to waive the monthly fee, and cash deposit limits. These are all important parameters to consider when choosing where to open a checking account. However, before you get to choosing a bank, you should first decide what you will need in a checking account.
Make some estimates about your business. How much starting capital do you have, how much money do you think you will keep in the account on average, how many transactions will you make every month, and will you handle a lot of cash? These are all crucial questions to ask yourself when deciding on a checking account. You should also decide if online-only banks suit you, as branchless banks may charge higher ATM fees. With this in mind, take a look at our reviews of the 16 best small business checking accounts for 2022.
Operating since 2017, NorthOne offers a robust mobile-only business checking account solutions. As one of the best startup business checking account providers, NorthOne charges a $10 monthly fee and offers unlimited fee-free transactions, access to more than 1,000,000 in-network ATMs, expense management features. Read Review
- ⦿In-app live support
- ⦿Envelopes for budgeting
- ⦿Invoicing tools
Small businesses and startups looking for a no-fee business bank account might enjoy banking with Lili. On top of charging no fees whatsoever, it also adds excellent money management and other useful tools into the mix, and tops it off with a great automatic savings feature with a decent APY. Read Review
- ⦿No-fees checking account
- ⦿Automatic savings with 1% APY
- ⦿Excellent money management and invoicing tools
Chase is one of the most popular banks in the US. Besides checking accounts, this bank offers a range of other services, including loans, mortgages, and savings accounts. While Chase charges a monthly fee, it balances that out with a hefty sign-up bonus and a wide range of banking options. If you’re looking for the best checking account for small business and you want the security of banking with a big fish, opening a Chase bank checking account is a great call. Read Review
- ⦿Sign-up bonus
- ⦿Over 16,000 ATMs
- ⦿Fees can be waived
One of the most-respected online banks out there, nbkc bank offers possibly the best free small business checking account. You don’t need to make a deposit to open an nbkc checking account, and with that you get unlimited transactions. What really makes this bank shine, however, is the ultra-low balance requirement needed in order to start getting interest. Take a look at our in-depth review and see for yourself. Read Review
- ⦿Nationwide online services
- ⦿Great customer service
- ⦿No monthly fees
Bluevine is probably one of the best places to open a free business checking account online, with no deposit. Apart from the excellent checking account that includes earning interest on your deposits, great features for online and mobile banking, and superb customer support, Bluevine also offers a flexible line of credit to small businesses - entirely free of charge. Overall, it is an excellent choice for any small business or startup looking to get a grip on their business finances, without paying an arm and a leg. Read Review
- ⦿No fees
- ⦿Flexible line of credit
- ⦿Quick approval times
Axos is another online bank making waves in the industry. On the plus side, it has no monthly fees and offers a significant number of free transactions. However, its opening deposit requirement of $1,000 is much higher than the other top options on our list. Even though it’s an online bank, you can still make cash deposits through its “Reload @ The Register” service. Reload @ The Register allows you to add cash to your prepaid card when you’re at the register of a store that participates in this program. Axos Bank also offers unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements, which means the bank pays you back for all ATM fees that you may incur. With those great features, this free online business checking account could be worth your while. Read Review
- ⦿No monthly or transaction fees
- ⦿No minimum balance required
- ⦿24/7 customer support
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Radius Bank only released its rewards checking account in September 2019. However, in the months since, it has quickly become a top contender for the title of best business checking account for small business. After putting down a minimum of $100 to open your account, you’ll get unlimited transactions and earn interest if you reach a certain balance. This makes Radius Bank an extremely appealing option for small business owners. Read Review
- ⦿No minimum account balance or maintenance fees
- ⦿Great interest rates
- ⦿FDIC-insured
If you’re looking for the best bank for small business, the checking account BBVA offers is fee-free and lets you make unlimited transactions. You’ll have to deposit a minimum of $100, after which there are no maintenance fees. However, your free cash deposits only go up to $5,000 per month. BBVA is a solid choice for you if your business does not deal in a lot of cash. Read Review
- ⦿No monthly fees
- ⦿Access to 53,000+ ATMs
- ⦿Great online banking
Novo is a digital bank with checking accounts for tech-savvy users who prefer to do their banking online. There is no minimum deposit and no monthly fees whatsoever. Looking for the best free business checking account for a small business? Novo might just be the one for you. Read Review
- ⦿No transaction fees or limits
- ⦿FDIC-insured
- ⦿Great mobile app
Capital One is famous for its selection of Spark business checking accounts. The first option among these - which we’ve reviewed in greater detail below - is a cheap checking account with unlimited transactions. Capital One has an extensive ATM network, meaning you can make fee-free transactions across the country. While the Spark Basic account does not provide interest, you can easily upgrade to a bigger account and start earning interest. With this in mind, Capital One could be the best bank for a small business checking account - free to open and easy to upgrade. Read Review
- ⦿Good for fast-growing businesses
- ⦿No opening deposit requirement
- ⦿755 branches all over the county
If you’re looking for an established, reliable, brick-and-mortar bank that offers free business checking accounts, US Bank ticks all those boxes. If you sign up with US Bank, you’ll get an account with no maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirement. You’ll also benefit from free access to one of the most extensive ATM networks in the country. Read Review
- ⦿No monthly fees
- ⦿No minimum deposit
- ⦿QuickBooks integration
This PNC business checking account requires a $100 opening deposit and has a $10 monthly fee. However, that monthly fee is pretty easy to waive by having at least $500 in your account at all times. Furthermore, PNC has sign-up cash bonus offers throughout the year. Currently, the bank offers a hefty $200 bonus for anyone that opens a checking account with them and fulfills the balance/transaction requirements by September of 2021. Since you shouldn’t have problems waiving the monthly fee, you should definitely consider opening a small business bank account with PNC (if you live in one of the 37 states the bank does business in). Read Review
- ⦿150 free transactions per month
- ⦿Frequent sign-up bonuses
- ⦿Good for startups
TD Bank is a US subsidiary of Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank and its branches are located on the east coast. Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice is that TD Bank’s Business Convenience Checking Plus account has a high monthly fee of $25, and you’ll need an account balance of $1,500 to waive it. In addition, this TD Bank business account offers a large number of free transactions. Most importantly, though, you get free ATM withdrawals using TD Bank’s ATMs both in the US and in Canada. You can open a business checking account online on the website. Read Review
- ⦿Flexible checking account
- ⦿Great for freelancers and entrepreneurs
- ⦿No minimum balance requirement
As you’d expect from one of the longest-serving US banks, First Citizens Bank has a more-than-decent offer in the checking accounts sphere. If you opt out of paper statements, you won’t have to pay any monthly fees, while benefiting from transaction and cash deposit limits that are on par with other banks that charge monthly fees. First Citizen Bank’s no fee business checking account is surely worth taking a look at. Read Review
- ⦿Good for firms with clients from Canada
- ⦿500 free monthly transactions
- ⦿Good for businesses which handle a lot of cash
TIAA Bank is an online bank with some distinct advantages. For starters, you get a 0.05% APY on your balances. Besides the interest rate, TIAA also offers free banking advice to improve your finances. With no-balance-requirement interest rates TIAA Business Checking might be the best online small business checking account for those looking to store large sums of money. Take a look at the details of this checking account below. Read Review
- ⦿10 free monthly bill payments
- ⦿Pays interest
- ⦿Good for businesses with large capital
M&T Bank has fairly low fees, but also places fairly strict monthly transaction limits on its basic checking account option. For those looking for a cheap checking account and don’t expect to conduct many transactions per month, an M&T Bank checking account could be exactly what you need. Read Review
- ⦿Free banking advice
- ⦿Low monthly fees
- ⦿No ATM fees
One of the largest banks, both in the US and worldwide, the Bank of America has great options for checking accounts. Business Fundamentals Checking, the bank’s basic checking option, has a high monthly fee of $16 but offers many ways to waive it. On top of that, this checking account has higher transaction and cash deposit limits than most. Take a look at how these monthly fees can be waived; if you believe you can meet those criteria, the Bank of America could be the best bank for business checking.
- ⦿Cash deposit limit of $7,500
- ⦿Good for businesses who make a lot of transactions
- ⦿Easy to avoid monthly fees
With more than a century of experience and some effective small business-friendly strategies, NorthWest still finds itself among the best banks for business accounts. Companies that want to keep it simple can make use of the bank’s basic plan, which has no extra services you’re required to use. In other cases, there are Plus, Analysis, and Interest accounts that come with things like interest rates and some decent perks. The website is pretty transparent about its fees and conditions, but you can always turn to customer support with specific questions. Read Review
- ⦿Great deal for startup businesses
- ⦿Selection of highly flexible checking accounts
- ⦿No ATM fees
Related Products and Services
What we looked at in our reviews
Monthly and Transaction Fees
The first thing to look out for when opening a business checking account are monthly fees. Monthly fees refer to the amount of money you pay for account maintenance each month. These usually range from $0 to $25 for smaller business accounts, while more advanced accounts can have much higher fees. Of course, everyone would love to open their business bank account for free or pick the bank with the lowest fees possible, but that won’t necessarily save you money in the long run.
Usually, when banks have no monthly fees, they generate revenue by limiting the number of transactions you have and charging you for each transaction over the limit. During our research, one of the things we looked at is how much banks charge per month and what transaction limits they impose. Based on this data, we compared how much each of the reviewed banks end up costing you in total fees depending on the size of your business.
Opening Deposit Requirements
If you’re looking for the best bank to open a business account while your business is still in its early stages, then the minimum deposit requirement might be a concern for you. The minimum amount of money you need to deposit when opening a checking account might be too high if you’re just starting your business and don’t have much capital behind you. Since the purpose of our review is to provide users with the best checking account options for small business owners, we’ve included banks with lower minimum deposits. As you’d expect, most banks that have lower minimum deposit requirements also have limited transactions and charge higher fees. Taking all this into account, we’ve compiled a list of banks with the best conditions across the board.
Account Balance
One of the easiest ways to waive the monthly fee with most banks is by keeping to a certain daily or monthly average account balance. Most banks waive their monthly fees if you keep a certain amount of money in your account on average.
There are a few different types of account balance that could apply here. First, there’s the average daily balance of your account. This is calculated by looking at the average of your daily closing balances over a single month. Some banks also look at your total monthly balances or the average balance between all your accounts at that specific bank.
You should keep an eye out on what your bank takes into account when deciding whether to waive fees and compare it to your estimate of how much money will go through your business account. In our reviews, we list the average account balance requirements for each bank. We also explain which of these figures each bank looks at for its fee waivers. This is one way to help you distinguish between the best banks for small business checking.
Branch and ATM Availability
Whether you should choose an online-only bank or one with physical branches depends on what type of business you have. For example, if you’re running a retail business and deal in cash regularly, an online bank would be a bad choice, because it would be difficult or impossible to make cash deposits. On the other hand, if most of your transactions are digital, an online-only bank could be ideal for you. In case you opt for a bank with brick-and-mortar branches, you should make sure the bank operates in your state and has a branch near you.
Another crucial thing to take into consideration when opening a corporate checking account is the bank’s ATM network. Where they’re located, how many of them are there and what are the fees for using out-of-network ATMs. We’ve looked at each bank’s branch and ATM network to bring you the best possible options for a best small business checking account.
Mobile App Quality and Compatibility With Popular Accounting Software
When running a business, being time-efficient and flexible is key. The ability to manage your business checking account from your mobile phone can make things so much easier. We kept this in mind when conducting research for these reviews so as to provide information on the quality of each bank’s mobile application.
Of course, the ability to sync your accounting software with your checking account is an important factor to consider when choosing the best online business bank account. Bank services that are compatible with popular accounting software like FreshBooks or QuickBooks can save you time and make running a business much easier. Since we know how important all this can be, especially for new business owners, we’ve also included these two parameters in our reviews.
Best Small Business Checking Account
- NorthONe
- Lili
Chase
- Nbkc Bank
- Bluevine
- Axos Bank
- Radius Bank
- BBVA Bank
- Novo Bank
- Capital One

Best Business Accounts for Small Businesses Reviews
NorthOne Business Checking
GOOD
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ Easily integrates with popular software and tools
- ⦿ Opening an account takes as little as three minutes
- ⦿ No overdraft or NSF fees
Lili Business Checking Review
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ Tax saving feature
- ⦿ Cash and mobile deposits
- ⦿ Excellent integration options
Chase Business Complete Banking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
NONE
EXCELLENT
- ⦿ Sign-up bonus
- ⦿ Over 16,000 ATMs
- ⦿ Fees can be waived
Nbkc bank Business Checking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
GOOD
GOOD
- ⦿ Nationwide online services
- ⦿ Great customer service
- ⦿ No monthly fees
Bluevine Business Checking Review
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
- ⦿ Online bill payment
- ⦿ Two-factor authentication
- ⦿ Ability to create sub-accounts
Axos Bank Basic Business Checking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
GOOD
- ⦿ No monthly or transaction fees
- ⦿ No minimum balance required
- ⦿ 24/7 customer support
Radius Bank Rewards Checking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
GOOD
GOOD
GOOD
- ⦿ No minimum account balance
- ⦿ Great interest rates
- ⦿ FDIC-insured
BBVA Bank Business Connect Checking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
FAIR
POOR
POOR
- ⦿ No monthly fees
- ⦿ Free access to an extensive network of ATMs
- ⦿ Great online banking features
Novo Bank Business Banking
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
FAIR
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ No transaction fees or limits
- ⦿ FDIC-insured
- ⦿ Great mobile app
Capital One Spark Business Basic Checking
GOOD
GOOD
EXCELLENT
NONE
POOR
- ⦿ Good for fast-growing businesses
- ⦿ No opening deposit requirement
- ⦿ 755 branches all over the county
US Bank Silver Business Checking Package
GOOD
GOOD
EXCELLENT
POOR
GOOD
- ⦿ No monthly fees
- ⦿ No minimum deposit
- ⦿ QuickBooks integration
PNC Bank Business Checking
GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ 150 free transactions per month
- ⦿ Frequent sign-up bonuses
- ⦿ Good for startups
TD Bank Business Convenience Checking Plus
GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ Flexible checking account
- ⦿ Great for freelancers and entrepreneurs
- ⦿ No minimum balance requirement
First Citizens Bank Basic Business Checking
GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
NONE
POOR
- ⦿ Good for firms with clients from Canada
- ⦿ 500 free monthly transactions
- ⦿ Good for businesses which handle a lot of cash
TIAA Bank Business Checking
GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
GOOD
- ⦿ 10 free monthly bill payments
- ⦿ Great interest rates
- ⦿ Good for businesses with large capital
M&T Bank Simple Checking for Business
EXCELLENT
FAIR
GOOD
NONE
POOR
- ⦿ Free banking advice
- ⦿ Low monthly fees and easily waivable maintenance fee
- ⦿ No ATM fees
Bank of America Business Fundamentals Checking
GOOD
FAIR
GOOD
NONE
GOOD
- ⦿ Cash deposit limit of $7,500
- ⦿ Good for businesses who make a lot of transactions
- ⦿ Easy to avoid monthly fees
NorthWest Business Checking
EXCELLENT
GOOD
FAIR
GOOD
GOOD
- ⦿ Great deal for startup businesses
- ⦿ No transaction limits
- ⦿ No ATM fees
For small business owners who don’t mind using online-only banks, Azlo Bank and nbkc are the best possible choices - both offer unlimited transactions with no fees. If you’re looking to earn interest, the best bank for small business among online banks would be Radius Bank.
On the other hand, if you prefer banks with physical offices, you should consider Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One. These brick-and-mortar banks have the best offers, especially if you can get their monthly fees waived.
Here's more on how to open a bank account as a business.
The most important things to look for when opening a small business checking account are monthly fees, opening balance, transaction and cash deposit limits, interest rates, and ATM availability.
Several banks on our list offer a free business checking account, but they might have transaction limits or other fees. The only completely free bank on the list is Azlo, which is an online bank.
Chase is probably the best option for startup businesses. It has a low, easy-to-waive monthly fee, offers a $200 sign-up bonus, and has a widespread network of branches and ATMs.
There are several business checking accounts that have no monthly fees or minimum opening deposits. However, they may have limited transactions or cash deposits that incur fees if you overstep your allowance. There might also be other costs, such as ATM fees and wire transfer fees. Finding the best checking account requires taking all of these parameters into account.
Depending on the legal structure of your business (for example, if you’re the sole proprietor), you may not be legally bound to have a separate business account. Still, we recommend you have one in order to manage your business more efficiently and to handle taxes.
Here are the banks from our list that don’t charge monthly fees: Azlo, nbkc, Axos, Radius, BBVA, Bank Novo, US Bank, and First Citizens Bank.
The minimum opening deposit depends on the bank in question. It can range from $0 to $1,500, at least among banks we reviewed. The trick when choosing the best small business checking account is to find the delicate balance between the lowest fees and highest transaction/cash deposit limits.