7 Best Bank Accounts for Self-employed Professionals in 2023

Lili works well for new freelancers because it offers an outstanding business checking product along with a robust tax optimizer inside the app. The tax optimizer lets you track potential write-offs, set aside money in a tax bucket, scan receipts, complete your schedule C automatically, and produce quarterly and annual expense reports. It’s a very powerful tool included in the Lili app.

You get two checking options: Lili Basic, which is free, and Lili Pro, which is $4.99 a month. Both accounts provide you with a debit card, the option to get paid faster with direct deposit two days early, built-in expense tracking, and no hidden fees.

The basic business checking account has no monthly fees, transaction limits, and minimum balance requirements. Meanwhile, the perks of Lili Pro include 1% cash back rewards on all purchases, fee-free overdrafts up to $200, a savings account with a 1.5% APY, and the ability to create and send unlimited invoices.

You can now access your Lili account via browser login in addition to the Lili app. Lili is also finalizing allowing multi-member LLCs to sign up for an account, and this feature is expected to go live before the end of 2022.

Unfortunately, the provider doesn’t allow you to send or receive wire transfers, and you cannot order checks or send them from the app. Similar to Bluevine, you can deposit cash, but it must be done through Green Dot retail locations for $4.95 a transaction.

What gives Lili a slight edge over competitor Found is the ability to deposit cash and a little more robust tax preparation integration.

For self-employed individuals who accept payments through Stripe or send and receive ACH payments regularly, Novo is an excellent choice.

If you accept payments from Stripe, Novo Boost lets you receive payments sent from your Stripe account faster than other providers. Meanwhile, Novo’s Express ACH enables you to accept or send same-day ACH payments. The combination of Novo Boost and Express ACH gives you access to your money faster than other digital-only providers.

Novo is also a great choice for freelancers who frequently withdraw money from ATMs for their business or need to make cash deposits. It refunds all ATM fees at the end of each month, and the cost of cash deposits generally is lower than Bluevine and Lili.

It also has a business checking option with no monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, and transaction limits. It even offers excellent integrations with accounting and business payment software and allows for free unlimited invoicing through the app.

If you’re looking for a digital-only bank, Novo may be the best account for freelancers who regularly handle cash as part of their business as cash deposits are possible—and Novo doesn’t charge for them. However, to make a cash deposit, you must purchase a money order and deposit it through the app. Many locations sell money orders, including US Postal Service (USPS) locations, for up to $1.95 for money orders of up to $1,000.

You cannot purchase checks, but you can send checks directly from the app for free. Novo doesn’t have lending products, and you cannot send wires, but you can send domestic ACH transfers for free.

If you make frequent debit card purchases with your freelance business, Oxygen is an outstanding choice. It provides 5% cash back rewards on all debit card purchases.

It is a digital-only bank geared toward freelancers and creatives among other small businesses. It’s one of the few fintechs that provides personal and business banking options. This is great for self-employed business owners wanting to keep their business and personal finances in the same bank.

If your business grows and you decide to shift to an LLC, Oxygen can help with the transition. It provides nationwide LLC creation in the Oxygen app powered by CorpNet, Inc. There are fees involved, which is one of the few services with a fee.

The excellent banking products combined with outstanding technology integrated in the app helped Oxygen win the 2021 Best Overall FinTech Mobile App by the FinTech Breakthrough Awards, rising above all other financial technology providers in our guide.

Oxygen’s business bank account has no monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, or transaction limits. Deposits can be made through Green Dot locations for $4.95 per transaction and by in-app mobile check capture, via ACH or Plaid, from an outside account.

You can also open a business savings account, which earns 1% APY on balances up to $20,000. However, it lacks outgoing and international wire transfers, and you cannot set up multiple users in the app. It is only open to a single sign-on (SSO) per account, which might not be as big a deal for a freelancer as it would be for a larger corporation.

Found is very similar to another digital-only banking option on this list, Lili, and they’re likely competing for the same freelance customers. The one area where Found seems to have a slight advantage over Lili is in more detailed expense tracking. If that is important to your freelance business, Found is the better option.

Its other slight edge is out-of-network ATM withdrawals. It doesn’t charge for any ATM withdrawals, while Lili charges $2.50 for out-of-network ATM withdrawals. All out-of-network ATM withdrawals would be subject to third-party fees.

However, Found doesn’t list its ATM network on its website. Lili is a part of the MoneyPass network, which allows free ATM usage at more than 38,000 locations. Additionally, Found doesn’t allow you to make cash deposits and deposit checks in the app, whereas Lili does.

If you need to deposit a check with Found, you can use the Ingo Money app. Checks deposited through that app can be accessed in your account immediately for a fee or in 10 days for free. The major drawback is that the check must be made out in your name and not your business name for Ingo Money to accept it.

Both Found and Lili offer fee-free business checking options without transaction limits, have robust tax tracking and preparation software, allow you to complete and send our schedule C directly from the app, and let you pay your tax bill directly from the app. Neither allows you to send wire transfers.

Found is a good option for a self-employed bank account. If detailed expense tracking and out-of-network ATM withdrawals are essential, and you don’t need to deposit cash or checks, Found is probably the right choice. Otherwise, Lili would get the edge.

Some freelancers and self-employed business owners would prefer a bank with a physical location, especially those who deal with cash regularly. For those business owners, Bank of America is a great option, as it is our best small business checking account.

It offers two different business checking accounts with waivable monthly fees and great ongoing rewards: Business Advantage Fundamentals^TM and Business Advantage Relationship Banking.

Business Advantage Fundamentals is one of the best low-tier business checking accounts on the market, with waivable fees and plenty of free transactions. Its $16 monthly fee can be waived in one of three ways:

1. Maintain a $5,000 combined average monthly balance.
2. Spend at least $250 in new net purchases on a business debit card.
3. Become a member of Preferred Rewards for Business.

With the company’s preferred rewards for business, you can earn 25% to 75% bonus rewards on credit cards and get a 5% to 20% higher interest rate on business advantage savings accounts.

Bank of America is also known for its outstanding customer service and online experience. In the Keynova Group 2022 Small Business Banker Scorecard report, Bank of America ranked first for digital customer experience capabilities catered to small businesses.

As your freelance business grows, it can scale its services along with your business needs. Those offerings include merchant services, lending products, investments, and other small business resources.

With more than 4,000 branch locations in 37 states and more than 17,000 ATM locations, Bank of America can cater to most self-employed professionals wanting physical access to the bank. For those who only need online access, accounts are available nationwide.