10 Best Banks for Startups in 2023

• You want all the products and services offered by a traditional bank
• You prefer the convenience of both branch and online access
• You like to have both personal and business banking with one bank

For startup businesses looking for a full-service traditional bank, Chase is the best option. It offers three different business checking options with waivable monthly fees that can scale as your business grows. This is why it is considered one of the best small business checking accounts on the market.

In addition, it has industry-leading lending products, including credit cards and lines of credit, along with POS and software solutions. Through J.P. Morgan, Chase provides commercial lending solutions, including commercial real estate loans. J.P. Morgan also offers payment services, cash flow management, commercial credit cards, and merchant services.

Whether your startup needs just a business checking account or has grown to need a full range of business banking products and services, Chase can meet your needs.

• Your business makes large cash deposits each month
• You want to earn rewards from your checking account
• You prefer the convenience of both branch and online access

Side-by-side with Chase is Bank of America, which offers multiple checking options and full-service business banking products and services. When comparing Chase vs Bank of America, Bank of America comes out on top in several categories.

It has two different business checking accounts with monthly fees that can be easily waived; you can work with your business banking advisor to determine when you might need to switch from one account to the other. In addition, it offers up to $500 in combined cashback and credit card statement credits as part of its ongoing rewards.

With its 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 also offers outstanding business savings, certificates of deposits (CDs), lending products, and financial analysis through Merrill financial advisor. You can even check your business credit score through the app in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet. Bank of America includes all the products and services your startup will need to flourish.

• You want to use a bank specifically designed to serve startup businesses
• You prefer no minimum balance requirements
• You’d like to take advantage of tech startup resources to help grow your business

One large advantage Silicon Valley Bank has compared to other options on this list is tools specifically designed to help startup businesses. In addition to banking products and services, it offers resources and guidance for startups through networking events, hiring workshops, fundraising tips and tools, and opportunities to meet founders and investors. It also provides discounts for over 50 different software and services, such as Salesforce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Zendesk.

According to SVB, 50% of all US venture-backed tech and life science companies bank with it. It doesn’t offer interest-bearing checking, but it has a startup money market account that earns up to 3.04% APY on deposits.

It should be noted that there are a lot of fees associated with its most basic checking account, SVB Edge. After three years, the account costs you $50 a month, which is very high. SVB offers two higher tiers of checking accounts. The second tier, SVB ScaleUp, includes $500 in monthly credits that can be applied to service fees. If your business can grow into that account in three years, Silicon Valley Bank makes sense for your startup.

• You use Stripe and want quick access to your funds as Novo Boost allows you to receive payments faster than other providers
• Your business withdraws cash from ATMs frequently
• You aren’t interested in an interest-bearing checking account or getting lending products from your business checking account provider

For startup businesses that receive payments regularly through Stripe, Novo is a great banking option. With its Novo Boost product, you can receive payments faster from your Stripe account than other providers. In addition, Novo offers Express ACH, which allows you to send and receive same-day ACH payments. The ability to receive and send payments rapidly gives Novo a huge advantage over other fintech options.

If your business withdraws cash from an ATM regularly, Novo is an ideal choice for a startup since it refunds all ATM fees at the end of each month. It also offers up to 10 reserve accounts, unlimited invoicing, and excellent accounting and payment software integrations. While you cannot order checks with Novo, you can send paper checks from the app.

It doesn’t charge for cash deposits, but you must purchase a money order and deposit it through the app. You can buy money orders from US Postal Service (USPS) locations for up to $1.95 for up to $1,000 money orders.

One other drawback is that Novo doesn’t have any lending products. Overall, it’s an excellent option for startups, especially those with frequent ATM withdrawals.

• Business owners who don’t need their business bank to have a physical location
• Companies that don’t need to deposit cash
• Startups and tech companies looking for a fee-free business banking experience

Mercury is a fintech banking product made with startups and tech companies in mind. Its checking and savings accounts are completely free, with no minimum deposit or balance requirements.

It now offers Treasury, which is an interest-earning account. It’s only available to customers with at least $250,000 in funds in Mercury accounts and is currently earning up to 2.624% APY, although the bank expects that to increase as the prime rate increases.

Mercury has also added a credit card, the IO Mastercard, which offers 1.5% cash back and unlimited virtual cards.

It also has outstanding software integrations and a perks page that allows you to advertise deals for your business on the Mercury website. Most businesses incorporated in the US are eligible for an account, except sole proprietorships and trusts.

There are no ATM fees if you use one of more than 55,000 Allpoint ATMs. Mercury doesn’t charge for out-of-network ATM withdrawals, but you’ll likely pay third-party fees.

The drawbacks are the inability to deposit cash and no lending products outside of the credit card and a venture capital term loan program. Otherwise, Mercury is a great choice for startups looking for a digital-only bank.

• Your company wants to earn interest on its checking account and meets one of the two requirements set aside by Bluevine to earn interest
• You need a line of credit; Bluevine is also our choice for the best small business line of credit
• You prefer an online-only bank

For startups looking for an online-only financial provider with interest-bearing checking and the best line of credit product on the market, Bluevine is a great choice. You can earn 2.0% APY with its business checking on balances of $100,000 or less—as long as you either spend $500 a month with the debit card or receive $2,500 in customer payments in a month.

Startups will like Bluevine because it has no monthly fees, transaction fees, minimum opening deposit, and minimum balance requirement. It also has great software integrations and provides two free checkbook orders per year.

Cash deposits cost $4.95 per transaction and can only be done at a Green Dot retail location. Also, Bluevine charges $2.50 for out-of-network ATM withdrawals in addition to third-party fees. If most of your transactions are digital and not cash-based, Bluevine is an excellent choice.

• Startups, freelancers, and creatives who would like to have their personal and business finances with the same provider, as it is one of the few fintechs to offer both personal and business banking
• Businesses with frequent debit card purchases as it offers 5% cash back rewards on debit card purchases
• Businesses that might want to transition to an LLC, as it allows you to do that through its app

For startups, along with business owners who consider themselves freelancers and creatives, Oxygen is an excellent option since it is a digital-only bank geared toward freelancers and creatives, among other small businesses. It offers 5% cash back on all debit card purchases.

For small businesses that might want to conduct their personal and business banking with the same provider, Oxygen gives you the option to have both personal and business accounts. It is one of the few fintechs that provide both banking options.

In addition, it targets business owners who may be looking to incorporate their businesses. It offers 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.

It also has a business bank account with no monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, and 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. Oxygen was awarded the 2021 Best Overall FinTech Mobile App by the FinTech Breakthrough Awards.

You can also open a business savings account, which earns 1% APY on balances up to $20,000. However, it has no 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 puts it behind many other fintechs in this guide.

• You want to earn interest on your business checking account and your average daily balance exceeds $10,000
• You want to build a business banking relationship without in-person services
• You prefer to have your personal and business accounts with one bank

For startups wanting an interest-bearing checking account from a digital-only bank but also full-service business banking products, First Internet Bank is a great choice. If your business has more than $10,000 in your checking account, you can earn 0.50% APY with its business checking. There is no maximum limit on the account for earning interest, so your earnings can continue to grow with your bank balance.

It also has a great savings product, business CDs, various business lending products, and personal lending and banking products. There’s also software integration with QuickBooks, and up to $10 in ATM fees are refunded each month. The variety of products available makes it one of our leading banks for real estate investors.

You will need $100 to open the account, but there are no minimum requirements once the account is opened. You cannot deposit cash with this account, and there are no free wire transfers.

• You want an interest-bearing business checking account as Grasshopper offers 1.5% APY uncapped on all balances with no minimums
• You want cash back rewards on online and in-store debit card purchases
• You want a digital bank that includes great integrations with QuickBooks and payment software, such as Autobooks (provided free)

Grasshopper is another digital-only bank with startups in mind. It offers the best interest-bearing checking of any fintech option in this guide, with 1.5% APY on all balances with no minimum and maximum. In addition, you get 1% cash back on all debit card online and in-person purchases.

It even allows unlimited transfers, including free wire transfers, both domestic and international. There are no monthly fees and no transaction limits.

Not only does Grasshopper integrate with QuickBooks, but it also provides Autobooks to each customer free of charge. You can also make free ATM withdrawals at the more than 45,000 MoneyPass and SUM ATMs, and its powerful mobile app is backed by modern application programming interfaces (APIs) to help power your startup.

Grasshopper also provides SBA lending, commercial real estate lending, yacht lending. and venture capital & private equity lending.

One of the few drawbacks is no cash deposits are accepted. You need $100 to open a business checking account, but there are no minimum balance requirements once the account is opened.

• You need to transfer money frequently; all ACH, check, and wire transfers are free
• You don’t need to deposit cash as Brex does not accept cash deposits
• You don’t need to withdraw money via ATM, as Brex’s debit card doesn’t allow you to withdraw cash at an ATM

Another digital-only bank geared toward startups is Brex. Its checking product, Brex Cash, has no opening deposit requirement, minimum balance requirement, limit on free monthly transactions, and monthly fees. The biggest perk is no wire fees, either domestic or international. If your startup wires money regularly, this could save you money each month.

Brex did tighten its qualification requirements earlier this year, gearing toward startups and scaled companies. To qualify for a Brex account, you must meet one of five criteria listed on its website. If you cannot qualify, there are Brex alternatives that can serve your business needs.

The company also has a money market account, which can draw up to 2.77%, and offers a business credit card with uncapped rewards, spend management, expense tracking, bill pay, and financial modeling. Also, the Brex app has great integrations with various business and finance applications.

Brex has partnered with 10 banks, each insured for up to $250,000 through the FDIC. The bank states that deposits are spread among its partner banks, allowing it to insure up to $1,750,000 in deposits for your company with the FDIC.

One drawback is there is no ATM card available, so if your startup needs to withdraw money from an ATM, you will have to choose another provider. However, if that isn’t a feature you need, Brex has a great range of services that can help your business.