5 Best Business Savings Accounts for 2018

When people look for a business savings account, they typically want the one with the highest annual percentage yield (APY). However, there are important factors to consider when choosing a business savings account, which include the provider’s network, fees, and general terms. We’ve reviewed the best small business savings accounts and compare the 5 best banks below.

Best Business Savings Account: Capital One

The best options for small businesses looking for a high yield savings account is Capital One. They offer business owners 1.75% APY for a 12-month introductory period, 0.40% APY thereafter, and there is no minimum opening balance requirement. Combined, the offer earned our top spot for business savings accounts. You can get started online in minutes.

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Best Business Savings Account Providers

How We Determined Which Business Savings Account is Best

Business savings accounts typically have similar terms and costs because they all work the same way. What really separates these accounts is the annual percentage yield (APY) that they carry, or in other words, how much you could earn every year in interest on the money in your business savings account.

Overall, here’s a list of the most important things we considered when deciding on the best business savings account:

• Annual percentage yield (APY)
• Potential fees
• Banking network
• Minimum balance requirements
• FDIC insured
• Bank reputation
• Benefits of using a checking account at the same bank

Many of the banks offering the highest APY are online banks and most lack a strong network of ATMs and physical branch locations. If you need to be in close proximity to a physical branch and/or ATMs, then you should likely only consider the traditional banks like Chase, Bank of America, or a similar institution in which you already have a relationship (like an existing checking account).

However, after researching the best business savings accounts in the industry, we recommend Capital One as the best overall business savings account provider. They offer one of the highest APY’s in the industry during your first year, a competitive ongoing APY, have a good business checking account option, and one of the best fee structures on our list with no monthly fees.

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Best Overall Business Savings Account Provider: Capital One

Capital One is the best option for businesses looking for the highest introductory yield on their business savings account. With an introductory offer of 1.75% annually, they offer the highest yield on our list and require no monthly fees. They’re a great option for any business that doesn’t need a physical branch location for their business savings and have competitive ongoing APY after the first year.

What Capital One Offers

Capital One offers a business savings account with a high introductory yield and a flexible fee structure with no minimum balance requirements. Plus, their ongoing APY is higher than most traditional banks, even after the 12-month introductory period is up. They also have a flexible network with over 39,000 ATMs where you can withdraw funds from your savings account but have few physical branch locations.

Annual Percentage Yield

Introductory and ongoing APY rates include the following:

• Introductory APY (1 year): 1.75%
• APY After Introductory Period: 0.40%

Minimum Balance

The opening and ongoing minimum balance for Capital One includes:

• Minimum Opening Balance: $0.00
• Minimum Ongoing Balance: $0.00

With Capital One you’ll never be required to carry a minimum balance, either when you open your account or as you keep it open.

Capital One Costs

Capital One has a great fee structure, including no monthly service fee and the following:

• Monthly Service Fee: $0.00
• Monthly Transaction Fee: $0.00 (up to 6 per month)
• Monthly Cash Deposit Fee: $5,000 per month for free, then 0.2% for additional deposits.
• Wire Transfer Fee: $15 for incoming wires and $25 for outgoing wires.
• Outgoing ACH Fee: $0.00

Capital One has one of the best fee structures in the industry with the exception of their cash deposit fee. While they don’t charge any service fees, they do charge you 0.2% on any money deposited over $5,000 every month. Most businesses wanting to use Capital One won’t likely have many, if any, cash deposits going directly to their savings account.

What Capital One is Missing

Capital One doesn’t have as many physical locations as a traditional bank. This makes it more difficult for a business to combine their checking and savings accounts at a single bank if they need to deposit a lot of cash or make a lot of transactions each month. We suggest a more traditional option if you need convenient physical locations.

How to Apply With Capital One

To open a Capital One business savings account you can fill out an online form. A Capital One representative will then get back to you quickly and request any needed information to prove the existence of your business. Once your business is verified, you’ll be set to open an account and make your first deposit.

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Best Traditional Business Savings Account: Chase Bank

Chase offers the best business savings account from a traditional bank because of their APY and customer service program, which includes helping you to maximize your total savings. Current Chase checking customers will find it easy to open a Chase savings account, but you need both in order to unlock the best features. If you’re looking for a national bank with a lot of physical branches, then Chase is your best bet with 5k+ branches nationwide.

What Chase Offers

Chase offers both a Total Savings account for small businesses with low balances and a Premier Savings account. We’ll discuss the Premier account in this article because it carries the best features.

Chase is the only bank that offers to maximize your earnings by automatically transferring extra money from your checking account into your savings when you’re unlikely to use it. This feature only kicks in once your daily balance is above $25k in your checking account, but it’s a great option to earn more off of the money you’re currently not spending.

Annual Percentage Yield

Chase has APY that’s reflective of traditional banks in the industry:

• Introductory APY: 0.15%
• APY After Introductory Period: 0.15%

Most traditional banks offer very low yields compared to alternative options. Chase is no different, offering an APY of 0.15%.

Minimum Balance

Chase has the following minimum balance requirements:

• Minimum Opening Balance: $25.00
• Minimum Ongoing Balance: $25.00

Chase Costs

The Chase Premier account has the following fee structure:

• Monthly Service Fee: $20.00 (waived if connected to a Chase checking account)
• Monthly Transaction Fee: $0.00 for up to 30 deposited items, then $0.40 each
• Monthly Cash Deposit Fee: Free for the first $10k per statement cycle
• Wire Transfer Fee: $0 for incoming and $25 for outgoing
• Outgoing ACH Fee: $0.00

Chase has a very affordable fee structure for a traditional bank. However, they do require a monthly service fee of $20, which is an increase from Capital One who doesn’t require a fee. They will waive that fee if you connect your savings account to a Chase checking account for overdraft protection.

What Chase Bank is Missing

While Chase offers a great savings solution compared to other traditional banks, they offer a very low yield compared to alternative online options. This is because they have a lot of physical locations and more overhead than online banks. If you’re looking for the highest yield, you’ll likely want to go with Capital One.

How to Apply With Chase Bank

To apply for a Chase savings account you’ll need to walk into a branch location and work with a business banker. You can’t apply online, but you can reach out to them via telephone with any questions you may have or to find out what you’ll need to open an account.

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Best Ongoing APY Business Savings Account: Live Oak Bank

Live Oak Bank offers the best ongoing APY, which makes them the best bet for anyone who doesn’t need a physical branch location and who expects to keep idle cash for longer than 1 year. This is because their introductory and ongoing APY is 1.05%, less than Capital One’s introductory APY of 1.50% but much higher than it’s ongoing APY of 0.40%.

Live Oak Bank has no physical locations but can offer you plenty of banking options. Once you’re an established customer you’ll have a higher chance of being approved for loans through Live Oak Bank. They’re also a very well reviewed small business financing solution with a great fee structure that doesn’t require you to pay a monthly fee, regardless of your balance.

What Live Oak Bank Offers

Live Oak Bank is an internet bank with no branches, but they do have offices in multiple states. They offer the highest ongoing APY of the banks in this article and provide a comparatively low fee structure. They don’t have minimum balance requirements and you can start earning that high APY from day one.

Annual Percentage Yield

Live Oak Bank offers the same APY for accounts of any size, which is:

• Introductory APY: 1.05%
• APY After Introductory Period: 1.05%

Minimum Balance

The minimum balance requirements for Live Oak Bank include:

• Minimum Opening Balance: $0.00
• Minimum Ongoing Balance: $0.00

Live Oak Bank will never require you to carry a minimum balance. However, if you have $10 or less in your savings account and no activity for 24 consecutive months they’ll charge you a dormant account fee and close it.

Live Oak Bank Costs

The fee structure for Live Oak Bank is the following:

• Monthly Service Fee: $0.00
• Monthly Transaction Fee: $0.00 (up to 6 per month)
• Monthly Cash Deposit Fee: None (internet bank)
• Wire Transfer Fee: $0 for incoming wires and $10 for outgoing fees.

Live Oak Bank is a great savings account option if you’re worried about potential fees. They don’t require a service fee or a transaction fee. They even have the lowest wire transfer fees on the list.

What Live Oak Bank is Missing

Live Oak Bank offers the best ongoing APY of any of the bank options in this article, but they don’t have any branches for you to walk into. They also only have offices in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and California. This makes it difficult for businesses that want to deposit cash directly into their business savings account.

How to Apply With Live Oak Bank

You can apply for a Live Oak Bank savings account by filling out an online application with all of your personal and business information, including your initial funding method. Live Oak will then verify your information electronically. Once this process is complete you’ll initiate an initial funding transfer.

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Best for Businesses with $25k+ in Savings: BofI Federal Bank

BofI Federal Bank is the best choice for businesses with $25k+ to deposit in a savings account because of their high APY of 1.06%. Unlike Capital One, their APY doesn’t go down after the first year. Instead, they base your APY off of your savings account balance. However, you need at least $25k for their high APY, otherwise, the APY is 0.80%.

What BofI Offers

BofI offers their business premium savings account with no maintenance fee, no minimum balance required, and an APY up to 1.06%. Without physical locations, BofI requires you to deposit your funds electronically, via mail, or by wire transfer. Since they don’t have the overhead of physical locations, they’re able to offer their savings account without any fees and high APY.

Annual Percentage Yield

The introductory and ongoing APY of BofI includes:

• Introductory APY: 0.80% – 1.06%, depending on your balance and account type
• APY After Introductory Period: 0.80% – 1.06%, depending on your balance and account type

BofI bases your APY solely on your daily balance and has two types of business savings accounts. Their standard Business Savings account earns 0.80% APY with no thresholds. With their Business Premier Savings account, if you carry below $25k in your account then you’ll receive no yield, and if you carry $25k+ then your APY will be 1.06%.

Minimum Balance

BofI’s minimum balance requirements include:

• Minimum Opening Balance: $0.00
• Minimum Ongoing Balance: $0.00

BofI doesn’t require you to ever carry a minimum balance, but you won’t receive a yield unless you have a balance of $25k+ for the Business Premier Savings.

BofI Costs

The standard BofI costs on their savings accounts include:

• Monthly Service Fee: $0.00
• Monthly Transaction Fee: $0.00 (up to 6 per month)
• Monthly Cash Deposit Fee: None (internet bank)
• Wire Transfer Fee: Free for incoming wires and $15 for outgoing wires

BofI has the best fee structure of any business savings account in this article because most of their savings account services are free.

What BofI is Missing

BofI Federal Bank is a solid long-term yield savings account but they don’t have any physical locations. This makes it hard for businesses that want to make regular cash deposits directly to their savings account. Also, while they offer business checking accounts, there is no clear benefit to having both a checking and savings account at BofI.

How to Apply With BofI

To apply with BofI you’ll need to speak to one of their relationship managers. You can do this by calling them directly or by submitting a brief online form to schedule a call with them. They’ll walk you through the quick process of verifying your business and making your first deposit.

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Another Traditional Bank Business Savings Account: Bank of America

Bank of America is best for those who want a traditional banking option and who either have an existing relationship with BoA or who have a BoA branch in close proximity. If you’re not worried about what your yield is, but instead are more worried about ease of use and physical locations, then BoA could be the best option for you.

What Bank of America Offers

Bank of America offers the lowest APY of all the banks in this article. They do, however, offer some nice perks if you use both a savings and checking account, such as waiving fees for both accounts. BoA offers an investment savings account, but we’ll focus on their Business Savings Advantage program in this article.

Annual Percentage Yield

Bank of America’s APY is dependent on your balance, and includes the following:

• Introductory APY: 0.02 – 0.04%, based on your balance
• APY After Introductory Period: 0.02 – 0.04%, based on your balance

Bank of America offers an APY of 0.02% to 0.04%, depending on your account balance. You’ll earn 0.02% for balances below $50k, 0.03% for balances higher than that but less than $500k, and 0.04% for anything over $500k.

Minimum Balance

The minimum balance requirements for Bank of America include:

• Minimum Opening Balance: $0.00
• Minimum Ongoing Balance: $0.00

With Bank of America, you’ll never be required to carry a minimum balance either when you open your account or as you keep the account open. However, the account is meant for businesses with large balances that want a reliable bank they can trust.

Bank of America Costs

The Bank of America savings account fee structure is as follows:

• Monthly Service Fee: $15, waived if you have a BoA checking account or maintain a daily balance of $5k+
• Monthly Transaction Fee: $0.00
• Monthly Cash Deposit Fee: $0.00
• Wire Transfer Fee: $15 for incoming wires and $30 for outgoing wires.
• Outgoing ACH Fee: $0.00

Bank of America offers a very competitive fee structure in comparison to most other traditional banks. They’ll charge you a $15 monthly service fee, but it can be waived if you’re a BoA checking account holder. They don’t charge you any other fees unless you’re sending or receiving wires.

What Bank of America is Missing

While they can be a great fit for businesses who have large balances and don’t want to worry about fees, Bank of America offers the lowest yield of any bank on this list. They’re typically only right for those with an existing relationship or those who need physical branches and are conveniently located around Bank of America locations.

How to Apply With Bank of America

You can apply by walking into a Bank of America branch, or by filling out an online application that only takes a few minutes. A BoA representative will then walk through the process with you via phone, and request any additional information needed to verify your business. Once approved, you’ll be able to immediately make deposits.

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Bottom Line – Best Business Savings Account

When it comes to business savings accounts, there very little differences between them. The best account is likely going to be the bank you already use, the bank with the closest geographic location to yours, or the one offering you the highest annual percentage yield (APY).

When considering all of these factors we recommend Capital One as the best business savings account. They have the best banking network with the highest APY. You can receive up to 1.75% APY for the first year your savings account is open and 0.40% thereafter. You can open an account by filling out an online application.

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