If your business is looking for a New York-based banking provider that can accommodate your business checking needs, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust (CNB) is a great choice. The bank, which operates in the Greater Rochester Area, offers scalable business checking accounts with digital banking options and free rewards-earning debit cards. Outside of business checking, it also has business savings products, lending products, and credit cards.
Pros
- 1% cash back on debit card purchases
- Analyzed checking available
- No opening deposit
Cons
- 50-cent fee per mobile deposit
- Checking accounts don’t draw interest
- Only 25 branches and 97 ATMs
Features
- Scalable business checking accounts
- Analyzed checking options
- Free Debit Mastercard Business Card
- CardCash™ Cashback Rewards program
- Free Online Banking for Businesses (OLBB)
- Mobile app
- Small Business Administration loans (SBA) and government-backed business development programs
- Savings accounts and money market accounts available
How Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Stacks Up With Its Competitors
Monthly Fee | Required Balance Minimum to Waive Monthly Fee | ATM Fee | Geographic Availability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Checking | $7.50 | $2,500 | ||
 Silver Business Checking | $0 | None | None at U.S. Bank and MoneyPass ATMs | All states
U.S. Bank is available in all states via online banking. It has branches in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
|
 Business Checking | None | None | Refunds all ATM fees | All states; online-only access |
Visit Novo
Novo is a financial technology (fintech) platform backed and FDIC-insured by a supporting bank partnership with Middlesex Federal Savings.
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The monthly fee for Canandaigua National Bank & Trust’s basic account may be low, but waiving it requires meeting a $2,500 minimum balance. Meanwhile, its competitors, U.S. Bank and Novo, offer a free basic checking account.
CNB customers can save on ATM fees when accessing the bank’s ATMs, but there are only 97 machines. Meanwhile, U.S. Bank allows fee-free ATM transactions with a larger network, which include MoneyPass, but Novo beats both banks by reimbursing all ATM fees at the end of the month.
For geographic accessibility, U.S. Bank and Novo are easily available to customers through online banking while Canandaigua National bank locations are confined to the Greater Rochester area.
When Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Is a Good Fit
- You want rewards on debit card purchases: Through a partnership with CardCash, CNB provides cash back rewards to debit card holders. The CardCash debit card rewards program offers 1% cash back on all debit card purchases after exceeding the minimum monthly spend threshold of $1,000.
- You want analyzed checking options: It offers an Analyzed Checking account, which provides earnings credits that help offset monthly maintenance fees. The amount of earnings credit you will receive is based on your balance.
- You want a free business savings account: CNBusiness Choice Optimum Checking and CNBusiness Choice Checking account users can open savings accounts without monthly service fees.
- You want a wide range of lending products: Its lending products include lines of credit, term loans, commercial mortgages, construction or renovation financing, letters of credit, and international trade financing. The bank also participates in many government-backed financing programs, including SBA and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
When To Consider Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Alternatives
- You want a provider with a nationwide reach: CNB only serves the Greater Rochester Area and has a total of 25 brick-and-mortar bank branches. Businesses that want access to in-person banking from anywhere in the country should choose Chase, which has 4,700 branches across 48 states. Check out our Chase business checking review to find an account that suits you.
- You want to earn interest on checking balances: None of its business checking accounts earn interest. Bluevine earns accounts an APY of 2.00% on balances worth $250,000 and below provided you meet its activity requirements. Read our review of Bluevine business checking to learn more.
- You want fee-free business checking: CNB’s business checking accounts charge a monthly maintenance fee. Businesses that don’t want to pay monthly fees can consider NBKC Bank. It provides access to money market accounts, business certificates of deposit (CDs), credit cards, and financing and has no monthly fees, required maintaining balances, and opening deposit. Our NBKC Bank business checking review offers more information on the bank’s products.
If your small business meets these scenarios, see our roundups of the leading small business checking accounts and best banks for small businesses in New York for additional recommendations.
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Business Checking Overview
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Business Checking Requirements
Part of the Canandaigua National Bank business checking requirements to open an account is for customers to select a branch to visit or schedule a phone appointment through the CNB website. You’ll be asked to prepare the following information:
- Full legal name of business
- Organization type of legal structure, such as limited liability company (LLC), S corporation (S-corp), C corporation (C-corp), or sole proprietor
- Physical mailing address of business
- Tax identification number (TIN), such as federal employer tax ID or employer identification number (EIN)
- Personal Social Security numbers for any signers
- ID for any signers on the account
Our article on how to open a business bank account can guide you through the account opening process. We also included a free checklist of required documents per entity type.
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Business Checking Features
Its features include scalable business checking accounts, free online and mobile banking, free debit cards, and cash back rewards programs.
Scalable Checking Accounts
CNB offers a variety of business checking accounts, which scale according to an account’s balance and transaction volume. Its lowest tier account, Basic Checking, charges a monthly fee of $7.50 and has limited check writing.
The higher tier CNBusiness Choice Checking and CNBusiness Choice Optimum Checking accounts provide unlimited check writing at the cost of having higher monthly fees, with CNBusiness Choice Checking charging $94 and CNBusiness Choice Optimum Checking charging $126.
Analyzed Checking
CNB offers a fourth type of business checking account, Analyzed Checking. Unlike its regular checking accounts, which waive monthly fees based on designated average daily balance minimums, Analyzed Checking offsets monthly fees by providing earnings credit based on account balances. It costs $10 to maintain an Analyzed Checking account.
Digital Banking
Digital banking services are available through Canandaigua National Bank Online Banking for Businesses (OLBB) and the CNB mobile app, available on iOS and Android. Through digital banking, you can
- View deposit and loan account balances
- Review or approve transactions
- Transfer funds
- Manage bill payments
The mobile app also supports mobile check deposits, which cost 50 cents per item. On the App Store[1], the app has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from around 2,100 reviews while on Google Play[2], it has 4.6 out of 5 stars from about 1,300 reviews.
Users appreciated the app’s ease of use, security, and dependability, but some complained about being unable to set up payments. A few also reported frequent reinstallation of the app due to freezing and found it outdated.
Free Debit Mastercard BusinessCard
All business checking accounts come with their own free Debit Mastercard BusinessCard. Each account signer can be issued a debit card. Its benefits include enhanced chip technology, easy expense tracking, discounts for Intuit QuickBooks and TurboTax, identity theft protection, and access to the Mastercard Easy Savings Program.
CardCash Cash Back Rewards Program
CNB has partnered with CardCash to provide 1% cash back on debit card purchases. To access the CardCash rewards program, cardholders must request their purchases to be run as credit. They must then exceed the minimum monthly spend threshold of $1,000, and all qualified purchases after the limit earn 1% cash back. Businesses can view their earnings through their CardCash monthly statements.
Business ChexMate
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust offers overdraft protection linked to your checking account. It helps users avoid or reduce associated overdraft and returned check fees and maintain good credit. Business ChexMate lines of credit are available up to $10,000, but this is subject to approval. You can use this line of credit for large purchases.
Cash Management Tools
CNB offers the following cash management solutions:
- ACH origination
- Positive pay
- Online bill pay
- Remote deposit capture (RDC)
- Wire transfers
Other Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Business Products
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust offers specialty checking accounts, regular savings accounts, money market accounts, credit cards, SBA loans, and other lending products.
Specialty checking accounts for nonprofit organizations, government services, and municipal services are available. These accounts charge no monthly fees and provide access to CNB’s online and mobile banking services.
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust offers basic savings accounts, insured money market accounts, and tenant security deposits for landlords:
- Business Savings has a monthly maintenance fee of $4, which is waived by meeting a $300 daily minimum balance. The interest is paid per quarter for balances reaching $300 or more.
- Insured Money Market allows a waiver of the $10 monthly maintenance fees via maintaining an average daily balance of $1,000 in the account. Crediting of the interest is monthly for balances of $1,000 or more.
- Tenant Security Deposit does not collect monthly maintenance fees and pays out interest quarterly by maintaining $300 or more.
CNBusiness Choice and CNBusiness Choice Optimum account holders can also access their own fee-free savings accounts.
The bank has lines of credit, overdraft lines of credit, term loans, commercial mortgages, construction or renovation financing, letters of credit, and international trade financing.
It also participates in the following government-backed financing programs:
- SBA: Provides loans that assist with starting or growing small businesses. See our guide on SBA loan types and rates to learn more about how they work.
- USDA Rural Development Programs: Offers financing options for agricultural programs and rural business development.
- New York Business Development (NYBDC): Provides loans to New York-based small businesses to improve economic welfare in New York state.
- New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA): Finances energy solutions to improve economic and environmental development in New York state.
- New York State Job Development Authority (JDA): Provides direct loans for manufacturing businesses and other eligible businesses in New York state.
The two business credit cards Canandaigua National Bank offers are the Business Edition Visa Card with Reward Simplicity and the Business Edition Secured Visa Card. Both come with 24/7 online access for account management, free management reports, and cash flow management.
- Business succession planning
- Custodial services
- Health savings accounts (HSAs)
- Employer-sponsored retirement plans
- Workplace banking
Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Business Checking Reviews From Users
As of this writing, there are no Canandaigua National Bank & Trust business checking reviews on third-party review platforms.
However, on WalletHub[3], the bank itself has 3 out of 5 stars based on around 50 reviews. Customers praised its excellent and responsive customer service team, including its support of the local community and causes. Others said they were satisfied with the bank’s loan rates and convenient city locations. On the other hand, a few reviewers complained about being on the receiving end of high overdraft fees.
Bottom Line
With checking accounts that scale according to a business’ needs, free digital banking, cash back programs, and access to a number of savings and lending products, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust is an excellent banking provider for businesses operating in the Greater Rochester Area. However, businesses wanting fee-free banking, interest-earning potential, and nationwide branch choices will have to look elsewhere.
User review resources:
1App Store
2Google Play
3WalletHub
