Chase Business Checking Review: Complete vs Performance vs Platinum 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Business Banking.
For businesses looking for a traditional, brick-and-mortar bank, Chase is one of the best options on the market. With physical locations in all 48 mainland states and online accounts available nationwide, it can meet your company’s banking needs, whether you need to visit a branch location or plan to conduct all of your business transactions electronically.
Chase has a full range of business banking products and services catering to small to large businesses. It offers three business checking accounts, including the best premium checking account available. Choosing which account your business needs will depend on the number of transactions and the amount of cash your business deposits monthly.
Here are the three Chase business checking accounts and what each is best for, with links directly to Chase’s website:
- Chase Business Complete Banking℠: Best for businesses with very few monthly transactions or less than $5,000 in monthly cash deposits
- Chase Performance Business Checking®: Best for businesses with less than $20,000 monthly cash deposits and at least a $35,000 average daily balance
- Chase Platinum Business Checking℠: Best for businesses with more than 250 monthly transactions and an average daily balance of $50,000 or greater
Chase Business Checking Compared
When To Use
You can check out our guide to the best small business checking accounts for additional alternatives.
Chase Business Checking Accounts Features
Chase has three business checking accounts that scale as your business grows. As your business needs more monthly transactions, deposits more cash each month, and has higher average daily balances, you can move up Chase’s banking tiers to find the right fit. It’s why we consider Chase one of the best small business checking accounts.
Click the section headers below for more information.
The monthly fees for each business checking account can be waived if qualifying activities are completed. Click the corresponding tab below to see how to waive the monthly fees for each account.
Chase also offers a $300 bonus for opening a business checking account, which is one reason it earned a spot in our roundup of the top-recommended banks for startups. However, you can only earn the new checking account bonus every two years from the last enrollment date and only once per account. You also have to meet the following criteria:
- Visit a branch or Chase’s website and open a new Chase Business CheckingSM account
- Deposit a total of $2,000 or more in new money into your new checking account within 30 days of offer enrollment
- Maintain at least a $2,000 balance for 60 days from the offer enrollment; the new money cannot be funds held by your business at Chase or its affiliates
- Complete five qualifying transactions within 90 days of offer enrollment
There are no ATM fees at any one of more than 16,000 Chase ATMs. At the two highest tiers, Chase doesn’t charge out-of-network ATM fees, although third-party fees may apply. If you have Business Complete Banking, Chase charges $3 per transaction plus third-party fees. You can also stop by one of more than 4,800 Chase locations throughout the US.
In our list of the top business checking accounts for LLCs, we named Chase the best provider for full-service banking. On top of excellent checking products, Chase provides the following business banking services:
- Savings products: Chase provides a basic business savings account, a premium business savings account, and business CDs with terms ranging from 31 days to 10 years.
- Credit cards: There are 10 business credit cards in Chase’s product lineup. Cards can earn cash back, redeemable points, or miles. See our guide to the best Chase business credit cards for more information.
- Lending products: Available Chase business lending products include term loans, lines of credit, and equipment and trade financing. Chase also offers commercial real estate financing, which is why we included it in our roundup of the leading banks for real estate investors.
- Retirement services: You can offer your employees retirement benefits through Everyday 401(k) by J.P. Morgan, Chase’s low-cost 401(k) plan solution.
- Business services: Chase offers fraud and security services, pay and transfer services, and collection and deposit services.
Chase Business Checking Requirements
Chase’s business checking requirements include personal information and business documentation. When you apply, you will be asked to provide the following documents:
- Two forms of valid identification with at least one must be government-issued
- Your employer identification number (EIN)
Owners, partners, or members with a 10% ownership stake or more are also required to provide the following:
- Full name as it appears on government-issued ID
- Legal business name (only used when an owner of the partnership is another entity or trust)
- Residential Address (business address only required if the owner is a business)
- Percentage of ownership
- Date of birth
- Tax identification number, such as Social Security number, individual TIN (ITIN), or federal TIN (FTIN)
- Country of citizenship
- Identification information from either passport or matricula consular card (for non-United States citizens without green cards)
The business documents you must submit will depend on your organization’s entity type. For a complete list of which documents you will need for your business type, click the heading that corresponds to your company structure:
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or doing-business-as (DBA), if applicable
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
- Written partnership agreement
- Joint venture agreement
- Personal identification (only available in certain states)
- Website validation (must be obtained free of charge)
General:
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
- Certified partnership agreement
- Website validation (must be obtained free of charge)
- Active status verification
- Certificate of good standing, status report, or long form or short form standing (if registered more than one year ago)
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
- Certified articles of incorporation or certificate of formation.
- Website validation (must be obtained free of charge)
- Active status verification
- Certificate of good standing, status report, long form standing or short form standing (if registered more than one year ago)
- Documentation that certifies that your business is entitled to operate in the state where your business address is located (if your business operates outside the state it is organized in)
- Business documentation from the state the business is organized in
- Foreign registration or certification from the state the account is being opened in.
If organization or association is using its EIN:
- Articles of association
- Charter document validating existence
- IRS confirmation of EIN Issuance
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
If organization or association is using an EIN of national or regional organization:
- Letter of authorization from a national or regional office (must include EIN of national or regional office)
- Assumed name certificate, trade name certificate, fictitious business name statement, or DBA, if applicable
You can also check out our guide on how to open a business bank account for a checklist of documents banks typically require.
Chase Business Checking: Account Costs
Monthly Fee (Waivable) | $15 | $30 | $95 |
Transaction Limit Before Fees | 20, then 40 cents per transaction | 250, then 40 cents per transaction | 500, then 40 cents per transaction |
ACH Fees | $25 for first 25 items, 15 cents per item above 25 per month; $2.50 return fee | ||
Cash Deposit Fee | $2.50 per $1,000 after you deposit $5,000 in a billing cycle | $2.50 per $1,000 after you deposit $20,000 in a billing cycle | $2.50 per $1,000 after you deposit $25,000 in a billing cycle |
As mentioned before, each tier has different amounts of free transactions and free cash deposits before fees apply. You should consider how many transactions and how much cash you will deposit monthly before deciding on a tier. The key factor in each tier is whether you can get the monthly fee waived, as each tier has a different set of requirements to get the fee waived.
Chase Business Checking: Account Sample Scenarios
Average Monthly Balance | $40,000 | $40,000 | $40,000 |
Number of Transactions | 200 | 200 | 200 |
Cash Deposited In Month | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
Possible Monthly Fees | 180 extra transactions = $72 $10,000 over limit in cash deposits = $25 Total = $97 | Monthly fee waived, under the limit on transactions & cash deposits = $0 | Monthly fee = $95, Under the limit on transactions & cash deposits = $0 |
Out-of-Network ATM fees | 5 transactions x ($3 + $3.14*) = $30.70 | 5 transactions x $3.14* = $15.70 | 5 transactions x $3.14* = $15.70 |
Possible Total Fee | $127.70 | $15.70 | $110.70 |
*The average ATM surcharge from the ATM owner in 2022 was $3.14, per Bankrate’s 2022 checking account and ATM fee study.
In this example, you have too many transactions and cash deposits for Business Complete Banking to make sense, proving that the lowest-tier account isn’t always the cheapest option. This means that Performance Business Checking is the account in the sweet spot, as it has a high enough average balance to waive the monthly fee but not enough transactions or cash deposits to pay a fee. Business Complete Banking would be the most expensive option because of the extra fees you will pay.
Chase Business Checking User Reviews
We didn’t find Chase business checking reviews on third-party sites, and most of the reviews we did see discussed customer service. The bank is rated 3.6 out of 5 on ConsumerAffairs1 (based on 1,400-plus reviews) and 3.8 out of 5 on WalletHub2 (based on more than 26,000 reviews).
Dissatisfied users said that they found Chase’s customer service inefficient. They remarked that departments do not seem to coordinate well with one another, making it difficult to address customer concerns in a timely manner. Additionally, they said that the bank doesn’t seem to hire enough staff to accommodate its large customer base. Despite this, positive reviews said that Chase’s staff members usually make an effort to be polite and helpful.
Chase’s mobile app, which is used for both personal and business accounts, is highly rated on both App Store3 (4.8 out of 5 stars based on about 4.9 million ratings) and Google Play4 (4.4 out of 5 stars out of over 1.7 million ratings). Reviewers liked that the app had an easy-to-navigate user interface. They said it made it easy to move money from personal to business accounts. Negative reviews mentioned connectivity issues and difficulty with changing notification settings.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Chase is an excellent bank for business banking. Whether you need to visit a physical location or want to bank entirely online, it can meet your business needs. Its three business checking options offer waivable monthly fees and generous transaction limits. Additionally, the bank provides access to a wide range of business services, including savings accounts, lending products, and retirement services.
There are three Chase business checking accounts. Chase Business Complete Banking, the entry-level account, offers up to 20 free transactions monthly and a waivable $15 monthly fee. Chase Performance Business Banking offers up to 250 free transactions monthly with a $30 waivable monthly fee. Chase’s Platinum Business Checking, the best premium business checking account available, offers up to 500 free transactions monthly with a waivable $95 monthly fee.
Chase might deny you a business checking account for four reasons:
- You or your business might have a negative report on ChexSystems. You can either clear up the negative report or find a business bank account that doesn’t use ChexSystems.
- You may have a low personal or business credit score. You will want to find out what is pulling your credit score down and try to get it resolved.
- You may be running a prohibited, but not necessarily illegal, business. Some industries, such as gambling and cannabis-based businesses, might be unable to get an account through federally-backed banks.
- You don’t have the proper business paperwork. Depending on how your business is organized, you need specific paperwork to open a business checking account. Refer to the requirements section above to determine what documents your organization needs to submit.
Bottom Line
Chase is one of the top banks in the U.S. for both personal and business accounts. Whether you need access to a physical bank branch or not, Chase can meet your business needs. With three outstanding business checking options and a wide range of business products and services, Chase can grow as your company grows. Consider the needs of your business and consult with a Chase representative to figure out which account is best for your business.
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