If your business is looking for a community bank that can accommodate all of your banking needs, Chemung Canal Trust Company is an excellent option. The company, which operates in New York and northern Pennsylvania, offers four checking products for businesses of different sizes and transaction volumes:
- Business Checking provides 100 fee-free transactions and charges a $10 monthly maintenance fee (with eStatements) or $15 (no eStatements). Maintaining a $500 monthly balance waives the fee.
- Premier Business offers a free transaction allowance of 300 and $15 monthly fee (with eStatements) or $20 (without eStatements). Keeping a monthly balance of $10,000 is required to waive the monthly fee.
- Analyzed Business offsets the monthly fee of $15 through an earnings allowance, which relies on the account’s average daily balance. However, it does not provide free transactions.
- Zero Balance allows businesses to create subaccounts outside a general operating account to track business spending. The monthly maintenance fee is $25.
It also has savings products, lending products, debit and credit cards, online and mobile banking, and special accounts for employee benefits.
Pros
- 100 fee-free transactions for basic account, Business Checking
- Analyzed Checking available
- Access to special accounts for employee benefits
Cons
- No fee-free checking accounts
- No interest-earning checking accounts
- Steep wire transfer fees
Features
- Business debit card
- Four types of business checking accounts for small businesses
- Rewards-earning business debit cards
- Online and mobile banking
- Savings, money market accounts, and investment certificates
- Credit card and lending products available
- Integrates with Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay
How Chemung Canal Trust Company Stacks Up With Its Competitors
Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | Monthly Maintenance Fee | Monthly Transaction Limit Before Fees | Minimum Opening Deposit | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Business Checking | None | $10 with eStatements; $15 without eStatements; | 100, then 35 cents per transaction | $25 |
Silver Business Checking | N/A | $0 | 125, then 50 cents per item | $100 |
Business Checking | $250 | $0 | No limit | None |
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Chemung Canal bank offers small businesses an option to reduce their monthly maintenance fees by signing up for eStatements. The fee can be waived by maintaining a low $500 monthly balance. The bank also offers an average free monthly transaction limit and requires a low opening deposit.
Meanwhile, its competitors, U.S. Bank and Bluevine, do not charge monthly maintenance fees. Also, U.S. Bank’s free transactions are slightly higher than Chemung Canal bank while Bluevine offers unlimited transactions. In terms of APY and opening deposit, Bluevine beats both by offering a significant rate and not requiring any opening deposit.
When Chemung Canal Trust Company Is a Good Fit
- You make 100 or fewer transactions per month: Chemung Canal bank’s lowest tier account, Business Checking, offers 100 fee-free transactions per month. Transactions are defined as checks paid and deposited, deposit tickets, and electronic transactions.
- You can maintain a monthly balance of $500: Although Chemung bank’s Business Checking account charges a monthly maintenance fee of $10 for accounts with eStatements or $15 for accounts without eStatements, customers can waive fees easily by maintaining an average monthly balance of $500.
- You want to earn rewards on debit card purchases: As part of the uChoose Rewards Program, Chemung bank business debit cards earn 1 reward point for every $2 spent on qualifying purchases.
- You want help administering employee benefits: Chemung Canal bank helps businesses set up health savings accounts (HSAs), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and simplified employee pension individual retirement accounts (SEP-IRAs).
When To Consider Chemung Canal Trust Company Alternatives
- You want nationwide access to in-person banking services: Chemung bank operates exclusively in New York and northern Pennsylvania. We recommend Chase for businesses wanting the freedom to bank in person from anywhere in the country. It has over 4,700 branches across 48 states. Read our Chase Business Complete Banking review for more information.
- You rely on wire transfers: Chemung Canal bank charges $15 for incoming wire transfers, $25 for outgoing domestic wire transfers, and $40 for outgoing international wire transfers. The best provider for free wire transfers is Mercury since it does not charge fees for sending or receiving domestic or international wires. To learn more about its features, check out our review of Mercury business checking.
- You need unlimited fee-free transactions: All of Chemung bank’s business checking accounts charge transaction fees, although Business Checking and Premier Business offer a limited number of free transactions. Capital One comes with unlimited fee-free transactions, and you can decide if its product fits your business needs through our Capital One business checking review.
If your small business meets one or more of these scenarios, check out our guide to the best small business checking accounts for additional recommendations. You may also want to see our roundup of the leading banks for small businesses in New York.
Chemung Canal Trust Company Business Checking Overview
Chemung Canal Trust Company Business Checking Requirements
One of the Chemung Canal Trust Company business checking requirements is that applicants must be 18 years or older. To open a business checking account online, they must also provide the following information:
- Email address
- Social Security number
- Date of birth
For a list of documents banks typically require from applicants, check out the checklist provided in our guide on how to open a business bank account.
Chemung Canal Trust Company Business Checking Features
Chemung Canal offers four types of business checking accounts for businesses of different sizes and transaction volumes. It also provides free digital banking and rewards-earning debit cards.
Scalable Business Checking
Chemung Canal’s regular checking accounts come in two tiers.
- Business Checking: Designed for businesses with low transaction volume, Business Checking offers 100 fee-free transactions and charges a 35-cent fee per transaction after the limit. The monthly maintenance fee is $10 with eStatements and $15 without eStatements, but account holders can waive the fee by maintaining the minimum monthly balance requirement of $500.
- Premier Business: Chemung Canal’s second-tier business checking account has a higher fee-free transaction limit of 300. The transaction fee after the limit is also lower, at 25 cents per item. The monthly fee for Premier Business is $15 with eStatements or $20 without eStatements. To waive the monthly fees, a minimum monthly balance of $10,000 must be met.
Analyzed Checking
Instead of maintaining a minimum balance, Analyzed Checking accounts let businesses offset the monthly fee of $15 by building their earnings allowance. The amount account holders receive in earnings allowance depends on their available average daily balance. However, unlike regular checking accounts, Analyzed Checking accounts offer no fee-free transactions and charge 15 cents per item and 25 cents per $1,000 cash deposited.
Zero Balance Accounts
Zero Balance accounts let businesses create separate subaccounts outside their general operating account. These subaccounts can be earmarked for different types of expenses, such as payroll and petty cash. The monthly maintenance fee for Zero Balance accounts is $25.
Digital Banking
Chemung Canal offers two digital banking options: the online Business Banker platform and the Chemung Canal business mobile app.
Digital banking lets businesses
- View account balances
- Transfer funds
- Schedule bill payments
- Deposit checks
- Approve automated clearing house (ACH) and wires
- Approve Positive Pay transactions
- Add team members and employees as authorized users
- Customize the access levels of employees
Chemung Canal’s business mobile app has a 5 out of 5 rating on the App Store[1] and 4.7 out of 5 on Google Play[2]. There are no written reviews available on both platforms.
Business Debit Cards
Business debit cards at Chemung Canal let account holders make withdrawals, deposits, transfers, and ATM transactions. They charge no annual fees and are protected from losses from unauthorized use. They can also be individualized with unique card numbers for each selected employee and customized with the business’s corporate image.
Chemung Canal cards are part of the uChoose Rewards Program. Purchases earn one reward point for every $2 spent. To obtain additional points, one can shop at participating online or in-store retailers through the uChoose Rewards website and redeem the points for several items.
Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay Integrations
Chemung Canal bank’s business cards connect with Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay for secure and contactless payments.
Business Services
- Remote deposit capture
- Positive Pay and ACH debit review (fraud protection)
- Direct deposit/debit
- Lockbox service
- Landlord/tenant lease security service
Other Chemung Canal Trust Company Business Products
Chemung Canal bank offers special checking accounts, savings, money market accounts, investment certificates, lending products, and credit cards.
The NOW account is an interest-drawing checking account designed to give municipalities and not-for-profit organizations check-writing privileges. It earns interest at a rate of 0.02% and charges a monthly service fee of $10 to accounts that fail to meet the average daily balance minimum of $1,000. The minimum opening deposit and required balance to earn interest is also $1,000.
Chemung Canal has a basic savings account, investment certificates, and two types of money market accounts:
- Variable-rate savings: This account, which has a minimum opening deposit of $25, lets businesses earn a variable interest rate on excess funds. There is a monthly fee for accounts with balances that fall below $250.
- Investment certificates: Chemung Canal bank offers short- and long-term investment certificates for a minimum opening deposit of $1,000. There is a $35 penalty fee for early withdrawals.
- Insured money market account: For a minimum deposit of $1,000, businesses can access an APY of 0.02% for balances of $1,000 to $24,999 and 0.03% for balances of $25,000 and higher. Account holders can make up to six checks per month fee-free. Each additional check after the limit costs $3.
- Prestige Business insured money market account: For a minimum deposit of $25,000, this account earns interest at a rate of 0.05% for balances of $1,000 to $24,999 and 0.10% for balances of $25,000 and higher. As with the Insured Money Market Account, this offers six fee-free checks per month and charges $3 for each additional check after the limit.
Chemung Canal offers term loans, lines of credit, overdraft lines of credit, commercial equity lines of credit, and mortgages. Payments are deducted from the borrower’s Chemung Canal checking or savings account automatically:
- Term loans: Business owners planning to invest in office equipment, computer systems, vehicles, or machinery can apply for a term loan. Interest rates for Chemung Canal bank’s term loans are fixed. The maximum length for a term loan is seven years.
- Line of credit: For immediate funds for working capital or financing accounts receivable or inventory turnover, a line of credit can be considered. The Chemung bank business line of credit has a variable interest rate that changes daily. There is a three-year renewal period and no out-of-debt period.
- Overdraft line of credit: This type of line of credit provides $1,000 to $10,000 worth of overdraft protection for a three-year term.
- Commercial equity line of credit: The Chemung Canal Commercial Equity Line of Credit can be used to finance commercial or multifamily properties. It has a variable interest rate that is adjusted daily. Borrowers must make monthly payments based on a 15-year amortization.
- Mortgage: A type of loan that can be used to purchase, construct, expand, or renovate commercial and multi-family properties. The interest rate is fixed for the first five years and becomes adjustable every five years thereafter. The maximum term is 20 years.
Before applying for a loan, check out our guide on how to get a small business loan to help you through the process.
Chemung Canal offers business credit cards that come with expense tracking through monthly statements, spending limit customization, 24/7 VIP customer service, and fraud protection.
Through Chemung Canal, businesses can offer their employees a number of benefits, including HSAs, IRAs, and SEP-IRAs. It also provides payroll direct deposit, which lets employers directly deposit payroll funds into employee accounts at any financial institution in the United States.
Chemung Canal Trust Company Business Checking Reviews From Users
Chemung Canal Trust Company business checking reviews are non-existent online. On WalletHub[3], the bank has a 2.8 out of 5 rating from around 25 reviews, although most comments are at least two years old. Reviewers praised the bank for outstanding customer service, while some reported not being given support when they had a loan issue.
Bottom Line
The product offerings of Chemung Canal—which include business checking accounts, savings accounts, lending products, and credit cards—are enough to accommodate the needs of the average small business. However, all of its business checking accounts charge fees for monthly maintenance and day-to-day transactions. As a community bank, its physical presence is limited to New York and select towns in northern Pennsylvania.