First Horizon Bank is a great option for businesses looking for affordable business checking services. It has three types of business checking accounts:
- A basic account with no monthly fee and 250 free transactions.
- An interest-earning account with a $15 waivable monthly fee and 250 free transactions.
- A premium account offering 500 free transactions for a waivable $15 monthly fee.
Your account will come with a free Visa Business Debit Card and access to digital banking. Budgeting and planning tools are also available to help you analyze and control your business spending. Additionally, higher deposits gain extended Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance coverage through the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS).
First Horizon Bank primarily operates in Tennessee. It also has branches in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
You can open an account online if you meet certain qualifications. Read our section on First Horizon Bank Business Checking Requirements for more information.
Pros
- $0 monthly fee for basic account
- 250 free transactions for basic and interest-earning accounts
- Free budgeting tools
Cons
- Minimum $10,000 average daily ledger balance or $25,000 combined balance to waive monthly fee for interest-earning and high-tier accounts
- Only available in 11 states
- $3 fee for non-network ATM use
Features
- Free Visa Business Debit Card
- Digital banking
- Budgeting and planning tools
- 24/7 customer service
- Savings products, lending products, credit card, and investment services also available
- $5 million FDIC protection through CDARS
- Cashflow and payroll solutions
How First Horizon Bank Stacks Up With Its Competitors
Monthly Fee | Monthly Transaction Limit Before Fees | Minimum Opening Deposit | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 BizEssentials Checking | $0 | 250 | $100 | |
 Business Advantage Fundamentals Banking | $16; waivable | 200, then 45 cents per item | $100 | |
 Relay Business Checking | $0 | No limit | $0 | All states (online-only) |
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Relay is a fintech platform backed and FDIC-insured by a supporting bank partnership with Thread Bank.
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When First Horizon Bank Is a Good Fit
- You want to bank without a monthly fee: There is no fee for First Horizon Bank’s lowest tier account, BizEssentials Checking. The account provides a monthly cash deposit allowance of $5,000 and a monthly transaction allowance of 250 items.
- You need access to budgeting tools: Online banking with First Horizon Bank comes with budgeting and planning tools, which help you analyze spending, make budgets, and create savings goals.
- You want more FDIC protection: First Horizon Bank provides FDIC insurance of up to $50 million through the CDARS, which spreads your deposits across multiple FDIC-insured certificates of deposit (CDs).
When to Choose a First Horizon Bank Alternative
- You need nationwide access to in-person banking: You can only find First Horizon Bank branch locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. For wider geographic coverage, consider Chase, which has branches in all 48 mainland states. Our Chase business checking review discusses the provider’s three business checking accounts.
- You make over 500 transactions per month: First Horizon Bank’s highest-tier account, BizEssentials Plus Checking, only offers 500 free transactions monthly. If you need access to unlimited transactions, consider an online provider. Our roundup of the leading online banks for small businesses can help you find an account that suits your needs.
- You seek to earn interest on a fee-free checking account: The BizEssential Interest Checking account charges a monthly fee of $15 and requires high balances to waive the fee. Consider Bluevine Standard if you want an interest-bearing checking account that charges no monthly fee and offers a 2.0% annual percentage yield (APY) on qualifying balances up to $250,000. For more details, read our review of Bluevine business checking.
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.
For other provider options, see our guides on the
First Horizon Bank Business Checking Overview
First Horizon Bank Business Checking Requirements
You can open an account online if you meet all of the following criteria:
- You are a United States citizen
- You are at least 18 years of age
- You are a signer of the account
- You are a resident of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, New York (Bronx, Brooklyn, Nassau, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk, or Westchester) or New Jersey (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Ocean, or Union)
- Your organization is a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, association, or unincorporated organization
If you do not meet these qualifications, you are required to visit a branch to open an account.
Part of the First Horizon Bank business checking requirements is that all beneficial owners who own at least 10% of the organization must provide the following information:
- Contact information
- Date of birth
- Social Security number or employer identification number (EIN)
First Horizon Bank may ask you to prepare additional documents based on your business type. Click on your entity type below to learn more.
- Articles of organization
- Tax ID with IRS EIN authentication letter
- Articles of incorporation
- Tax ID with IRS EIN authentication letter
- Partnership agreement
- Tax ID with IRS EIN authentication letter
- Business license
- Tax ID with IRS EIN authentication letter
Association or Unincorporated Organization
- Articles of incorporation
- Tax ID with IRS EIN authentication letter
First Horizon Bank Business Checking Features
Visa Business Debit Card
Your business checking account comes with a free Visa Business Debit Card, which you can use for purchases and bill payments online. It safeguards your purchases through services like purchase security, extended protection, auto rental insurance, travel emergency services, and more.
Digital Banking
Enrolling in digital banking lets you access banking features through the website or mobile app (available on iOS and Android). Through digital banking, you can do the following:
- View account activity
- Make internal transfers
- Initiate bill payments, payroll, and vendor ACH payments
- Manage cards
- Set up account alerts
- Use First Horizon Bank’s budgeting tools
- Order checks
- Locate ATMs and branches
- Deposit checks through mobile check deposit (mobile only)
The First Horizon Bank app scored low to average ratings. On the App Store[1], it has a rating of 2.2 from around 2,000 reviews. On Google Play[2], it has a rating of 3.5 from over 3,000 reviews. Satisfied users found it reliable and said that the app has convenient features. However, most reviewers complained about the app crashes despite repeated installation. Some also mentioned that the new updates made the app inaccessible.
Budgeting & Planning Tools
You can access budgeting and planning tools through the First Horizon website or mobile app. These tools automatically record and categorize your banking transactions while providing graphic reports to help you analyze business spending. You can create budgets and savings goals to keep spending under control.
24/7 Customer Support
While you can only talk to representatives from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., ET on weekdays, First Horizon Bank lets you access automated account information 24 hours a day.
Cash Flow and Payroll Solutions
First Horizon Bank provides tools to streamline cash receivables, prevent fraud, access payroll services, and meet payment obligations.
- ACH positive pay
- Check positive pay
- Merchant services
- Remote deposit capture
- Wire transfer
- Payroll direct deposit
- Payroll processing
- Tax and child support payments
Other First Horizon Bank Business Products
First Horizon Bank provides savings products, lending products, credit cards, and investing and planning services.
You can place your excess funds in the following savings products:
- The BizEssential Savings account is a basic, interest-earning savings account with no monthly fee.
- The Money Market Savings account earns tiered interest and can be linked to your business checking account as a source of funds for overdraft protection.
- Regular CDs offer competitive interest on 1- to 60-month term deposits.
- Add-on CDs are flexible CDs that let you make multiple deposits and transfers before your maturity date.
- Jumbo CDs let you earn competitive interest within short terms.
- CDARS spreads your deposits across multiple FDIC-insured CDs from First Horizon Bank’s network of banks. The service provides FDIC insurance of up to $50 million. The minimum opening deposit is $100,000.
First Horizon Bank offers the following lending products:
- Lines of credit from $25,000 to $100,000
- Secured term loans from $25,000 to $3 million
- Unsecured term loans from $25,000 to $500,000
- SBA Loans, including SBA 7(a) loans, SBA 504 loans, and SBA Express lines of credit
- Real estate loans from $100,000
- Business equipment leasing from $5,000
- Accounts receivable (A/R) funding
The Visa Small Business Credit Card provides credit lines up to $50,000 for no annual fee. You get an introductory APR of 0% for your first six months. The card provides automatic discounts on qualifying purchases through the Visa SavingsEdge program.
First Horizon Bank offers the following investing and planning services:
- Portfolio management services
- Retirement planning
- Equity trading
- Trading online
- Fixed income and bonds
First Horizon Bank Business Checking Reviews From Users
Those who left a First Horizon Bank business checking review had negative feedback. On WalletHub[3], the bank has a rating of 2.2 from around 160 reviews, while on DepositAccounts[4], it has a rating of 1.5 from about 40 reviews.
The most common complaints are:
- Long check clearing times: Some customers reported that it took weeks for check deposits to clear at First Horizon Bank. They said that the bank lacked transparency in this area.
- Low quality of customer service: Users claimed that the bank has poorly trained customer support staff who were incompetent to deal with client issues. They reported that cards took a long time to arrive or activate despite multiple calls and emails. Further, others said that the representatives were unresponsive to simple document requests.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. First Horizon Bank has approximately $81.4 billion in total assets, as stated on the call report filed in December 2023.
Yes, First Horizon Bank’s deposit accounts, which include business checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit, are covered by FDIC up to $250,000 per account owner and ownership category.
Bottom Line
We recommend First Horizon Bank to businesses with low or moderate monthly transaction volumes. Its basic checking account offers a transaction allowance of 250 without charging a monthly fee. However, its higher-tier accounts are far less accessible since the monthly fee is only waivable when meeting high balances.
[1]App Store
[2]Google Play
[3]WalletHub
[4]DepositAccounts
