The online-only banking platform Novo is an excellent option for organizations needing affordable business checking accounts. The Novo business checking account has no monthly fees or minimum opening deposit requirements and offers unlimited free transactions and unlimited ATM fee refunds. It also offers built-in budgeting tools and instant access to Stripe payouts.
Pros
- No monthly fees or minimum balance requirements
- Refunds all ATM fees
- Free budgeting tools
Cons
- No brick-and-mortar stores
- No direct cash deposit feature
- No interest-earning options
Features
- Integrates with business tools, such as QuickBooks, Slack, Xero, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Wise, and Shopify
- Set aside funds for taxes and other large business expenses with Novo Reserves
- Receive Stripe payouts faster through Novo Boost
- Deposit checks directly through the mobile app
- Online banking includes unlimited invoicing and bill pay
- Accessible financing through Novo Funding
How Novo Stacks Up With Its Competitors
Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | Cash Deposit Fee | ATM Fee | Minimum Opening Deposit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Business Checking | N/A | None; cash is deposited through money orders | Refunds all ATM fees | None |
 Business Checking | $4.95 per deposit; accepted at Green Dot locations | None at MoneyPass ATMs | None | |
Visit Bluevine
Bluevine is a fintech company, not a bank. It provides deposit services and FDIC insurance through a supporting bank partnership with Coastal Community Bank.
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 Relay Standard | N/A | None at Allpoint+ ATMs | None at Allpoint ATMs | None |
Visit Relay
Relay is a fintech company, not a bank. It provides deposit services and FDIC insurance through supporting bank partnerships with Thread Bank and Evolve Bank & Trust.
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When Novo Is a Good Fit
- You make frequent ATM withdrawals: Novo refunds ATM fees at the end of each month, giving you the freedom to make transactions at any ATM network of your choice.
- You want a fee-free business banking experience: Novo charges no fees for monthly maintenance, day-to-day transactions, and automated clearing house (ACH) transfers.
- Your business accepts payments through Stripe: The Novo Boost feature lets you access funds earned from Stripe two days early at no additional cost.
- You frequently send payments through ACH: Novo offers Express ACH, a feature that lets you send same-day ACH payments, making your funds immediately available in comparison to other providers.
When Novo Isn’t a Good Fit
- You need fee-free cash deposit support: You can only deposit cash into your Novo account by purchasing money orders, which typically have fees of $2 or more. Relay lets you deposit cash fee-free at Allpoint+ ATMs. Read our comparison of Relay vs Novo business checking for a side-by-side breakdown of both accounts.
- You want your business checking account to earn interest: The Novo business checking account is a noninterest-bearing account. The best platform for earning interest is Bluevine, which offers 2.00% APY on balances of $250,000 and less if you successfully meet its monthly activity requirements. Learn more about the differences between Novo and Bluevine through our Novo vs Bluevine business checking comparison.
- You seek built-in tax preparation assistance: Although Novo offers automatic transaction categorization and insight tools, it lacks streamlined tax preparation assistance features. Meanwhile, the fintech solution Found helps you automatically save for taxes and uses your banking data to generate real-time tax estimates. We compared Novo vs Found business checking to help you determine which platform suits you better.
Check out our roundup of the best small business checking accounts for additional recommendations.
Novo Business Checking Overview
Novo Business Checking Requirements
Only business owners aged 18 and older and residing in the United States are allowed to open accounts with Novo. Your business must also be registered in the US. You are also required to have the following:
- Signed personal ID
- Mobile phone using one of the major US carriers
- US Social Security number
- US address
Additional Novo business checking requirements differ depending on your business entity type. The company will review your business documents upon application.
Typically, Novo will communicate with your state’s secretary of state to locate whatever additional documents it may still need. However, if Novo is unable to find the needed documents, you will be required to prepare them yourself.
Expand your entity type for a list of documents Novo may require.
- Operating agreement
- Articles of organization
- Partnership agreement
- Certificate of partnership
- Company bylaws
- Articles of incorporation
- Proof of address
- Doing-business-as (DBA) certificate, if applicable
Novo Business Checking Features
Novo Debit Cards
Your Novo business checking account comes with one free physical debit card and one free virtual card. The physical debit card, which includes an EMV chip, is accepted worldwide.
You can activate your Novo Virtual Card via the app to spend funds online or through Apple Pay or Google Pay before receiving your physical debit card.
ATM Fees Refunded Each Month
If you don’t need a physical location for your business banking needs and use ATMs frequently, Novo is a good choice. Despite not having a dedicated ATM network, Novo refunds ATM fees at the end of the month.
Novo Mobile App
The Novo mobile app lets you do the following:
- Manage cards
- Pay bills
- Process ACH transfers
- Deposit checks and money orders
- Categorize transactions
- Manage Novo Reserves
It has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on the App Store[1] (based on 13,000-plus reviews) and 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google Play[2] (based on more than 4,000 reviews). Positive reviews indicate that the app is fast and user-friendly, with many customers having praised it for having useful integrations and features. Conversely, users said that customer service left much to be desired.
Novo Boost
Novo Boost is a feature that gives you faster access to revenue from Stripe. Typically, it will take your bank account two business days to receive its Stripe payouts. The Novo Boost feature cuts the wait time down to a few hours.
The platform plans on adding this feature for other payment processing platforms in the future.
Novo Reserves
The Novo Reserves feature lets you create dedicated buckets for taxes, profit, payroll, and other large business expenses. Novo lets you have 10 reserves at a time. You can move money in and out of each reserve through the app.
Business Software Integration
Novo integrates with popular business software, including Wise, Slack, Xero, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify, and QuickBooks.
Novo Invoicing
You can create, customize, and send invoices for free through the Novo app or website. There is no limit to the number of invoices you can make.
Novo Invoicing accepts payments from the following platforms:
- Stripe, Square, and PayPal via integrations
- ACH transfers
- Credit and debit card payments
The platform also provides the following invoice management features:
- The ability to create one-time or recurring invoices
- Invoice duplication
- One-click payment reminders
Service & Product Discounts
The Novo Perks program provides discounts on business products and services, including popular business platforms, such as Stripe, Google Cloud, QuickBooks, Gusto, and HubSpot.
Transfer Funds, Send Payments & Deposit Checks or Money Orders
You can transfer money in or out of Novo through the app with no minimum deposit. This includes sending payments directly from Novo. You can also deposit checks and money orders directly through the app.
Other Novo Business Products
Novo provides merchant cash advances of up to $75,000 through Novo Funding, and monthly rates can go as low as 1.5%. You can apply for Novo Funding online. Novo typically takes 24 hours or less to review applications, and once approved, you gain instant access to your funds.
Novo Business Checking Reviews From Users
Most user-published Novo business checking reviews are positive. The company has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot[3] (based on nearly 3,000 reviews). Recurring comments include the following:
- Great value: Customers like that most of Novo’s services are free and that the platform never charges hidden fees.
- User-friendly: Most users found Novo’s interface easy to use and navigate.
- Useful tools: Positive reviews typically left praise for Novo Reserves and Novo Invoicing.
- Poor customer service: While customers said that Novo typically works seamlessly, the few reviewers who experienced issues said that the customer service team was slow to address their concerns.
Bottom Line
If you are looking for affordable business checking and don’t need access to in-person banking services, Novo is a good choice. Useful features—such as reserve accounts, invoicing tools, and business discounts—help streamline the banking experience at no additional cost. The platform is particularly suitable for businesses that use Stripe for payment processing since the Novo Boost feature provides faster access to Stripe payouts.
User review references:
1App Store
2Google Play
3Trustpilot
