Novo vs Found Business Checking 2023: Which Is Best?
This article is part of a larger series on Business Banking.
Novo and Found offer some of the most useful business banking tools in today’s digital banking landscape. They provide unlimited transactions, built-in bookkeeping, and unlimited free invoicing.
Although both charge minimal fees, Novo provides more cost-saving features, which include unlimited ATM refunds and discounts on popular business software. It also offers lending services with easy requirements. Meanwhile, Found is more focused on providing blended banking and accounting. It comes with automated tax savings, receipt capture, and a built-in bookkeeping platform that uses your banking data to track tax write-offs and calculate real-time tax estimates.
Here is a summary of what each provider is best for:
- Novo Novo is a financial technology company, not a bank. It provides Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance on deposits up to $250,000 through a supporting bank partnership with Middlesex Federal Savings. is best for businesses needing rapid access to funds, faster payments, and fee-free ATM usage
- Found Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. It provides FDIC insurance on deposits up to $250,000 through a supporting bank partnership with Piermont Bank. is best for businesses seeking detailed expense categorization and extensive tax preparation assistance
Novo vs Found Business Checking Quick Comparison
When To Use
Comparison of Found vs Novo Business Checking Features
Novo | Found | |
---|---|---|
3.54 stars | 3.81 stars | |
Check Deposits | ★★★★ | ★★★ |
Cash Deposits | ★★ | ★★★★ |
ATM Network & Fees | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ |
Additional Debit Cards | ★★ | ★★★ |
Reserve Accounts | ★★★★ | ★★ |
Accounting Tools | ★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
Invoicing Tools | ★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
Cash Flow Boost | ★★★★ | ★★★★ |
ACH Transfers | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ |
Contractor Management | 0 | ★★★★★ |
Other Products | ★★★★★ | ★★★ |
Rating Explanation:
★★★★★ 5: This feature enhances your banking experience at little to no cost.
★★★★ 4: This feature has a few minor drawbacks/limits or comes at a slight cost.
★★★ 3: This feature has a few drawbacks/limits or comes at a slightly high cost.
★★ 2: This feature has a few major drawbacks/limits and comes at a high cost.
★ 1: This feature has major drawbacks/limits.
0: This feature is unavailable.
When comparing Found vs Novo business checking, Novo typically edges out Found when it comes to day-to-day transactions, such as check deposits, ATM fees, and ACH transfers. However, Found offers a wider range of useful and affordable digital business tools.
Novo: 4 out of 5
The Novo app has a mobile check deposit feature.
Found: 3 out of 5
The Found app supports mobile check deposits. However, not all users are eligible for this feature. The website does not list the criteria you need to meet to become eligible.
Novo: 2 out of 5
There is no direct way of depositing cash through Novo. Instead, you’re required to purchase and deposit a money order into the Novo app.
Found: 4 out of 5
Found lets you deposit cash through participating retail locations, which are listed in the Found app. Each deposit costs $2, and you have a deposit limit of $1,000 per week.
Novo: 5 out of 5
Novo does not charge ATM fees. At the end of each month, it refunds any ATM fees you may incur, including third-party operator fees and international ATM fees.
Found: 4 out of 5
You can use your Found debit card to make ATM transaction fees anywhere. However, it does not refund third-party operator fees.
Novo: 2 out of 5
You can issue one new debit card for every additional user. However, there is no way to control spending per card.
Found: 3 out of 5
With Found, you only get one physical debit card. However, you can issue up to 10 additional virtual debit cards and customize spending limits per card.
Novo: 4 out of 5
Novo lets you create up to 10 reserve accounts. This feature lets you split your balance into dedicated buckets, which helps you track how much money you have for expenses like payroll, inventory, taxes, and more.
Found: 2 out of 5
Aside from your main checking account, Found lets you create a dedicated tax savings account. The platform automatically transfers a percentage of every deposit marked as income into your tax savings account. This percentage is derived from your tax bracket and the amount of income you’ve reported in Found.
Novo: 4 out of 5
Novo automatically records and categorizes your business transactions. It uses your data to create monthly income, spending, and net cash flow reports.
Found: 5 out of 5
Found offers built-in accounting tools that help with record-keeping, reporting, and tax preparation. It records and categorizes every debit card transaction you make automatically. You can also use receipt capture to pull data from pictures of physical receipts.
Using this data, Found tracks tax write-offs, calculates real-time tax estimates, and generates real-time income, expense, and profit and loss reports.
If you upgrade to Plus, you can send your quarterly federal tax payments directly through Found.
Novo: 4 out of 5
The Novo platform comes with a free invoicing tool that lets you create, customize, and send an unlimited number of invoices. Invoices can be sent instantly or on a scheduled date. Through Novo invoices, you can accept payments through the following channels:
- ACH transfers
- Credit or debit card (processed through Stripe for a 2.9% plus a 30-cent fee)
- PayPal
- Venmo
Found: 5 out of 5
Like Novo, Found lets you create, customize, and send unlimited invoices. You can schedule invoices or send them instantly. Found edges out Novo by a very slight margin, as it lets you accept a wider range of payment options, including:
- Found to Found transfers
- ACH transfers
- Domestic wire transfers
- Credit or debit card (processed through Stripe for a 2.9% plus a 30-cent fee)
- Cash App
- Venmo
- PayPal
Novo: 4 out of 5
Novo’s cash flow boost feature (called Novo Boost) is best suited to businesses that rely on credit and debit card sales for revenue. It gives you access to Stripe payment processing funds two days early.
Found: 4 out of 5
Found’s direct deposit lets you receive client payments two days early, making it suitable for businesses that rely on client payments for revenue.
Novo: 5 out of 5
With Novo, ACH transfers are free. You can pay a fee worth 1.5% of the transaction amount (with a minimum of 50 cents and up to a maximum of $20) for Express ACH, which sends your payment within a faster window (usually same-day or next-day).
Found: 4 out of 5
Found offers unlimited free ACH transfers.
Novo: 0 out of 5
Novo does not offer contractor management tools.
Found: 5 out of 5
Found contractor management tools let you send unlimited contractor payments. Additionally, it helps your contractors report their taxes by collecting their W-9s and generating their 1099 forms automatically.
Novo: 5 out of 5
Outside of business checking, Novo offers three useful and accessible business services:
- Novo funding: MCAs up to $75,000 are available. Monthly factor rates start at 1.5%.
- Partner perks: Novo’s partner perks offer discounts on some of the most popular business software, such as Stripe, Gusto, and Google Workspace.
- LLC creation: Through a partnership with LegalZoom, Novo helps businesses with the paperwork involved in forming an LLC.
Found: 3 out of 5
Found offers a premium plan called Found Plus. Although useful, it is slightly pricey, with its monthly fee of $19.99. You have the option to save by paying an annual fee of $149.99 instead.
Exclusive Found Plus features include:
- 1.5% APY on balances up to $20,000
- Unlimited custom rules, categories, and tags
- Auto-imported receipt capture expenses
- Import banking data from banks, cards, PayPal, and Venmo accounts
- In-app tax payments
- Priority customer support
Novo vs Found Reviews From Users
Novo | Found | |
---|---|---|
Trustpilot Rating | 4.3 (based on 2,700-plus reviews[1]) | 4.6 (based on more than 200 reviews[2]) |
Users Like |
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Users Dislike |
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Novo and Found are both well-rated among users. On Trustpilot, Novo has a lower rating (4.3 stars) but more reviews (more than 2,700), while Found has a higher rating (4.6 stars) but fewer reviews (more than 200).
Positive reviews typically singled out each platform’s unique features. The features Novo users found most useful were its reserve accounts, integrations, and expense categorization. Meanwhile, Found users liked the platform’s tax tools, expense categorization, virtual debit cards, and receipt capture.
Both platforms received praise for having intuitive user interface (UI) and minimal fees but were criticized for providing poor customer service. Many Novo users criticized the provider for holding deposits for too long.
Negative Found reviews typically complained about the provider’s lack of support for cash and check deposits. However, Found has since built these features into its platform.
Bottom Line
Choosing between Novo vs Found business checking is a matter of narrowing down which services you need most. If you want an all-in-one blended banking and accounting solution, Found is the better choice—its bookkeeping tools are more thorough compared to Novo. However, Novo provides a broader range of services, which include business lending, LLC creation, and business software discounts.
User review references:
1Trustpilot | Novo
2Trustpilot | Found
Novo is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, Member FDIC.
Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Piermont Bank, Member FDIC.