The Watertown Savings Bank Commercial Checking account is a great option for companies that need affordable checking options. The account has no monthly fee or minimum balance requirements and provides online banking, mobile banking, bill pay, and a free business debit card.
If you need additional banking services, the bank also offers savings accounts, money market accounts, lending products, and increased Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance via Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) and Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) programs.
Pros
- No monthly fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- Increased FDIC insurance through ICS and CDARS
Cons
- Limited ATM and branch locations
- Branch visit required for account opening
- No interest-earning options and business credit cards
Features
- Watertown Savings Bank Visa Debit Card
- Online and mobile banking with free bill pay and budgeting tools
- Savings accounts, commercial lending, ICS, and CDARS
- QuickBooks and Quicken integrations
How Watertown Savings Bank Stacks Up With Its Competitors
When Watertown Savings Bank Is a Good Fit
- You want to bank without a monthly fee: There are no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements for Commercial Checking. As a bonus, there are no fees for savings accounts, money market accounts, and health savings accounts (HSAs).
- You seek budgeting assistance: Digital banking provides free access to a money tracker feature, which syncs with your banking information and provides useful budgeting tools. With the money tracker, you can track and categorize transactions, set spending targets, organize cash flow calendars, and create savings goals.
- You need extended FDIC insurance: Watertown Savings Bank’s ICS and CDARS programs let businesses spread funds exceeding $250,000 into multiple FDIC-insured accounts.
When Watertown Savings Bank Is Not a Good Fit
- You want nationwide physical branches: Watertown Savings Bank operates exclusively in New York. A provider with greater geographic coverage is Chase, which has more than 4,700 branches in 48 states. Read our Chase business checking review to determine which of the bank’s three accounts fits your needs best.
- You want to earn interest on checking deposits: Watertown Savings Bank’s Commercial Checking account doesn’t earn interest. We recommend Bluevine as the best provider for high-yield APY. It earns interest at a rate of 2.00% APY on qualifying balances of $250,000 or less, provided you meet Bluevine’s activity requirements. For more information, check out our review of Bluevine business checking.
- You need access to business credit cards: Watertown Savings Bank doesn’t offer business credit cards. A better option would be Capital One, which has a large selection of credit cards for small businesses. You can review our list of the best Capital One business credit cards to see the different features of each card.
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.
Watertown Savings Bank Business Checking Overview
Watertown Savings Bank Business Checking Requirements
To open a business checking account with Watertown Savings Bank, you’re required to visit one of its physical banking center locations. Prior to opening an account, you’ll be asked to provide the following:
- Physical address
- Date of birth
- Social Security number or employer identification number (EIN)
- Contact information
Other Watertown Savings Bank business checking requirements may include additional documents related to your business entity type. For a checklist of documents banks typically require, refer to our guide on how to open a business bank account.
Watertown Savings Bank Business Checking Features
Watertown Savings Bank Debit Card
Your Watertown Savings Bank Commercial Checking account comes with its own free business debit or ATM card. Each transaction you make will be listed automatically on your monthly checking statement. The Watertown Savings Bank Debit Card can be connected to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay for contactless purchases.
Free Business Bill Pay
Watertown Savings Bank offers free and unlimited monthly bill payment services. Bill payments are sent electronically or through paper checks.
Transaction limits apply, and bill payments to businesses have a limit of $50,000 per day. When making bill payments to individuals, you have a limit of $3,000 per item and cannot exceed $6,000 per day. Only United States entities are accepted as payees.
The bank charges $5 as a monthly inactivity fee to enrolled users who have failed to use the service for over 12 months.
Digital Banking
Through Watertown Savings Bank’s free digital banking, you can do the following:
- View transactions
- Transfer funds
- Check statements
- View check images
- Track spending
- Use business bill pay
Money Tracker
With digital banking, you also get a budget assistance feature called Money Tracker, which uses transaction data to track spending and provide a visual picture of financial health. Money Tracker lets you do the following:
- Categorize transactions
- Set up monthly spending targets
- Create cash flow calendars to track incoming bills and paychecks
- Create payoff and savings goals
- Set up spending alerts
Mobile App
The Watertown Savings Bank app, available on iOS and Android, offers mobile check deposit, which lets account holders deposit money by uploading snapshots of physical checks to the app. A daily mobile deposit limit applies, and business clients are automatically enrolled in Plan 1, the free plan.
Plans | Cost | Daily Deposit and Item Limit | Monthly Deposit and Item Limit |
---|---|---|---|
1 | $0 | $2,500, 10 items | $10,000, 25 items |
2 | $25 | $4,000, 10 items | $10,000, 50 items |
3 | $37.50 | $6,000, 10 items | $15,000, 75 items |
4 | $50 | $8,000, 10 items | $20,000, 100 items |
You can request an increase in the daily or monthly deposit amount by sending a message to the digital banking center found in the app. Checks drawn from a foreign financial institution containing a foreign routing number are not accepted for mobile deposits—they must be deposited at a branch.
The app has a rating of 4.8 on the App Store[1] (based on more than 1,100 reviews) and 4.4 on Google Play[2] (based on 100-plus reviews). Users found the app easy to use and navigate. However, some criticized the app for failing to display balance updates in a timely manner.
Other Watertown Savings Bank Business Products
The bank has savings accounts and money market accounts. Both earn an APY of 0.10% on balances of $100 and above. The minimum opening deposit is $10, and there’s no monthly fee.
For savings accounts, the interest is compounded daily and paid each quarter, while for money market accounts, the interest is paid per month.
The HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account that combines with high-deductible health insurance. Considered a benefit product, HSA contributions can be used to pay for a variety of eligible medical expenses.
Balances less than $5,000 earn 0.05% interest, while balances worth $5,000 and over generate 0.10%. The interest is compounded daily and paid each month. The account charges no monthly fee and has a minimum opening deposit of $25.
Watertown Savings Bank offers the following lending products:
- Small business loans
- Small Business Administration (SBA) loans
- Construction loans
- Commercial mortgages
- Business lines of credit
- Letters of credit
- Equipment financing
It focuses on bringing specialized services for local businesses. Collaborations with economic development agencies in the Jefferson County, New York, area help Watertown Savings Bank point its customers to relevant tax relief programs or special financing opportunities.
To help businesses expand FDIC insurance coverage on funds greater than $250,000, the bank’s ICS breaks balances down into units less than $250,000 and spreads each unit across multiple FDIC-insured financial institutions.
Although funds are spread out, ICS account holders only need to make deposits and withdrawals through Watertown Savings Bank. They’ll only receive their statements from Watertown Savings Bank.
Businesses with over $250,000 in funds can also expand their FDIC insurance coverage by placing their investment in Watertown Savings Bank’s CDARS, which spreads funds in amounts less than $250,000 across CDs in multiple FDIC-insured banks. Although funds grow wealth in multiple CDs, CDARS account holders will only receive their monthly statements from Watertown Savings Bank.
Watertown Savings Bank Business Checking Reviews From Users
As of writing, no Watertown Savings Bank business checking reviews have been published on user review platforms.
Bottom Line
The Watertown Savings Bank Commercial Checking account is a terrific business checking option for Jefferson County-based companies wanting to save on monthly service fees and transaction fees. However, because of its limited service area, it may not be a good fit for businesses operating beyond the towns of Watertown, Adams, Sackets Harbor, Clayton, Chaumont, and Alexandria Bay.