If you are operating as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), you need to open a business checking account in the LLC name as a legal entity that owns funds in your business. This will be very helpful in the event of a lawsuit or large liability as it is proof that you & your business are distinct financial entities. With that said, we evaluated several financial institutions around the country and narrowed your search for the best business checking accounts for LLC to just ten business bank accounts.
Let’s jump right in…
Top 10 Best Business Bank Accounts for LLCs of October 2022
- NOVO – Most convenient
- Chase – Editor’s Choice
- Bluevine – Most Potency
- Bank Of America – Best Variety
- Capital One – Most versatile
- Azlo – Best integrated
- CIT Bank – Best interest rate
- Bank Silver – Most basic
- Apple Bank SimpleValue – Best mobile banking
- America First Credit Union – Best for scalability
Bank Of America
- Options to waive monthly fee
- Higher minimum free deposits
- Free transaction limit
Azlo
- ATM access
- Free services
- Integrated invoicing
Open Account
Apple Bank SimpleValue
- Straightforward interface
- Online and mobile banking
- Free direct deposit
10 Best Business Checking Accounts for LLCs 2022
Chase Business Checking Account
Chase offers the best branches and ATM access, the lowest monthly service fees & simple options to waive, as well as affordable minimum balance requirements to maintain your account.
- Offer business banking services in more than 4,700 branches & over 16,000 ATM access nationwide.
- Low minimum balance requirement to avoid the monthly service fee
- Offer some of the best debit and credit cards
- Have low-interest rate
- Fewer number of free transactions
You only need to maintain a minimum daily balance requirement of $1,500 in order to avoid Chase’s otherwise cheaper monthly charges. However, you can explore multiple ways to avoid their monthly service fee by opting for Chase business complete banking. Chase business complete banking is both a business checking account and point of sale. It offers a same-day deposit at no additional cost, build in card acceptance and fraud protection services.
Chase back these perks with several other rewards, including 100 fee-free transactions per month, $5,5000 free cash deposits per month, credit & debit card services, convenient online banking, and much more. The best part, the institution boasts more than 4,700 branches and 16,000 ATM access nationwide with unlimited domestic ATM fees.
Bluevine Business Checking Account
If you have been looking for the best small business checking account for LLC, here is an online business banking provider that guarantees a faster but free LLC account formation.
- 0 monthly fee charges
- No monthly maintenance fee required
- No opening deposit
- Offer sign up bonus
- Offer free business debit card & online bill pay
- Don’t offer branch location
- Focus on small business
- No separate business saving
BlueVine saves you from weeks of waiting for your LLC checking bank account to be opened. The provider does not only enable you to open a business checking account for LLC in a minute but there is no opening deposit required.
Once the account is set, you are free to enjoy their unlimited free transaction, 0 monthly fee, and no monthly maintenance fees balance requirements to maintain your account.
In addition to all the perks, you get access to more than 38,000 ATM locations nationwide and get rewarded with 1% ongoing APY interest for maintaining amounts of more than $1,000 in your account.
Bank Of America
If you deal with a lot of cash, Bank of America offers you 200 free cash deposits per month before imposing some charges.
- Fee free minimum deposit of up to $7,500
- 200 free monthly transactions
- Low charges for opening new bill pay, and credit card with qualifying activities
- Their monthly service fees are a bit higher
- No signup bonus stated
- Relatively higher minimum balance requirements
The Bank of America offers you up to $7,500 free minimum deposit before they start levying a 30 cent charge for every $100 cash deposited on top of the limit. As though that is not enough, they allow up to 200 free transactions per month.
Though they impose higher monthly charges than Chase’s, they offer several simple ways to waive, including:
- Spending at least $250 per month in new purchases on a small business debit/credit card.
- Hit a monthly maintenance fee of not less than $5,000
- Maintaining a minimum daily balance requirement of $3,000
- Keeping a combined average monthly balance requirement of at least $15,000 in their linked account
- Qualifying and enrolling in their preferred reward for business program
Even more, this traditional U.S bank offers one of the best business debit card services, mobile business banking, and credit card services.
Capital One
For a large volume transaction, here is a national bank that offers free unlimited transactions.
- No transaction limits
- More than 39,000 in-network ATMs
- Easy to waive monthly fees
- Offer 5 business credit cards
- Charge a higher monthly fee with the spark unlimited account
- No online transaction
Most LLC checking banks that deal with cash will indicate the number of free transactions you will have to make before they start imposing some fees. Far be it from this traditional U.S bank. It offers an unlimited number of free transactions per month with all the account options.
With their most popular account, the Spark Unlimited, you get up to $40,000 free cash deposits per month, unlimited transactions, and avoid monthly fees if your 30 or 90-day account minimum balance requirement is $25,000. The good news, the institution offers 750 branches and more than 39,000 in-network ATMs nationwide.
Novo Business Checking Accounts
For a service that can accommodate a rapidly growing business, Novo offers four different accounts to shift as your business scales up.
- Great debit & credit card services.
- 200 monthly transactions
- Different account options
- Options to waive monthly fees
- Offer online banking
- They don’t offer simple introductory
You need a business checking account that suits your current business & is capable of accommodating it in the future. This will help you avoid the charges involved while switching accounts between banks.
Novo offers four options to enable you to shift accounts within the institution as your business scales up. This makes it ideal for both large and small business owners.
The best part, is all the accounts have very generous offers. The most popular Basic Business Checking account allows you to make a $7,500 monthly minimum deposit for free and only charges 30 cents for every $100 cash deposited above the limit. Besides, you stand to enjoy 200 fee-free transactions per month followed by affordable charges afterward.
Despite their low monthly charges, they still offer several ways to avoid the charges, including:
- Have a monthly maintenance fee balance of $7,500
- Maintaining a combined of $1000 between business checking, time account, saving, and credit card.
- Making a payment or purchasing more than 10 posted business debit cards.
- Qualifying transactions from their linked business payroll services
- Qualifying transaction from a Well Fargo Merchant services linked account
Azlo Business Checking Account
Open Account
For an online small business checking account that allows access to a large number of ATMs nationwide, this could be the best. Besides, the ATM services are free.
- Access to more than 55,000 ATMs countrywide
- Free for nearly every service
- Integrate with PayPal, Squares, and Stripes
- Offer sign up bonus
- No minimum deposit required
- Doesn’t accept cash deposit
- No branch location
- No ATM reimbursement for out of network ATMs
With Azlo, you will never pay for nearly everything: No transaction fees; no minimum balance requirements / monthly maintenance fee; no monthly service charges, no minimum opening deposit, and no ATM charges. For that reason, it is one of the best business checking accounts options for small business owners.
The best part is, they offer 55,000 ATMs across the country. You can process the transactions online and make a withdrawal in any of the in-network ATMs nationwide for free. However, unlike some online banks, you should not expect an ATM repayment for out-of-network ATMs.
CIT Bank Checking Account
If you have been searching for online bank business checking account options that would enable you to form separate accounts for your LLC, look no further than this.
- Form a separate online business checking accounts
- Reimbursement in all domestic ATMs
- Ideal for both small and large business owners
- Require opening deposit
- High maintenance balance requirements
- No signup bonus
What strikes the difference between CIT bank and most online banks is that it enables you to form separate business checking accounts for each of your properties. This would be very crucial to someone who runs a real estate business.
CIT is not a free business checking account like most online providers. To get started with Axos bank, you will have to pay a minimum opening deposit of $1000 to activate your account. Once that is met, you are sure to access a variety of features with their most popular bank Basic business checking account, including:
- Savings Connect – APY Rate: 0.90%, Multiplier: 12x
- Money Market Account (Promo) – APY Rate: 0.70%, Multiplier: 8x
- Savings Builder – APY Rate: 0.55%, Multiplier: 7x
Bank Silver Business Checking Account
A small business owner looking for convenient online banking here is a great deal.
- No monthly maintenance fees
- Convenient online banking
- Allow ATM access
- Require an initial deposit
- Doesn’t include a lot of features
This bank is designed for small business owners that are looking for a free business checking account. With a U.S bank silver business checking account, you can make up to 25 cash minimum deposits per month, 125 fee-free monthly transactions. Other benefits include free mobile check deposits, online banking, mobile app, business credit card, and debit card services.
What makes this bank ideal for small business checking accounts is the fact that no monthly maintenance fees are required to keep your business banking funds to a minimum. However, there is an initial deposit of $100 required to open a Silver business checking account.
Apple Bank SimpleValue
Apple Bank SimpleValue offers a variety of features with 0 monthly fee and free 200 transactions.
- Up to 200 free transactions
- No monthly charges once you maintain a monthly $5,000 average
- Require initial deposit
- Ideal for small business only
While some local banks will enable you to set up a free business checking accounts, Apple Bank SimpleValue requires at least a $ 500 minimum opening deposit. But that statement should not put you off! Once the minimum opening deposit is met, you are guaranteed 200 fee-free transactions per month coupled with zero monthly maintenance fee once you maintain a $5,000 average monthly balance.
Though we consider it a local financial institution, it is fast-growing and can now serve business owners in Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Rockland, Nassau, Queens, Bronx, and Westchester.
America First Credit Union
America First Credit offers four free business checking account options for new and small businesses.
- Free transaction for up 250 transactions
- Low transaction charges afterward
- Offers four different account options
- Low monthly fee
- Only ideal for small business owners
- Limited to Nevada and Uta residence
The America First Credit Union offers four business checking accounts that are great for small business scalability and growth. Their most popular choice is a basic business checking account that offers 250 fee-free transactions per month.
Their most superior checking account is Non-profit which is meant for non-profit incorporation and associations. Other accounts are Premier and high Yield that is characterized by low monthly charges and transaction fees.
How We Evaluated the Best Business Checking Bank Accounts for LLC
We reviewed and evaluated several businesses checking accounts for LLC based on the following categories:
Online Banking Providers
We arrived at the best business checking accounts for LLC in this category by considering free services, availability of online-based applications as well as digital tools like online invoicing, mobile check deposit, online bill pay, credit card services, sign up bonus, debit card services, initial deposit among others. Our top online business checking account options included BlueVine, Axos, U.S Silver business, and Azlo.
National brick-and-mortar banks
We evaluated various LLC business checking accounts in this category based on the number of branches and ATM access across the country. We also considered multiple account options, initial deposit, cash deposits per month, monthly fee, transaction limits, and other offers such as credit card services, debit card services, bill pay, mobile check deposit services, etc.
Our best business checking accounts for LLC top picks in this category included Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, & Wells Fargo.
Local banks/credit unions
They are small business checking accounts with friendly credit services within your locality. In essence, they have similar account features to national brick-and-mortar banks but are ideal for small businesses. This is because they have less operational cost and you can find some free business checking accounts in this category. Our top picks in this category were Apple Bank SimpleValue and America First Credit Union.
How to Open an LLC checking account
Requirements for opening business checking accounts for LLC vary with the financial institution. But in general, it is hard to miss out on the following requirements:
- Personal or business identification [Social security Card/EIN and driver’s license].
- Organization documents (business name certificate, article of incorporation, LLC operating agreement).
- Business Licenses
Once you have the requirements, the application process for most business accounts is usually hassled free and only takes some minutes, especially for the online providers. All you need to do is to follow the guidelines.
Conclusion
Choosing the best business checking account for LLC should be very simple after going through our reviews & guide. The bottom line: the best business checking institution should have all the features that cater to your business needs and are affordable.
To help you choose from our best business checking accounts top picks: if you run a large business that deals in cash, you need a business bank account from the national U.S bank category. For small businesses that deal in cash, it is prudent to open an account for your LLC checking with the local banks. Consequently, if you want to take your bank account activities entirely online, consider the online provider.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I Need a Business Checking Account for an LLC?
If you are operating as a limited liability company, you will always open an account in the LLC name as the legal entity that owns the funds in your account. However, you can put the DBA on the account as additional information. That way, you can receive transactions as the legal LLC name or as a DBA.
Which Bank is Best for LLC?
The best bank for an LLC will depend on your needs. As we always summarize it, there are never top three! Your business needs will play the greatest role in determining the best.
What is the Best LLC Checking Account?
This will depend on your business needs as well. For instance, if you need the best for cash-based LLC, opening a business checking account with America bank will be ideal; for free checking with a low account balance Chase is the best; for growing LLC, Well Fargo; for an online base transaction you opening a business checking account with any of our top pick online providers is ideal, and so on.
Can I Use a Regular Checking Account for an LLC?
The simple answer is no! Using a personal account for your business transaction will compromise the limited liability you receive through the legal entity you have registered.
Is the NBKC Business Checking Account Legit?
NBKC in itself is a Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating. Besides, there are no complaints from users and these prove that they offer good checking account services.
FAQs
Which bank is best suited for small businesses? ›
- Best Overall: Chase.
- Best for Online-Only Checking: Axos Bank.
- Best Credit Union: Navy Federal Credit Union.
- Best for Number of Branches: Wells Fargo.
- Best for Business Analysis: M&T Bank.
- Best Fee-Free Brick-And-Mortar Checking: US Bank.
You are legally obliged to have a business bank account if you have a limited company. That's because a limited company, or a Limited Liability Partnership, is a separate legal entity from you as an individual, and as such it needs a separate business account.
What bank doesn't charge monthly fees for a business account? ›Axos Bank® Basic Business Checking
The free online business account has no monthly fee or minimum opening deposit requirement, delivers 24/7 customer support and offers free nationwide ATM access with unlimited refunds for fees charged by other banks and ATM operators in the U.S.
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