When you’re starting up in one of the best small business markets in the world, you need to know which bank accounts are best for US small businesses.
In order to give you a concise but detailed answer, we scoured the information pages of various American banks and settled on two different types: larger banks and smaller banks. We think they’re both of value, so we gave you an overview of all of them.
We’ll start with the big boys and then move on to the smaller fish. Nonetheless, despite their sizes, they all offer the same thing: some great banking options for US small businesses.
Bank of America Business Fundamentals
Bank of America is the largest bank in the US and therefore it offers great choices for US small businesses. This includes online support, mobile apps, and many other features.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $17 (avoid fee with minimum daily $3,000 or average monthly $5,000 balance) |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $0 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 200 transactions, $0.45 after |
| Overdraft fees | $35.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $7,500 each month, then $0.30 for each $100 |
| Non-Bank ATM | $2.50 in US, $5.00 outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
Wells Fargo Business Choice Checking
Wells Fargo has many great options for its business checking accounts. These plans are all great for US small businesses. However, we’ve highlighted one that is great for a small business just starting up.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $14 (avoid fee with minimum $7,500 average ledger balance, 5 other ways) |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $25 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 200 transactions, $0.50 after |
| Overdraft fees | $35.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $7,500 each month, then $0.30 for each $100 |
| Non-Bank ATM | $2.50 in US, $5.00 outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
Citibank Business Streamlined Checking
Citibank offers many competitive business accounts. However, unlike the other large banks listed here, Citibank makes it quite difficult to find out any more information about its fees and charges schedule. Some of the information had to be discovered from other sources.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $15 (avoid fee with minimum $5,000 monthly balance) |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $25 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 250 transactions |
| Overdraft fees | $34.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $10,000 each month, 0.3% after |
| Non-Bank ATM | $2.50 in US, $2.00 + 3% outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
PNC Bank Business Checking
The first of our smaller banks is PNC Bank. This bank offers great options at lower prices, but you’ll be giving up some of the benefits of larger banks—and gaining some benefits as well.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $12 (avoid fee with minimum $1,500 average monthly balance, 2 other ways) |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $100 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 150 transactions, $0.50 after |
| Overdraft fees | $36.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $5,000 each month, $0.25 after |
| Non-Bank ATM | $3.00 in US, $5.00 + 3% outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
US Bank Silver Business Package
US Banks is one of the few American banks that offer no monthly fee and no monthly opening deposit for US small businesses. The other features are quite attractive too.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $0 |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $0 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 150 transactions, $0.50 after |
| Overdraft fees | $36.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $2,500 each month, $0.25 after |
| Non-Bank ATM | $2.00 in US, $3.00 + 3% outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
Navy Federal Credit Union Business Checking
As a credit union, this is one of the more beneficial and interesting bank accounts for US small businesses. At Navy Federal, all business accounts earn interest. There are some other great options too.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $0 |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $0 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 30 transactions, $0.25 after |
| Overdraft fees | $36.00 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Unstated |
| Non-Bank ATM | $1.00 in US, 0.8%-1% outside of US |
First Citizens Bank Basic Business Checking
This is advantageous because it’s a free business checking account. Only US bank offers better free conditions, although the charges and fees here are lower.
| Account Feature | Cost |
| Monthly fee | $0 |
| Minimum Opening Deposit | $100 |
| Monthly transactions | No fees up to 175 transactions, $0.40 after |
| Overdraft fees | $30-$40 for each overdraft |
| Cash Deposits | Free for first $5,000 each month, $0.16 after |
| Non-Bank ATM | $.85 in US, 2.15% outside US+ATM operator’s fee |
The best business accounts for US small businesses
Of course, this may come as a no-brainer, but there is no single best business checking account for all US small businesses. The country is just too large.
However, it is good to begin to research and find out what are the conditions that you fall in: how much your average monthly balance can be, how many transactions you’ll make per month, amount of cash deposits, etc.
After working out those basics, it’ll be much easier for you to choose the best bank accounts that suit your small business.
Good luck!