Free Business Checking accounts are a good choice for keeping overhead costs low. All business owners know how quickly small fees here and there can add up over the course of a month.
When you start looking around for a Business Checking account through your local bank, you’ll realize many feature-rich accounts have monthly fees and restrictions. Here are the most common fees you’ll come across with Business Checking accounts:
- Monthly Service Fee: This is a charge that occurs every month the account is open, and can range from $8 to $12, and sometimes $35 or more. Most will allow you to waive this fee with requirements such as keeping a specified average daily balance or by making a minimum number of debit transactions.
- Excess Transaction Fee: Many Business Checking accounts have transaction limits, and will charge you fees for overage. This can be up to 75 cents per transaction. You’ll need to be aware of how many monthly transactions you’ll require – things like writing checks, debit card transactions, and ATM deposits will count. Limits can range from 100 to 200 transactions depending on the bank and account you choose.
- Cash Handling Fee: This is when you get charged for going over the limit of cash you can deposit monthly. Typical amounts are 20 to 30 cents for each $100 you deposit over the cash handling limit. Businesses such as restaurants and convenience stores will need to consider this issue.
Free Business Checking accounts take care of the monthly maintenance fees. You’re then left with deciding on which account gives you the most features with the fewest restrictions and overage charges. Other factors particular to your individual situation include branch and ATM locations.
We reviewed the largest traditional banks and online banks to come up with the list of the best free Business Checking accounts below.
Other Banking Guides:
BEST FREE SMALL BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNTS
- Chase Business Complete Checking®
- Axos Bank Basic Business Checking
- Live Oak Bank Business Checking
- BlueVine Small Business Checking
- Novo Online Business Banking
- Found.com Business Banking Designed For Freelancers
- Lili Banking Designed For Your Business
- Oxygen Business Account
- Relay Business Banking
- Mercury Business Bank Account
- American Express® Business Checking
- Grasshopper Business Checking Account
Chase Business Complete Checking®
- Monthly Fee: $15 (waived when you maintain a minimum daily balance of $2,000)
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Chase Business Checking Offers
The Chase Business Complete Checking® account has all the basic checking needs for most small business owners. The monthly fee is waived with a $2,000 minimum daily balance.
See the current offer below:
Chase Business Complete Checking® $300 Offer
How To Earn The Bonus:
- Earn $300 when you open a new Chase Business Complete Checking® account. For new Chase business checking customers with qualifying activities.
- Where it’s available: Available Nationwide. Apply online or in-branch.
Offer Expires: January 18, 2024
Axos Bank Basic Business Checking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Axos Bank Offers
The Basic Business Checking account has no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum opening deposit requirement, and unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements.
See the current offer below:
Axos Bank Basic Business Checking Up To $400 Offer
How To Earn The Bonus:
- Business owners get up to $400 welcome bonus!* Choose smarter business banking by December 31 and enjoy up to $400.*
- Just use promo code NEW400 on your application.
- $300 Bonus when maintaining an average daily balance of between $25,000 and $49,999.99.
- $400 Bonus when maintaining an average daily balance of a minimum of $50,000 or greater.
Offer Expires: December 31, 2023
Live Oak Bank Business Checking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Live Oak Bank Offers
The Live Oak Bank Business Checking account has no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum opening deposit requirement. Open their Business Savings account to earn a high yield as well.
See the current offer below:
Live Oak Bank Promotions: Up to $300 Business Checking & Business Savings Bonuses (Nationwide) – Ended - Live Oak Bank is offering small businesses up to $300 in bonus cash for opening new business savings and business checking accounts ($150 bonus for each account). Update 10/18/2023: The offer has ended. For a business checking offer, you might… GET OFFERBlueVine Small Business Checking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: BlueVine Offers
The Small Business Checking account is for small businesses that like to do all their banking online. There are no monthly maintenance, NSF, ACH, or incoming wire fees. There is no minimum deposit or minimum balance requirement. This account also earns 1.5% interest on balances up to $100,000.
See the current offer below:
BlueVine Review: Small Business Free Checking (Unlimited Transactions & No Monthly Fees) - BlueVine (bluevine.com) was originally founded in 2013 as a source of capital for small businesses through invoice factoring and lines of credit. The company has since added a business checking account, designed to improve the banking experience for business owners.… GET OFFERNovo Online Business Banking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Novo Offers
Novo accounts do not have a minimum or maximum deposit amount. Novo accounts are completely free (no monthly service charge), and they do not have any regularly scheduled or hidden fees like many other business accounts.
Being a completely digital bank, cash deposits need to be made into another local bank and then transferred over. Check deposits are made within the app.
If you’re a small business looking for a digital-only banking option, the Business Checking account from Novo is worth a look.
See the current offer below:
Novo Online Business Promotions: $100 Business Checking Referral Bonus (Nationwide) – No End Date - Novo is an award-winning, no-fee, mobile-first banking platform built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. It offers a free business checking account with debit card access. There's no paperwork, no hidden fees and no minimum balance requirements. And best of all? It's… GET OFFERFound.com Business Banking Designed For Freelancers
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Found Offers
Found (found.com) is an all-in-one business banking solution that handles bookkeeping, taxes, invoicing and payments. There are no account maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements.
The best part of being self-employed is the flexibility to work as you like and make your own schedule. But this freedom also comes with a few headaches, including bookkeeping, invoicing, and tracking expenses for taxes. This is where Found comes into play.
See the current offer below:
Found.com – Business Banking Designed For Freelancers & Self-Employed - Found (found.com) is an all-in-one business banking solution that handles bookkeeping, taxes, invoicing and payments. There are no account maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements. The best part of being self-employed is the flexibility to work as you like… GET OFFERLili Banking Designed For Your Business
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Lili Offers
Lili is a banking service provider tailored to sole proprietors and single-member LLCs. There are no monthly services fees and no minimum balance requirements.
The app takes care of your checking account needs, taxes and accounting. All Lili accounts are FDIC insured through their partner bank Choice Financial Group.
See the current offer below:
Lili Banking $100 Bonus & $100 For Referrals (Up To $500) - Lili offers business banking that provides tax-planning tools specifically designed to help small-business owners effectively manage their expenses. Update 10/7/2023: The $100 bonus is still paused but Lili offers a great product designed for your business banking. Update 4/17/2023: Reportedly,… GET OFFEROxygen Business Account
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Oxygen Offers
The Oxygen business account is a fee-free, mobile-only option for small business owners.
There are no monthly fees and you’ll get unlimited fee-free transactions. You also have the option of forming an LLC from within the Oxygen app when you open your business account.
Get fee-free ATM access through the Allpoint network and deposit cash through the Green Dot network.
See the current offer below:
Oxygen Banking Bonus: $5/$10 Sign-Up Offer, Up To $110 Referrals & $429 For Brex Customers - Find Oxygen (Oxygen.us) banking promotions here. They're now offering a $5 or $10 cash bonus to new members. The banking and financial service also has a "give $5/$10, get $5/$10" referral promotion and others deals. More referral offers here. Update… GET OFFERRelay Business Banking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Relay Offers
Relay is an online banking and money management platform that doesn’t charge any fees. Take care of most of your business banking needs without the usual fees, branch visits or paperwork.
There are no accounts fees, no overdraft fees, no account minimums and no withdrawal fees at Allpoint ATMs.
See the current offer below:
Relay Financial Banking Promotion: $150 Signup Bonus For Affected Brex Customers [Nationwide] – Ended - Find up-to-date promotions and offers from Relay Financial Banking (relayfi.com) here. Typical offers range from $100-$150. Relay is an online bank designed for small businesses. They offer no-fee business checking with no minimum balance requirements, transaction limits, or overdraft fees.… GET OFFERMercury Business Bank Account
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: Mercury Offers
Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust®; Members FDIC.
They have great products tailored for startups. Get checking and savings accounts and access to their investor network. There are no service charges, overdrafts, minimum balances or hidden fees.
See the current offer below:
Mercury Banking For Startups Promotions: $500 Debit Card, $100 Ex-Brex Customer Offers (Nationwide) – No End Date - Find updated Mercury (mercury.com) promotions and offers here. Typical offers range from $100 to $500. Mercury is a financial technology fintech company, not a bank. Their banking products are provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members… GET OFFERAmerican Express® Business Checking
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
- Full Review: AmEx Business Checking Offers
Get no monthly fee and earn interest with this business checking account from American Express. You’ll also have unlimited fee-free transactions and no overdraft fees or stop-payment fees.
See the current offer below:
American Express Business Checking: Bonus Points Increased To 50,000 [Nationwide] – No End Date - Earn 30,000 50,000 Membership Rewards Points for a new American Express Business Checking account with this offer. These 30k 50k bonus points can be worth up to $600 $1,000. Update 11/7/2023: Launched back in October 2021, and initially exclusive to… GET OFFERAll information about the American Express® Business Checking has been collected independently by moneysmylife and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.
Grasshopper Business Checking Account
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Minimum Opening Deposit: $0
- Availability: Online nationwide
The Grasshopper account is a digital business checking account with no monthly fee. It also features unlimited cashback and interest, unlimited transactions, and tools to manage cash flow.
ACH transfers and incoming wires are also free.
See the current offer below:
Grasshopper Free Business Checking: Cash Back Rewards - Earn 1.51% APY and 1% cash back with the Grasshopper Business Checking account. Plus, no monthly fee and unlimited transactions. In 2019, Grasshopper (grasshopper.bank), a fully digital bank backed by the FDIC, opened for business. The bank works with small… GET OFFERMore on business checking:
- Top Business Checking Accounts for Small Businesses: A Comparison Guide
- 6 Things You MUST Consider When Choosing a BUSINESS CHECKING Account
- What’s The Difference Between Personal And Business Checking Accounts?
- The Role of Business Checking Accounts in Cash Flow Management
- Best Business Checking Accounts For Non-Profit Organizations
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.
I thought that it was interesting when you said that one thing to look into when opening a business checking account is the service fees. I have been thinking about starting my own business and am trying to determine what the proper steps to take are in order to ensure my success. I will be sure to ask my banker what fees I would be charged to open a business bank account so that I can expect certain charges and fit them into my budget.
I appreciate what you shared about cash handling fees and how they typically cost 20 to 30 cents for each $100 you deposit. Utilizing a reliable and safe free checking account is a great idea in order to keep your money secure. If I were to set up a free checking account, I would first locate the best business in my area in order to receive optimal service. https://unisonbank.com/personal/checking/