The wife and I have set up a small business entity and I am looking for some small business friendly banks to have a basic checking account and credit card with to take care of the day to day and start up costs for the business.  

I'm doing this to keep personal assets separate and for tax reasons.

Who do you recommend/use for banking in your small business?

Local banks up here, no one you have down there.
They are all a ripoff since the Dodd-Frank act. Fees are just stupid.
I want to change over to a credit union.
You can open biz accounts in the bank your using now, life is easier if they
are in the same bank.
If you need to accept credit cards the Square system is fantastic, I saved $7200
last year by switching to the Square system.

We are with a Members Choice Credit Union.

I have my investment property with a credit union. My main business is with a megabank.

We actually use a big bank for both personal and business, Chase bank.

We had a personal checking account already setup. We scheduled a setup meeting with a small business banker, they were very professional.

Initially, we only put in $2,500 as starter money to open the account checking account but we knew the account would grow. They were very helpful and didn't mind that it was only $2,500 to start meaning, they didn't treat us any differently as two years ago we were small on the revenue side.

Then we opened a Chase business credit card. Thereby they are both linked to our login on the app/web and we can see both.

The next advantage is when we run payroll, it's automated to transfer the money from the business account to our personal checking account. Very clean and smooth.

The biggest advantage was Quickbooks Online accounting software, syncs with the Chase Business accounts easily. We run payroll in QB while it actually tells Chase Business the dollar amounts then automates the process. Also, when we pay quarterly taxes, it's easy to do from the chase login.

Then the expenses charged to the credit card and the debit card, automatically post in Quickbooks as well tracking everything.


It works like a champ and we're very pleased from both perspectives.

Another data point for you.


How much seed money were you looking to start with? What type of transactions will you be running, invoice with 30 day terms or other? Electronic payments, cash, or checks? What accounting software would you be running? Will you be running payroll or owner draw? Do you have a tax professional that will access your books on a bi-monthly-monthly-quarterly basis?

I use a local community bank for personal and business bank accounts.

PlusByEMS for credit card processing (fees lower than Square and they're firearm-friendly where Square is not).

Local small regional banks for me until they're all gone...

AMEX business for CC.

I switched from one of the big guys to a well regarded local community bank.

They appreciate my business.

Chase bank. I run a mid-sized business with a few million a year in receivables. Chase treats me very, very well. Their fees are occasionally stupid, but on the balance I feel it's worthwhile.

Also, if you get a visa card and like to travel... get a business visa and a personal sapphire visa card. Transfer the points from the business to yourself and go globe trotting. One of the best parts of being in business.

I approve this approach.

Guys,

Thanks for the input.  This is a small startup so no employees and will be a pass-thru entity to "pay" me and the Mrs.

I have a lot with BoA but their business side is either you only need a few hundred bucks to get started but we will charge you for EVERYTHING or we need 25k in monthly recepits and you can get in for free.   I'm a LONG way from 25k a month!

We looked at couple of smaller regional banks but it seemed like access (proximity) was the big issue.

Thanks again!

I bank with Wells Fargo.

Overall, I think they suck. They won't do shit for me and they are always trying to sell me additional services. I find it annoying.
I do like their phone app and I am too lazy to switch to another bank.  So.......here I am.

Generalities don't matter. Shop around,  it will vary greatly based on how much money they want to put on the street, your loan officer,  and various other things.  It changes often and based on person borrowing.

Big banks usually have more red tape but are often more aggressive than the small town guys.  There is usually a reason they are small banks, and it's not because they are aggressive.  Lol

My biz. accounts are with a small local bank.  

I actually have them set up as personal accounts, not business accounts.

I opened an account with a credit union.  Square is my CC processor.  My company gets paid within 1 business day.

We use ShopKeep for our CC processing.  So far, I am happy with it all

DO NOT BANK. Atleast not as your primary. I use a bank/checking account to isolate paypal from my other assets and to handle potentially risky transfers.

Find a good local credit union. The bulk of my business is here, and as a member I get paid yearly dividends on overall profits. Lines of credit will be at a lower rate, auto loans are less, mortgage was competitive, and with my history with them the mortgage approval was streamlined.

Before my business went live again ( was shuttered for a move ) just the sum of my personal transactions earned me a dividend larger than a months mortgage payment one year.

Remember - Banks take your money and pay the profits to share holders. Credit unions, the members are the share holders, so profits are used to reduce fees such as closing costs and pay member dividends.

That's what they say to get members.

What they leave out is that often times coops and member owned businesses have no profit motive so they aren't competitive.

Not all the time,  just keep it in mind.  

About half of our businesses like that around here got bought out after years of high prices and low profit. Profit motive drives competitive pricing.

I agree.  One thing credit union fans leave out is that they do not pay income taxes, like your local bank does, (or its shareholders do if it is chapter S).

Both structures can be mis or mal managed.   This is less likely to happen in a competitive small community bank.

The profit motive does indeed account for much of this.

Check out your local small community banks.  If you really believe that they make too much profit, you should consider purchasing their stock, if available.

Enrolled agent here.  By proxy, I deal with a lot of banks.  

Do NOT use Wells Fargo.  Don't even go there to use their phone because your car is on fire.  

Find a local bank.

For credit card, I use a Capital One Spark, as do many of my clients.

After reading your posts in GD and picking up on what your current business is, good thing you're not homeless

Wells Fargo Culture of stealing, padding #'s.