Today let’s look at five of the best business bank accounts in 2023 including the product
that I use to manage the finances of this YouTube channel starting with the Capital
One business banking products.
As I've talked about over and over again I do not like these large national banking corporations
but as I've said before, I think Capital One has done the best job adapting to the rapidly
changing banking world and it’s a fantastic option for individuals who are still warming
up to the concept of online banking and want the ability to go into a physical brick and
mortar location if needed.
We've talked about their personal 360 banking products at length before but on the business
banking side of things they have the same checking and savings options as well as lending,
merchant services, and escrow services for your business.
On the checking side of things, you've got the basic checking account and the unlimited
checking account which both give you free overdraft protection, free additional debit
cards for each of your team members, the ability to bank on the go using their fairly well
designed mobile application, online bill payment features, and all of the basic functionality
that you need to manage your businesses finances on the go.
The savings account is largely the same and while the Capital One business account wouldn't
be my first choice, again I think it is the best blend of an online and brick-and-mortar
banking experience plus capital one's customer service has been fantastic in my experience.
Okay but leaving the traditional banking world behind, we've still got four of the most modern
and powerful business bank accounts to come and I should remind you at this point that
you don't need some large established business in order to open a business bank account or
have a business credit card.
If you are running a side hustle of any kind then you are a business and it's important
that you separate your business and personal finances whether it's you running something
out of your house or a rapidly growing business with dozens of employees.
So keep that in mind but coming in at #4 is a platform that we looked at a long time ago
and that is Lili.
Lili is actually a great segue from what I was just talking about since one of my favorite
features from Lili is the ability to instantly categorize your transactions into personal
or business expenses by swiping left or right within the Lili app.
Lili has no minimum balance requirements, no hidden fees of any kind, free ATM withdrawals
at over 38,000 locations, a decent 1.5% APY on your savings currently, fee-free overdraft
protection, cash back rewards with your Lili visa business debit card not to mention the
countless financial management tools that they offer for accounting, categorizing expenses,
managing receipts, taxes and everything in between.
They do have a premium account called Lili pro but most of the features are completely
free and this is the cleanest app design that we'll look at today so while some of the info
might be a little bit outdated, definitely check out the full review that we did on this
platform to learn more.
Coming in at #3 is a more robust business banking tool and that is North one.
Again you've got all of those surface-level features that we've come to expect from any
online banking tool but the key differentiators with North one is the smart integrations with
everything from Airbnb to PayPal and QuickBooks as well as the envelopes tool which allows
you to automate your business's budget and sets either a percentage or fixed dollar amount
aside each time you receive income whether that's for rent, taxes, payroll, and anything
in between.
Their customer service is another big differentiator in my experience but the huge con with north
One for me is the $10 monthly fee that they currently charge.
Now I have nothing wrong with investing in your business especially if that means getting
access to the software and tools that you need but even just $10 a month is a hard pill
to swallow when there are other options on the market that offer 90% of these features
for completely free.
So this one is really going to depend on what you need out of your business banking tools
and the integrations with third-party platforms could save you hours.
But you'll definitely want to figure out if you can justify that monthly fee and if so
North one is a fantastic option.
Alright so you can't go wrong with those first three choices but if I'm being completely
honest with you, these last two platforms are miles ahead of all of the competition
for a number of reasons and I made lengthy pros and cons lists to decide which one should
be at #1 and honestly, it depends on where you are at with your business but coming in
at #2 is Relay.
I've made several dedicated videos on the Relay platform and this is by far the most
robust business banking tool on the market right now.
Relay has no hidden account fees, no overdraft fees, or minimum balance requirements, it
allows you to open up to 20 individual checking accounts and have 50 virtual or physical visa
debit cards plus you have easy ACH and wire transfers, free cash deposits on the allpoint
network of ATMs and integrations with accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
But that is just scratching the surface of what Relay can do for your business.
Again I have done entire dedicated videos on Relay but by far the best thing is how
you were able to customize this account to meet your needs.
From creating different accounts with their own individual account number for different
expense categories to issuing custom debit cards to different employees, setting up custom
payment approval processes, utilizing their smart integration tools, and having the ability
to collaborate with your team members under one account while still having control over
who is able to see what information.
And somehow Relay is able to accomplish all of that while still maintaining some level
of simplicity packaged in this beautiful design.
I know Relay has sponsored this channel in the past but let me be clear they are paying
me absolutely nothing for this I just genuinely think that this is a really robust tool that
is able to grow with you as your business continues to grow.
The standard version of Relay which comes with most of the features I just mentioned
is $0.00 per month but they do also offer Relay pro which is $30 per month and gives
you a few additional features like faster transfer options, auto importing of bills
from QuickBooks or zero, the custom bill payment approvals dashboard and several other benefits.
So if Relay is so great then why is it at #2 on today's list and that is a fair question
and the simple answer is for me and my YouTube side hustle, the abundance of tools that Relay
has are honestly overkill for what I need personally and again that's part of the reason
why I went back and forth so much on which platform I was going to put at number one.
So before I reveal the number one platform on today's list I will say that if you are
a small business with several employees or you are rapidly growing and will need some
of those robust features that I just talked about, then Relay is probably going to be
your best bet.
But coming in at number one for the best business bank account in 2023 and the platform that
I use to run this YouTube channel is Novo.
I'll get into the best features of Novo and why I love this platform so much in a second
but I'll say from the start that Novo is definitely more simple than Relay which is why it's a
good fit for me so something you'll want to keep in mind when making your decision.
But as expected Novo has no hidden fees or monthly fees of any kind, free and fast transfers
including ACH, mail checks, and incoming wires, refunds at all ATM's worldwide which is pretty
awesome and all of the surface-level features that each of today's platforms have had.
Again you've got integrations with several third-party tools like QuickBooks, Shopify,
and stripe just to name a few plus the ability to create your own custom and professional-looking
invoices from both their well-designed and simple mobile app or the equally simple desktop
platform.
They also have Novo reserves which is similar to the envelopes feature we talked about with
Lili and I use this all the time to set money aside for taxes since all of my YouTube income
is freelance contracted work.
With reserves, you again can set up either a percentage or a fixed dollar amount to set
aside each time you get paid.
Their customer service is also fantastic in my experience and the learning curve is much
shorter than other platforms largely thanks to the thoughtfully designed mobile app and
while I do occasionally log in on the desktop, you really are able to do everything right
from your smartphone including creating and sending invoices, paying bills and everything
in between.
Now you're not going to have the ability to open multiple individual checking accounts
or have dozens of different debit cards with multi-level access for different team members
and all the complexities that we talked about with Relay so if you're managing a business
that has dozens of employees then this might not be the tool for you but if you're just
starting a little side hustle and it's just you and maybe one or two other employees or
freelancers and you just want a simple way of separating your personal and business expenses
then I have found Novo to be the best solution for me and that's why I've used it to run
the finances for this YouTube channel for the past several years.
Plus there is no paid version to upgrade for premium features everything is free across
the board so there's really no downside here.
Any of these five platforms would be a great option but I'd say if you are a slightly larger
business or one that is growing rapidly then Relay is your best bet for those more robust
financial management tools while Novo is gonna be your best choice for those smaller side
hustles where it's just you and maybe a few other individuals.
But I'd love to know what you think of these platforms down in the comments section and
what you are currently using to run your small business or side hustle.
Check out this video for a full review on Relay or this video for a full review on Novo
and be sure to check out those helpful links down below to learn more about your different
options.
As always take it easy and I'll see you in the next one!