Open a Free Business Checking Account Online with No Deposit

A separate business bank account is one of the cornerstones of a good bookkeeping system. However, many checking accounts have minimum deposit requirements and recurring fees that can make them expensive to open and maintain.

Here’s what you should know to open a free business checking account online with no deposit, including the steps involved and some of the best options available.

How to Open a Free Business Checking Account Online with No Deposit

Here are the steps you should take to find and open a free business checking account online with no deposit:

1. Make sure you have an EIN: Some banks require that you provide an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to open a business account. You may not have one if you do business as a sole proprietor, in which case you can request one from the Internal Revenue Service online for free.
2. Gather business formation paperwork: Depending on your business structure, you may need to provide certain formation paperwork when you open your checking account, such as operating agreements or Articles of Incorporation. Make sure you have these on hand before you go to open an account.
3. Avoid traditional banks: Traditional financial institutions often have minimum deposit requirements and monthly fees. Focus your search on online banks and fintech companies to increase your chances of avoiding them.
4. Compare account terms: Don’t choose the first checking account you find without a monthly fee or minimum deposit requirement. And don’t forget to consider other account terms, such as transaction limits, wire transfer fees, and overdraft protections.
5. Research customer reviews: Beyond each bank account’s terms, consider its reputation with previous customers. Look at the ratings and comments on crowdsourced review sites like TrustPilot and the Better Business Bureau.
6. Submit an application: Once you’ve chosen a bank account to open, it’s usually easiest to initiate the process online. You’ll need to answer questions about yourself and your company to verify your identity and status as a small business owner. In many cases, you can expect approval to be instant, though it may also take up to a few days.

Free Online Business Checking Accounts

These are the free online business checking accounts we recommend you consider first:

1. Zeni
2. Mercury
3. Axos Bank
4. Novo
5. Bluevine
6. Brex Cash
7. American Express Business Checking

1. Zeni

Zeni is an all-in-one financial management platform for startups that offers a full suite of products enhanced by the power of artificial intelligence (AI), including AI bookkeeping and accounting, AI bill pay and reimbursements, and an AI business credit card.

Of course, it also offers an AI business checking account. In addition to having no minimum deposit requirement and being free with the virtual bookkeeping service, Zeni’s checking account offers the following benefits:

• Earn up to 4.05% APY: Zeni offers interest rates well above the typical checking accounts. You’ll receive 0.99% APY on balances up to $250K, 1.98% APY on balances between $250K and $500K, 2.97% APY on balances between $500K and $1.5M, 3.96% APY on balances between $1.5M and $2.5M, and 4.05% APY on balances beyond $2.5M. 
• $3M FDIC coverage: The standard limit for FDIC deposit insurance is $250K per institution, but Zeni uses cash sweep networks and its partner banks to offer coverage for balances up to $3M.  
• Automatic categorization: Zeni’s bank account uses AI to identify vendors, assign them classes, and automatically categorize your business’s transactions.
• Free wire transfers: Wire transfers often carry $15 to $20 transaction fees, but Zeni lets you make them domestically and internationally for free.
• Unlimited sub-accounts: Zeni lets you create as many subsidiary checking accounts as you need to help organize your financial management.

Zeni’s business checking account also integrates seamlessly with its many other offerings, making it a great option if you’re interested in consolidating your financial products and services into a single platform.

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2. Mercury

Mercury is another fintech platform that aims to provide comprehensive digital banking services to startups. In addition to its free small business checking account, its products include venture debt financing, corporate credit cards, invoicing software, and more.

The small business checking account has no maintenance fees or minimum balances, making it another attractive option. Of course, there are many other significant features you need to know about, including:

• Mercury Treasury: Mercury offers a business service called Treasury that invests your excess cash into U.S. government-backed securities and money market funds. Net of fees, it returns 4.85% on balances between $500K and $2M, 5% on $2M to $5M, 5.1% on $5M to $10M, 5.2% on $10M to $20M, and 5.3% beyond $20M.
• Up to $5M in FDIC insurance: Mercury uses sweep networks and bank partnerships to offer FDIC insurance coverage on balances up to $5M, also well in excess of the standard $250K limit.
• Free wire transfers: Mercury lets you make domestic and international wire transfers for free, both incoming and outgoing.
• Customizable automation: Mercury helps you automate many processes with customizable auto-transfer rules and payment approval flows. It can also integrate smoothly with accounting and payroll software.
• Spending controls: You can even set user-level rules and permissions to enforce budgets and control employee spending and access to funds.

Like Zeni, Mercury provides many products and services in addition to its business checking account. If you need to choose between the two, consider comparing the rest of their offerings to determine which platform meets more of your financial needs.

3. Axos Bank

Axos is a full-service bank and a much more traditional financial institution than Zeni or Mercury. It offers a wider range of products and services for both individuals and businesses, including bank accounts, financing, and investment options.

Axos actually has several separate business checking accounts, including the Basic Business Checking account, Business Interest Checking account, and Analyzed Business Checking account, but only the Basic lacks a monthly maintenance fee. 

It also has no minimum deposit or minimum balance requirements.

Here’s what else you should know about it:

• No interest on balances: Unfortunately, Axos’s free business checking account doesn’t generate any interest on deposits. Its Business Interest Checking account does, but only up to 1.01% APY, and there’s a $10 monthly maintenance fee and a $100 minimum opening deposit.
• $250K FDIC coverage: Axos offers the standard $250K FDIC insurance coverage by default, but you can opt into its Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) services through IntraFi to unlock up to $250M.
• Free incoming wires: Axos doesn’t charge you for domestic or international income wires. However, you only get two free outgoing wires per month. Otherwise, outgoing wires cost $15 domestically and $50 internationally.
• Temporary welcome bonus: Axos is currently offering business owners a welcome bonus of up to $400. For each of the first five billing cycles, you’ll receive $100 if your average daily balance is $50K or more and you complete 10 point-of-sale transactions of at least $3 with your Axos debit card. If your average daily balance is between $25K and $50K, you’ll get $75 each cycle.

Axos might not offer as many technology-driven benefits as a platform like Zeni or Mercury, but it still provides a well-rounded business checking account with no fee or minimum deposit. 

It’s a solid option if you prefer a more straightforward online banking experience.

4. Novo

Novo is a fintech company that partners with a couple of banks to offer a business checking account for small business owners. 

It’s not as comprehensive a platform as Zeni or Mercury, but it has a more intuitive interface than most traditional banks and a few other simple services, such as merchant cash advances.

Like the other entries on this list, Novo has no monthly payment or minimum deposit. Here are some of its other most notable features:

• Streamlined integrations: Novo integrates smoothly with other financial tools to significantly expand its capabilities. For example, it connects with apps like Stripe to facilitate payments, Gusto to help automate payroll, and Quickbooks for bookkeeping.
• Unlimited free invoices: Novo lets you create, customize, and send an unlimited number of free invoices from the business mobile banking app. When integrated with other software, it can accept many types of payment, including ACH transfer, debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, and PayPal.
• Automatic fund allocations: Novo’s Reserve feature lets you create separate pockets within your bank account for various purposes, such as estimated taxes. You can transfer money in and out of them instantly and create rules to automatically set aside a percentage of each deposit into them.
• Fast-tracked payments: Novo offers several ways to speed up the incoming and outgoing payment process. You can access Stripe funds up to two days early and deliver payments 75% faster with Express ACH transfers, though they cost 1.5% of the transaction amount.
• Free wire transfers: Incoming and outgoing wire transfers are free with Novo, both domestically and internationally.  
• ATM fee reimbursements: Novo doesn’t have its own ATMs, but it does reimburse you for up to $7 in third-party ATM fees per month.

Novo is an excellent middle ground between the convenience of a fintech platform and the familiarity of traditional business online banking. It’s a good option if you enjoy a more modern experience but don’t need the bells and whistles of a comprehensive platform.

5. Bluevine

Bluevine is another fintech company that focuses on providing banking services to small businesses. Beyond bank accounts, that primarily includes various financing options, such as business loans, lines of credit, and credit card accounts.

Bluevine offers several checking account plans, but only the Standard plan is free with no minimum deposit or balance. Here’s what you should know about it:

• 2% APY on up to $250K: Bluevine offers 2% APY on balances up to $250K. To clarify, there’s no sliding scale, so all your deposits up to $250K can earn interest. However, you must meet one of two eligibility requirements each month to collect. The options include spending $500 with your debit card or depositing $2,500 of client payments into your account. 
• Up to $3M in FDIC insurance: Like Zeni, Bluevine uses cash sweep networks and bank partnerships to provide FDIC insurance coverage on balances of up to $3M, well beyond the $250K standard.
• Free incoming domestic wires: Bluevine doesn’t charge for incoming domestic wires, but it does for everything else. Incoming international wires are $15, while outgoing wires are $15 domestically and $25 internationally.
• Automated accounts payable: Bluevine has a robust accounts payable feature built into its platform that allows you to add bills to your dashboard, then review and approve, send payment, and reconcile to your books from there.
• Up to five sub-accounts: You can create up to five different sub-accounts within your checking account to set aside funds for expenses like taxes and payroll. Each has its own account number, but you can also sort funds into them with automatic transfers based on percentage-based rules.

Bluevine Business Checking is another balanced option that offers modern features but a narrower focus than a platform like Zeni or Mercury. Its primary advantages over Novo are its 2% APY interest generation and $3M FDIC insurance limit. 

6. Brex Cash

Brex is a comprehensive fintech platform like Zeni and Mercury that provides a multitude of integrated products and services. For example, that includes expense management software, automated online bill pay, and corporate credit cards.

You can gain access to Brex’s business checking account for free, but startups may need to deposit a minimum cash balance of up to $50K if you’ve raised funding.

Here are the bank account’s other most significant features and benefits:

• Earn up to 4.87% yield: While the Brex checking account doesn’t earn interest directly, it does grant access to Brex’s Treasury service. By keeping funds in various government money market mutual funds, you can earn up to 4.87%.
• Up to $6M in FDIC coverage: With Brex’s Vault service, you can elect to keep your cash deposits at multiple banks and receive up to $6M in FDIC coverage.
• Free automated bill pay: Brex’s free bill pay automation product is integrated into its bank account, allowing you to capture itemized invoices, route them through a custom approval flow, and process them from your dashboard. All incoming and outgoing payments, including domestic and international wire transfers, are free.
• Corporate cards with expense management: The Brex checking account also comes with built-in expense management software, allowing you to create and automatically enforce your expense policy for employee cardholders.

Brex is another good option to consider for those who’d like to consolidate their financial management processes. To determine if it’s the best option for you, compare its other features to Zeni’s and Mercury’s.

7. American Express Business Checking

American Express is one of the most well-established financial institutions in the United States, making it an extremely reliable choice. As a full-service bank, it offers a variety of credit, investment, commercial checking, and business savings account options.

Its business checking account has no monthly fee or minimum balance and offers all of the following additional benefits:

• 1.3% APY on up to $500K: American Express lets you earn a flat 1.3% APY on balances up to $500K. The rate isn’t as high as some others, but there’s no sliding scale, and it applies to two times Bluevine’s interest-earning balance with no eligibility requirements.
• Standard FDIC coverage: American Express only offers the standard $250K FDIC insurance coverage, with no easy option for increasing it via cash sweep.
• Amex Business Debit Card: Each American Express Business Checking account comes with a debit card that lets you earn a Membership Rewards point for every $2 you spend.
• Free incoming wire transfers: Incoming domestic and international wires are free, but outgoing domestic wires cost $25. 
• 30K-point welcome bonus: American Express is currently offering 30K Membership Rewards points when you deposit $5K within 30 days of account opening, maintain an average account balance of $5K for the next 60 days, and make five or more qualifying transactions within 60 days.

The American Express Business Checking account is another competitive option if you prefer the traditional business banking experience, especially if you already have an American Express business credit card or credit account.

Streamline Your Finance Tech Stack With Zeni

In addition to a free business checking account with no minimum deposit, Zeni offers a comprehensive financial management platform. Some of our many other financial operations services include:

• AI Bookkeeping: Streamline your financial reporting with our outsourced bookkeeping services, which combine the power of AI with the invaluable human touch of dedicated experts.
• Bill pay software: Automate your accounts payable with our AI-powered bill pay solution, which includes automatic invoice processing, customizable approval flows, and real-time expense reports.
• Business credit card: Get a free business credit card that integrates seamlessly with your Zeni checking account and earns 1.5% cash back.
• Payroll services: Outsource your payroll system management and let us manage everything from employee contractor onboarding to termination.
• Outsourced CFO services: Get guidance from an experienced financial expert without having to pay for a full-time CEO whenever you have to navigate a complex challenge, such as raising debt or equity financing.

Instead of juggling financial tools and service providers, which often contributes to significant inefficiencies and additional costs, use Zeni as a one-stop shop for your startup's financial needs. Schedule a demo today to see it in action.

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