The 10 Best Free Business Checking Accounts

Besides a 1.75% APY rate, Square banking’s biggest perk is the almost instant access to funds you get when you use the Instant Transfer option. Square also offers a discount when you use your Square debit card to make purchases from another Square seller.

Square has no monthly fees or regular recurring fees. Notably, this free checking account also comes with free, unlimited ACH payments. The only fee you’re likely to encounter is a 1% foreign transaction fee, which isn’t ideal but also isn’t as hefty as foreign transaction fees can be in the banking industry.

BlueVine’s standout perk is its high interest rate of 2.0% APY. You won’t find any signup bonus, rewards points, or other perks with BlueVine, however.

Bank with BlueVine, and you could also be eligible for a BlueVine line of credit. Your revolving line of credit will come with a 6 or 12-month term.

Bluevine has no monthly banking fees as well as unlimited, free ACH fees which is a huge plus. Incoming wire transfers are free, while outgoing wire transfers do have a small fee of $15 (which are fairly avoidable if you go the ACH route instead). You’ll also find a 1.5% foreign transaction fee.

Relay offers an attractive APY on its savings options. You’ll earn between 1% and 3% on your savings, and you’re allowed up to two savings accounts. Relay supports automatic transfers and allocations.

Account holders can request up to 50 virtual and physical cards for employees to use. You can set secure role-based access and spend limits for each card.

You will not find any credit options with Relay banking.

Relay’s free checking account comes with no monthly fee and no fees for overdrafts, bounced checks, or most transfers. The only fees we found listed are associated with outgoing wire payments. Expect to pay $5 for outgoing domestic wires and $10 for outgoing international wires. Incoming wires are free.

In addition to its completely free business checking account, Relay also offers a Pro account that starts at $30/month.

Grasshopper’s Innovator Business Checking accounts offer unlimited 1% cash back rewards and up to 2.25% APY, with no monthly fee and unlimited transactions. You’ll be able to issue and manage customizable and tokenized virtual and physical branded debit cards.

Grasshopper banking customers have access to SBA lending, venture capital and private equity opportunities, and commercial real estate financing options.

Grasshopper has no monthly fees, no ACH fees, and a notable 0% foreign transaction fee. The only fees you’re likely to find with Grasshopper are a $100 minimum opening deposit and wire transfer fees that range from $0 – $25 depending on the type of wire transfer.

If you’re looking for a free business checking account with rewards, Lili is likely not for you. Most Lili perks are available only to members on one of the three paid plans. If you upgrade from Lili Basic to a Pro, Smart, or Premium plan, priced from $9-$35/month, you unlock a high APY, automated savings, fee-free overdrafts, and access to business management tools.

All Lili customers have access to a fee-free nationwide ATM network. Lili banking does not include loans, lines of credit, or credit cards.

Lili has no monthly fees for its basic plan and unlike other options on this list, Lili doesn’t have foreign transaction fees. There’s also free, unlimited ACH transfers. The only fee you’ll encounter with Lili Basic is a $4.95 fee for cash deposits made using the GreenDot network.

There are no wire transfer fees because Lili does not support wire transfers.

In addition to its free business checking account, Lili offers three paid accounts. Monthly fees for these accounts range from $9-$35.

Found banking comes with unlimited transactions and built-in tax and bookkeeping tools that help you run your business smoothly. That includes unlimited customizable invoices.

You can link your Found account to payment apps (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal), and payments to and from another Found account are instant and always free. ACH transfers are free as well.

You can earn a $20 bonus from Found when you open a new account via a special link and spend $100 within the first month. The paid Found plan includes 1.5% APY.

Found charges no regular recurring fees. That means no monthly account fees and no fees for transfers, payments, or invoicing.

You can see some fees for optional activities. Instant withdrawals are available for transferring money from a Found account to an external debit card; a 1.75% transaction fee applies.

You can upgrade your free Found bank account to Found Plus for a $149.99 annual fee. This allows users access to advanced tools and APY earnings.

If you use Found’s invoicing tool, you’ll pay a standard payment processing fee to Stripe. Debit and credit card payments incur a 2.9% + $0.30 fee, direct debit payments incur a 1% fee, and Cash App payments result in a 3.1% + $0.30 fee.

Oxygen’s cashback rewards stand out from business banking competitors. You can use the Oxygen mobile app to activate one special offer at a time, with rewards delivered almost instantly to your Oxygen account.

Oxygen’s checking accounts allow free unlimited transactions. If you open a linked Oxygen savings account, you can earn 3% APY.

Oxygen also offers its banking customers access to Oxygen invoicing. You’ll be able to issue customized invoices to your customers and take payment to your checking account via ACH and wire payment. Analytics are also available, allowing users to track unpaid invoices and automate reminders, overdue notices, and late fees.

Oxygen has no monthly fees and does not charge for ACH, wire transfers, or ATM use in the expansive AllPoint ATM network.

You may encounter the following fees: $3 for out-of-network ATM use, 1% foreign transaction fees, and $4.95 for every $1,000 in cash deposits.

Mercury’s corporate charge card, available to qualified customers, comes with an automatic 1.5% cash back on all purchases and free 2-day shipping from hundreds of online stores.

Perks include discounts and promotional offers from Mercury’s software partners. Startups will appreciate these offers in areas like accounting, finance, advertising, eCommerce, hosting, and other software types.

Mercury also offers a special savings vehicle, Mercury Treasury. Banking customers who can meet the high minimum balance requirements (currently $20 million) can earn 5.30% APY. Startups with that amount of cash on hand may not need to access Mercury’s venture cash opportunities. Others will appreciate Mercury’s searchable investor database.

Mercury has no monthly maintenance fees or overdraft fees. There are no ACH fees or wire transfer fees, even for outgoing or international wire transfers which is notable compared to other online banks. You will find a 1% foreign transaction fee.

Axos offers 3.30% APY on its checking accounts. Other rewards include a sign-on bonus and partner discounts.

You’ll also find ATM reimbursements, integrations, and up to $500K in FDIC insurance.

Axos also has a large number of additional services like money market accounts, CDs, and lending, making it a good banking option if you want multiple business services in one spot.

Axos does have a monthly fee of $10, however, it is easy enough to waive (so long as you have a balance of $5k). Axos’s additional lending and investment services, plus its large number of rewards and perks, made it worth still including on this list.

There are unlimited, free ACH transfers and no cash deposit fees. There’s also an ATM reimbursement.

Axos does have wire transfer fees and a 1% foreign transaction fee.

Novo’s 6% cashback offer is a standout reward, but it’s not the only one. You’ll also find a Novo referral program that gives you a $40 cash bonus for new customers you refer.

Valuable partner perks are available, too. Novo offers an ever-changing variety of exclusive, money-saving offers. For example, you’ll find $5,000 in waived processing fees from Stripe and three free months with Gusto.

You won’t find traditional loans, lines of credit, or credit cards when you bank with Novo. But you may be able to receive a merchant cash advance via Novo Funding.

Novo’s fee schedule is extremely short. Unlike many banks, Novo is the only one I would truly call no-fee. The only fee you’ll face is $27 for each overdraft or returned payment you make.

Other than that, you will pay $0 when you bank with Novo. That includes no monthly, transaction, or hidden fees. Novo has no foreign transaction fees and no ATM fees. In fact, if you use your Novo card at an ATM and the ATM owner charges you a fee, Novo will refund that fee to you.