LendingClub Business Banking Review

Pros

• High APY for both savings & checking
• Cash back rewards
• Monthly fees can be waived
• No ACH fees
• Large transaction limits
• SBA loans available

Cons

• Minimum balance required to waive monthly fees
• Expensive wire transfers
• Deposits only available at MoneyPass ATMs
• Account may be closed if balance is at $0 for 3+ months

What Is LendingClub Bank?

Known for its personal and business loans, LendingClub is an established fintech company that offers banking services as well. LendingClub boasts some of the best business banking rewards on the market, with a high-yield savings account option and a checking account that offers both APY and cashback.

LendingClub also offers both cash deposits and checks, so businesses can get all of the perks of online banking with the features of traditional banking. LendingClub has minimal fees and ATM reimbursements. All of these perks earn LendingClub a spot on our list of top online business bank accounts.

The main downsides of LendingClub are that it doesn’t offer as many lending options as some other online banks (which is surprising given the company’s history) and wire transfers are quite expensive with LendingClub. We’ll give a full breakdown of the pros, cons, and fees below.

Services Offered By LendingClub

LendingClub offers the following services:

• Checking
• Savings
• SBA 7(a) Loans
• SBA 504 Loans

In addition to checking and savings accounts, you can also boost your business with a low-cost, long-term SBA loan. LendingClub Bank rounds out its services with an online banking portal and a mobile app. Considering all of these factors, we’ve given LendingClub Bank a perfect 5-star rating for its services.

LendingClub Bank Rewards & Perks

LendingClub offers impressive perks for an online bank. LendingClub’s checking rewards include up to 1.50% APY and 1% cash back on eligible debit card purchases. LendingClub’s high-yield savings account offers 3.60% APY with no minimums for earning interest.

Unlike many other banks offering high-yield savings, there’s no minimum balance required for APY earnings on savings accounts.

Interest is compounded daily and cash-back rewards are calculated at the end of every month. You’ll need to maintain an average account balance of $500 to be eligible for checking cash-back rewards.

A lack of a welcome bonus slightly lowered our rating to 4.2/5 for LendingClub’s rewards and perks.

LendingClub Bank Fees

Usually, we downgrade a company that requires a minimum balance to waive monthly fees; however, the good outweighs the bad when it comes to LendingClub.

LendingClub Tailored Checking has a low monthly fee of $10 that can be waived with a $500 account balance which is relatively easy to maintain (LendingClub High-Yield Business Savings accounts have no minimum balance requirements).

LendingClub has no overdraft, ACH, or ATM fees, and even reimburses all ATM fees which is a nice touch. The company is also very transparent with its fee schedule.

The real reason LendingClub gets a 3.9/5 rating for fees is because the company’s wire transfer charges are quite expensive compared to other online banks with fees from $18 all the way to $40 for a single wire.

LendingClub also charges a 0.90% charge for cross-border international transactions.

LendingClub offers unlimited transactions and does not charge excessive transaction fees.

LendingClub Bank Eligibility Requirements

To open a LendingClub business banking account you’ll need:

• A $100 minimum opening deposit
• To be a legal US resident
• A valid SSN and/or EIN

As you can see, it’s easy to qualify for a LendingClub bank account. For this reason, we’ve rated the company a perfect 5-star score for eligibility requirements.

LendingClub Bank Application Process

Opening a LendingClub is as easy as compiling basic bank documents and then following the prompts on LendingClub’s website for a step-by-step account setup.

If your account is approved, you’ll be notified immediately when submitting your application. If your application isn’t approved, you’ll receive an email from LendingClub with more details.

If you opt for the LendingClub Tailored Checking account, you can add your debit card to your phone’s mobile wallet right away or opt to expedite your physical cards with a $35 one-time fee.

With an easy application process that’s fully disclosed, we rated LendingClub a perfect 5/5 for this category.

LendingClub Bank Features

LendingClub offers decent online banking perks including built-in invoicing, reporting, and bill pay. While you won’t find quite as many bookkeeping features as a bank like Lili or Found, you’ll still have access to a good number of finance management features.

You can also integrate with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Quicken.

For its above-average set of features, we rated LendingClub Bank 4/5 stars in this category.

LendingClub Checking

• Digital wallet & physical debit cards
• Unlimited ACH
• Unlimited transactions
• Mobile deposits
• Cash deposits
• FDIC insurance up to $250k
• Mobile banking
• Bill pay
• Digital invoices
• Reporting
• Electronic statements

LendingClub Savings

The shining feature of LendingClub’s high-yield savings account is that there is no minimum balance for APY earnings. There aren’t too many additional features.

• Free ATM card
• Free unlimited ACH transfers
• Mobile banking
• Reporting
• Electronic statements

Unlike LendingClub’s checking account which requires a $500 minimum to be eligible for cashback and to avoid monthly fees, LendingClub’s savings account has no minimum balance requirements.

Transaction Limits

LendingClub has high transaction limits compared to most other online banks. Below is a table of the basic transaction limits; however, Preferred, Elite, and Reserve level customers can get access to much higher limits (like $250,000 for ACH or $50,000-$250 for mobile deposits).

Transaction Processing Times

LendingClub offers same-day processing times for almost every type of transaction so long as you meet the cut-off time. Cut-off times vary by transaction type.

LendingClub Bank Sales & Advertising Transparency

LendingClub has an informative website that’s easy to navigate and provides most of the information you need to decide if this online bank is right for you.

LendingClub also has social media profiles that provide additional useful information, although updates could be more frequent.

Overall, LendingClub is quite transparent, and there are no red flags in terms of its sales and advertising, earning it a rating of 3.9/5 for this category.

LendingClub Bank Customer Service

LendingClub has a smaller offering of support options than we like to see. There are no support tickets and no email support, which contributed to our score of 4.4/5 for customer service.

However, customers report having positive experiences with the LendingClub support team and generally found support representatives helpful and informative.

LendingClub Bank Reviews

Because LendingClub is a lender that also offers personal banking and business banking, finding customer reviews specific to business banking isn’t always easy. Customer review sites lump all LendingClub products into their ratings, so you have to sift through individual reviews to find banking-specific information.

As a whole, LendingClub receives 4.7/5 stars on TrustPilot based on over 5,000 reviews and 3.8/5 stars on Consumer Affairs based on 375+ reviews.

The company is accredited by the BBB and receives an A+ rating, but you will find a current alert for the business that says “BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct.” While this warning sounds scary and is serious, it is not necessarily LendingClub’s fault. There is a popular scam where scammers pose as LendingClub, which is why this warning appears.

Source: BBB, screenshot captured 12/18/2023

Most LendingClub reviews are specific to LendingClub’s loan services, so there aren’t enough banking reviews to put a consistent picture together. However, here are the most common praise of LendingClub as a whole:

• Helpful support
• Good loan services
• Easy to use

Many customers like LendingClub so much that they have used the company three or four times for loans. The main complaint about LendingClub was that sometimes customers felt their loan terms weren’t favorable enough.

Overall, though, LendingClub has a solid reputation, and most people seem to be happy with the company’s online banking, which led to our rating of 4.2/5.

Is LendingClub Banking Safe?

LendingClub is upfront about its security and practices industry-standard security measures to keep banking data safe, including 256-bit data encryption. LendingClub supports up to $250,000 in FDIC insurance as well.

How Does LendingClub Compare To Other Banking Options?

LendingClub’s biggest competitor is Grasshopper Bank. Grasshopper Bank is one of the only other online business banking options that offers both APY and cashback earnings on their checking account. Grasshopper has a slightly higher APY at 2.25% and more lending options for businesses. However, LendingClub offers a savings account option, which Grasshopper Bank doesn’t have, and LendingClub is more upfront about its security.

Read our full Grasshopper Bank review for more on how these two business bank options compare.

The Bottom Line: Is LendingClub Bank Worth It?

If you’re looking for an online bank with strong rewards, LendingClub should be in the running. LendingClub offers competitive rewards checking features with both APY and cashback earning potential, and while the high-yield savings rate is a bit lower than those of competitors like Live Oak Bank or Mercury, there’s no minimum or maximum balance limit for APY earnings.

Pair great rewards with relatively few fees and you’ve got a great banking product — unless you need to receive or send a large number of wire transfers. LendingClub’s wire transfer fees are expensive compared to other online banks, so if your business relies heavily on that transaction type, you’d be better off looking at LendingClub alternatives.

For most businesses, though, LendingClub is a solid choice for banking. We here at Merchant Maverick recommend LendingClub and awarded it an overall score of 4.3/5 during our comprehensive review.

For some business owners, the APY rate may matter more than the earning maximum, in which case other high-yield business savings accounts may be a better fit.

Business Banking Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing business banking services since 2015. Our writers have tested over thirty different banking products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, employee spending cards, and more. In each review, we evaluate rates and fees, services, rewards, features, eligibility requirements, application process, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews.

Read more about how we rate business banking products.

When comparing different banks and banking services, we consider many data points, including the ease and transparency of the account application process, account fees, sales ethics, minimum deposit requirements, and revenue, time in business, and credit score requirements. Our lists of the best banking services include only those we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points, and often share qualities such as widespread accessibility across fifty states, valuable rewards, numerous transaction options, and competitive APY.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the banking services included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

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