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BlueVine's Business Checking account is an online-based banking product designed for small businesses that don't need branch-based services and want to eliminate banking fees. There are no monthly account fees, minimum balance fees, or NSF fees, to name a few. Plus, the BlueVine Business Checking account offers an interest rate that rivals even the best high-yield online savings accounts.
The BlueVine Business Checking account is a relatively new banking product (announced in November 2019), that is designed to eliminate some of the pain points small businesses deal with in traditional business checking accounts, such as monthly maintenance fees, a lack of interest paid on cash balances, and minimum balance requirements, just to name a few.
It is designed for small businesses that want to save money and that don't need traditional branch-based banking services.
The BlueVine Business Checking account has some interesting features that might appeal to small business owners:
The BlueVine Business Checking account doesn't have any monthly account service fees, no low balance fees, no NSF fees, and doesn't have a maximum number of free transactions that the account can be used for.
The BlueVine Business Checking account pays interest on customer deposits, and currently has an APY (annual percentage yield) of up to 4.25% for Bluevine Premier customers who pay the $95 monthly subscription fee. Non-paying customers who meet spending or deposit requirements earn a smaller but still substantial amount on balances up to $250,000. This is very competitive, even among online banks.
The BlueVine Payments feature allows BlueVine Business Checking account owners to pay bills and send money quickly and easily, and it's completely free.
The BlueVine Business Checking account has no minimum opening deposit requirement, nor does it have a minimum balance requirement. Although it's worth noting that interest is only paid on balances greater than $1,000.
When it comes to deposits and withdrawals, BlueVine Business Checking account users have a few options.
There are four main ways customers can deposit money into their BlueVine Business Checking account:
Aside from the obvious ways to get money from a checking account, including writing checks and wire transfers, BlueVine Business Checking account owners get a business debit card that can be used to withdraw cash fee-free at any of more than 38,000 MoneyPass ATMs (a large, nationwide ATM network) throughout the United States.
For out-of-network ATM withdrawals, customers can expect to pay a surcharge. There's also a BlueVine Payments feature that allows money to be sent directly to third parties.
Bluevine offers three different business checking plans, including one that is free for all balances. In all cases, there's no fee for standard ACH transactions and incoming wire transfers, but beyond that, the fee structure differs.
In general, the premium account tiers have lower fees for transactions. Here are a few examples:
Fee | Standard | Plus | Premier |
---|---|---|---|
Domestic wires | $15 | $12 | $7.50 |
International wires | $25 | $20 | $12.50 |
Same-day ACH | $10 | $8 | $5 |
It's also worth noting that the biggest difference between the plans isn't the fees for various transactions. The premium plans get higher interest rates, which can be a major difference for businesses that tend to keep lots of cash on hand.
As an online-only bank, BlueVine has a major cost advantage over brick-and-mortar rivals. It doesn't have to pay to support a costly branch network, so it can pass some of its savings on to its customers. With that in mind, here's a rundown of the major advantages of BlueVine Business Checking, both cost-related and otherwise:
BlueVine claims the application process to open the BlueVine Business Checking account takes about a minute. Many business checking accounts have rather complex opening procedures that cannot be completed entirely online.
Unlike most checking accounts, BlueVine Business Checking pays interest. Many businesses need to (or choose to) keep large amounts of capital in their accounts to cover unforeseen costs and to ensure that they'll always have access to materials and other supplies they need. BlueVine Business Checking allows business owners to earn some interest on their unused capital, a major advantage over many competitors.
While BlueVine doesn't operate branches or its own ATM network, customers can withdraw cash at MoneyPass ATMs with their BlueVine Business Debit Mastercard with no fees. There are more than 38,000 MoneyPass ATMs in the U.S., so this makes it relatively easy to access cash.
The BlueVine Business Checking account and its BlueVine Payments platform are managed through an easy-to-use mobile app. There is also a desktop platform that can be used.
Through the BlueVine Payments platform, account holders can pay bills and make vendor payments for free. Users can schedule one-time or recurring payments and can choose whether the payee gets an ACH bank transfer, a check, or receives funds by wire.
BlueVine Payments also allows bills to be paid by linked credit cards, but it's worth noting that credit card payments have a fee.
Some business checking accounts limit the number of free transactions in business checking accounts and charge a fee for any transactions beyond that limit in a given month. BlueVine allows unlimited transactions, which could be an especially nice perk for businesses that need to use their debit cards or write checks often.
Finally, BlueVine Business Checking account holders receive two free checkbooks (with a total of 200 free checks) after opening an account.
It's important for all small business owners to realize that there's no such thing as an ideal business checking account for everyone. And while BlueVine's business checking certainly has some big advantages over its rivals, it isn't an exception to this rule. With that in mind, here's a rundown of some potential drawbacks of the BlueVine Business Checking account.
BlueVine is an online-based bank. This results in significant cost advantages and is why the bank can offer a business checking account with a much better cost structure than many alternatives. On the other hand, if your business occasionally (or frequently) needs to physically go to the bank -- say, to deposit physical cash immediately or to obtain a certified check -- BlueVine might not be the best fit.
BlueVine does not offer a way for customers to deposit cash without paying a fee. They can add cash at Green Dot retail locations, but this comes with a fee. The only ways customers can add funds to their accounts are through mobile check deposits or transfers from external checking accounts.
In other words, there's no way to add cash without the intermediate step of depositing it into another bank account first. Cash-heavy businesses (yes, there are still some) may be better off looking elsewhere for their business checking needs.
Bluevine offers customer support by email, as well as by phone. Regular business hours are from 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Bluevine Premier premium account plan also adds priority customer support. This means that when customers call the customer support phone number linked to their account, they will be automatically routed to a priority queue, thereby reducing wait times.
On consumer review site TrustPilot, Bluevine has a rating of 4.3 stars out of 5, with the bulk of the reviews giving the company either five stars (81% of reviews) or one star (11%). Positive reviews praise the bank's easy-to-use platform, and the reviews are somewhat mixed for customer service -- reviewers tend to really like it or really dislike it.
We also examined Bluevine reviews from three of our competitors, and all gave Bluevine high marks for the transparent and easy-to-understand fee structure, as well as the lack of account minimums. Pain points include a lack of physical bank branches, as well as customer service that is available only on weekdays.
You can open a Bluevine Business Checking entirely online with a quick and easy application. After opening an account, you can deposit money in several different ways. You can:
The documentation you'll need to open an account depends on the type of business you operate (sole proprietorship, corporation, LLC, etc.). But in any case, you'll need your business' legal name and address, tax ID number, annual revenue, and information about the business owners.
BlueVine Business Checking can be an excellent choice for businesses that want to keep costs low, make as many transactions as they need to without worrying about fees, and earn interest on their unused capital. As long as your business doesn't need to frequently deposit cash, and you aren't too concerned about access to in-person banking services, BlueVine Business Checking is worthy of a spot on your shortlist.
Resources
The BlueVine Business Checking account is an online-only business checking account that is designed to eliminate fees and pay a competitive interest rate. The account sign-up procedure is fast, and everything is handled through BlueVine's user-friendly app and desktop portal.
The BlueVine Business Checking account doesn't have any monthly account fees, NSF fees, minimum balance fees, or excessive transaction fees. It charges fees for outgoing wire transfers, cash deposits, and bill payments made with credit cards.
Yes. While BlueVine isn't technically a bank itself, the BlueVine Business Checking account is. BlueVine partners with Bancorp Bank, which has a banking charter and is an FDIC member.
There is no minimum deposit requirement associated with the BlueVine Business Checking account.
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