5 Best Business Checking Accounts for Freelancers and Self-Employed Business Owners

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As a freelancer or self-employed individual, you may not need a full-service checking account with a lot of features — and fees to pay for them. However, there are several inexpensive options that can provide you with the services you need without charging monthly fees or at least making it easier to get them waived.

If you're a freelancer or self-employed, here are our top picks for the best business checking accounts.

Best for Cash Businesses: Chase Business Complete Checking

• Monthly fee: $15; waivable if you make $2,000 in net purchases on your Chase Ink® Business credit card, make at least $2,000 in deposits from Chase QuickAccept℠ or other eligible Chase Payment Solutions transactions, link a Chase Private Client℠ account or provide qualifying proof of military status.
• APY: N/A

Chase Business Complete Checking®

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at Chase

• Our Rating 5/5 How our ratings work
• APYN/A
• Minimum
  Deposit RequiredN/A
• Intro Bonus $300Expires July 22, 2024 More Info

  Earn $300 when you open a new Chase Business Complete Checking® account. For new Chase business checking customers with qualifying activities.

The Chase Business Complete Checking® account is an attractive option. It offers the convenience of one of the largest financial institutions in the country, and it frequently offers bonuses that are relatively easy to earn. While it does not allow you to accrue interest on your funds like some other popular small business checking accounts, it's still very much worth considering if you can meet the requirements to waive its monthly fees.

• Overview
• Pros & Cons

Overview

The Chase Business Complete Checking® account comes loaded with a valuable sign-up bonus and an assortment of helpful perks, so long as you can meet the requirements to waive its monthly fees. It’s a good fit for many business checking customers, regardless of business size.

Pros

• Generous signup bonus
• Several options to waive monthly fee
• Same-day deposits using QuickAccept℠ service
• Huge network of in-person branches and ATMs

Cons

• Monthly maintenance fee
• Overdraft fees are relatively high
• Limit on fee-free cash deposits and physical transactions

The Chase Business Complete Checking account is the only one on our list from a brick-and-mortar bank, meaning it may be a good fit if you prefer in-person service. What's more, Chase offers a sizable bonus for new account holders, though you'll need to tie up some money with the bank for a couple of months to earn it.

If you're a cash business, you can deposit up to $5,000 each month without fees.

Before you open an account, determine whether you can get your monthly fee waived every month based on the criteria. If you think it might be a struggle to avoid the fee consistently, you may be better off with a checking account with truly no monthly service fee. 

The bank also has just over 15,000 fee-free ATMs, which is much lower than most online banks. Chase also offers business savings accounts.

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Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Open a Chase Business Complete Checking Account?

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Best for Wire Transfers: Axos Basic Business Checking

• Monthly fee: $0
• APY: N/A

Axos Basic Business Checking Account

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at Axos

• Our Rating 4/5 How our ratings work
• APYN/A
• Minimum
  Deposit RequiredN/A
• Intro Bonus Up to $200Expires August 31, 2023 More Info

  Open a business checking account by Aug. 31 and get up to $200 when you use promo code NEWSBC on your application and maintain a minimum average daily balance of $10,000.

Axos Basic Business Checking is a good fit for new businesses or those that don’t generate a lot of sales (yet). It offers a sign-up bonus worth up to $200, which is relatively competitive, has no monthly fees, and unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements. However, Axos is an online-only bank, so it’s not a good option if your business handles cash regularly.

• Overview
• Pros & Cons

Overview

With Axos Bank’s Basic Business Checking Account, you don’t have to worry about monthly maintenance fees, minimum balances or a minimum opening deposit. Add on a sign-up bonus worth up to $100, and it’s easy to recommend this account to newly incorporated small businesses, or those who want to try out Axos Bank.

Pros

• No monthly maintenance fee
• Unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements
• No minimum deposit required to open an account
• 2 free domestic wire transfers each month

Cons

• Account does not earn interest
• No physical branch locations

The Axos® Bank Basic Business Checking account is an online account. One of the biggest benefits is the bank's unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursement benefit, which means you're not tied down to a specific network of ATMs. You can also get up to two domestic wire transfers reimbursed each month.

That said, Axos doesn't have any physical branches, and it's not recommended to send cash deposits. So, if you're a cash business, consider another option. Axos Bank also offers business savings accounts and CDs.

Best for Cash Back: LendingClub Tailored Checking

• Monthly fee: $10; waivable if you maintain a balance of $500 in your account.
• APY: Earn 1.50% APY on balances up to $100,000 and 0.10% APY on the portion of the balance that is $100,000 and greater. 

LendingClub Bank is an online bank that offers only a business checking account. However, you'll be hard-pressed to find a business savings account that offers an APY this high on your balance. 

The account also offers 1% cash back on signature-based purchases — where you don't use your PIN — as long as your account has been open for at least 30 days and you maintain an average balance of $500 or more. The bank also offers unlimited ATM fee rebates — international ATM fees are included, but it doesn't include international exchange fees.

While the bank has no physical branches, you can deposit cash at MoneyPass® and SUM® Network ATMs.

Best for Multiple Businesses: Bluevine Business Checking

Bluevine

• Monthly fee: $0
• APY: Earn 2.00% APY on up to $250,000 in deposits, as long as you spend $500 per month with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® or receive $2,500 per month in customer payments via ACH, wire transfer, mobile check deposit, or directly from your merchant payment processing provider.

The Bluevine™ Business Checking account is an online checking account that offers an even higher APY than LendingClub Tailored Checking. The account is also light on fees, with no monthly, overdraft or incoming wire fees. You'll also get fee-free ATM transactions at more than 37,000 ATMs in the MoneyPass network. 

You can also add up to five sub-accounts, each with its own designated account number, which can be helpful if you're running more than one business at a time.

If you have a cash business, you can deposit cash at more than 90,000 retail locations in the Green Dot® network. However, the deposit limit can be $500 or $1,000, depending on where you go, and you may have to pay a fee of up to $4.95 per deposit. 

Best for Business Services: Lili Business Checking

Lili

• Monthly fee: $0 or $9
• APY: N/A

Like Bluevine, Lili's basic checking account is light on fees, with no account fees at all. The stripped-down version doesn't offer a lot of added features, though.  

If you sign up for Lili Pro, which costs $9 per month, you'll get a variety of benefits. These include $200 in overdraft coverage free of charge, fee-free ATM transactions at more than 38,000 ATMs, cash-back rewards with select merchants, access to the company's high-yield savings account, a tax optimizer tool, invoicing software and more.

If you want access to many services to build your business, Lili Pro could be worth the added cost. If you want to deposit cash, you can do so at more than 90,000 retail locations, albeit with a fee of up to $4.95, and limits of $1,000 per 24-hour period and $9,000 per month.

Which Business Checking Account Is Right for Me?

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As you consider your options, think about your unique needs as a freelancer or self-employed individual. If your business is strictly online, having an online bank with a lot of added features can make sense. But if you work with cash customers, having a bank with local branches or at least a way to deposit cash via an ATM or retailer may be the better fit.

As you shop around and compare these and other options, consider the services and features you want in a checking account to determine the best fit for you and your business.

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