Novo Review

Pros

• $0 opening minimum balance & minimal fees
• Free transfers, incoming wires, and payments
• Mobile app
• ATM fees reimbursement
• Integrations

Cons

• No interest-earning accounts
• No cash deposits

What Is Novo Bank?

Novo is not a bank but an online banking platform that comes with business checking functionality, a debit card you can use for free worldwide, $0 minimum balance requirements, a slew of useful integrations, FDIC insurance, and little to no fees. These perks put Novo on our list of the best online business bank accounts.

Note that although Novo provides some banking services, Novo is a financial technology company (fintech) and not a bank. Novo is powered by its bank sponsor, Middlesex Federal Savings F.A.

Related: Wondering if you even need a business bank account? Our Merchant Maverick CEO lays out eight reasons why you do in this short video.

Services Offered By Novo

Novo doesn’t offer a huge array of services, instead focusing on business checking. Novo offers business checking accounts that truly are free of almost all fees and offer helpful features and perks like virtual cards, checks, mobile apps, and unlimited transfers.

Overall, Novo gets a 3.6/5 star rating for features because of the lack of a business savings account option.

Novo redeems itself a bit with a merchant cash advance option called Novo Funding.

Novo Funding provides flexible working capital of up to $75K in the form of merchant cash advances. With decisions within 24 hours, you’ll have instant access to funds following approval. As you make your monthly payments, you’ll have access to your full available funding balance. You’ll have a six-month repayment schedule, with no penalty for early repayment. Rather than interest, you’ll pay a factoring rate.

Novo Rewards & Perks

Compared to other business banking options, Novo comes up short in one key area: interest-earning rewards. No matter how much you have in your Novo account, you won’t earn any APY. There are also no cash-back rewards with Novo, putting this section rating at 0.9/5 stars.

While there are no traditional APY or cash-back rewards, a big perk of Novo is the lack of monthly fees. So, while you might not earn interest, you will save money on fees.

Novo does offer partner perk rewards for discounts on business software like three free months with Gusto, 50% off Constant Contact, or $5K in waived Stripe processing fees.

Novo also has a referral program where you can receive a cash bonus for referring new customers.

If APY is important to you, check out our suggestions for the best high-yield savings accounts for businesses to find a Novo alternative.

Novo Pricing & Fees

Novo pricing is straightforward.

You’ll find no hidden fees, monthly fees, or minimum balance requirements. ACH transfers, mailed payments by check, and incoming wires are free. Unfortunately, you cannot send out wire transfers from your Novo account.

Many online banking competitors that have similar low fees hit you with a high foreign transaction fee, but Novo has a 0% transaction fee as well, making it a truly competitive banking option worthy of the 4.3/5 star rating.

Although Novo does not have an ATM network, Novo customers will receive a refund for all ATM fees incurred.

Transaction Limits

Note that Novo does impose transaction limits as follows:

Users can reach out to Novo support through the Novo app to request increases to these limits. If you plan on depositing a large amount of money, Novo requests two to three days advance notice through the Support tab in the app so your deposits are not flagged for fraudulent activity.

Novo Eligibility Requirements

Novo’s services are available to nearly all small businesses, whether sole proprietorship (such as freelancers and independent contractors), LLC, partnership, or corporation. Novo will not check your credit history when you apply for an account, so applying will not affect your credit score.

The Novo website lists the following requirements for all business accounts:

• Located in the US
• The owner must be a permanent US resident with legal status and aged 18+
• Valid US mailing address
• Valid mobile phone using a major US carrier
• Valid Social Security Number or equivalent, such as an EIN

This flexibility earns Novo a perfect 5-star rating for this section, which is not something I see often.

Novo does have a high-risk industry list, but the list is less restrictive than the standard high-risk industry list. The following types of high-risk businesses are listed as ones that cannot use Novo: cryptocurrencies, privately owned ATMs, marijuana/cannabis, gambling, crowdfunding, and money services.

Notably, CBD businesses are supported, which is unusual for online banks with a high-risk list.

Novo Features

Novo offers a decent amount of banking features, especially for a free business checking account. However, the company has fewer financial management features than other online banks, has low initial transaction limits, and is missing two key features: cash deposits and outgoing wire transfers. For these reasons, Novo gets a 2.9/5 for its features.

As far as cash deposits, Novo suggests a workaround that might do the job. You can use cash to purchase a money order at a common location such as a US Post Office or a grocery store. Then use your mobile app’s check deposit function to transfer the money order into your Novo account. While we appreciate that there is a workaround, the sheer inconvenience of this makes Novo a bad fit for cash-based businesses.

Here are some of the features that Novo does offer:

• Invoicing
• International debit card support
• Novo Reserves savings subaccounts
• User management
• Check deposits
• Digital wallet
• Bill pay
• Unlimited transactions
• AT refunds
• eCommerce integrations
• Accounting integrations
• POS integrations
• FDIC insurance

Novo Application Process

Novo has an online application that takes less than 10 minutes to complete. The application process is fairly easy, earning it a score of 4.4/5.

Depending on your business classification, Novo will require commonly available documentation when you apply. Sole proprietors can expect to show identification and a DBA certificate if they have one. Not surprisingly, corporations need more documentation, including articles of incorporation and other legal forms.

Once approved, there’s no opening deposit required.

Novo Sales & Advertising Transparency

Novo scores a 4.1/5 for sales and advertising transparency. The company is fairly straightforward with information regarding fees, rewards, and the application process, and the company’s website has standard marketing practices but isn’t misleading.

Novo Customer Service & Support

Novo offers in-app support and other options, such as phone and email.

Help is available Monday-Friday, from 9 AM to 6 PM Eastern Time. One of Novo’s most useful customer support options is its FAQ collection where you’ll find answers to common questions or concerns.

User comments posted online via review sites are generally complimentary regarding Novo’s customer service, though we would like to see more extended support hours and a more comprehensive FAQ help center. For these reasons, we’ve given Novo a score of 2.9/5 in this category.

Novo Reviews & Customer Complaints

User feedback about Novo is mixed but leans toward the positive. Across third-party review sites, Novo gets an aggregate score of 4.0/5 stars. Here’s a breakdown of the specific praises and complaints users have.

Negative Novo Bank Reviews & Complaints

• Difficulty with international wires
• Debit card and payment limits
• Hard to reach customer service
• Accounts closed without warning
• No traditional checkbooks

Positive Novo Reviews

• Good customer service
• No fees
• Strong mobile app
• User-friendly
• ATM fee refunds

Is Novo Safe?

Like other online business checking options, Novo is a financial services company — not a bank. Banking services are provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC. Through this partnership, Novo accounts are FDIC-insured to the legal limit of $250,000.

Novo uses industry-standard bank-level encryption to secure users’ personal and business data. The information you provide to verify your identity when you apply for a Novo account is protected by Novo’s privacy policy as well as by federal law.

Final Verdict: Is Novo Worth It?

Aimed at small business owners, including freelancers and contract workers, Novo hits the mark with its almost fee-free services. You won’t have to maintain any minimum balance, and you also won’t encounter any recurring fees, making Novo a good choice for even the smallest business.

Novo goes beyond competitors by offering full reimbursement of all ATM fees, including on foreign transactions. The Novo mobile app is easy to use and offers full functionality, including on-the-go check deposits and payment options, such as checks mailed on your behalf. Furthermore, Novo offers one of the best suites of small-business-friendly integrations we’ve seen.

For some businesses, that’s enough to offset some of the disadvantages Novo brings to the table, including the lack of cash deposits and standard rewards like APY and cash-back. There’s also no savings account option, so while Novo could be a good free business checking option, it’s not a full small business banking suite.

Check out our list of the best online business bank accounts if you need a bank that fits the bill better than Novo.

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.