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If you run a limited liability corporation (LLC), find out what banks are best and why when it comes to opening a business bank account.
Chelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
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Chelsea KrauseChelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
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Shelbi Wescott began working for Merchant Maverick in 2019 after 17 years as a journalism educator and publications advisor, where she has extensive knowledge of newsroom systems and editorial workflows. She has overseen multiple print and online publications and mentored hundreds of emerging writers. Shelbi is also an award-winning journalist, published author, and former small business owner with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
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Shelbi WescottShelbi Wescott began working for Merchant Maverick in 2019 after 17 years as a journalism educator and publications advisor, where she has extensive knowledge of newsroom systems and editorial workflows. She has overseen multiple print and online publications and mentored hundreds of emerging writers. Shelbi is also an award-winning journalist, published author, and former small business owner with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
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A business bank account for LLCs helps you track your income and expenses accurately, limits your personal legal liability, and keeps your personal money safe from any business downturns or unexpected threats. Plus, the best bank accounts for LLCs offer rewards and perks specifically targeted toward LLCs.
Merchant Maverick considered more than three dozen of the best business bank accounts to compile the list of the best options for LLCs in particular. The best picks on this list have competitive fees and worthwhile rewards to help meet your LLC’s banking needs.
An LLC bank account is simply a business bank account that supports LLCs. Not all business bank accounts support the LLC business structure, so it’s important to find a bank that your LLC is eligible for.
Typically, an LLC bank account also provides better perks and rewards, as well as more security and personal liability protection, than using a personal bank account for business would.
Types Of Business Bank Accounts LLCs Need
The point of forming your business as an LLC is to limit your personal liability, so opening a separate bank account for your business is a must to ensure that your business finances and personal finances remain separate.
Using a business bank account improves your professional image, protects your personal assets from bankruptcy and legal action, and helps you organize your business income and spending in ways that keep you out of the IRS’s audit. But which type of business bank account does your LLC need?
LLCs should have two to three bank accounts, including:
Checking: A business checking account will let you easily move incoming and outgoing business funds.
Investment Account: An investment bank account like a high-yield business savings account or certificates of deposit allows businesses to earn interest on long-term cash reserves.
Some businesses may have multiple savings accounts to differentiate funds, but this isn’t a necessity (especially since many of the top business savings accounts allow customers to divide funds into “envelopes” or even multiple savings accounts within one login).
Best Business Bank Accounts For LLCs
The best business bank accounts for LLCs offer easy ways to deposit, withdraw, and borrow money, with low or no fees for mostly unlimited transactions. Here are the best LLC bank options worth trusting with your time and money.
LendingClub is one of the few business bank accounts to offer APY and cashback with its checking account. LendingClub offers up to 1.50% APY and 1% cashback on debit purchases, and up to 3.35% APY on savings accounts, making LendingClub a solid option for interest earning.
Lili is a great option for small businesses because it offers low fees, strong rewards, and built-in cash flow, expense management, and bookkeeping tools. Lili offers up to 3.65% APY and covers all overdrafts up to $200.
Lili's tax optimizer tool is particularly noteworthy for helping small businesses automatically find tax deductions. Lili also integrates with accounting software to make managing your business finances even easier.
Lili's Benefits & Features
Lili’s Visa business debit cards are automatically enrolled into a cash-back rewards program. Lili doesn’t offer a flat cashback rate like LendingClub. Instead, you’ll find cashback on purchases from specific vendors within Lili’s cashback network like 5% cashback at Microsoft, 30% cashback at TaxAct, 5% at MailChimp, 2% at Chevron, and many more.
Here are Lili’s benefits:
Lili Yield and Cashback
Value
Checking APY
None
Savings APY
3.65%
CD APY
N/A
Treasury Account APY
N/A
Checking Cashback
Varies
You can find these features:
Lili Features
Availability
Incoming Domestic Wire Transfers
Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfers
International Wire Transfers
ACH
ATM
Cash Deposits
Mobile Deposits
Check
Virtual Cards or Digital Wallet
Bill Pay
Cash Flow Management
Reporting
Standard FDIC Insurance
Invoicing
Accounting Integrations
Lili's Pricing & Fees
You’ll find almost no fees attached to a basic Lili bank account. There are monthly fees if you want Lili’s bookkeeping tools.
While Novo doesn't offer APY, credit card, or lending options, the lack of fees is noteworthy enough to be worth considering on the list of best LLC bank accounts.
Novo's Benefits & Features
Novo doesn’t offer APY or traditional cashback rewards; however, you will find some significant partner discounts on various business software and services. For example, Novo customers get $5,000 off of Stripe payment processing fees and three months off of Gusto payroll.
Here are Novo’s benefits:
Novo Bank Yield and Cashback
Value
Checking APY
None
Savings APY
N/A
CD APY
N/A
Treasury Account APY
N/A
Checking Cashback
None
You can find these features:
Novo Bank Features
Availability
Incoming Domestic Wire Transfers
Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfers
International Wire Transfers
ACH
ATM
Cash Deposits
Mobile Deposits
Check
Virtual Cards or Digital Wallet
Bill Pay
Cash Flow Management
Reporting
Standard FDIC Insurance
Invoicing
Accounting Integrations
Novo's Pricing & Fees
Novo users will pay no monthly fees, minimum balance fees, transaction fees, ACH or incoming wire transfer fees, or hidden fees. If your business travel takes you overseas, you can use your Novo debit card without incurring foreign transaction fees. Novo also reimburses users for any ATM fees they encounter.
Why We Chose Mercury For The Best For Growing LLC Businesses
Mercury Bank is a great option for growing businesses because on top a competitive bank account, you'll also find access to cash-back credit cards, employee cards with spend management controls, venture debt, and high-yield money market accounts.
If your LLC is planning on growth and wants to capitalize on earnings with a market money account with high APY, Mercury is definitely worth considering.
Mercury's Benefits & Features
Mercury offers a corporate charge card to qualified customers that include an automatic cash back on all purchases, plus additional discounts from select business software vendors. Since Mercury is aimed at startups, these offers from accounting and finance, advertising, eCommerce, hosting, and other software types may be useful.
Mercury also offers access to a special savings vehicle, Mercury Treasury, that delivers a satisfyingly high APY to customers.
Here are Mercury’s benefits:
Mercury Yield and Cashback
Value
Checking APY
None
Savings APY
None
CD APY
N/A
Treasury Account APY
up to 4.88%
Checking Cashback
up to 1.5%
You can find these features:
Mercury Features
Availability
Incoming Domestic Wire Transfers
Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfers
International Wire Transfers
ACH
ATM
Cash Deposits
Mobile Deposits
Check
Virtual Cards or Digital Wallet
Bill Pay
Cash Flow Management
Reporting
Standard FDIC Insurance
Invoicing
Accounting Integrations
Mercury's Pricing & Fees
You won’t find a long list of fees attached to a Mercury LLC bank account. There are no annual fees, monthly account maintenance fees, global ACH or wire transfer fees, or fees for additional cards.
Live Oak Bank offers one of the best high-yield business savings options on the market, with up to 3.90% APY on business savings accounts and up to 4.60% APY on certificates of deposit. Live Oak Bank also offers a higher FDIC insurance limit than most online banks, and there are no APY tiers or balance caps for its savings accounts, making Live Oak a good choice for businesses looking to earn money on large sums.
Live Oak's Benefits & Features
Live Oak’s business savings accounts come with a 4.0% APY that’s well above the national average, with no minimum deposit amount. You can also open a certificate of deposit with Live Oak and earn from 2.00%-5.00%.
Live Oak also offers SBA loans starting at $150K to eligible businesses. While there is currently no checking option, Live Oak promises that this account service is on the way.
Here are Live Oak’s benefits:
Live Oak Bank Yield and Cashback
Value
Checking APY
None
Savings APY
up to 3.90%
CD APY
up to 4.60%
Treasury Account APY
N/A
Checking Cashback
None
You can find these features:
Live Oak Bank Features
Availability
Incoming Domestic Wire Transfers
Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfers
International Wire Transfers
ACH
ATM
Cash Deposits
Mobile Deposits
Check
Virtual Cards or Digital Wallet
Bill Pay
Cash Flow Management
Reporting
Standard FDIC Insurance
Invoicing
Accounting Integrations
Live Oak's Pricing & Fees
You’ll pay no ongoing monthly fees for a Live Oak LLC account. There are also no in-network ATM fees and unlimited free ACH transfers.
Why We Chose Bluevine For The Best High-Yield Checking
Bluevine offers 2.0% APY on checking account balances of up to $100K. You usually have to open a high-yield savings account for those kinds of APY numbers, so Bluevine stands out with a high-yield checking option. Add low fees, helpful banking features, access to funding, and higher-than-average FDIC insurance, and it's easy to see why Bluevine is a contender for LLCs.
Bluevine's Benefits & Features
Bluevine does not offer a wide range of perks and rewards such as signup bonuses, partner promotions, or card perks. However, the high APY is the most notable feature.
Bluevine also offers helpful banking features like sub-account organization, automated bill pay, and accountant access.
If you sign up for a Bluevine checking account, you may be eligible to open a BlueVine small business line of credit. You’ll have either a 6-month or 12-month repayment term.
Here are Bluevine’s benefits:
Bluevine Yield and Cashback
Value
Checking APY
up to 4.25%
Savings APY
N/A
CD APY
N/A
Treasury Account APY
N/A
Checking Cashback
None
You can find these features:
Bluevine Features
Availability
Incoming Domestic Wire Transfers
Outgoing Domestic Wire Transfers
International Wire Transfers
ACH
ATM
Cash Deposits
Mobile Deposits
Check
Virtual Cards or Digital Wallet
Bill Pay
Cash Flow Management
Reporting
Standard FDIC Insurance
Invoicing
Accounting Integrations
Bluevine's Pricing & Fees
Bluevine has no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and unlimited free transactions.
Why We Chose Capital One Spark As The Best For Branch Access
Capital One's Spark business bank account is one of the only entries on this list of the best banks for LLCs that have physical branches.
As a traditional bank, Capital One offers loans, credit cards, and lines of credit that you can use to help your LLC grow. Capital One offers a wide range of credit cards, and you can choose between cash-back rewards and travel benefits. You can also take out a Capital One loan or open a line of credit for your LLC. The amount of services offered is one of the biggest perks of going with a more traditional, big-name LLC bank account like Capital One.
Capital One Benefits & Features
You may be able to access a promotional APY on new Capital One Spark savings accounts. Apply for a credit card linked to your account and you can earn rewards on your spending. Choose a Spark Classic or Spark Cash card for cashback rewards, or opt for Spark Miles to earn travel benefits.
If you want a checking account with free incoming domestic wire transfers, 5 free outgoing wire transfers each month, no foreign transaction fees, and up to $40,000 in cash deposits each month
We spend hours researching and evaluating each business banking service we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.
Weighted Rating Breakdown
Fees & Rates 25%
Services 15%
Rewards 15%
Features 15%
Eligibility Requirements 10%
Application Process 5%
Sales & Advertising Transparency 5%
Customer Service 5%
User Reviews 5%
When rating banks and banking services, we use a 53-point rubric that looks at rates and fees, services, eligibility requirements, application, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.
Rates & Fees: 25% of the total star rating
Services: 15% of the total star rating
Rewards: 15% of the total star rating
Features: 15% of the total star rating
Eligibility Requirements: 10% of the total star rating
Application Process: 5% of the total star rating
Sales & Advertising Transparency: 5% of the total star rating
Customer Support: 5% of the total star rating
User Reviews: 5% of the total star rating
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we examine specific attributes like the variety of banking features available, transaction types supported, requirements for revenue, credit score, or time in business, ease of application, opening deposit requirements, and the ethics involved in promoting the bank.
When looking for a good bank account for an LLC, first things first, make sure the bank’s eligibility requirements are a clear match. Check that the make works with LLC business structures and that you meet other eligibility requirements like credit history, business revenue, etc.
After that, you’ll want to look for:
Transparent rates and fees
Low monthly fees and low transaction fees for the transaction types you use regularly
Rewards that match your business’s spending habits
Cashback or APY that meets your business’s savings goals
Transaction limits that fit your business
Transaction methods that your business needs like ACH, wire transfers, or cash deposits
With dozens of business bank account options out there, don’t settle for a bank that is mediocre. There are plenty of great options out there that can help you reach your business goals, whether that’s maximizing cash back on debit purchases, cutting banking costs, earning high interest rates on savings, or even managing cash flow insights and credit scores in one spot.
How To Open A Business Bank Account For An LLC
To open a business bank account for an LLC, you’ll need to gather important personal and business information like your name, SSN or EIN, business address, and your LLC formation documentation. Check out our full list of documents required to open a bank account and then move on to the main step — filling out the bank application.
Different businesses have slightly different processes regarding bank applications and follow-ups. Some banks conduct everything online, while others provide a dedicated representative throughout the application process.
Once your application is approved, you may need to make an initial opening deposit. From there, you can start using your account! Each bank has different time frames for how quickly you can access your funds, so be sure to ask your dedicated representative or check out our full bank reviews, where we give all the details on each bank’s processes, pricing, pros, and cons.
You may not be legally required to open a business bank account for your LLC, but it’s a good idea to do so. Forming a limited liability corporation (LLC) helps you reduce your personal legal and financial risk. Separating your business and personal finances will also help you meet that goal.
Can I use a personal bank account for my LLC?
While you technically can use a perosnal bank account for your LLC, accountants highly recommend that you use a separate business bank account. This is especially important for LLCs because part of the power of the LLC business structure is the liability protection it gives business owners, which would be completely negated by using a personal business account.
What information do I need to open a LLC bank account?
Opening a business bank account for your LLC can be done quickly and easily. You can even apply online. What you need to open a business bank account will depend on how your business is structured and what the bank you choose requires. Expect to provide government-issued identification, an EIN or Social Security number, your business license, and your incorporation documents.
Do I need an EIN to open an LLC bank account?
You will likely need an EIN or an SSN to open a bank account for your LLC.
Chelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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