Bank Of America Business Checking Account Review 2024

Bank Of America business checking account review for 2024: bank account fees, APR/APY interest rates, debit cards, and minimum requirements.

Bank Of America Banking

Paul is an entrepreneur and started his own company. After filing his incorporation paperwork and establishing a business based tax identification number, he needed to find a bank. With at least one branch in every small town and an ATM on every corner, Bank of America seemed a logical choice. He needed both sets of paperwork to open the account, which the bank manager at his local branch was happy to do. However, as with any relationship there are pros and cons to this one.

The formation of the account depended on how big a business he was going to create. Business Fundamentals has a default cost of $16 per month, which can be waived if $250 is spent on either a business credit card or debit card, having an average monthly balance of $5,000 or more, maintaining a daily balance of $3,000, or maintaining a combined average monthly balance of $15,000 or more in linked Bank of America accounts. Paul uses his debit card for business expenses and easily escapes this fee. However, the fundamentals account has a number of smaller fees that erode the balance. With each incoming wire transfer, he pays $15 domestically and $16 internationally. He also uses QuickBooks for his bookkeeping software and enjoys the ability to link to his accounts and pull data automatically. Unfortunately a fee of $15/month is required for this privilege. It saves time and allows Paul to focus on running his business rather than data entry, so he begrudgingly pays this fee.

If Paul’s business was bigger and he was willing to hold a larger monthly balance, he could avoid some of these fees. Bank of America offers a Business Advantage account that has a default monthly charge of $29.95. These fees can be avoided if at least $2,500 is spent on a business credit card, the average monthly balance is $15,000 or more, the average monthly combined balance in linked Bank of America accounts is at least $35,000, or if the business uses Bank of America Merchant Services or Payroll by Intuit. He has worked with Bank of America Merchant Services before and it is an extremely expensive way of accepting credit cards. There are many other choices out there, so Merchant Services is not the best way to avoid fees.

There are a number of smaller fees, which he never experienced first hand but could have negatively affected him if he did. The first deals with a $2.50 charge for using a non-Bank of America ATM machine, with an additional $5 if that ATM is located in a foreign country. If he wanted copy of checks included on a statement, it would cost him $3.00 per cycle. Luckily the bank keeps copies of those checks for seven years and can be viewed online for free for a period of time after it has been cashed.

Despite the fees Paul has stayed with Bank of America for nearly two years. He does so because of the convenience. In the beginning he frequently walked into a branch and instantly had access to his funds or could deposit a check. This included going into a branch in another state, which was slightly inconvenient due to the need to use a separate out of state deposit slip. He has since learned that Bank of America is actually on conglomeration of many banks that have been slowly acquired over the years. This creates a strange internal dynamic where branches from different states are not exactly the same bank and use separate systems. It becomes a slight inconvenience, but the website provides all the information necessary to dismiss it as that.

The website itself is very useful and can do all of the standard functionality we have come to expect for a bank. Most notably monitoring recent transactions, including viewing copies of cancelled checks and deposits, made it very easy to manage accounts receivable and payable accounts. The site also allows Paul to download statements and pay bills from his accounts. As long as the bills are paid via check, the service is free. If an ACH transfer is required a small fee is collected for the ability to release them, which increased based on the amount of time it took to get to the recipient.

The mobile App was a welcomed change to his business processes. He no longer needed to waste the gas to go to a local branch. He could deposit checks, transfer funds between his own business accounts, pay a bill, or check recent transactions all with his I Phone. With a recent update they added the ability to use the Touch ID to log in and he literally could do his banking one handed.

Bank Of America Business Checking Review Summary

Overall Bank of America is a good option for Paul. He likes the functionality it provides and he has found his way of managing the fees they charge. He does acknowledge that if someone lost track of their business or account balances, it could be a very expensive choice.

Bank Of America Bank' business checking account offers a number of benefits that makes it attractive to many customers. Readers looking for a personal checking account should take a look at Top checking accounts article.