NorthOne business checking account review

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By Kevin Mercadante

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If you're a small business owner, startup, or freelancer and you feel like you're being treated like a small fish by a traditional bank, NorthOne Bank's Business Checking account could be a good alternative. The account is custom-built to create a simple business banking app. It comes with most traditional business banking services and also offers integration with third-party service providers to create a comprehensive business banking platform.

4.0

4.0

Commissions and fees4

Customer service4

Ease of use5

Loans offered2.5

Savings options4

Traditional banking features4

What is NorthOne business checking?

Based in New York City, NorthOne launched in August 2019. NorthOne offers a business bank account and is an online-only bank. The company specifically designed the account to meet the needs of small businesses — including those with fewer than 50 employees — as well as startups and freelancers. The banking platform is trusted by more than 300,000 businesses across America.

Like most digital banks, NorthOne has no physical bank branches. All banking services are provided through the app or web for a single monthly fee.

NorthOne offers a single account, which is its business checking account. Since it's designed for small businesses, it's simple to use. And it even helps you set money aside for specific purposes. Though it offers only a single primary account, you can add sub-accounts to allocate funds for major expenses such as payroll, taxes, and rent.

The banking app is designed to work with all payment processing systems, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, eCommerce tools, and payment services. You can even integrate the app with tools that you already use in your business: accounting, eCommerce, and billing. Examples include Freshbooks, QuickBooks, Wave, and Xero.

NorthOne set out to design a banking app that seamlessly integrates your existing business financial services into the platform so you can transact business with ease, simplicity, and on your own terms.

Though it's headquartered in New York City, NorthOne also has offices in San Francisco and Toronto. NorthOne is an FDIC-insured bank through its partnership with Bancorp.

NorthOne business checking account features

• Number of in-network ATMs: One million+
• Availability: All 50 states
• Cash deposits: Yes, through Cirrus® and MoneyPass ATMs.
• FDIC insurance: Yes, through a partnership with Bancorp
• Works with one flat monthly fee: A single monthly payment of just $10.
• Very extensive fee-free ATM network: NorthOne participates in two major ATM networks, offering more than one million fee-free locations.
• Cash deposits: Very few online banks have the capacity to accept cash deposits. But NorthOne does. You can make cash deposits at any of the thousands of Green Dot locations available across the country. Mobile check deposit is also supported.
• Multiple debit cards: You can have a debit card issued to every owner of your business.
• Budget with envelopes: NorthOne doesn't offer deposit accounts or CDs. But it's subaccount feature, called envelopes, connects with your checking account. You can have unlimited envelopes that can help you budget for large expenses like taxes, payroll, and rent.
• In-account invoicing capabilities: Using an integrated app, you can send, track, and manage invoices to customers and clients.
• Integrates with third-party business tools: You can add third-party payment services and accounting software to your business checking account to create an all-in-one business finance platform.

How does NorthOne business checking work?

The NorthOne Business Checking account offers online and mobile banking. Open an account in about three minutes with an initial minimum deposit of just $50. The account can be both opened and accessed through your computer or mobile device

The account comes with the NorthOne debit MasterCard. This gives you access to what may be the largest fee-free ATM network of any bank, with one million locations. And use the debit card to make cash deposits at any Green Dot location, free of charge.

Using the banking app from your mobile device, you can:

• Send payments by wire or ACH for $15
• Pay bills
• Mobile check deposits
• Deposit payments on the go, wherever you are

The account also comes with cash flow reporting. This gives you the ability to analyze and understand both revenue and spending within your business.

FDIC insurance of up to $250,000 per depositor is available through Bancorp.

Daily transaction limits:

• Cash withdrawal limit: up to $2,000
• Mobile deposits: up to $20,000
• ACH transfers: up to $10,000
• Wire transfers: up to $10,000

Further reading: Best business checking accounts

NorthOne integrations

One of the best business features of NorthOne Business Checking is the ability to integrate the app with popular business tools. This capability is made to order for small businesses that take advantage of those tools' low cost, so you don't have to pay third parties or hire additional staff.

For example, you can integrate your accounting, eCommerce, and POS software right into your bank account.

Some of NorthOne's notable integration options include:

• Airbnb
• Cash App
• Lyft
• PayPal
• Quickbooks
• Shopify
• Square
• Stripe
• Uber
• Venmo
• Wave

Overall, these integrations give you plenty of options to use all of your business tools in one place.

NorthOne Envelopes

Envelops connect to your checking account and help you save for upcoming expenses. You establish “smart rules” to automatically set aside money by the amount or percentage basis. That helps you better manage large upcoming expenses that may not fit neatly into your budget. These types of expenses include income taxes, payroll, and rent.

Free Invoice Maker app

NorthOne's  Invoice Maker App is fully integrated to your NorthOne Business Checking account. The app works on Android and iOS mobile devices. This lets you build and send professional looking invoices from your mobile device, as well as keep track of payments and even send reminders.

Invoice Maker lets you customize professional invoices using pre-built templates. By sending invoices directly from your banking app, you can get paid without the usual invoicing fees.

NorthOne account security

In addition to FDIC insurance, NorthOne Business Checking also provides the following security measures to protect your identity and your transactions:

• Biometric authentication (Touch ID or Face ID to log in, send payments, and view information)
• Fraud monitoring
• NorthOne does not store sensitive information.
• Communication takes place only through secure channels.
• Continuous transaction monitoring for suspicious activities and immediate notification if any are detected

NorthOne business checking fees

NorthOne charges a single monthly fee of $10. And this covers the unlimited transactions the account offers. There's no minimum balance requirement, commitment, or hidden fees.

There are a few other fees, including:

• Domestic wire transfers, incoming and outgoing: $15
• International wire transfers, incoming and outgoing: $25

NorthOne financing options

NorthOne participates in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The bank facilitated more than $130 million in PPP loans to small business owners as of December 2, 2020. The loans are made through Cross River Bank, Member FDIC.

NorthOne is currently waiting for the program to be extended, so you'll need to sign up for the PPP waitlist. You must first open a NorthOne Business Checking account to be eligible to sign up for the waitlist.

NorthOne currently does not offer common bank financing programs, like credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, business loans, or real estate loans.

Customer support

You can reach NorthOne's customer support through live chat, phone, or email. You can email [email protected] if you have questions as well, and overall, it offers comprehensive customer support that business owners would want from their online bank.

Just note that you have to schedule phone calls; you can't just call a customer support helpline for instant assistance.

NorthOne pros and cons

Pros

• Low fees since you only pay $10 per month

• No transaction limits

• Create sub-accounts and budget for business expenses

• Extensive software integration options

• Use the Invoice Maker to send and track invoices right from your account

• Mobile check deposits and cash deposits are supported

• Extensive fee-free ATM network

Cons

• No high-yield savings account

• No business loans

• No physical branches

• No paper checks

• You have to schedule phone appointments through the NorthOne app

NorthOne business checking alternatives

NorthOne is an excellent business bank account if you want simple, low fees and plenty of integration options. We also like it since it makes depositing cash easy, and you can also avoid ATM fees.

However, there are numerous other business banking options that offer simplicity, abundant business services, and low fees, there are several choices open to you. Comparable services include Novo and Bluevine.

Novo is an excellent NorthOne alternative if you want to avoid monthly fees. It's incredibly affordable, although you can't deposit cash like you can with NorthOne which is a disadvantage.

As for Bluevine, it's a more comprehensive online-only bank than NorthOne. For starters, it pays 1.5% interest on balances up to $100,000 if you meet certain monthly activity requirements. And it doesn't charge monthly fees either. Lines of credit are also available, and you even get paper checks to sweeten the deal

Final thoughts on NorthOne

If you have a small business or are a freelancer, you probably do not need a traditional business banking arrangement. If what you're looking for is a simple on-the-go business checking account that integrates with your regular business tools, NorthOne Business Checking offers one of the industry's best choices.

A small business needs a business checking account that's light on fees. And that's exactly what NorthOne provides. For a flat monthly fee of $10, you get unlimited transactions, including payments, transfers, and deposits. Since NorthOne is designed primarily as a mobile app, you can handle your business banking anywhere you are.

The account also gives you the ability to deposit cash, which is highly unusual among online banks. And if you struggle with budgeting, NorthOne's envelopes provide an answer. Working directly from the checking account, you can set up regular allocations to cover important expenses like taxes. This helps even out your cash flow.

If you're looking for a simple, low-cost business checking account that also acts as a comprehensive financial center for your business, NorthOne Business Checking should be on your shortlist of options.

Kevin Mercadante Freelance Contributor

Kevin Mercadante Freelance Contributor

Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com.

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