
Ask HN: What are the best banking offers for startups today? - abbadadda
Are there any banks that offer great checking accounts and credit cards for start ups?<p>I&#x27;m based in NYC for reference. Thanks.
======
wmab
I'd NOT recommend Bridge Bank for checking or credit cards. They pitch it as a
startup friendly bank - they are currently billboarding San Francisco with an
"Entrepreneur not Wantrepreneur" campaign right now - and I've had good rep
experience, but it really isn't a seamless process, I've had to contact them
on so many occasions about something that isn't set up, or is set up
incorrectly. Their connection to Xero doesn't work often, you can't set up
Apple Pay, their credit card system is something called EZ Business Card
Management (third party?) and has no accounting integrations. It's a Western
Alliance subsidiary and their infrastructure is extremely dated.

We've now got Brex (YC W17) credit cards, which is a great service - eg, after
you use your card you get a text, take a photo of the receipt (or email it in)
and it adds it to the expense - something so simple yet is incredible vs
trying to use Xero / QB / Expensify. My one bother with them is they aren't
able to help those that haven't raised >$500k in capital / have a large bank
account - the only thing they use to approve the account is your checking bank
account (shock - trying to link Bridge Bank results in an error!) that they
then comb for income/expense history. They offer some good startup-focused
rewards, like 2X points on recurring software [1]

[1] [https://brex.com/rewards](https://brex.com/rewards)

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sunw
Having a nice experience with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB); they are able to
address many startup-specific needs better than most other banking providers.
I used them for a new Delaware corporation, and everything was done completely
online. Despite SVB's namesake, I believe you don't have to be based in
California.

~~~
bmurray7jhu
The big advantage of SVB is that they are familiar with the capital structures
used by start ups and are willing/able to structure the credit line in a way
that is compatible with the covenants held by VC investors.

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immad
We (Mercury) are working on a bank for startups. This is my 4th startup and we
have $6m in funding based in SF.

We are working on a bunch of product features that are startup specific (APIs,
integrations etc) as well as a normal checking account + debit card.

Still early but we are in alpha with a few customers, send me an email immad
AT Mercury DOT co and I can share more details and give you early access if
possible.

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wheelerwj
hey, ive done this a few times. as a general rule, if you're at an early
stage, it really doesn't matter, so go for something convenient. if you're
pre-funding or even sub $1m, i'd honestly say go with whatever bank you're
already using personally. Just make sure to take the proper corporate
formalities and never co-mingle funds.

The most important thing at this stage (and the next stages as well) is to not
waste time on things that are irrelevant, so don't make banking more complex
than it needs to be. as you grow, your CFO or maybe even COO might have their
own processes and preferences, so just keep it as simple as possible till
then.

If you are really at the stage that you need a more robust system, brex and
stripe are pitching themselves as tech startup friendly for credit card
issuance and control, but truly any major bank will do. I've worked closely
with Bank of America and Wells Fargo before and my local regional credit union
with great success. I was not impressed with US Bank, Keybank, or Chase Bank.
I've been really happy with my local credit union though. they have everything
and I can speak to high enough ranking people to make sure things keep running
smooth. And of course they love nice piles of cash sitting in the accounts.

~~~
abbadadda
"Just make sure to take the proper corporate formalities and never co-mingle
funds. The most important thing at this stage (and the next stages as well) is
to not waste time on things that are irrelevant, so don't make banking more
complex than it needs to be. as you grow, your CFO or maybe even COO might
have their own processes and preferences, so just keep it as simple as
possible till then." \- Could you elaborate on this please? I'm currently
bootstrapping this myself and pre-revenue. I have a Stripe account and I'd
like to set up subscriptions to deposit into a dedicated checking account. But
how do I cease co-mingling funds? I'm the only investor, paying for expenses
with my credit card, that I'm paying off with my checking account and savings.
I'm trying to learn as much as I can now to (A) avoid doing anything stupid,
like co-mingling funds, and (B) do things "right" as quickly and as easily as
possible. I should have definitely specified that I'm not funded (at all) and
pre-revenue.

Great advice all around. Much appreciated.

~~~
wheelerwj
hey, not sure you if you will see this but just in case:

first, i am not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice, just stories from
experience.

Maintaining proper corporate formalities and handling finances is a big part
of actually _operating_ a business. The main idea is that if you want to
operate as a business, what you are actually doing is operating a separate
legal entity to separate the legal and financial risk from you personally as
the owner. This often includes setting up a proper corporate entity such as an
LLC or inc, and maintaining the proper financial records, among other things.
At later stages, this means working with your board and corporate counsel to
maintain minutes and have regular board meetings too.

As a founder, if you are pre-revenue but are starting to get customers/users
who want to pay, its a good time to speak with an attorney to talk about
getting some kind of liability protection setup (in today's environment, that
also means ToS and Privacy Policies too). But if you are before that, it might
still be early.

The good news is that most lawyers do a quick consult for free, and its a
GREAT time to start to develop your skills in working with counsel.

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kostyan5
If you keep more than $100k in BofA, you qualify for Platinum Honors status
which gets you an extra 75% on your credit card rewards. We have a Premium
Travel BofA card, that comes with 1.5% back on everything, and together with
75% bonus, you get 2.625% cash back on everything. And if you book travel
through BofA portal, you get an additional 1.5% (for total of 4.125% back on
travel).

~~~
kostyan5
Also wanted to add that at Platinum Honors, you get 3 free outgoing
international wire transfers and unlimited incoming wire transfers.

------
zachh
Brex (YC W17) is probably the most frequently recommended one recently:
[https://brex.com](https://brex.com)

Otherwise the cards / accounts from most major banks (Bank of America, Chase,
etc.) do fine as well.

------
mindcrime
We spoke with Square 1 a while back, and it seems that if you're not VC funded
that they aren't really interested. They kinda gave us the run-around and I
was not impressed.

Maybe if you _are_ in fact VC funded, or have millions in revenue, it would be
a fine experience. All in all, the whole experience left a bad taste in my
mouth.

Anyway, we wound up going with Wells Fargo. There's nothing startup specific
about their offerings, but that's fine. For us, all we really need is a
checking account for Stripe to push payments into, with a debit card for
paying bills. You can get that from Wells Fargo for $10/month fee, which is
waived if you have a daily average balance of something like $500.00 (or
something in that range).

------
kejaed
While OP said he is based in NYC, if there are any Canadians on here looking
for a bunisess account I’ve used the RBC Small Business eAccount for a couple
years. No minimum balance, no monthly fee. It has worked well for me.

[https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/accounts/small-
busines...](https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/accounts/small-business-
eaccount.html)

~~~
cik
Agreed - it's awesome. More tips - if you have to do payroll (T4s) then try
out Payment Evolution. The interface is rubbish but it's cheap, easy, and
fairly automatic.

Also - we moved to Plooto for paying contractors - they email folks as the
money moves between stages. It's cut down on the background admin side of
'when will this land'.

~~~
propter_hoc
I'd actually like to share a cautionary tale for you. I used PaymentEvolution
for a few years at my last company. Got lured in with the free deductions
calculator while I was still paying employees by cheque, then upgraded to
their managed payroll. Ultimately the service didn't scale well - lots of
issues, not just UI - and I ended up switching services. It was at that point
that I found out that switching payroll providers is incredibly inconvenient.
You need to coordinate quite a difficult switchover, usually in the middle of
a tax year, with a lot of data to re-enter. I went through this process twice
before finally switching to ADP, one of the institutional options, which to my
surprise was actually cheaper than the startup options.

Annoyingly, ADP actually does provide pricing that's as low as any payroll
startup in Canada (wagepoint, collage, etc), they're just not transparent
about their pricing. You can get really good pricing, but you have to
negotiate it with them. But after dealing with several buggy startup payroll
providers, ADP's service is absolutely flawless, handles every edge case
without issue. For my second company, I went straight to ADP.

I'd love it if Gusto would come to Canada (actually have a friend who's an
early employee), but it's unfortunately not a priority for them.

------
lykr0n
I'm using Azlo, which is nice & includes native Stripe integration. But, it
has no "startup" specific features that I can think of. I'm also using
American Express for a business credit card.

I don't see any reason to not head over to Chase and open a business account
there- They offer both Business Checking and Business Credit lines.

~~~
taormina
I'm also using Azlo. Honestly, the main "startup" feature is the lack of a
required minimum balance in the account.

~~~
kevinyun
I'm about to set up a C-Corp using Stripe Atlas, and they push for SVB (or
Azlo, for LLCs). Being bootstrapped and not seeking funding for a while, is
there any reason we shouldn't go with Azlo? Azlo appears to market their
product to freelancers/etc

~~~
taormina
I'm bootstrapped as well (as an LLC). The main potential problems would be
things like not having physical locations (but you can use your debit card at
BVBA ATMs), but their FAQ seemed to cover most of the things like that. I used
to be annoyed at their lack of Quickbooks Self-Employment integration, but
that recently got added, so I've been pretty happy with everything so far.

------
crazyeights777
What are some banking features that start ups are looking for? So far replies
to OP have asked for:

1\. ability to structure the credit line in that's amenable to VC investments

2\. low or no minimum account balance

3\. Stripe Integration, Apple Pay Integration etc.

4\. Xero integration

5\. Minimal process corporate card issuance

To frame this another way, what are the pain points startups have when
banking?

------
vpfaulkner
I'd checkout Square 1 Bank:
[https://www.square1bank.com/](https://www.square1bank.com/). Like Silicon
Valley Bank, they are geared towards startups, and they have an office in NYC.
Disclaimer: my brother works there.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
> Like Silicon Valley Bank, they are geared towards startups

I used Silicon Valley Bank because I had heard this. What that really means is
they are geared towards startups with millions in funding from top tier VCs
trusted by the bank. Although in my experience, Silicon Valley Bank has great
customer service for the stuff they could help me with.

------
momentmaker
AMEX has a new Amazon Business credit card.

Welcome bonus: Upon approval, eligible Prime members (including Business
Prime) will receive a $125 Amazon.com gift card, and other customers will
receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card. Terms apply.

Annual fee: $0.

Ongoing rewards:

For eligible Prime members: 5% back or 90-day interest-free payment terms on
U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole
Foods Market.

For non-Prime customers: 3% back or 60-day interest-free payment terms on U.S.
purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole Foods
Market.

For all cardholders: 2% back on purchases at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas
stations, and on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S.
service providers. 1% back on all other eligible purchases.

Might be great if you use AWS a lot.

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appellation
For those of us not in the know, what features offered by a bank would be
considered "great" for startups, that isn't offered by a normal account at a
large bank?

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hippich
Just my own experience. I opened checking account with local credit union -
very smooth experience, except I had to visit branch in person to submit all
the documents. Credit card I got from Capital One (Busness Spark, comes in two
flavors - with 1.5% cashback and no annual fees, and 2% cash back with annual
fee (reasonable) and no fees for internatial purchases)

ater I got credit card from the same credit union with a bit more paperwork,
but it was really straightforward.

So tl;dr; - check local credit unions and capital one business spark credit
cards.

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csomar
Define your needs. I'm using WellsFargo and it is quite good for what I'm
using them for.

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jmakov
Revolut. Live support in 5min. Best bank I had.

