Best business bank accounts for growing businesses with employees in 2026

Last verified: October 19, 2026. Features, pricing, and availability may vary. Always confirm current details directly with each provider.

If your business has grown beyond a solo operator — you now have 5 to 25 employees (W-2 or 1099 contractors), real operating cash to manage, and a team that needs shared access to banking — the criteria for choosing a business banking platform change. Free checking and a single debit card aren’t enough. You need multi-user access with role-based controls, payroll-system integrations, APY on operating cash (or treasury products) at scale, scaling-friendly transaction limits, and a financial platform that grows with you. We compared 7 business banking options across these criteria, with a specific focus on what matters for businesses earning $200K–$1M in annual revenue.

Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC.

TL;DR — quick overview by growing-business profile

Each option below fits a specific growing-business profile. Match yourself to the closest scenario; for businesses that want banking, bookkeeping, real-time tax estimates (informational only — not tax or legal advice), and 1099 contractor management bundled into a single financial backbone (with W-2 payroll handled by a payroll provider such as Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP), Found bundles all four in one platform.

• Growing business that wants banking + bookkeeping + real-time tax estimates + 1099 contractor management bundled into one platform: Found — Best financial backbone for growing businesses.
• Venture-funded or scaling business with treasury, corporate-card, and complex multi-user needs: Mercury — Best for venture-funded growing businesses with treasury and corporate-card needs.
• Growing business that wants access to business credit alongside checking: Bluevine — Best for business lending alongside business checking.
• Service business or agency running multiple revenue streams or multi-step approval workflows: Found — up to 20 Pockets, sub-accounts each with its own account number, plus the option to route a percentage of every deposit into automatic tax savings; Relay if you need 20+ individual checking accounts with multi-step approvals.
• Growing business with strong existing American Express card relationship: American Express Business Checking — Best for growing businesses with strong Amex card ecosystem.
• Growing business needing traditional banking with physical branches as it scales: Chase Business Complete Banking — Best traditional banking with branches as you scale.
• Growing business with regular cash deposits and branch-based needs: Bank of America Business Advantage — Best for growing businesses with cash deposits and branch access.

How we evaluated

For growing businesses, the decision factors that matter most are different from what matters for a solo operator or new LLC owner. A 5-person service business with $400K in revenue cares about who can give the bookkeeper read-only access, whether the account integrates with Gusto for payroll, whether there’s a corporate-card program for the team, and what the transaction limits look like at scale. A 20-person agency cares about treasury, multi-step payment approvals, and integrations into a broader accounting stack.

We compared each provider’s free or lowest-paid tier (the ‘entry tier’ — some providers have a free tier, others charge a waivable monthly fee on their base plan) against Found’s free plan, each provider’s mid tier against Found Plus¹, and each provider’s premium tier against Found Pro¹ — always matching the same tier level across brands so the comparison is apples-to-apples. For each provider we verified monthly cost, minimum balance requirements, APY (if any), multi-user access with role-based controls, payroll-system integrations (Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP), corporate-card and credit-card programs, treasury or yield products available at scale, transaction limits, included banking features, built-in bookkeeping and tax tools, and contractor management capabilities. Every claim in this article is sourced against the provider’s own pricing and product pages as of the date at the top of this article. We update this article monthly and note the last-verified date on every publish.

Who this article is for — and who it isn’t

This article is built for businesses earning $200K–$1M in annual revenue with 5–25 employees (W-2 or 1099). If you’re a solo operator or sole proprietor, our sibling article — Best business bank accounts for small businesses in 2026 — is the better resource. If you’re an LLC owner working through tax-structure decisions, our LLC sibling — Best business bank accounts for LLCs in 2026 — covers Schedule C versus S-Corp versus partnership tax structure mapping. We evaluated 12+ providers and selected the 7 below as the best-fit options for growing businesses with employees. We did not include Novo or Lili in this list.

A note on payroll

None of the providers in this article — Found included — process W-2 payroll directly. All 7 providers rely on payroll specialists (Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP, Justworks, Paychex) for W-2 employee payments, tax filings, and benefits. Where we say ‘Found is the financial backbone for growing businesses,’ we mean Found bundles banking + bookkeeping + tax estimates + 1099 contractor payments and 1099-NEC e-filing in a single platform — with W-2 payroll handled by the payroll provider of your choice. W-2 payroll runs through an outside provider at all 7; differentiation comes in the layers around payroll (bookkeeping, tax estimates, contractor management), and Found bundles all of those.

The 7 business banking options for growing businesses we reviewed

1. Found — Best financial backbone for growing businesses (banking + bookkeeping + tax + 1099 contractor management)

Found bundles a business checking account, automated bookkeeping, real-time tax estimates (informational only — not tax or legal advice), and free contractor 1099-NEC e-filing into one financial backbone — with no monthly account maintenance fees on any Found plan¹ (Found Plus¹ and Found Pro¹ are optional subscription products). For growing businesses with mixed teams of W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, this means contractor management is built in (W-9 collection, ACH payments, and 1099-NEC e-filing at no extra cost¹), while W-2 payroll runs through a payroll provider such as Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP — the same approach Mercury, Bluevine, and Relay use for W-2 payroll.

Every Found plan includes a business checking account, a Mastercard Business debit card², team Mastercard Business debit cards² for the rest of the team, accountant access, automated expense categorization, unlimited invoicing, real-time tax estimates, a tax savings bucket, up to 20 Pockets (sub-accounts, each with its own account number), and multi-business management for up to 5 separate business entities under one login. Multi-business management is particularly useful for growing-business owners running multiple entities or for partners sharing access across related businesses.

Card programs: Found offers team Mastercard Business debit cards² on every plan and a Metal³ Mastercard² on Found Pro¹. Found does not currently offer a charge or credit card program. Growing businesses that want a charge or credit card alongside Found typically pair Found with a third-party card provider (Ramp, Brex, Amex Business cards, or one of the bank-issued card programs from a co-existing card-only relationship). For 1% cash back on qualifying debit-card purchases⁴, Found Pro¹ is the relevant Found product.

Payroll integrations: Found doesn’t run W-2 payroll. Most payroll providers (Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP) can pay from your Found account using its account and routing numbers, or from a dedicated Pocket. Found’s free plan also includes built-in 1099 contractor payments (W-9 collection, ACH transfers, free instant payments between Found users⁵, and free 1099-NEC e-filing at year-end). Most other providers in this article require a separate contractor-payment service like QuickBooks Contractor Payments ($25/month) to match Found’s bundled contractor capabilities.

Found Plus¹ ($35/month or $315/year)⁶ — the mid tier — adds 1.50% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on balances up to $20,000⁷, plus in-app quarterly tax payments⁸ (for Schedule C filers; S-Corp-elected businesses can use Found for banking and 1120-S form generation but handle their quarterly tax payments via their preferred method), and priority support⁹. Separately, customers who opened an account on or after November 1, 2025 (including on the free Found plan) can earn a 2.00% APY bonus (variable) on balances up to $20,000 in any month they make $5,000 or more in qualifying card purchases¹⁰.

Found Pro¹ ($80/month or $720/year)⁶ — the premium tier — earns 2.50% APY on all balances⁷ (variable), includes a Metal³ Mastercard², a dedicated account manager⁹, and 1% cash back on qualifying purchases⁴ (exclusions apply for ATM withdrawals, person-to-person transfers, and cash equivalents). For growing businesses managing multiple entities, with significant operating cash, and that want a relationship-style support model, Pro is the tier built for that profile.

There are no monthly account maintenance fees on any Found plan; Found Plus and Found Pro are optional subscription products. Transactional fees for wires, instant transfers, and cash deposits may apply — see the Found Fee Schedule.

Who it’s best for: growing businesses (5–25 employees) that want banking + bookkeeping + real-time tax estimates + 1099 contractor management bundled in one platform, with W-2 payroll handled via Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP. Particularly strong for owners running multiple entities, for businesses with meaningful 1099 contractor activity, and for service businesses or agencies where bookkeeping + tax planning is a real headache.

Best for: financial backbone — banking + bookkeeping + tax + 1099 contractor management bundled.

2. Mercury — Best for venture-funded growing businesses with treasury and corporate-card needs

Mercury is a banking platform designed for technology startups, venture-funded businesses, and operations-heavy companies. It offers three tiers as of 2026: Mercury (free), Mercury Plus ($35/month, or $29.90/month billed annually), and Mercury Pro ($350/month, or $299/month billed annually). Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank — banking services are provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. The free checking tier has no minimum balance requirement. Mercury Pro includes a dedicated relationship manager, $0/transaction ACH-debit invoicing, enriched NetSuite categorizations, and is designed for businesses with complex operations.

Mercury Treasury — a separate cash-management product, not a bank deposit — is designed to earn yield on idle operating cash up to 4.08% annually (variable; yield as of October 16, 2026, based on the 30-day Effective Yield for MCRYX and assumes total Mercury deposits of $20M+; see mercury.com for current rates). Treasury access requires a $250,000 minimum balance across Mercury accounts¹¹. For growing businesses with significant operating cash that want to put it to work, Mercury Treasury is a meaningful differentiator.

Card programs: Mercury offers business debit cards on all tiers and Mercury IO, a credit card with no annual fee and no interest; the balance is repaid automatically, daily at first and monthly once Mercury balances reach $15K. For growing businesses that want a card program tied directly to their banking relationship, Mercury IO is one of the strongest offerings in this comparison.

Multi-user access: Mercury supports multi-user access with standard Admin and Teammate roles, a templated Accountant role, and fully configurable custom roles. Mercury also supports dual-admin approval policies for outgoing payments. Reimbursing out-of-pocket expenses for more than 5 active users per month requires a paid plan.

Bookkeeping and tax: Mercury offers Mercury Books, double-entry accounting software built into Mercury, as a $35/month add-on (fee waived through December 31, 2026 for customers who subscribe by December 1, 2026), and integrates directly with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and NetSuite (see mercury.com/accounting-integrations). Mercury files 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC forms ($5 per filing on the free plan; unlimited on paid plans) but does not prepare business tax returns. Mercury Pro includes enriched NetSuite categorizations that the lower tiers don’t.

Payroll integrations: Mercury supports HRIS / payroll integrations with ADP Run, BambooHR, Deel, Gusto, Justworks, Paycor, QuickBooks Online Payroll, Square Payroll, and Workday via the Finch HRIS API aggregator. Notably, Mercury does not currently have a direct Rippling integration because Rippling does not provide open API access; growing businesses on Rippling can still use Mercury but won’t have a built-in connection.

Who it’s best for: venture-funded or operations-heavy growing businesses (including C-Corp-elected entities) that need treasury, corporate cards, and integrations with accounting platforms.

Best for: venture-funded growing businesses with treasury + corporate-card needs.

3. Bluevine — Best for business lending alongside business checking

Bluevine’s free Standard tier offers a business checking account with a Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® and 1.30% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on balances up to $250,000 (variable). Per Bluevine: “Standard plan customers will earn 1.3% annual percentage yield (“APY”) on total balances up to $250,000 for a given month only if they meet at least one Eligibility Requirement during that month’s Eligibility Period as described in the Terms of Interest Accrual. No interest earned on balances over $250,000.” — and those Eligibility Requirements are activity-based rather than balance-based: spend $500 per month with the Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard®, or receive or deposit $2,500 per month in customer payments (see bluevine.com/business-checking for current terms). Per Bluevine: “Bluevine is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking Services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an FDIC-insured bank. FDIC insurance is available through pass-through insurance at Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, if certain conditions have been met. Bluevine accounts are FDIC insured up to $3,000,000 per depositor through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC and our program banks”¹². Bluevine Plus ($30/month, waivable¹³) earns 1.75% APY on balances up to $250,000, and Bluevine Premier ($95/month, waivable¹³) earns 3.00% APY on all Bluevine Business Checking balances (no cap; see bluevine.com/business-checking/plans-and-pricing for current terms). For growing businesses with $100K–$1M+ in operating cash, Premier’s no-cap 3.00% APY (variable) is the highest checking-account yield in this comparison.

Card programs: Bluevine issues physical and virtual Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® cards with daily and monthly spending limits for team members. Bluevine no longer has a dedicated credit card product page; check with Bluevine for current credit card availability.

Multi-user access: Bluevine supports team collaboration with additional users (sub-users), with role-based permissions (authorized user, contributor, and accountant roles).

Bookkeeping and tax: Bluevine does not include built-in bookkeeping or tax tools. It integrates with QuickBooks Online directly, and supports additional connections with Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, Expensify, Square, Cash App, and Venmo.

Payroll integrations: Bluevine Business Checking accounts can be connected to Gusto for payroll management.

Who it’s best for: growing businesses with significant operating cash that want a competitive APY (especially at the Premier tier’s no-cap 3.00%) and that have an existing accounting workflow in QuickBooks or Xero.

Best for: business lending alongside business checking.

4. Chase Business Complete Banking — Best traditional banking with branches as you scale

Card programs: Chase has one of the strongest business card portfolios in this comparison — the Chase Ink Business series includes Ink Business Cash, Ink Business Unlimited, Ink Business Preferred, and Ink Business Premier. Many growing businesses already have one of these cards; Chase Business Complete + Chase Ink Business is a deep ecosystem play.

Bookkeeping and tax: Chase does not include built-in bookkeeping or tax tools. It offers Chase Payroll, a separately priced payroll service powered by Gusto.

Cash deposits: Chase’s network — more than 5,000 branches and 14,000 ATMs — is among the largest in this comparison. For growing businesses that handle physical cash regularly (retail, hospitality, food service, professional services with cash-paying clients), Chase’s in-branch and ATM access is a meaningful differentiator.

Who it’s best for: growing businesses that need physical branch access, accept cash regularly, want a deep card-portfolio integration via the Chase Ink Business series, or prefer the operational simplicity of a single traditional bank for both business and personal banking.

Best for: traditional banking with branch access as you scale.

5. Bank of America Business Advantage — Best for growing businesses with cash deposits and branch access

Cash deposits: Fundamentals includes free cash deposits up to $5,000 per statement cycle and access to approximately 15,000 Bank of America ATMs. For growing businesses with regular cash deposits — restaurants, retail, certain professional services — this is a real fit. Bank of America, N.A. is Member FDIC¹².

Card programs: Bank of America offers a Business Advantage credit card portfolio (Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, Unlimited Cash Rewards) tied to the banking relationship and the Preferred Rewards for Business program.

Multi-user access: BofA’s Account Management service lets the account owner add sub-users with customized access to either view or transact on each account — useful for growing businesses where different team members need different scopes of banking visibility.

Bookkeeping and tax: BofA does not include built-in bookkeeping or tax tools but offers Cash Flow Monitor for cash-flow visibility and Zelle for business. It integrates with QuickBooks Online.

Who it’s best for: growing businesses that regularly deposit cash, need a wide branch and ATM network, want to consolidate personal and business banking at a traditional bank, or are deep in the BofA / Preferred Rewards ecosystem.

Best for: growing businesses with cash deposits and branch access.

6. Relay — Best for growing service businesses needing multi-account allocation with multi-step approvals

Relay’s free Starter tier lets customers open up to 20 individual checking accounts and issue up to 50 virtual and plastic Relay Visa® debit cards per cardholder per account — useful for allocating money by purpose (taxes, payroll, owner draws, partner distributions) across separate accounts. Starter earns 1.19% APY on savings account balances (variable; no minimum balance required, no stated balance cap — see relayfi.com/pricing for current rates and conditions). Paid tiers — Grow ($30/month, 1.87% APY on savings balances + multi-step approval rules) and Scale ($120/month, currently discounted to $90/month for a limited time; 3.21% APY on savings balances, variable; up to 50 checking accounts per business) — add features like recurring invoices, no-fee same-day ACH (Scale), and the multi-step payment approval rules that are particularly valuable for service businesses and agencies with multiple approvers in the payment-issuance workflow. APY applies to Relay savings accounts only, not checking. Relay is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank; banking services are provided through Thread Bank, Member FDIC.

Card programs: Relay offers Visa® debit cards and, by invitation, the Relay Visa® Credit Card — a charge card paid in full each 30-day billing cycle, with no annual fee and 1%–1.5% cash back depending on plan (see relayfi.com/relay-visa-credit-card for eligibility and terms).

Multi-user access: Relay’s user permissions and team roles are well-suited to growing businesses running shared accounts with differentiated access. Multi-step approval rules on Grow+ are a real differentiator — for businesses where the bookkeeper proposes payments and the owner approves, Relay supports that workflow natively.

Bookkeeping and tax: Relay does not include built-in tax tools; its bookkeeping automations (Grow and up) sync categorized transactions into QuickBooks Online or Xero. It integrates with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Gusto (deep integration with payroll shortfall alerts, team-member import, and role-based account provisioning), Plaid, and Yodlee, and connects to apps like Expensify through Plaid.

Who it’s best for: growing service businesses, agencies, and consultancies running a multi-account allocation system, particularly those with multi-step payment approval workflows.

Best for: multi-account allocation and multi-step approval workflows for growing service businesses.

7. American Express Business Checking — Best for growing businesses with strong Amex card ecosystem

American Express® Business Checking has no monthly maintenance fee, no minimum opening deposit, and no minimum balance requirement. It earns 1.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on balances up to $500,000 (no APY is earned on balances above $500,000; APY is variable and subject to change at any time without notice, per American Express National Bank’s Business Checking Rates & Fees; rate as of October 19, 2026) and earns 1 Membership Rewards® point for every $2 spent on eligible Business Debit Card purchases. The account includes fee-free cash withdrawals at more than 70,000 Allpoint® and MoneyPass® ATM locations nationwide and FDIC insurance via American Express National Bank, Member FDIC.

Card programs: Amex Business Checking’s biggest growing-business advantage is the integration with the American Express business card portfolio — Business Platinum, Business Gold, Blue Business Cash, Business Green, and the wider business charge card and corporate card programs. Amex Business Checking can be viewed and managed alongside your Amex business cards in one place, online or in the Amex® App, and American Express® Business Blueprint™ offers a snapshot of select Amex business products and linked external accounts. For growing businesses already running a stack of Amex business cards, Amex Business Checking is a natural complement.

Multi-user access: Amex Business Checking lets you invite employees to get account access; once approved, admin users can have a debit card, manage payees, and make payments. The role-customization depth is less than Mercury or Chase but adequate for most growing businesses.

Bookkeeping and tax: Amex Business Checking does not include built-in bookkeeping or tax tools but integrates with QuickBooks Online and other accounting platforms. Payroll runs through standard integrations.

Who it’s best for: growing businesses with an existing strong American Express card relationship that want to consolidate banking, debit-card rewards, and the Amex card ecosystem on one dashboard.

Best for: growing businesses with strong Amex card ecosystem.

Summary comparison — growing-business feature matrix

This table compares each provider across the dimensions that matter most for growing businesses (5–25 employees, $200K–$1M ARR). For each provider, the headline APY and pricing rows reflect the tier most likely to fit a growing business — typically the mid or premium tier. See required disclaimers below the table.

Provider	Required monthly fees	APY at scale	Multi-user access	Charge/credit card program	Treasury / yield at scale
Found¹⁴ (free / Plus¹ / Pro¹)	Free: $0 / Plus¹: $35/mo or $315/yr / Pro¹: $80/mo or $720/yr	Plus¹: 1.50% APY on balances up to $20,000⁷ (variable); Pro¹: 2.50% APY on all balances⁷ (variable)	Team cards + accountant access on every plan (multi-business up to 5 entities)	No charge/credit card program (team Mastercard Business debit² + Metal³ Mastercard² on Pro¹)	No separate treasury product. (Pro¹ APY applies to your account balance⁷ — see APY column above
Mercury (free / Plus / Pro)	$0 / $35/mo ($29.90 annual) / $350/mo ($299 annual)	Mercury Treasury¹¹: up to 4.08% (variable; $20M+ deposits; not FDIC-insured; $250K min for Treasury)	Admin / Teammate / Accountant + custom roles + dual-admin approvals	Mercury IO credit card (no annual fee)	Mercury Treasury (separate product, $250K min)¹¹
Bluevine (Standard / Plus / Premier)	$0 / $30/mo waivable¹³ / $95/mo waivable¹³	Premier: 3.00% APY on all Bluevine Business Checking balances (no cap)*	Sub-users supported	Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® team cards with spend controls	APY at scale via Premier tier; Treasury services included on Premier ($50K minimum balance on Standard/Plus)
Chase (Business Complete / Performance / Platinum)	$15/mo / $40/mo / $95/mo (each waivable¹³)	No interest on Business Complete or Platinum; interest-bearing Performance option available (variable rate; no monthly fee waiver)		Chase Ink Business portfolio (Cash, Unlimited, Preferred, Premier)	Cash-management tools on Performance/Platinum
BofA (Fundamentals / Relationship Banking)	$16/mo waivable¹³ / $29.95/mo waivable¹³	None (Business Advantage checking is non-interest-bearing)	Account Management (owner + sub-users; view or transact access)	Business Advantage credit card portfolio	Multi-account bundle: second Relationship Banking account and Business Advantage Savings with no monthly fee
Relay (Starter / Grow / Scale)	$0 / $30/mo / $120 (limited-time $90)	Scale: 3.21% APY on savings account balances (variable)*	User permissions + team roles + multi-step approval rules (Grow+)	Relay Visa® Credit Card (charge card; invitation only)	No separate treasury product
Amex Business Checking	$0	1.00% APY on account balances up to $500,000 (variable)*	Multi-user (employee) access; banking and cards managed together online / in the Amex® App	Full Amex business card portfolio (Platinum, Gold, Cash, Green) + Business Line of Credit	No separate treasury product; APY caps at $500K

What it costs to get equivalent banking + bookkeeping + 1099 features elsewhere

Growing businesses typically run a stack: banking + bookkeeping + 1099 contractor management + W-2 payroll. Most providers in this article offer banking only — bookkeeping and 1099 contractor management have to be added through third-party tools. Found bundles banking + bookkeeping + 1099 contractor management into its free plan at $0/month. The comparison below shows what an equivalent stack costs if assembled from a competitor’s banking + QuickBooks for bookkeeping + QuickBooks Contractor Payments for 1099 management.

W-2 payroll is intentionally not in this stack comparison: all 7 providers — including Found — rely on a separate payroll specialist (Gusto Simple at $49/month + $6/employee, Gusto Plus at $80/month + $12/employee, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP) for W-2 payroll. The W-2 payroll cost is the same across all 8 stacks — what differs is the layer around payroll (banking, bookkeeping, 1099 contractor management), which is what this table compares.

Stack	Business checking	Bookkeeping	1099 contractor management + 1099-NEC e-file	Required monthly fees¹⁴
Found (free plan)¹⁴	Included	Included (automated)	Included (W-9 collection, ACH payments, free 1099-NEC e-file)	$0
Mercury (free) + Mercury Books	Mercury (free) ($0)	Mercury Books ($35; fee waived through Dec 31, 2026 for customers who subscribe by Dec 1, 2026)	Included in Mercury (W-9 collection + 1099-NEC e-file; $5 per filing on the free plan)	~$35+ / month plus $5 per 1099 filed
Bluevine Standard + QuickBooks + QuickBooks Contractor Payments	Bluevine Standard ($0)	QuickBooks Simple Start (~$38)	QuickBooks Contractor Payments ($25; up to 20 contractors, includes 1099 e-filing)	~$63+ / month
Chase Business Complete + QuickBooks + QuickBooks Contractor Payments	Chase Business Complete ($15)	QuickBooks Simple Start (~$38)	QuickBooks Contractor Payments ($25; up to 20 contractors, includes 1099 e-filing)	~$78+ / month
Relay Starter + QuickBooks + QuickBooks Contractor Payments	Relay Starter ($0)	QuickBooks Simple Start (~$38)	QuickBooks Contractor Payments ($25; up to 20 contractors, includes 1099 e-filing)	~$63+ / month

Note on QuickBooks pricing: QuickBooks offers a $0/month “QuickBooks Free” plan, which includes income and expense tracking, 2 invoices per month, one connected bank, and a profit & loss report, for 1 user with no accountant access and without the mobile app or third-party integrations. Automated bookkeeping and automatic expense categorization — the capabilities compared in this article — begin with QuickBooks Simple Start at $38/month. Figures are regular monthly list prices verified at quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing on October 19, 2026; promotional intro pricing may be lower. See QuickBooks for current plans and pricing.

Note: QuickBooks (~$38) and Xero (~$27) figures are regular monthly list prices; promotional intro pricing may be lower. Gusto no longer offers its Contractor Only plan to new customers (as of October 1, 2026); QuickBooks Contractor Payments is $25/month, includes up to 20 contractors and 1099 e-filing, and adds $2 per additional contractor.

What to consider when choosing a business bank account for your growing business

1. How many employees do you have, and what’s the W-2 vs 1099 mix?

This is the single biggest decision driver. If your team is heavily 1099-based (common for service businesses, agencies, and consulting firms), Found’s bundled 1099 contractor management (W-9 collection, ACH payments, free 1099-NEC e-filing) is a strong fit — Found includes 1099 contractor management at no extra cost on every plan. If your team is heavily W-2-based, your payroll specialist (Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP) matters more than the banking platform — all 7 providers work alongside the major payroll specialists.

2. Do you need built-in bookkeeping, or are you already in QuickBooks or Xero?

Found includes built-in automated bookkeeping on every plan. If you already have a working bookkeeping setup (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, or a bookkeeper running it for you), you may not need Found’s bookkeeping — and the other 6 providers all integrate with QuickBooks and most with Xero. If bookkeeping is a real pain point or your business doesn’t currently have one set up, Found bundles it in.

3. Do you need a corporate or credit-card program for your team?

Five of the seven providers offer a charge or credit card program: Mercury IO (credit), Chase Ink Business portfolio (credit), Bank of America Business Advantage credit cards, Relay Visa® Credit Card (charge card, by invitation), and the full American Express business card portfolio. Found is debit-only, and Bluevine doesn’t currently feature a credit card on its site — businesses that want a charge or credit card alongside either of those two typically pair them with a third-party card provider (Ramp, Brex, Rippling Corporate Card, or one of the Amex business cards). For most growing businesses, the card-program decision and the banking decision can be made independently — the deepest ecosystem plays are Chase Business + Chase Ink Business, BofA Business + BofA Business Advantage credit cards, and Amex Business Checking + the Amex business card portfolio.

4. Are you running multiple entities under one owner?

Found supports up to 5 separate business entities under one login with shared accountant access at no extra cost. For owners running a holding company plus operating entities, or a primary business plus side ventures, this consolidates the banking experience materially. Bluevine (single sign-on for multiple businesses on every plan) and Mercury also let owners manage multiple businesses under one login. Bank of America lets small business clients link multiple businesses under one online ID, and Chase can support multiple business accounts, typically opened and managed per entity.

5. Do you need APY on operating cash, or a separate treasury product?

If you’re carrying $100K+ in operating cash, where you put it materially affects your yield. Bluevine Premier earns 3.00% APY on all Bluevine Business Checking balances with no cap (variable; see Bluevine’s terms). Mercury Treasury earns up to 4.08% annually (variable; as of October 16, 2026, for total Mercury deposits of $20M+; see Mercury for current rates) but is a separate cash-management product, not a bank deposit, and requires a $250,000 minimum balance across Mercury accounts¹¹. Found Pro¹ earns 2.50% APY on all balances⁷ (variable) — applied to your primary account balance rather than a separate savings or treasury product. Always read the activity requirements — many APY products require minimum monthly debit-card spend or maintained balance thresholds.

6. What multi-user roles and approval workflows do you need?

7. Do you handle cash deposits regularly?

If your business takes physical cash (retail, hospitality, food service, professional services with cash-paying clients), a traditional bank with branches will be more practical. Chase has 5,000+ branches and 14,000+ ATMs; Bank of America has about 3,500 financial centers and approximately 15,000 ATMs, plus free cash deposits up to $5,000 per statement cycle on Fundamentals. Found accepts cash at 79,000+ retail locations for a $2.00 fee per deposit¹⁵; Bluevine accepts cash for a fee through the Green Dot Network ($4.95 per deposit) and at AllPoint ATMs ($1 + 0.5% per deposit); Relay accepts cash at Allpoint+ ATMs for free or at Green Dot retailers for a fee (limits apply). Mercury and Amex Business Checking don’t support cash deposits directly.

Frequently asked questions

Is Found a bank?

Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Deposits are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor through Lead Bank. FDIC insurance only covers the failure of an FDIC-insured depository institution.

What is the best business bank account for a business with 5–10 employees?

For businesses with 5–10 employees that want a single platform that bundles banking + bookkeeping + real-time tax estimates + 1099 contractor management — with W-2 payroll handled by a payroll provider like Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, or ADP — Found bundles all four in one platform. For businesses that already have a working bookkeeping setup in QuickBooks or Xero and want to optimize for APY on operating cash, Bluevine (especially Premier’s 3.00% no-cap APY) is a strong choice. For venture-funded businesses that need treasury, corporate cards, and complex multi-user roles, Mercury fits best.

What is the best business bank account for a business that’s scaling up?

Businesses that are scaling typically need: multi-user access with role-based controls, a card program for the team, payroll-system integrations, and a platform that grows with them. Every Found plan includes multi-business management for up to 5 entities; Found Pro¹ ($80/month or $720/year) adds a dedicated account manager⁹, 2.50% APY (variable) on all balances⁷, and 1% cash back on qualifying purchases⁴ — the tier built for scaling businesses. Mercury Pro ($350/month, or $299/month billed annually) offers a relationship manager and enriched NetSuite categorizations for more operations-heavy growing businesses. Chase Performance Business Checking (waivable at $35K balance) is the right fit if you need branches and a card-heavy ecosystem play.

Does Found process payroll for W-2 employees?

No. Found does not process W-2 payroll directly. Most payroll providers (Gusto, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP) can pay from your Found account using its account and routing numbers, or from a dedicated Pocket. What Found bundles natively is 1099 contractor management: W-9 collection, ACH contractor payments, and 1099-NEC e-filing at year-end at no extra cost. For W-2 employees, growing businesses on Found typically use Gusto Simple ($49/month + $6/employee) or Gusto Plus ($80/month + $12/employee) and connect it to their Found account.

What is the best business bank account for a multi-member business with employees?

Which providers offer corporate cards or credit cards for growing businesses?

Five of the seven: Mercury IO (credit card; no annual fee), Chase Ink Business portfolio (multiple credit cards — Cash, Unlimited, Preferred, Premier), Bank of America Business Advantage credit cards, Relay Visa® Credit Card (charge card; invitation only; no annual fee), and the full American Express business card portfolio (Business Platinum, Business Gold, Blue Business Cash, Business Green) tied to the Amex Business Blueprint dashboard. Found is a debit-only platform, and Bluevine doesn’t currently feature a credit card on its site. Growing businesses on either commonly pair their banking with Ramp, Brex, Rippling Corporate Card, or one of the Amex business cards as a separate card-only relationship.

Which providers offer APY on operating cash or a separate treasury product?

Several do. Bluevine Premier earns 3.00% APY on all Bluevine Business Checking balances (no cap; see Bluevine’s terms). Mercury Treasury (separate cash-management product, not a bank deposit) earns up to 4.08% annually (variable; as of October 16, 2026, for total Mercury deposits of $20M+) with a $250,000 minimum balance across Mercury accounts¹¹. Found Pro¹ earns 2.50% APY on all balances⁷ (variable), applied to your primary account balance rather than a separate treasury or savings product. Chase’s Performance and Platinum tiers focus on cash-management tools rather than yield, and Bank of America’s Business Advantage checking accounts are non-interest-bearing, so neither competes on APY in the same way.

How do I move my growing business to a new bank account without disrupting operations?

Most providers in this comparison offer migration support — guides for switching from a previous business bank account, account-opening within minutes, and ACH-based transfers. A few practical steps: (1) open the new account before closing the old one so there’s no payment-processing gap; (2) update direct deposit, recurring vendor payments, and payroll integrations to the new account in a single sweep; (3) keep the old account open for 60–90 days to catch any stragglers; (4) review your card-program relationships separately if you’re switching providers. With Found, you can sign up in as little as 5 minutes.

Which providers accept cash deposits?

Chase Business Complete Banking and Bank of America Business Advantage accept cash deposits at their branches and ATMs. Found accepts cash deposits at 79,000+ retail locations for a $2.00 fee per deposit¹⁵. Bluevine accepts cash for a fee through the Green Dot Network ($4.95 per deposit) and at AllPoint ATMs ($1 + 0.5% per deposit), and Relay accepts cash at Allpoint+ ATMs for free or at Green Dot retailers for a fee (limits apply). Mercury and Amex Business Checking don’t accept cash deposits directly.

How often is this article updated?

We re-verify every claim against each provider’s pricing and product pages on the first of every month, and update the article when pricing, APY, or feature availability changes. The ‘Last verified’ date at the top of the article reflects the most recent review.