Bluevine Business Checking Review 2024 – Forbes Advisor

Bluevine offers three Business Checking accounts, the standard Bluevine Business Checking account, Bluevine Plus Business Checking and the  Bluevine Premier Business Checking. Bluevine Plus and Bluevine Premier offer all the same features as the standard account and a few others, but require a monthly fee.

Bluevine Business Checking

Bluevine Business Checking is an interest-bearing online business checking account that currently can earn a competitive 2.00% APY on account balances up to and including $250,000. (Balances over $250,000 do not earn interest.)

To earn the 2.00% APY, you must spend $500 per month with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard or receive $2,500 per month in customer payments into your Bluevine Business Checking account via ACH, wire transfer, mobile check deposit or directly from your merchant payment processing provider.

To budget and compartmentalize, account owners can create subaccounts within their Bluevine Business Checking accounts with many of the same capabilities as their main account.

Bluevine Plus

The Bluevine Plus Business Checking account is also interest-bearing, with a competitive 3.00% APY. This account offers the same features as the standard Bluevine Business Checking account, in addition to higher rates on balances up to $250,000, exclusive standard payment fees and 5 free printed and mailed checks per month.

Bluevine Plus does have a waivable $30 monthly fee. To have the monthly fee waived, you must spend a minimum of $2,000 with your Bluevine debit card each billing period. Every billing period, you must also maintain a daily balance of at least $20,000 across all accounts—including your Business Checking and subaccounts.

Bluevine Premier

The Bluevine Premier Business Checking account is also interest-bearing, with an impressive APY of 4.25% APY on balances up to $3 million. This account offers the same features as the standard Bluevine Business Checking account, in addition to higher rates on higher balances, exclusive standard payment fees and priority customer service.

Bluevine Premier does have a waivable $95 monthly fee. To have the monthly fee waived, you must spend a minimum of $5,000 with your Bluevine debit card each billing period. Every billing period, you must also maintain a daily balance of at least $100,000 across all accounts—including your Business Checking and subaccounts.

Fees

Bank fees can be problematic, especially as you try to run your business and make a profit. Bluevine helps companies by eliminating a lot of common fees and minimums. It offers:

• No monthly service fee for the standard account; waivable $95 fee for Bluevine Premier; waivable $30 fee for Bluevine Plus
• No minimum balance requirement
• No minimum deposit requirement
• No ATM fees at more than 37,000 MoneyPass® ATMs nationwide
• No non-sufficient fund fees

The checking account also allows unlimited transactions each month with no fees. Although Bluevine offers no other accounts, you can quickly transfer funds in and out of your checking account from accounts at other financial institutions.

Bluevine does charge a $2.50 fee for any ATM withdrawal outside of the MoneyPass® ATM network, which partners with Bluevine to provide ATM services. There are also fees for out-of-network cash deposits. The fee for Allpoint ATM deposits is $1.00 plus 0.5% of your total deposit amount, and for Green Dot, deposits cost $4.95 per transaction.

Bluevine also charges $1.50 to process bill pay checks, $10 for expedited ACH payments and $15 for outgoing wires.

Accounts Payable

With automated accounts payable, Bluevine gives business owners the ability to reduce manual tasks and schedule bill payments, making it easier to stay on top of cash flow. From the account dashboard, customers can manage bills, make payments and delegate tasks to other users.

The accounts payable feature also allows customers to upload bills from their mobile phones and sync transactions directly with QuickBooks Online.

Account holders can also add team members to their Bluevine account to streamline bookkeeping and accounting. From there, they can delegate tasks to employees or invite accountants to join the account. There are three user types: Authorized User, Accountant and Contributor. Each user type has different permissions, and every user has their own sign-in.

For customers looking for extra security, the default permission settings can be adjusted to make sure the right people have access to what they need to do their job. For example, Administrators can choose whether or not to add Authorized Users as payment administrators to send payments without requiring approval.

With Bluevine, you can make bill payments via check, ACH transfer, wire transfer or international payment. This platform also offers an option to pay bills using a credit card, regardless of whether the recipient accepts credit cards, for a 2.9% processing fee.

Vendor Services

Paying vendors is relatively straightforward with Bluevine Business Checking. Various payment types are at your disposal as a small business owner, including ACH, wire transfer and checks. You can make one-time bill payments through your account or set up recurring automatic payments for more convenience. With recurring payments, you see what day the payment arrives at the payee, allowing you to avoid late payments.

Bluevine has an online directory of 40,000 registered vendors, or you can add your own as needed. You can even make payments by credit card through Bluevine’s online payment system.

Transactions

As an online banking platform, Bluevine has no branches available for in-person services. Customers still have access to several transaction options, though, thanks to partnerships with other financial networks. Bluevine Business Checking comes with a Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard and two checkbooks. Bluevine customers have access to over 37,000 fee-free ATMs across the U.S. through a partnership with the MoneyPass® ATM network.

Despite Bluevine’s lack of branches, small business owners can still make cash deposits with Bluevine, through a partnership with Green Dot. You take cash deposits directly to the register at over 90,000 participating U.S. retail locations to complete the transaction. Note that Green Dot charges a fee of up to $4.95 for each cash deposit. Cash deposits also may be subject to Green Dot daily limits of $2,000 daily limit, $7,500 30-day limit. Users can also deposit funds through 1,500+ Allpoint ATMs, $5,500 daily limit, $7,500 30-day limit. Depending on your deposit amount, this may cost less than Green Dot.

Safety

Bluevine is a financial technology company, not a bank. Bluevine banking services are provided through a partnership with Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC. All Bluevine Business Checking accounts are FDIC insured up to $3 million per depositor. The standard FDIC coverage limit is $250,000 per account, but Bluevine distributes deposits across multiple banks in a sweep network program to legally extend individual coverage.

Mobile App

Checking customers have access to Bluevine’s mobile app, which allows them to make mobile check deposits and perform other daily transactions as needed. Small business owners can manage their finances and cash flow from anywhere by using the app.