Bluevine Business Checking Review — Interest Rate & Features

If you’re self-employed or helm a small but growing business, you already know that most business bank accounts are not designed with your needs in mind. They’re meant for larger, more established companies with complex finances and 10 or more people on the payroll.

One of the few business bank accounts that is set up for entrepreneurs like you is Bluevine Business Checking, a user-friendly checking account with no maintenance fees or minimums and a generous interest rate on eligible balances. It’s one of the best bank accounts for freelancers and people with side hustles and can handle the demands of slightly larger companies as well. 

That said, Bluevine Business Checking isn’t perfect. Before you open an account, make sure it’s the right fit for your business.

What Is Bluevine Business Checking?

Bluevine Business Checking is a small-business checking account with no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance requirements. When you complete monthly qualifying activities, it yields 2.00% APY on eligible balances, enough to qualify as a high-interest checking account.

Bluevine Business Checking has some notable benefits that enhance its appeal for sole proprietors and microbusiness owners. It has a generous debit card rewards program through Mastercard Easy Savings, access to more than 120,000 in-network ATMs and retail money centers, and allows up to five subaccounts with their own bank account numbers to keep separate funds earmarked for specific purposes.

What Sets Bluevine Business Checking Apart?

Bluevine Business Checking stands out from most other business bank accounts for the following reasons:

• No minimums and very few fees. Bluevine Business Checking has no minimum balance requirements and no monthly maintenance fee. In fact, it has very few fees of any kind. If you don’t make international wire transfers or certain other less common types of transactions, you probably won’t pay anything for it at all.
• Excellent yield for a checking account. This account yields 2.00% APY on balances up to $250,000 when you complete qualifying activities. Those activities are quite easy for most businesses (and even freelancers and side hustlers) to manage.
• Potentially generous debit card rewards program. Bluevine participates in the Mastercard Easy Savings debit card rewards program, which earns up to 20% back on select business purchases.

Key Features of Bluevine Business Checking

Bluevine Business Checking has low barriers to entry, a generous and easy-to-earn interest rate, and some other features worth noting.

Account Fees & Minimums

Bluevine Business Checking has no monthly maintenance fee. It also has no overdraft fees, though Bluevine reserves the right to decline transactions that would result in a negative balance. And other fees common to small-business checking accounts are absent, such as excess transaction fees or per-item deposit fees.

Account Yield & Qualifying Activities

Bluevine Business Checking yields 2.00% APY on the first $250,000 in the account. To earn this yield in any given statement period, you must do one of the following:

• Make at least $500 in eligible debit card purchases
• Receive at least $2,500 in customer payments to your main account or linked subaccounts

Balances above $250,000 don’t earn interest even if you complete the activity requirements.

ATM Access

This account comes with a Mastercard debit card accepted anywhere Mastercard is. You can withdraw or deposit cash at more than 120,000 ATMs and retail money centers across the United States through the MoneyPass and Green Dot networks.

Debit Card Rewards

Your Bluevine debit card is automatically enrolled in the Mastercard Easy Savings program, which entitles you to as much as 20% back on eligible business purchases with select merchants and 4% back on a wider range of purchases with about 50,000 participating merchants.

Subaccounts

You can add and link up to five subaccounts to your main Bluevine Business Checking account. Each gets its own unique account number and functions as a separate account, minus the debit card (your Bluevine debit card taps your main account only). Subaccounts are useful as employee expense accounts or pools of money set aside for specific purposes, like a rainy-day fund, payroll, or overhead expenses.

Advanced Accounts Payable Tools

Bluevine comes with advanced accounts payable tools powerful enough to replace third-party accounts payable software. Capabilities include:

• A digital filing cabinet for unpaid bills — just snap a photo or upload a file to add a bill for Bluevine to process and categorize automatically
• Customizable permissions for team members involved in the accounts payable process
• Secure routing for reimbursement request submission and approval
• Multiple payment options, including ACH, wire, credit card, paper check, and international money transfer
• Automatic integration with QuickBooks Online for accurate, real-time accounting

Mobile Features

Bluevine Business Checking has a mobile-responsive website and a comprehensive mobile app that can do anything the desktop banking interface can. The app is well-reviewed by verified users and has a long track record of reliability and user-friendliness.

Specific mobile features and capabilities include:

• Remote check deposit
• Digital bill payments (one-time and recurring)
• Domestic and international check payments and wires
• Access to the Mastercard Easy Savings portal
• Main and subaccount management

Deposit Insurance

Bluevine offers federal deposit insurance on balances up to $250,000 through Coastal Community Bank, its member-FDIC partner bank.

Pros & Cons

Bluevine Business Checking has a lot of advantages for self-employed people and small-business owners, but it’s not perfect.

Pros

Bluevine Business Checking is more accessible than most business bank accounts for sole proprietors and microbusinesses. It’s also much more affordable.

• No maintenance fees. There’s no monthly or annual maintenance fee on this account. That’s excellent news for frugal business owners who don’t want to pay to manage their money.
• No minimum balance requirements. You can fund your new Bluevine Business Checking account with as much or as little as you want (or can afford).
• No overdraft fees. This account charges no overdraft fees for negative-balance transactions, though Bluevine reserves the right to decline individual overdraft transactions.
• Above-average yield with qualifying activities. Balances up to $250,000 yield 2.00% APY when you complete qualifying monthly activities. Neither option ($500 in debit card spending or $2,500 in customer payments) should be a heavy lift.
• Debit card rewards through Mastercard Easy Savings. You can earn up to 20% back on select business expenses (and 4% back more reliably) through Mastercard Easy Savings, a free perk of this account.
• Subaccounts with separate account numbers. Bluevine Business Checking’s subaccounts come with their own account numbers. That makes them ideal for holding funds that you’d rather not commingle with your main account, such as payroll. 
• Access to more than 120,000 ATMs and money centers. This account comes with access to more than 120,000 fee-free ATMs and retail money centers. That’s much more than the average business account and good news for business and employees who frequently travel for work.
• Advanced accounts payable tools. Bluevine’s accounts payable capabilities are powerful enough to replace third-party AP solutions, potentially reducing your business overhead.

Cons

Bluevine Business Checking lacks an account opening bonus opportunity and has some notable restrictions on subaccounts.

• No account opening bonus. Bluevine Business Checking has no account opening bonus. Some other business checking accounts do, and a few are very generous.
• No debit cards for subaccounts. Bluevine’s subaccounts don’t have debit cards of their own. Only the main account has one. That’s a drawback if you treat your subaccounts as functionally distinct bank accounts.
• Only five subaccounts per main account. Bluevine allows only five subaccounts per main account. While it’s nice that each subaccount functions as its own separate bank account for accounting purposes, five is a low limit for a business with complex finances. Some competitors allow 20 or more subaccounts at once.

How Bluevine Business Checking Stacks Up

Before you open a Bluevine Business Checking account, see how it compares to other checking accounts geared toward freelancers and microbusinesses. One popular alternative is Lili; here’s how they compare.

Final Word

Bluevine Business Checking is made for self-employed individuals and owners of very small businesses ready to get serious about their professional finances. With a generous yield, a nice debit card rewards program, and basically no fees or minimums, it’s one of the most attractive small-business accounts on the market.

It’s not perfect for everyone though. Bluevine Business Checking can’t handle the complex finances or heavy transaction demands of larger businesses, so if your long-term plan involves a lot of growth, it’s not a permanent solution. In the meantime, it’ll do just fine.