Best-Of Awards 2026 Methodologies

Best Online Business Checking Account

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed more than 50 small-business checking accounts that can be opened and managed online. To be considered, accounts had to be available to a variety of business sizes and entity types. For financial institutions that offer multiple business checking accounts, we evaluated the free account or the one with the lowest monthly fee.

The accounts we reviewed include products from NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

How we chose the winner:

When choosing our best online business checking account, we considered the following factors in descending order of importance:

• Useful software features, including expense management tools, invoicing, payment processing and sub-accounts.
• The availability of core banking services, like fee-free transactions, wire transfers and checks.
• Fees.
• Customer experience, including the availability of phone or in-person customer service.
• APY, if any.


NerdWallet star ratings alone do not determine awards. Here's how our small-business team distinguishes between star ratings and award selections:

• Star ratings are quantitative: We assess the features of an account, score those features according to how they compare with other options on the market, and assign the account a rating of 1 to 5 stars based on those features. In general, an account that rates 4.5 stars will be a better value for more people than an account that rates 4.0 stars. However, the 4.0 account might be better than the 4.5 account for an individual business owner depending on that person’s circumstances.

• Selection for awards is both quantitative and qualitative: Star ratings play a role in award selection, but don’t dictate awards. Discussion among editorial team members also plays a role in award selection. NerdWallet’s small-business banking experts weigh the merits of multiple highly rated accounts to determine which delivers the greatest value to the greatest number of small business owners.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet obtains bank account information from financial institution websites, published deposit account agreements and rate tables, automated data feeds from issuers (when available) and interviews with issuer representatives.


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