Bluevine Business Banking Review: Pros, Cons, & Alternatives

Bluevine is an online business checking account that has a great annual percentage yield (APY) and a suite of helpful features.

Business checking is often equated with fees. For the most part, that is true. Banks like to hit small business owners with fees from every angle.

It can be difficult to find a bank that has free business checking or, at the least, very low fees. But if you want to keep your business banking costs low, you don’t have to look very far because Bluevine Business Checking fits the bill.

Bluevine doesn’t have all of the fees that are charged by other banks. Do you have a small business and keep a small checking balance? That’s not a problem with Bluevine because there aren’t any minimums or monthly account fees. In this article, we go through everything Bluevine Business Checking has to offer.

Who Is Bluevine?

Bluevine Capital Inc. was founded in 2013 and is based in Redwood City, CA. Its CEO is Eyal Lifshitz. Bluevine has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau® and a 5 out of 5 star rating from Trustpilot. So far, they’ve helped small businesses secure over $9 billion in financing. They’ve raised $767.5 million across 15 funding rounds.

“Our platform was designed specifically for business owners who are looking to take their business growth to the next level but need flexible working capital support to get there,” Lifshitz said to CrowdFundInsider. “By making working capital financing fast, easy and flexible for business owners, we’re delivering on our mission – to expand access to capital for small business owners.”

What Do They Offer?

Bluevine provides business checking with no hidden fees and no minimums to open an account. Check out our favorite business checking accounts for small businesses.

Interest-Bearing Checking Without The Fees

With Bluevine, you’ll earn up to 4.25% APY on balances up to $250,000. You’ll also have unlimited transactions. 

The 4.25% APY is for Premier customers, while Bluevine Standard tier customers receive  1.50% APY. The requirements to earn interest are either:

• Debit Card Spend: Spend $500 per month with Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® issued by Coastal Community Bank pursuant to a license from Mastercard inc, which can be used everywhere Mastercard® is accepted.
• Incoming Payments: Receive $2,500 per month in customer payments into Bluevine Business Checking account via ACH, wire transfer, mobile check deposit, or directly from merchant payment processing provider

There are no fees such as monthly maintenance or NSF (not sufficient funds) fees that are charged by so many other business checking products. 

Sub-Accounts

Do you like to use the Profit First business banking system? If so, you can use sub-accounts with Bluevine. You can add up to 2 sub-accounts to your Bluevine Business Checking account, giving you flexibility and control in how you manage your business.

Multiple Ways To Pay Vendors

Included with your account are a debit card and bill pay. You can pay vendors as a one-off transaction or set up recurring payments.

You don’t have to worry about running out of checks with Bluevine because you’ll get two checkbooks. Support for credit card payments is also currently in beta.

ATMs

Bluevine has you covered with ATMs. By staying in-network, you won’t be charged any fees and will have access to over 38,000 ATMs via the MoneyPass® network. 

If you decide to use an out-of-network ATM, you may be charged a fee by the ATM owner. Your Debit/ATM card is part of the Mastercard network. If your card is stolen, you can use the mobile app to lock it immediately.

Cash And Check Deposits

Check deposits can be made through the BlueVine mobile app. If you need to deposit cash, you can use a Green Dot retail location but a $4.95 service fee will apply.

Business Loans

Bluevine offers a business Line of Credit.

Bluevine's Line of Credit, meanwhile, has a maximum credit limit of $250,000. Rates start at 4.8% and approvals can be as fast as 5 minutes.

You can apply for a BlueVine business loan here >>

Are There Any Fees?

While you’ll have to make an effort to incur fees with Bluevine, they do have three that you'll want to be aware of:

• Expedited debit card replacements: Undisclosed fee
• Cash deposit fees at Green Dot® retail locations: $4.95
• Wires: $15

How Do I Open An Account?

You can visit the Bluevine website to open an account. Bluevine boasts that their streamlined account sign-up process won't take you longer than 60 seconds.

How Does Bluevine Compare?

Bluevine is definitely not the only business checking account around. However, they've made it onto our best business checking account list because of their low fees and ability to earn interest.

See how they compare to these options here:

Bluevine Promotions

Right now, you can earn a $300 sign-up bonus for a new business checking account.

To earn the $300 bonus, customers must apply for a Bluevine Business Checking account anytime between now and 12/31/2024 using the referral code CA300. After opening the account, customers must add funds within 30 days, then meet at least one of the following eligibility requirements every 30 days for the next 90 days from account funding:

• Deposit at least $5,000 from eligible merchant services to your Bluevine account
• Make at least $5,000 of outbound payroll payments from your Bluevine account using eligible payroll providers
• Spend at least $2,000 with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard and/or Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard
  

Is My Money Safe?

Yes, funds deposited with Bluevine are FDIC-insured to at least $250,000 through Coastal Community Bank.

How Do I Contact Bluevine?

Just because Bluevine doesn’t have branches doesn’t mean they don’t provide good customer service. You can reach them by email or phone at 888-216-9619. Their hours are Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm (ET) and Saturday, 12pm to 4pm (ET).

Bluevine's Truspilot rating is 4.3/5 (Excellent) out of more than 7,800 customer reviews. It's also an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has an A+ BBB rating.

Is It Worth It?

Yes, Bluevine comes with all of the features you’d expect from a business checking account while refusing to charge many of the common fees that other banks do. 

Avoiding fees with any kind of banking service is just smart business. But if you're looking for a bank that offers physical branches and in-person customer service, you may want to look into other low-cost business checking account options.

Bluevine FAQs

Here are a few of the questions that people ask most often about BlueVine:

Does Bluevine allow you pay to vendors with a credit card?

Yes, Bluevine customers can pay over 40,000 registered payees with a credit card to maximize their rewards. Note that this feature is still in beta.

Is Bluevine a good banking option for international business owners?

No, Bluevine is only available in the U.S. and territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa) and can't accept international wire transfers.

Does Bluevine give bonuses to new customers?

Yes, Bluevine is currently offering a $300 sign-up bonus.

Bluevine Features