If you're a side hustler or small business, you might be considering where to park your business cash. But you don't want to earn 0% interest like you do in your checking account. That's where business savings accounts come into play.
Maybe you want to create a business emergency fund? Maybe you don't want to take a distribution but you want your cash to at least earn some decent interest.
You might already have a business checking account, and you're looking for a savings account to compliment it. The hard part is, most business accounts don't pay the same interest that the best personal high yield savings accounts do.
Well, we have found your best options, and we put them here below.
What Is A Business Savings Account?
A business savings account is a bank savings account that you open in your company's name that's designated as savings for your business. Just like you might keep your personal emergency fund in a personal savings account, you might want to keep your business emergency fund in a business savings account.
A business savings account works just like a personal savings account, except that you need to open it in your business' name. You also need to account for it on your business tax return.
You might want to open a business savings account to earn more interest on your business cash. Some businesses need to store a good amount of cash - and leaving that money in a checking account can cost you serious interest!
For example, with interest rates near 5%, every $100,000 in your business could be earning you $5,000 per year. That's $416 per month! Don't leave that money on the table.
The Best Business Savings Account Options
Based on our criteria, here are our choices for the best business savings and money market accounts available. Some of these are a little unorthodox, but they work!
Note: Annual percentage yields (APYs) shown are as of April 5, 2024. The College Investor's team updates this information regularly, typically Monday-Friday. Rates may have changed since they were last updated and may vary by region for some products.
The savings offers that appear on this site are from companies from which The College Investor receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). The College Investor does not include all savings companies or all savings offers available in the marketplace.
1. US Bank Platinum Business Money Market
The US Bank Platinum Business Money Market is one of the best business money market accounts available. It pays a high APY, connects to your US Bank Business Checking Account, and even offers a bonus APY when you sign up.
Receive an introductory bonus interest rate of up to 4.60% APY when you open a new Platinum Business Money Market Account and complete qualifying activities, subject to certain terms and limitations. Offer valid through June 5, 2024. Member FDIC. Complete these steps to earn the offer:
- Open a new Platinum Business Money Market Account
- Deposit $25,000 - $2,999,999.99 in new money deposits
Why I Like It: One of the best business money market accounts.
Learn more about US Bank Platinum Money Market.
US Bank Platinum Money Market | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $100 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 |
Monthly Fee | $15 (Waived with $10,000 minimum daily balance) |
Availability | Nationwide |
At U.S. Bank N.A. Member FDIC.
2. Live Oak Bank Business Saving Account
Live Oak Bank offers a very competitive Business Savings Account. The business savings account has no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirement, and currently earns 4.00% APY.
Bonus Offer: You can earn a $300 cash bonus when you open a Live Oak Bank Business Savings Account between April 1, 2024 and April 30, 2024.
To qualify, you must deposit at least $50,000 or more into your new account by 4/30/24. In addition to this funding qualification, existing customers must maintain a total balance in all existing Live Oak Business Savings accounts that is greater than or equal to the total balance as of 4/1/24.
Finally, you have to maintain that balance for 90 days.
Why I Like It: One of the best business money market accounts.
Read our full Live Oak Bank review here.
Live Oak Bank Business Savings Account | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $0 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 |
Monthly Fee | $0 |
Availability | Nationwide |
Earn up to a $300 bonus!
3. AXOS Business Interest Checking
Axos Business Interest Checking makes this list because it offers some of the highest interest available for business accounts.
Right now, you can earn up to 1.01% APY on your money with the Axos Business Interest Checking account (which is better than most business savings accounts). The interest on this account is tiered, and the tiers may change over time:
- $0 - $49,999.99: 1.01%
- $50,000.00 - $249,999.99: 0.20%
- $250,000.00 - $499,999.99: 0.10%
- $500,000.00 - $699,999.99: 0.10%
- $700,000.00 - $999,999.99: 0.10%
- $1,000,000.00 - $4,999,999.99: 0.10%
- $5,000,000 or more contact Business Relationship Manager
You must maintain a $5,000 minimum balance to waive the $10 per month maintenance fee.
Bonus: Right now, business owners can get up to a $400 welcome bonus when they open an account with the promo code NEW400 and complete qualifying activities.
Why I Like It: One of the top earning accounts available.
Learn more about AXOS Business Interest Checking account.
AXOS Business Interest Checking | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $100 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 |
Monthly Fee | $10 (Waived with $5,000 Balance) |
APY | Up to 1.01% APY |
Availability | Nationwide |
Promotions | $400 |
Earn up to a $400 bonus!
4. LendingClub Tailored Checking
The LendingClub Tailored Business Checking Account is another great solution for side hustlers and small business owners. This isn't truly a business savings account, but rather a checking account with a high yield!
This account does have a small monthly fee, but that can be waived with a $500 minimum balance.
The real plus with this account is that it pays interest! You can earn 1.50% APY on balances up to $99,999.99 and 0.10% on balances after that. It's nearly unheard of to have a business checking account that pays interest.
This account also has the usual features you'd expect in a top notch business checking account:
- Online banking
- Free ATM withdrawals
- Free online bill pay
- Mobile check deposits
Read our full LendingClub Bank review here.
Why I Like It: A business checking account option that can earn interest.
Learn more about LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking here.
LendingClub Bank Tailored Checking | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $100 |
Min Balance Requirement | $500 |
Monthly Fee | $10* (waived when requirements met) |
APY | 1.50% on balances up to $99,999 and 0.10% on all balances after that |
ATM Access | Unlimited Nationwide |
Availability | Nationwide |
Promotions | None |
5. Fidelity Business Account
The Fidelity Business Account isn't technically a bank account - it's a brokerage account. However, you can open this brokerage account in your business's name, and you can invest in the Fidelity Money Market Fund (as well as just about any other investments you want).
The Fidelity Money Market Fund (SPRXX) currently yields 5.02% APY.
This account has no minimums or annual fees, and charges the same commissions as a regular brokerage customer.
Why I Like It: Lots of options to invest for your business.
Learn more about the Fidelity Business Account here.
Fidelity Business Account | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $0 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 |
Monthly Fee | $0 |
APY | 5.02% APY on SPRXX |
Availability | Nationwide |
Promotions | None |
6. Schwab Small Business Account
The Schwab Small Business Account is very similar to the Fidelity account mentioned above, except its offered by Charles Schwab.
Inside the Schwab Small Business Account you can invest in Schwab's Prime Money Fund (SWVXX), which is currently yielding 5.18% APY.
Note: They don't advertise this on their website, but after doing some due diligence, Schwab does have a $250,000 to open their Schwab Organization Account. I wish they would make this more clear for business owners.
Learn more about the Schwab Small Business Account here.
Schwab Small Business Account | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $250,000 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 |
Monthly Fee | $0 |
APY | 5.18% APY on SWVXX |
Availability | Nationwide |
Promotions | None |
7. Navy Federal Credit Union Business Money Market
Navy Federal Credit Union Business Money Market is one of the best business savings products available, if you qualify to be a member of Navy Federal Credit Union.
This account is a basic business money market account with online banking, mobile check deposits and more.
The interest it pays is decent - starting at 0.95% APY. You must maintain at least $2,500 to earn interest on your account.
Why I Like It: Solid interest the can combine with a solid checking account.
Learn more about NFCU Business Money Market Account.
NFCU Business Money Market | |
|---|---|
Min Opening Deposit | $0 |
Min Balance Requirement | $0 ($2,500 to earn APY) |
Monthly Fee | $0 |
APY | Starting at 0.95% APY |
Availability | Nationwide Online |
Promotions | None |
Business Savings Account Alternatives
While there are business savings and business money market accounts, sometimes it makes sense to go with savings account alternatives.
We already mentioned a couple in this article - a high yield checking account and a business brokerage account.
But there are other alternatives as well. For many investment products, you can always open an account in your business's name. For example, the Wealthy Accountant recently wrote about how he is using Worthy Bonds to earn a 5% return on his money.
The key is to simply open an account in the name of your business, and use your business EIN.
What You Need In A Business Savings Account
You could find yourself needing or wanting a business savings account for a few reasons. Usually, it's because you have cash inside your business checking account, and hate seeing it earn 0% interest. If you're going to keep your money in your business, you want to at least see it earn something.
But why not simply take a distribution and put it in your personal account? Well, you may be saving it for a bigger purchase, future expenses, a business emergency fund, or simply to keep your business well capitalized.
In order to be one of the best business savings accounts, we put the following criteria in place:
- No Monthly Maintenance Fees: This is a big one. All of the accounts we consider must not charge a monthly maintenance fee, or at least have an easy way to waive them.
- No Or Low Monthly Balance Required: You shouldn't have to have huge amounts of money to waive fees or qualify for a business savings account. We only look for banks that don't have a monthly minimum balance requirement or if they do, it's incredibly low.
- Awesome Online Access: The best business savings accounts will also have awesome online access, a great app or mobile site, and be accessible anywhere.
Tips To Maximize Your Business Savings
Lot's of businesses have cash that is laying idle until it's needed. For example, maybe you run payroll near the end of the month, but you may have enough cash for that for several weeks before you pay it out. That money could be earning your business money!
That's the value of a high interest business savings account or a business money market account.
I strongly suggest that you consistently park any extra cash into a business savings account to earn money. Even better if your account is linked to you business checking account. Then you can instantly transfer money over as needed, but you can also be earning interest when you're not needing to pay bills.
Second, consider a good business credit card. By charging everything you can to a business credit card, you can float payments out an additional 30-60 days. During that time period, you could be earning interest on your savings before paying the credit card. As we mentioned above, you could earn $417 on every $100,000 in savings per month!
If you float a business credit card two months, that's an extra $800 into your pocket!
Why Should You Trust Us?
I have been writing and researching banking and personal finance products since 2009. At The College Investor, we've been comparing and reviewing banks since 2018, and track the best banks for savings and money market accounts daily from a list of over 50 major banks and credit unions.
We are also small business owners, and finding bank accounts that match our needs has been a challenge - especially when it comes to business savings accounts. That's what led us to review the best business banks and share those with you.
Furthermore, our compliance team reviews our rates every weekday to ensure that we are accurately showing the correct rates and terms so you can make an informed decision about where to open a bank account.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully you can see that there are good options for a business savings or business money market account. Plus, you can also check out out list of the best new business bank account offers and promotions to see if you can get paid to open a new account!
You don't have to pay fees to have a business account - you just need to open your account at a good bank or brokerage.
Methodology
The College Investor is dedicated to helping you make informed decisions around complex financial topics like finding the best business savings account. We do this by providing unbiased reviews of the top banks and savings accounts for our readers, and then we aggregate those choices into this list.
We have picked business savings and money market accounts based on our opinions of how easy they are to use, their costs and fees, any interest rates and bonuses provided, and a variety of other factors. We believe that our list accurately reflects the best business savings accounts in the marketplace for side hustlers, small business owners, and freelancers.
Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.
He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared toward anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.
He has been quoted in major publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, Today, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.
Editor: Clint Proctor Reviewed by: Richelle Hawley
