Relay Business Checking Accounts Review

Total Fees

Relay gives you a lot of bang for no bucks. You open an account with no minimum deposit and there is no monthly balance requirement. You can make unlimited ATM transactions, pay as many bills as you like, and transfer money into or out of your account, all for free. You even get free paper checks, which is a true rarity and many business owners will appreciate having a traditional way to pay. The company charges $10 for outgoing domestic wire transfers and $50 for outgoing international wire transfers.

Account Features

Relay business checking accounts offer several features you won't find elsewhere. Perhaps the handiest is the ability to connect your account to QuickBooks or Xero for greater visibility of your company's overall financial picture and greater efficiency come tax time. Relay accounts integrate easily with Plaid, Gusto, Expensify, and Transferwise. Relay is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well.

Some online business checking accounts don't offer a lot of deposit options. But with Relay, you can deposit funds into your account by linking an external account, via ACH transfer, or by using the mobile check deposit feature of the Relay app.

Non-US citizens often have a hard time opening bank accounts. But there are no citizenship restrictions tied to opening a Relay business checking account. The company offers accounts to U.S. corporations, LLCs, general partnerships, and sole proprietors. Relay has a customer base that includes citizens from more than 200 countries around the world.

Relay accounts offer both physical and virtual Mastercard debit cards. You can order up to 50 debit cards for multiple employees for free. Business owners can limit how much freedom each debit cardholder has to spend by using the card's permission feature. Relay doesn't limit the number of ATM transactions you can make. All ATM transactions are free, including foreign ones. Relay also offers a Pro version of its account for $30. The Pro account includes extras like the ability to set up multi-stage approval workflows for bill pay and pay bills in batches, 

Both types of Relay account support automated bill paying, which is handy for paying such recurring bills as rent and insurance premiums. The company is unusual in that it still provides users with paper checks. You can also pay bills using your Relay debit card.

User Experience

Relay offers potential customers a terrific online experience. Account features and benefits are well-explained. Relay offers a robust Q & A section on its site which addresses many questions you might have when deciding whether to bank with the company. You can compare Relay's two account versions side by side on one page. And perhaps most importantly, Relay explains all of its account fees—there are, as we mentioned very few—in one convenient place. That kind of transparency goes a long way towards building customers' trust. We feel confident recommending Relay as a banking option well worth consideration.

Reputation and Financials

Relay is not a bank, but rather a financial technology company. It connects customers with banking services through its affiliate Evolve Bank and Trust, a company founded in 1925. Relay itself is not widely reviewed on consumer opinion sites and is not rated by the major organizations that evaluate financial institutions. But customers on Trustpilot give Relay a 4.2 out of 5-star rating. While that score is based on just a handful of reviews, we noticed a common theme within customers' comments: the ability to connect your Relay account with two popular accounting applications (QuickBooks and Xero) simplifies a business's accounting activities.