U.S. Bank Business Checking Accounts Review

Account Features

U.S. Bank offers four business checking accounts to choose from, plus a specialty checking account for nonprofits. The four regular business checking accounts are the Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Premium accounts. The Silver account is your best option if you're a small business that doesn't have a lot of transactions per month while the Gold and Platinum plans are better for well-established small businesses and medium-sized businesses. The Premium option is better for large businesses that have many transactions per month and want access to premium analytical tools.

All accounts include a free U.S. Bank debit card, plus online and mobile banking, including mobile deposit. You also won't pay any fees if you use your U.S. Bank debit card at U.S. Bank ATMs. All accounts also include discounts on your first check order with U.S. Bank.

U.S. Bank offers interest-bearing business checking accounts, which are relatively rare, to its Gold and Premium customers, though strangely not to its Platinum members, according to its website. If you like the idea of your money growing without any effort, this is something worth considering.

Fees and Restrictions

The Silver account doesn't charge an annual fee, so it's an affordable option for small businesses. The Gold and Platinum accounts come with a $20 and $25 monthly fee, respectively. You can have your Gold account fee waived if you meet one of the following criteria:

• You have a U.S. Bank Payment Solutions Merchant account.
• You have an average $10,000 business checking account balance or an average $25,000 balance if you choose the interest-bearing checking account option.
• You have $20,000 in combined average deposit balances per month or $50,000 if you choose the interest-bearing option.
• You have $50,000 in combined average business deposits and outstanding business credit card balances per month.
• You have $75,000 in combined business deposits and outstanding business credit balances.

Platinum account holders can have their service fee waived if they have a $25,000 average checking account balance or $75,000 combined average business deposits and outstanding business credit balances. There's also fees for Premium account holders, though the company's website doesn't share much detail on these. It does say that these fees may be offset by an earnings credit based on your account balance, but it doesn't say what this is either.

You're limited to 150, 300, or 500 free transactions each month for the Silver, Gold, and Platinum plans, respectively. These limits are pretty in line with the rest of the industry. The company's website doesn't share these details about the Premium account.

Unlike most banks, which limit the number of monthly cash deposits by dollar amount, U.S. Bank limits them by the number of transactions per month. You're allowed up to 25 monthly cash deposits with a Silver account, 100 with a Gold and 200 with a Platinum. This approach could make a U.S. Bank business checking account more affordable for you if you deal a lot in cash and you're comfortable making fewer, but larger deposits each month.

Account Management and Support

All U.S. Bank business checking accounts include online account management tools so you can view account balances, pay bills, and set up account alerts so you're immediately notified of suspicious activity. There's also a mobile app for Apple and Android devices that gives you access to the same information as your online account, plus the ability to deposit checks by taking a picture of them.

You can visit your local branch or contact U.S. Bank by phone if you have any questions. You can also email U.S. Bank by logging into your online account. The company doesn't share any information about its phone support hours, though, so you may not get anyone if you try reaching out outside of normal business hours.

Reputation and Financials

U.S. Bank has some of the highest financial strength ratings on any major national bank. It earned an Aa3 from Moody's and an AA- from Standard & Poor's. Both ratings agencies also gave the company Stable outlook ratings. These are all good signs that the company is in good shape financially and is able to meet all of its financial obligations.

Its reputation is a bit more difficult to interpret. It holds an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The reason it's not an A+ is because the government fined the bank for violating anti-money laundering laws in 2018. However, this did not affect the day-to-day experience of most customers and the bank still remains a BBB-accredited business. The company has also had a surprising number of complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- over 17,000 at last count. Only about 1,100 of those have anything to do with a checking account, though.