Gerald Danko ⋅ Fort Mill, SC ⋅ 25 years experience

On another related topic, I suffered years of excess complexity by using QuickBooks instead of Quicken. A friend questioned my sanity so I'm planning to at least research the difference. I thought I needed all the details of Quickbooks but had a slap on the forehead moment when I really pondered it. Best of luck. I'm going to look into Chase as well.

John Haugen ⋅ Austin, TX On~Time Transcription ⋅ 35 years experience

Jennifer, I founded a business 12 years ago - sold it last year. One of the first things I did was establish a banking relationship and asked for a line of credit. They gave me a small one on the basis of my personal credit rating and assets. I used the line to help me grow my business and as it grew created a relationship with a banking VP who acted as an advisor. We took in a lot of checks so we also used the bank's lock box to handle deposits. I also established a relationship with an accounting firm which proved very helpful over the years. This advise is most useful if you intend to grow the business, hire employees or contractors and take risks. If your goal is to make a good living and run things as a mom and pop I suggest the low fee pay pal route. There is nothing wrong with the mom and pop route but it has limitations. Hope this helps.

Mike Molitoris ⋅ Cary, NC Flagship Wealth Management Group ⋅ 9 years experience

Jennifer, the best success I have had is to use a local credit union. I have had nothing but problems with the big banks, especially when I tried to get a Patriot Express loan, but that is a whole different matter. I was with a regional up until last year, when they began charging $20 per month in fees! I am now with the Credit Union, pay no fees, they actually gave me a small business credit card, and less headaches overall. I hope that helps.

Tim Hudak ⋅ Alexandria, VA U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 5 years served

PNC hasn't charged me for anything, so I'd look there as well.

Victor Roberts ⋅ Burnt Hills, NY Roberts Research & Consulting, Inc. ⋅ 45 years experience

If your business has it's own EIN it should have it's own bank account. I own a small business in the upstate NY area, and here Key Bank has a no fee small business checking account. There are limits on the number of checks and deposits you can have each month, but limits these are consistent with the fact that this account is for a small business.

Jennifer Vollbrecht ⋅ Manteca, CA U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 5 years served

Thanks for the responses. I went to Wells Fargo yesterday and the only options I was given were to keep a minimum balance of $3000 in the account, or set up an automatic deposit of at least $150 per month into a business savings account. I chose not to go with those options, because we really don't need a business savings account at this point, and I don't want to set up a direct deposit. Wells Fargo didn't have any special accounts for veterans.

I will go to Chase and ask about the veteran accounts.

Eric Haegele ⋅ Milwaukee, WI U.S. Marine Corps, Captain ⋅ 6 years served

Hi Jennifer-

Chase bank offers free business accounts for veterans. You can find the details online through Chase.com. Call or stop in to a branch and ask for a business banker to discuss what they have to offer.

-Eric

Dali Rivera ⋅ Abingdon, MD U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 10 years served

I use Wells Fargo and I have had great success with it. I don't have any monthly fees and am not required to keep a certain balance. I also have a debit card with a master card logo on it so I can make transactions as credit as well. Best of luck!

Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

Thank you for your service. I don't know if there are parallels but our tax accountant recommended setting up a business account from the start to establish business records for annual tax filings. Second point there are three bank sponsors of this site--Citi, JP Morgan-Chase, and Wells Fargo. It's worth checking to see if they happen to waive fees for veteran start-up businesses.
Good luck, Bill Nobles