Axos Bank Review for Small Businesses

Choosing a business bank account is one of the first and most important decisions you’ll make with regard to your business’s finances. This being said, if you’re looking for a bank account that you can open online and manage without visiting a branch, you might be interested in Axos business banking.

Axos is a digital bank that has been around since 2000 and is one of the oldest tech-based financial institutions in the country. Are any of the Axos Bank business accounts right for you?

This guide is here to help you find out.

We’ll review everything you need to know about Axos business banking—breaking down the top checking and savings account options, discussing their pros and cons, and finally, offering some top alternatives—so you can decide what’s best for your business.

Within the Axos business banking suite, this online-based bank offers both business checking accounts and business savings accounts.

Overall, if you’re looking for a main account to store your business’s funds and manage your finances, you’ll want to consider either of the two Axos business checking account options. On the other hand, if your business has extra capital that you want to store and earn interest on, you’ll want to look into either of the Axos business savings accounts.

With this in mind, let’s learn more about what these Axos Bank business accounts can offer:

First, Axos offers their Basic Business Checking account. This checking account provides easy, affordable access for business owners that simply need a place to keep their working capital.

The Axos Basic Business Checking account is the only Axos business banking option that doesn’t yield any interest on your balance—so there will be no APY attached to this business bank account.

Your business’s money will be extremely accessible if you choose to bank with the Axos Basic Business Checking account. You’ll have access to unlimited transactions with this account.

Axos Basic Business Checking does not have a minimum opening deposit requirement.

You won’t have to pay a monthly service fee for this Axos business bank account—no matter what your balance is.

This Axos business checking account also includes:

• Nationwide surcharge-free ATM network
• Cash deposit capability via MoneyPass and Allpoint networks
• Two free domestic wires monthly
• First set of 50 checks free
• QuickBooks compatibility
• Free online and mobile banking
• Free bill pay
• Remote check deposit anywhere (up to 60 deposits per month)

The second checking account within the Axos business banking suite is the Business Interest Checking account. This account allows your balance to be both liquid and interest-bearing—meaning you can earn interest for your money, even while accessing it frequently.

Generally speaking, banks only offer interest on accounts that are less liquid—most often business savings accounts with low activity allowances and certificates of deposit (CDs) with early withdrawal fees.

The Axos Business Interest Checking account, however, breaks this mold.

Axos Business Interest Checking earns interest based on a tiered structure.

You’ll earn 1.01%, 0.20%, or 0.10% based on your account balance.

With this Axos business bank account, you’ll be able to perform up to 100 free items per month. As a reminder, this means up to 100 free debits, credits, or deposits per month. You’ll also be able to perform up to 60 free items a month through Axos’s Remote Deposit Anywhere feature, which allows users to deposit paper checks by scanning them with your Android or Apple device.

After you’ve reached the free item threshold, you’ll have to pay a $0.50 fee for each item.

The Axos Business Interest Checking account will only require a $100 minimum opening deposit for new accounts.

If you can maintain an average daily balance of $5,000 in this Axos business checking account, there will be no monthly fee. However, if your daily average balance drops below this threshold, you’ll have to pay a $10 monthly maintenance fee.

On top of the features we’ve just described, this Axos business checking account also includes:

• Unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements
• Cash deposit capability via MoneyPass and Allpoint networks
• First set of 50 checks free
• Free image statements
• Free online and mobile banking
• Free bill pay

If you don’t need the accessibility associated with business checking accounts, then you might instead consider either of the two Axos Bank business savings account options.

First, Axos offers their Business Premium Savings account.

For Business Premium Savings accounts with balances of $25,000 or more, you’ll earn an APY of 0.20%.

This being said, if you have less than $25,000 in this Axos Bank business savings account, then the account won’t bear any interest at all.

Therefore, if you don’t anticipate maintaining a balance of $25,000 or more in your business bank account, then this savings account isn’t likely to be your best option.

You’ll be able to access 20 items per month with this account—after you reach this limit, you’ll pay $0.30 per item.

With this in mind, however, federal law restricts much of the activity that you can perform on savings accounts. This being said, you’ll only be able to perform a combined total of six of the following actions every month with the Axos Premium Business Savings account:

• Preauthorized withdrawals transfers (including transfers for overdraft protection)
• Telephone withdrawals, transfers or other electronic transmissions
• Online and mobile banking transfers or bill payment transfers
• Transfers by check, draft, debit card, if allowed on your savings account

Additionally, if you exceed this monthly limit, you’ll need to pay a $10 fee.

To open a Business Premium Savings account, you’ll need a $25,000 minimum opening deposit.

This makes a lot of sense—if your balance for this account falls below $25,000, your account won’t bear any interest.

There are no monthly maintenance fees attached to this Axos business bank account option—no matter how your balance measures up.

There is also no average daily balance requirement fee, once again, however, you will need to keep a minimum of $25,000 in your account to gain interest.

This Axos Bank business savings account also includes:

• Free image statements and bill pay
• Free online and mobile banking
• Remote deposit from anywhere (up to 60 deposits per month)

Finally, the last Axos business bank account for you to consider is the Axos Business Savings account. This business banking option offers an alternative to the Business Premium Savings account for business owners who can’t maintain a balance of $25,000, but still want to earn interest on their funds. In fact, this is one of the best high-yield business savings accounts on the market.

The Axos Business Savings account has a 0.20% APY. Plus, unlike the Business Premium Savings account, this Axos Bank business savings account won’t require a minimum balance to accrue interest.

With this savings option, you’ll be able to access the same spending flexibility as the Business Premium Savings account—20 items per month, plus the combined total of six of the listed transactions per month. Once again, after the 20 items limit, you’ll pay $0.30 per item, and you’ll pay a $10 fee for exceeding the six maximum transaction limit.

However, with the Business Savings account, you’ll also be able to deposit up to 60 items every month with the Remote Deposit Anywhere feature.

The Axos Business Savings account also has a smaller minimum initial deposit than the Business Premium Savings account.

You’ll only need a $1,000 initial deposit for this Axos Bank business savings account—making it a much more accessible option for business owners who don’t have a significant amount of capital to deposit upfront.

Even though the minimum initial deposit is just $1,000, you’ll want to hit a $2,500 average daily balance to avoid the $5 monthly maintenance fee that Axos charges for Business Savings accounts with lower average daily balances.

Just like all of the Axos business banking accounts we’ve discussed, this account also includes:

• Free online and mobile banking
• Free image statements and bill pay
• Remote deposit anywhere

Now that you have a better sense of what each of these Axos business banking products can offer, let’s discuss the pros and cons of these accounts in order to help you determine if Axos is the best bank for your small business.

Although Axos offers both checking and savings accounts—which are designed for different purposes—there are a few important benefits to consider of choosing either type of account from Axos.

First and foremost, a top benefit of Axos is that it’s an online-only bank with a focus on digital accessibility for business owners. With any Axos account, you’ll be able to open your business bank account online and manage it using your computer or mobile device.

This being said, another huge advantage of Axos Bank is that three out of their four business bank accounts are interest-bearing. If you’re looking for a business bank account that allows you to earn on your existing capital, therefore, Axos is a worthwhile option.

Finally, if you’d prefer a bank that can offer multiple business solutions on top of their bank accounts, Axos is worth considering as well. In addition to their four main business bank accounts, Axos also offers a Money Market account, business certificates of deposits, merchant services, commercial lending, and more.

On the other hand, there are also downsides to choosing Axos as your bank that you’ll want to keep in mind as well.

First, compared to many other online-based banks (as we’ll discuss below), most Axos accounts require a minimum opening deposit of some kind. Along these lines, many Axos Bank business accounts also have transaction limits—and fairly low ones at that—whereas many other online business bank accounts include an unlimited number of transactions for free.

Additionally, although the Axos business savings accounts are some of the highest-yield accounts out there, there are also high-yield business savings accounts available that are more accessible to the majority of business owners. Even the Business Savings account, which has a lower minimum opening deposit, requires a minimum average daily balance to waive fees—in comparison, the NBKC business savings account, as an example, has no minimum opening deposit, no monthly fees, and earns a 0.10% APY.

Finally, there is the simple fact that Axos is an online-based bank—which means if you’d prefer a bank where you can visit a branch and work with advisors in person, you’ll want to explore more traditional options like the Chase or Bank of America business accounts.

For an alternative to Axos that’s fee-free, online-based, and allows you to earn interest on your account balance, you might consider Bluevine business checking.

With Bluevine business checking, you can apply for an account quickly and easily online and get access to unlimited transactions, no monthly fees, no NSF fees, no incoming wire fees, and no minimum deposit or monthly balance.

In addition, Bluevine gives you the ability to earn 2.00% interest on balances up to and including $100,000; terms apply. This account also allows you to withdraw cash fee-free at over 38,000 ATMs around the U.S., as well as deposit cash at over 90,000 Green Dot locations for a fee.

Plus, Bluevine business checking offers two free checkbooks, the ability to send wire payments ($15 fee), mobile check deposit, as well as 24/7 online and mobile banking. You also have access to a range of online payment options—including electronic transfers, ACH transfers, and domestic wire transfers.

Overall, Bluevine is a great option for accessibility, flexibility, and affordability—especially if you’re looking for unlimited transactions, cash deposits, and the ability to earn interest on your funds.

Novo offers another business checking account that you’ll be able to open online and is a top alternative to Axos.

This being said, Novo offers a rare combination of both high-tech and community small business banking—they do so by offering an internet business checking account administered by their partner bank, a community bank called Middlesex Federal.

Novo requires that you open your account with a minimum deposit, but that minimum deposit is a small $50. In addition, you’ll be able to access a wide network of ATMs worldwide without worrying about incurring fees from your bank (although other banks may charge you fees).

Moreover, Novo has no monthly fees, no daily or average balance requirement, and no transaction limits. You’ll also be able to make free ACH transfers with this account, access unlimited mobile check deposits, utilize free check writing and mailing, as well as sync with many other financial software solutions that you use for your business.

Therefore, once again, although Novo only offers a business checking account (and is not interest-bearing) this bank account is a great Axos alternative for unlimited transactions, virtually no fees, and overall user-friendliness.

Finally, for an Axos alternative that offers both a business checking and a business savings account, you might look into NBKC.

Although NBKC has a few physical branches, like Novo, NBKC is mostly an online-based bank that allows business owners to open bank accounts quickly and easily online.

This being said, with both their business checking and savings account, NBKC does not require a minimum opening deposit, does not require a minimum balance, and allows for unlimited transactions with no fees. In fact, NBKC is almost entirely fee-free—only charging fees for sending domestic wires ($5) and sending or receiving international wires ($45).

Therefore, with all of their accounts, NBKC includes online and mobile banking, bill pay, check deposit, e-statements, incoming domestic wires, and more. Plus, as we mentioned briefly above, with their Business Savings account you can earn a 0.10% APY. Unlike the Axos Bank business savings accounts, there is no minimum opening deposit, no maintenance fees whatsoever, and only a minimum balance of $0.01 to accrue interest.

All in all, not only is NBKC a worthwhile alternative to Axos, but it’s even more appealing if you’re looking to open both a free business checking and savings account from the same bank.

At the end of the day, with four unique account options—three of which are interest-bearing—and a digital focus, the Axos business banking suite is a competitive option for small business owners.

This being said, if you’re looking for a business bank account that you can open online and that offers a balance between flexible spending and interest-earning, one of the Axos accounts may very well be the right option for you.

On the other hand, you may also consider top online alternatives, like Novo, NBKC, or even Chase if you decide you’d like a brick-and-mortar-based bank.

Ultimately, however, only you can decide what type of account and which specific bank will best meet your financial needs—and once you do, you’ll have a great base from which to manage and grow your business capital.