Business Banking for Solo Consultants (and freelancers)

A friend asked me for a business banking recommendation (US based) for Solo Consultants/Solopreneurs/LLCs. Here’s what I shared with her.

My standard banking recommendation is ‘go with your local credit union.’ Beyond that, I personally like (or have had solo consultant/solopreneur/LLC friends recommend):

  • Charles Schwab. I’ve had good/better-than-average experiences with them over the years. Big bank, but a decent option.
  • Mercury (https://mercury.com/) – Lots of solopreneur/LLC friends bank with them. From what I hear, they’re a good option.
  • Chase – Sort of the “they’re okay but :shakes_fist:” option. They get the job done and have good features, but it’s a big crappy bank.

My friend (Nout of LaunchDarkly) ended up going with Bluevine because they’re small, have good UX, and have all the needs of a small business/solo consultant in mind. She applied online and it was a VERY easy process.

Me? I currently do all of my business banking with a local credit union. Why? They have low fees, great customer service, and they’re a twelve-minute drive from my home office. Whenever I have an issue, I can show up and speak to a human. (Plus, they aren’t a big crappy bank.)

05/08/23 Update

We live in the land of high-interest rates. I just parked my cash-on-hand personal savings in a Wealth Front account (paying 4.55% APY, which is pretty nice).

Let’s make some money.

Here’s an affiliate link if you read this post and decide you want to sign up and get a +.50% APY boost for 3-months. (Which is a really good affiliate marketing play on their part when you think about it):

https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFA-IV8P-SY27-TDAT