If you’re looking for a cost-effective business checking solution, Dollar Bank is a great choice. It offers a small business checking account with no monthly fee and 300 free debits and credits. The account comes with a free Business Debit Mastercard, plus access to online banking and bill pay. If you have more complex needs, you can upgrade to an analyzed or interest-earning business checking account.
Dollar Bank is a regional bank operating exclusively in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. You are required to set an appointment at a branch to open an account.
Pros
- No monthly fee
- Monthly transaction allowance of 300 combined debits and credits
- Monthly coin and currency deposit limit of $5,000
Cons
- Only available in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia
- Branch visit required for account opening
- Lack of transparency with fee information for analyzed and interest-earning checking accounts
Features
- Free Business Debit Mastercard
- Online banking with bill pay
- Mobile banking
- Interest-earning checking account, analysis checking account, savings products, lending products, credit cards, and payment acceptance available
How Dollar Bank Stacks Up With Its Competitors
When Dollar Bank Is a Good Fit
- You want to bank without a monthly fee: There is no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement for the Free Business Checking Account.
- You have a low-to-moderate transaction volume: The Free Business Checking Account has a monthly transaction allowance of 300 debits and credits. It also offers a monthly coin and currency deposit allowance of $5,000.
- You need access to employee credit cards: Dollar Bank provides corporate credit cards that you can issue to your employees. Monitoring tools and alerts help you track employee expenses and ensure financial responsibility.
When To Choose an Alternative
- You need nationwide access to in-person banking: Dollar Bank operates exclusively in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. If you need a bank with wider geographic coverage, choose Chase. It operates in all 48 mainland states. Read our review of Chase business checking for a summary of its three accounts.
- You want to earn competitive interest on checking deposits: The highest annual percentage yield (APY) you can earn with Dollar Bank’s interest-earning account is 0.75%. Meanwhile, Bluevine’s standard checking account earns 2.0% APY on balances of $250,000 and less. Refer to our Bluevine business checking review for more information on how to qualify for APY.
- You run a nonprofit organization: Dollar Bank has no accounts specializing in nonprofit banking services. Our list of the best banks for nonprofits can provide useful alternatives.
If your small business meets one or more of these scenarios, check out our guide to the best small business checking accounts for additional recommendations.
Dollar Bank Business Checking Overview
Dollar Bank Business Checking Requirements
You must set an appointment at a physical branch to open a Dollar Bank business checking account. All individuals who directly or indirectly own at least 25% of your organization’s equity interest must provide the following:
- Name
- Address
- Phone
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- A valid government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, passport, or state-issued photo ID card, military ID
Additional Dollar Bank business checking requirements depend on how your business is structured. Click on your business entity type for more information.
- Fictitious name certificate or trade name registration
- Articles of incorporation
- Employer identification number (EIN)
- Letter of association/articles of organization or authorization letter on company letterhead
- EIN
- Certificate or articles of organization
- Operating agreement
- EIN
- Certificate of partnership authority
- EIN
- Certificate of limited partnership
- EIN
- Governing documents
- Federal taxpayer identification number (TIN) or EIN
Refer to our guide on how to open a business bank account for more tips on preparing your business checking application.
Dollar Bank Business Checking Features
Business Debit Mastercard
The Free Business Checking Account comes with a free Business Debit Mastercard. It can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted and provides fee-free access to Allpoint ATMs.
Business Online Banking
You can enroll in online banking to get remote access to business banking services. Through web banking, you can:
- Manage your Dollar Bank accounts
- View balance information, transaction information, check images, and reports
- Pay bills and loans
- Transfer funds
- Set up alerts and reminder messages
The same services are available through the Dollar Bank mobile app, which also lets you deposit checks remotely and send money through Zelle. The app has a 4.7 rating on the App Store[1] (based on more than 23,000 reviews) and a 4.2 rating on Google Play[2] (based on 4,000-plus reviews). Although users found the app’s interface user-friendly, many complained that it often failed to load. Others also had problems getting the mobile check deposit function to work.
Other Dollar Bank Business Products
Dollar Bank offers interest-earning checking accounts, analyzed checking accounts, business savings accounts, business lending products, and credit cards.
If you have a more complex business checking needs, there are interest-earning and analyzed checking accounts available:
- Checking With Interest is a checking account that earns 0.50% APY on balances below $5 million or above $25 million, and 0.75% APY on balances ranging from $5 million to $25 million.
- Analysis Checking gives you an earnings credit based on your average collected balance. You can use earnings credit to offset fees.
The website does not disclose monthly fees or transaction fees for these account types.
There are three types of Dollar Bank business savings products:
- Business Relationship Savings is a fee-free savings account that earns 1.50% APY on balances of $50,000 and below, 1.25% on balances from $50,000.01 to $100,000, and 0.10% on balances greater than $100,000. It has no minimum balance or opening deposit requirements.
- Money Market Accounts offer 0.75% APY on balances lower than $5 million or higher than $25 million and 1.0% APY on balances from $5 million to $25 million.
- CDs earn interest at fixed rates. Available rates range from 0.05% for 7- to 13-day CDs at the lowest and 3.00% for 120-day CDs at the highest. The minimum balance requirement to earn interest is $250, and the minimum opening deposit requirement is $2,500.
Dollar Bank offers the following types of business lending products:
- Term loans
- Business Express loans
- Lines of credit
- Commercial real estate (CRE)
- Business vehicle loans
- Small Business Administration (SBA) Express loans
- SBA Veterans Advantage
- Regional Development Funding Corporation (RDFC) EDA Revolving Loan Fund
- Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
- Bridgeway Capital Entrepreneur Fund
With Dollar Bank, you can get a credit card for yourself and issue corporate cards to employees:
- The Business Preferred Credit Card charges no monthly fee and earns cash back.
- Corporate Credit Cards are credit cards you can issue to employees. They come with monitoring tools that help you track employee spending.
Dollar Bank provides online and on-the-go payment acceptance services. The following solutions are available:
- Physical standalone terminals
- Point-of-sale (POS) terminals
- Virtual terminals
- Mobile device acceptance
Dollar Bank Business Checking Reviews from Users
Most clients who gave a Dollar Bank business checking review left negative comments. The bank has a rating of 3.5 (based on around 500 reviews) on WalletHub[3] and 1.6 on Yelp[4] (based on 20-plus reviews). Recurring comments include the following:
- Outdated technology: Customers said that Dollar Bank was slower than its competitors at clearing checks and sending deposits.
- Unfair overdraft policy: A few users said that they received overdraft charges even though they attempted to cover the insufficient amount in a timely manner.
- Poor customer service: According to negative reviews, representatives at Dollar Bank are rude and unhelpful.
Bottom Line
Dollar Bank’s free checking account is a cost-effective solution for businesses with low to moderate activity. With generous allowances for coin and currency deposits and credit and debit transactions, you get a lot of value from the account even without paying fees. It also offers many savings solutions with competitive rates.
User review references: