News & Tips

Imagine you’ve opened a Business Checking account believing it to be free, and then BOOM, a $10 maintenance fee is applied to your ‘Free Business Checking’!  Free should be free, not free-ish. 

Owning and operating a business is a lot of work, and every penny adds up to the bottom line.  You should be able to trust your financial institution to be a partner in your success. You shouldn’t have to protect your money from nuisance fees and tricky terms; you should expect convenience and a partner who’s easy to do business with.

Typically, Free Business Checking accounts remove minimum balance and transaction fees and may still include fees for basic services like paper statements, ATM deposits, overdraft, and more. These fees can add up when trying to run a business. To ensure your Business Checking account is truly free, it’s important to shop around. Here are a few key features you will want to read the fine print about before selecting your Free Business Checking account:

1. Transaction limits: Who counts their bank transactions as they run their business?  Offering free unlimited transactions is a basic cornerstone of a ‘Free’ Checking account. If the financial institution is touting their Checking account as free, they should not be limiting the number of transactions you can do with our Free Business Checking account. Simple features like this empower you to grow at your pace without having to monitor your transactions to avoid fees in the process.

2. Cash Handling Fees:  The only time an extra $100 in cash sales is a problem is when a financial institution charges a fee to deposit it into a ‘Free’ Business Checking. Any small business planning to have cash sales and see sales growth should be sure to check for this free-ish feature to ensure you can grow as you want.

3. Minimum Balance Requirements:  Every business wants to grow and has ambitions of acquiring significant deposits, but as you are building your business, you may not be able to maintain high balances. Getting hit with a fee when funds are already low could be the difference between a check getting paid or returned. Be sure to know if there are any minimum balance requirements and, if so, if it's a daily average balance or end of the month balance that determines if there is a fee.

4. Debit Card Usage Requirements:  Some business owners use their debit cards for most, if not all, of their transactions, but some businesses prefer checks and electronic transfers. Depending on your usage, if your business does not use debit cards often or has slow times when purchases are down, you will need to be mindful of any debit card usage requirements. Some accounts require at least ten transactions to avoid a monthly service fee.

5. Electronic Statements:  Getting electronic statements instead of paper statements can be beneficial for both your business and your financial institution. For you, it can eliminate additional paperwork with sensitive business information needing to be securely stored. For your credit union, it will reduce expenses for paper and printing that can be returned to the membership in the form of lower fees, lower loan rates, and higher deposit rates.  However, if you prefer to have your statement mailed to you, you will want to know if there is a paper statement fee. 

Why choose Free Business Checking at SCCU?

No one likes to be blindsided by fees, but it stings a bit more when you expect something to be free, and it’s not. The financial institution you choose to bank with can be instrumental in the growth of your business. Be sure to research that they have the best account for your business and have honest pricing you can depend on.

At Space Coast Credit Union, our Free Business Checking is truly free with no monthly maintenance fees, no transaction limits, and no minimum balance requirements. We designed our accounts to offer hassle-free banking with online and mobile access, a contactless Visa^® debit card with fraud alerts, and much more. Plus, as a valued SCCU Business Member, you will have complimentary access to our qualified Business Advisors. They can assist with guidance in all aspects of owning and operating your business.