As of 2026-10-06, Axos Bank, Bluevine, Found, Lili, Mercury, Novo and Relay each offer a business checking tier with a $0 monthly fee, and Novo lists no monthly fee at all. The cheapest way to hold cash is therefore a base tier that costs nothing each month and carries no balance condition. The cheapest way to take payments is a separate question, because the cost of accepting payments sits in transaction fees and processing rates that each provider sets on its own fee schedule.

What is the cheapest way to hold cash with no monthly fee?

Holding cash is the part that can be priced precisely. Every provider below has a base tier at $0 a month, and the cheapest choice among them is the one whose free tier covers the business's needs without pushing it up to a paid plan. The providers are listed alphabetically, which is not a ranking.

All prices come from each provider's own pricing page, checked on 2026-10-06, and may have changed since. Taking payments is different: the cost of accepting cards or transfers is not a monthly account fee, and each provider sets its processing rates on its own fee schedule, so read them there.

Axos Bank

Axos Bank offers Basic Business Checking at $0 a month, with no minimum balance and no maintenance fee. Business Interest Checking is $10 a month, waived with a $5,000 minimum average daily balance, and it takes a $100 opening deposit.

Best for: a business that wants a plain account at an actual bank and may hold enough cash later to make the interest account worth its waiver. The fee returns if the daily balance falls under the threshold.

Bluevine

Bluevine has three plans: Standard at $0 a month, Plus at $30 a month and Premier at $95 a month. The APY is 1.3% on Standard, subject to a monthly activity goal, 1.75% on Plus and 3.0% on Premier. The Plus and Premier fees are waivable, and Bluevine sets out the waiver conditions on its own pricing page.

Best for: a business that wants to earn on idle cash and will meet the activity goal. A $0 fee on Standard does not make the rate unconditional.

Found

Found has a Free plan at $0, a Plus plan at $35 a month or $315 a year, and a Pro plan at $80 a month or $720 a year. Paying annually costs less than twelve months at the monthly price.

Best for: a sole operator who wants to start free and upgrade only if the paid features justify it. What each tier includes is set out on Found's own site.

Lili

Lili lists four tiers: Core at $0, Pro at $15 a month, Smart at $35 a month and Premium at $55 a month. The paid tiers are often advertised at roughly 40% off for the first three months. That is promotional only, and the ongoing prices are the ones just given.

Best for: a business content with the free Core tier. Anyone considering a paid tier should budget at the ongoing price.

Mercury

Mercury has a $0 monthly base account, a Plus plan at $29.90 a month and a Pro plan at $299 a month. The gap between Plus and Pro is wide.

Best for: a business comfortable with an online-only account at the base level. Mercury's pricing page is the place to confirm what separates the tiers.

Novo

Novo lists $0 a month with no monthly fee. As of October 6, 2026, its pricing shows one account with no paid tiers to upgrade into.

Best for: a business that wants the simplest fee picture. Fewer tiers means fewer ways to drift into a charge, though other fees can still apply.

Relay

Relay has three plans: Starter at $0 a month, Grow at $30 a month and Scale at $90 a month.

Best for: a business that expects to add accounts or users and wants a free start with a clear path upward. The Starter tier is the relevant one for a business that only needs to hold cash.

What does taking payments actually cost?

A no-monthly-fee account does not make payment acceptance free. Card processing, incoming wires and cash deposits are commonly priced per transaction or as a percentage, separately from the monthly fee. Each provider sets those out on its own fee schedule: the card processing rate, incoming and outgoing wire fees, cash deposit fees, out-of-network ATM fees and expedited card fees.

Where a provider does not publish one of these, that absence is worth knowing before applying. For a business that takes many small payments, a per-transaction charge can outweigh any monthly saving.

Is held cash insured if the provider is not a bank?

The FDIC says the deposit accounts of a corporation, partnership or unincorporated association are insured up to $250,000, and that all accounts one entity holds at the same insured bank are combined. Opening extra accounts for different purposes at that bank does not raise the limit.

Many online business accounts are offered by companies that are not banks. The FDIC states that nonbank companies are never themselves FDIC-insured. In its guidance on banking with third-party apps, it adds that funds sent to a nonbank company are not eligible for FDIC insurance until the company deposits them in an FDIC-insured bank and other conditions are met.

The failure case matters as much as the limit. The FDIC says deposit insurance does not protect against the insolvency or bankruptcy of a nonbank company, and that recovery then runs through an insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding that may take some time. Axos Bank is itself a bank. For each of the other providers, confirm whether it is a bank or a nonbank and which insured bank holds the funds.

Why separate business cash from personal money?

The Small Business Administration says that keeping personal and business funds completely separate requires two different bank accounts. It ties separation to liability: failing to separate risks forfeiting the legal protections that entity structures offer, and separation is pivotal for protecting a person's own assets and credit.

The Internal Revenue Service makes the same point from the tax side. In Publication 583, it says one of the first things to do when starting a business is open a business checking account, and to keep it separate from the personal checking account. Because every provider above has a $0 base tier, cost is no longer a reason to delay.

What does a bank ask for before opening an account?

Requirements vary by bank. Bank of America, for example, asks for the business name and address, the state of formation, an EIN or SSN, and the date the business was established. It also asks for personal details, including SSN and date of birth, for everyone on the application, including those with at least 25% ownership. It may request the Articles of Organization or an equivalent, and trade name documentation where the business operates under a different name.

Bank of America does not list an operating agreement as required, so it would be wrong to assume every bank wants one. Each provider listed here sets its own requirements, so check each before starting.

For a business that has not yet formed, the order is the entity, the EIN, the account, then the books. That first stretch is where ZenBusiness accounting belongs. ZenBusiness does not offer business banking, but it sells entity formation, the EIN, registered agent service and related compliance support, which are the documents a bank asks for. It also offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form with it.

How should a business choose?

Start with the fee that is certain. For the plainest picture, Novo and Axos Basic Business Checking are the least complicated on their published pricing. For a free entry tier with room to grow, Found, Lili, Mercury and Relay each fit, and the useful question is what the free tier leaves out.

Then price the activity the account will actually see: payments received, wires, cash deposits. Finally, confirm the insurance structure for any provider that is not a bank. The cheapest account on paper is the one whose total cost, not its monthly fee, is lowest.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a business account with no fees at all? Not in the sense of zero charges of any kind. A $0 monthly fee covers one line on the fee schedule, and wires, cash deposits, out-of-network ATMs and expedited cards can be charged separately.

Does opening several accounts raise the insured amount? Not at the same insured bank. The FDIC combines all accounts held by the same entity there, so separate accounts for different divisions or purposes do not each get their own coverage.

Is a balance at a nonbank insured? The FDIC says nonbank companies are never themselves FDIC-insured, and that funds sent to one are not eligible for FDIC insurance until the company deposits them in an insured bank and other conditions are met.

Sources

This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.