Compare traditional business banking solutions and neobanking solutions.
Choosing where you should open your business account is an important choice deserving a thorough analysis. Researches can be time consuming for entrepreneurs. Qonto wants to help you choose the best option, whether you are a business owner, a finance director, or a treasurer. That's why we designed two comparators for business accounts.
Traditional banks:
Find here below our selection of professional bank accounts listed in the banking solutions comparator:
Innovative offers from online banks or neobanks:
Find here below our selection of mobile and online banks for professionals:
To help you with your choice, we designed a comparator taking the following criteria into account
Price is often the main criterion when comparing business bank accounts. Banks or neobanks' pricing can vary by a factor of two. Business owners should also pay attention to the pricing structure (is it flexible enough to fit their needs?) and to the potential hidden costs (such as interchange fees or turnover commissions).
Before opening a business bank account, a business owner should compare the number of transfers and debits included in the selected plan. Are the fees included or are they going to generate extra-cost? Are they interchange fees? One should also be aware of the different types of debits that are offered. For instance, some neobanks do not allow B2B SEPA direct debit, even if this format is compulsory to pay taxes to the government.
Traditional banks usually require users to physically come to the bank to open an account, while a neobank is more convenient as the account opening can be done online. Therefore, a business owner should always analyse the feedback regarding the quality of a bank/neobank customer service (how long does it take to get an answer to one's requests?).
Entrepreneurs should compare the services provided alongside their payment card. The payment and withdrawal limits deserve a particular attention! Also, the extra-fees billed when international payments are made can be substantial. One should choose between different types of Visa or Mastercard cards. There are different types of cards: prepaid, debit (which usually comes with insurances services) or credit cards.
Your company might need to get a professional loan. All traditional banks allow you to ask for, even you can't be sure you request will be approved. Some neobanks have strong partnerships with financial parties, like crowdlending platforms. Choosing your bank also depends on your needs in liquid assets. Your company could need an overdraft authorization or cash facilites.
A comparator is useful to support an entrepreneur in choosing a professional bank account, in a traditional or online bank. Some financial institutions offer specific plans for business owners, that fit their needs throughout their company development stages. They also offer other financial services that an entrepreneur might want to take into account, such as professional insurances, credit, or factoring.
Some banks or neobanks do not accept all legal forms. Some financial institutions are more adapted to micro-entrepreneurs, other to shared capital companies. This last choice implies to deposit the company's share capital in bank or neobank. Therefore, the company's legal form is an essential criterium when it comes to comparing several business banking options.
Entrepreneurs should know what type of bank details they will receive from their future bank. How fast is the IBAN sent to the client? While it usually takes more time with traditional banks, with neobanks it's a matter of hours! However, some neobanks are only able to deliver a foreign IBAN, which can make things complicated in France (to pay taxes for example).
Some professional accounts make accounting easier and help business owners drive their company's financial life. The 'expenses' add-ons and the number of accounting tools integrations should be analyzed thoroughly when comparing business bank accounts. Some business accounts allow business owners to invite accountants as members, which allow them to export the transaction history autonomously, for instance.
Compare all the solutions to deposit a check. While traditional banks deliver this service for free, it can be sometimes more complicated to get this feature with neobanks. You might want to ask yourself if you really need a checkbook! Even if this payment type is not really used anymore, some entrepreneurs still need it.