Branch or app
A business account you can walk into. Cash and coin over a counter, a banker who knows the file, and terms that get arranged rather than published.
A business account that opens in a browser. Onboarding without a visit, sub-accounts and card controls on a phone, and no counter to deposit anything into.
Worked through in Online vs Traditional Business Banking: Common Questions, Chase vs Mercury and Online Accounts, Partner Banks and Deposit Insurance.
Start here
Where most readers start
Online Accounts, Partner Banks and Deposit Insurance (2026)
Are online-only business banks safe for keeping my company's money?
Read the guide ExplainerWhat Is an Online Business Bank, and Is It a Bank?
Are online-only business banks safe for keeping my company's money?
Read the explainer ShortlistOnline or Traditional Bank for Your Business? (2026)
Is a traditional bank or an online banking platform better for my new business?
Read it How-toHow to Move From a Branch Bank to an Online Account (2026)
How do I switch my business banking from one bank to another?
Follow the steps ShortlistWhich Option Handles Cash Deposits Properly (2026)
Is a traditional bank or an online banking platform better for my new business?
Read it Head to headChase vs Mercury (2026)
Is a traditional bank or an online banking platform better for my new business?
Read itThe ground this splits over
Six places the two routes part company: three on the counter side of the line, three on the screen side.
Cash, coin and the counter
The requirement that decides this for most businesses: what happens when takings have to be physically deposited, and which routes can actually accept them.
Screen · 01Opening without a visit
What an online-only application asks for, how that paperwork compares with a branch, and how to move an existing account across.
Hall · 02Fees, minimums and waivers
Monthly fees, balance minimums and the waivers a branch account offers, set against an online account that charges no monthly fee.
Screen · 02Wires and account limits
Wires, transfers and the limits an online account puts on moving money, against what a branch can do at the counter.
Hall · 03Borrowing later
Credit lines and other lending, and how much of that is still arranged in person rather than in an app.
Screen · 03Running both
A branch account and an online one held together, and the split of jobs between them.
What holds on either side
The rules every head-to-head and shortlist here is held to, from Chase vs Mercury to the Axos Bank review.
Nothing is scored
No ratings, no star counts, no tier boards. Where one route is preferred for a situation, it is argued in words with the reasoning on the page.
Neither side is the default
A branch is not the safe answer and an app is not the modern one. Which side wins depends on the business asking, and the write-ups start from that.
Terms are quoted and dated
Fees and requirements change. Anything specific is taken from the provider and dated, or it is described in words rather than numbers.
Affiliate links are disclosed
Some links earn a commission. That never decides which route a write-up recommends, and it is stated on every page it applies to.
The order to settle it in
Four questions, taken in this order, decide it for most businesses. They step from one side of the line to the other because the answer usually does too.
Start with the cash
Work out what physically has to happen to your money each week. That single answer rules one side out more often than anything else does.
Check what opening asks for
Entity documents, ownership, address and age of business. The two routes weigh the same paperwork very differently.
Price the whole relationship
Not the headline monthly fee - the minimum, the per-item charges and whatever the branch waives once it knows you.
Read the rails last
Once the account can exist, work out whether money arrives when you need it to. That is where the two sides separate again.
The questions
Start from the question you have
The full list