Bluevine Review

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When operating a small business or even a side hustle, having a way to manage your finances is vital. You can’t have success if you aren’t sure where you stand financially. Bluevine offers a significant number of features aimed at helping businesses keep a close eye on their finances.

Running your business should be your primary focus, rather than having to deal with challenging financial situations. Bluevine helps with business bank accounts, online banking, invoice factoring, and loans. 

Bluevine logo

Bluevine Compared

Versus other business checking account options, we selected Bluevine as the best. Bluevine delivers outstanding results and services for small businesses and startups that need business checking accounts. Start the process of opening a business checking account that pays you interest with Bluevine today!

We researched the 8 best business checking accounts, so you can save time in finding the perfect banking partner for your business’s needs.

About Bluevine

Bluevine joined the business banking market in 2013. Since its inception, Bluevine focused on providing financial services to businesses, helping them manage their growth. When startups and small businesses want to be able to take advantage of the latest technology and high levels of security for their banking account needs, Bluevine delivers.

Bluevine Products and Services

For small businesses, Bluevine offers checking accounts, lines of credit, invoice factoring, and bill payment services. 

When you open a business banking account with Bluevine, you can earn a 1.5% interest rate on balances up to $100,000. Bluevine does not charge monthly usage fees for its business checking accounts, either.

Bluevine Health and Stability

With about a decade in business, Bluevine seems to have a high level of stability. It continues to gain recognition from both the tech and financial industries, winning multiple awards in the past couple of years. 

  • Forbes named it among America’s Best Startup Employers
  • CB Insights named it a Top Fintech Company
  • Fintech Futures named it a Banking Tech Award winner

Bluevine has a number of investors that give it stability and trustworthiness as well, including Citi, Nationwide, Menlo Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, 83North, and M12.

Bluevine Pricing

For small businesses and startups that are looking for free checking, Bluevine delivers. It also offers some other services, such as lines of credit, bill payment, and invoice factoring, that have some fees associated with them.

Bluevine Pricing Structure

For Bluevine’s business checking accounts, the company charges no monthly maintenance fees or insufficient fund fees. You do not pay per transaction on the account, either. 

If you need to sign up for a business line of credit from Bluevine, it will charge you interest on the amount you borrow. Rates start at 4.8%. Additionally, you could make use of invoice factoring to obtain quick funding with Bluevine, and these rates start at 0.25% per week.

If you take advantage of Bluevine’s bill pay service, you have the option of drawing funds for bills from your business checking account or from a credit card. Fees for using a credit card to pay bills start at 2.9% per credit card transaction, but Bluevine does not charge any bill pay service fees.

Bluevine Pricing Comparison

Compared to other business checking account fees, it’s tough to beat Bluevine. It charges no fees. Instead, Bluevine essentially pays you to have the account in the form of a 1.5% APY interest on the funds in your checking account. 

Some other business banking accounts, such as an account from Axos, require a certain balance to avoid maintenance fees. Others, such as TD, charge you fees after a certain number of free transactions.

When seeking a line of credit, Bluevine only charges you interest on the amount of money you actually use. You also do not have any prepayment penalties if you repay the borrowed amount early. 

You don’t have to pay origination fees or monthly fees with Bluevine. With a small business lender like Funding Circle, for example, you will have to pay an origination fee that starts at 3.99%. A service like Kabbage also charges a monthly fee on the amount that you borrow, starting at 1.5%.

Bluevine Trials and Guarantees

Bluevine does not charge fees for small businesses, large businesses, and startups that use its bank account services. If you withdraw cash from Bluevine’s in-network ATMs, you pay no fees. Bluevine has no service fees for checking accounts or for bill payments made from the checking accounts. You even receive two free checkbooks each year.

Bluevine Business Checking Accounts Review

We like Bluevine as the best business checking account option. It offers many of its services for free, including bill pay. This makes it a great value compared to some of the other services on our list.

When comparing business checking accounts, think about the features that are important to you. Maybe you need unlimited transactions or a high interest rate. Bluevine is strong in almost any area for small businesses and startups.

What Makes Bluevine Business Checking Accounts Great

Bluevine checking account dashboard
Bluevine allows you to set up tracking subaccounts inside the checking account dashboard.
  • Multiple free features: Bluevine does not require you to pay account maintenance fees or fees after you hit a limit on the number of free transactions you can run through the account each month. 
  • No minimums: Some business bank accounts require you to maintain a minimum balance or require a certain amount of money to open the account. Bluevine has none of these types of minimums, which is ideal for a small business where the account balance can fluctuate quite a bit.
  • Earn interest: Bluevine pays a 1.5% APY interest rate on your checking account balance, which greatly outperforms most business checking account providers.
  • Simple rules and interface: You don’t have to worry about trying to learn how to use a confusing mobile app or a complex online banking interface with Bluevine. You can run a simple design that only shows the banking account, or you can add subaccounts for more detailed financial tracking. The easy-to-use interface gives you more time to focus on running your business, which is vital for small businesses and startups.

Where Bluevine Business Checking Accounts Fall Short

Bluevine checking account dashboard with popup search for another bank account to add
If you have accounts at other banks, you can add them to your Bluevine interface.
  • No 24/7 customer service: You can access Bluevine’s live customer service team during weekdays, primarily during traditional business hours. However, there is no option for live customer service on weekends or overnights, which may be a problem, depending on the type of business you are operating.
  • Limited ATM network: Bluevine partners with MoneyPass to offer ATMs to its business checking account customers. Even with nearly 40,000 ATMs in the network, however, certain parts of the United States do not have any MoneyPass ATMs. If you use an out-of-network ATM, you could receive charges.

Bluevine Business Checking Accounts Compared

We give Bluevine the top ranking among the best business checking accounts, but you may find an option that fits your needs better from our list.

Bluevine Business Loans Review

When your established small business needs quick sources of funding, you may want to turn to the best business loan providers. 

Bluevine is one of the best options for small business loans, as it gives you a line of credit that you can tap into as needed. You can apply for the Bluevine line of credit at any time. It then is always available when you are feeling the pinch of a slowdown in the business. Bluevine’s interest rates are competitive with the other lenders on our list.

What Makes Bluevine Business Loans Great

Bluevine checking account dashboard showing available balance with a message at the top telling you your card has been ordered
Track credit cards and business lines of credit from the Bluevine dashboard.
  • Significant loan amount: Bluevine offers a revolving line of credit for up to $250,000, which is quite a bit for small businesses and startups.
  • Reasonable interest rate: With an interest rate starting at around 4.8%, Bluevine is very competitive in this area. You also only pay interest on the amount you borrow, not on the entire amount that’s available in the line of credit.
  • Quick response: Most small businesses can complete the application process within several minutes. You also should receive a fast response from Bluevine about the approval or denial.
  • Applying doesn’t hurt you: Bluevine does not perform a hard credit check against your business or personal credit report until you accept the offer for the line of credit. This means that simply applying should not negatively affect your credit score.

Where Bluevine Business Loans Fall Short

Bluevine account profile screen with checking account number and personal details
Manage all aspects of your business finances from within the Bluevine interface.
  • You may qualify for less: Bluevine only offers its maximum amount for your line of credit if you have an established business with a good credit score. When you are just starting out, expect to receive an offer for a much smaller amount than $250,000.
  • Not for startups: Only businesses in operation for at least six months and with at least $10,000 in monthly revenue will be able to qualify for a line of credit.

Bluevine Business Loans Compared

Multiple companies offer loans to established small businesses, but our selection for the company offering the best business loans is Bluevine.

  • Bluevine — Best for established businesses seeking lines of credit up to $250,000
  • Lendio — Best small business loan marketplace with 75+ lenders
  • OnDeck — Term loans and lines of credit for business owners with a 600+ FICO score
  • Fundbox — Best for new businesses in need of inventory or supplies from vendors
  • Funding Circle — Best small business lender for loan terms up to five years
  • Kabbage — Best for businesses with low monthly or annual revenue
  • LendingClub — Best P2P lending marketplace for business loans
  • Kiva — Microloans up to $10,000 at 0% interest for entrepreneurs
  • SmartBiz — Best for SBA loans up to $5 million with 25-year terms
  • Credibility Capital — Bank-backed loans for business owners with great credit
  • CAN Capital — Best merchant cash advance for small business

Bluevine Invoice Factoring Review

When you are having trouble with clients paying your invoices on time, it can lead to a money flow crunch for your small business. That’s where the best invoice factoring companies enter the picture, as they provide cash advances on your unpaid invoices in exchange for a fee.

We placed Bluevine at the top of our list of companies that provide invoice factoring, as Bluevine has low rates and provides quick responses to your funding needs.

What Makes Bluevine Invoice Factoring Great

Bluevine invoices dashboard showing available credit and invoices in process
Bluevine offers up to $5 million in invoice factoring for certain businesses.
  • Transparent fees: Unlike some invoice factoring companies that don’t make the fee structure crystal clear, you’ll always know what kinds of fees you pay with Bluevine. 
  • Low fees: Bluevine outperforms many of the other options on our list by starting their fees for invoice factoring at a low 0.25% per week.
  • Fast decisions: The majority of the time, Bluevine will give you an answer about your request for invoice factoring within 24 hours of your request. Some companies drag out the process, leaving you unsure where you stand.
  • Large amounts available: If your small business fits the qualification requirements, you may be eligible to receive up to $5 million in invoice factoring credit. This amount isn’t common for most small businesses to receive, but it is possible for the right company.
  • Quick uploads: Once you receive approval to use invoice factoring, Bluevine allows you to upload your unpaid invoices through the accounting software you are already using. You’re then eligible to receive your funds.

Where Bluevine Invoice Factoring Falls Short

Bluevine payment settings dashboard with invoice settings options
Track all invoices that are subject to invoice factoring through the Bluevine interface.
  • Startups aren’t eligible: Only businesses that have at least three months of operation and at least $10,000 in monthly revenue are eligible to use invoice factoring from Bluevine.
  • Only invoices from businesses count: If you run a small business that invoices homeowners or other individuals, Bluevine does not accept these unpaid invoices for invoice factoring. Bluevine only counts unpaid invoices that you submit from customers that are businesses.

Bluevine Invoice Factoring Compared

Our list of the best invoice factoring companies has Bluevine at the top, but you may be able to find a different company that better fits your specific needs.

Bluevine Online Business Banking Review

Bluevine is also a leader in the industry for online business banking services for small businesses. In fact, we ranked Bluevine as the top online business banking service. We already discussed many of Bluevine’s strengths in banking in our earlier review of its business banking account services. 

  • Bluevine — Best for small business
  • Novo — Best for entrepreneurs and ecommerce
  • Lili — Best for people who run their own business
  • NorthOne — Best for fully mobile business banking
  • Axos Bank — Best way to treat your employees
  • Relay — Best for flexible business banking
  • Chase Business Complete Banking — Best for branch access
  • BankProv — Best checking accounts with full deposit insurance
  • Mercury — Best for payment automation
  • LendingClub Bank — Best for businesses with tons of transactions

Bluevine Final Verdict

Bluevine offers a wide range of financial services for business owners, simplifying the process of managing finances. This leaves business owners with more time to focus on running the business.

Even better, Bluevine offers many of its services for free, including business checking accounts and bill payment services. Even if you need to borrow against a line of credit through Bluevine, its fees and interest rates are lower versus competitors. It’s easy for us to recommend Bluevine as the leader for many different financial services aimed at businesses.


Source: quicksprout

Bluevine Review