Brex vs Bluevine Checking Accounts

Are you doing your homework on Brex vs Bluevine checking accounts and wondering which one is the best fit for your business? Both offer compelling banking solutions. Which one should you choose? To help you make the right choice, read our detailed comparison below. 

Bluevine vs Brex: Summary comparison

The comparison table provides an overview of these two business banks.

Note: In June 2022, Brex narrowed its definition of its target customers from small businesses to entrepreneurs from small businesses and startups to only businesses that had some sort of “professional funding” — in other words, venture capital, angel investors or funding from an accelerator. 

What this means in reality was that Brex was no longer taking on or supporting small business clients and was now only onboarding larger ‘enterprise’ businesses with VC funding. Their existing small business customers had to move their business banking from Brex to an alternative bank by August 15th 2022. 

	Bluevine	Brex
Service type	Business checking account	Business checking account
Formation country	U.S.	U.S.
Year of formation	2013	2017
Prices (from)	$0 per month	$0 per month
Number of clients	450,000	10,000
Bank card	Mastercard	Mastercard

Bluevine is a financial technology company, not a bank, however its banking services are provided by Coastal Community Bank. Bluevine has no monthly fees, a superb interface and makes it quick and affordable to set up a business bank account.

Brex is a San Francisco Fintech launched in 2017 that has helped businesses who want a free cash management account. In its simplest terms, you can picture Brex as banking in the cloud with no monthly fees, opening balance or minimum balance requirements.

Bluevine and Brex similarities

Both Bluevine and Novo are online business accounts with no physical branch locations, not banks. They are registered with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) via their parent banks meaning customers’ accounts are FDIC-insured to the maximum allowable limits. 

Both banks offer lending products to businesses with Bluevine providing lines of credit up to $250,000 with rates from 4.8%. 

Brex offers Brex Venture Debt, designed for early-stage, venture-backed technology companies with a product market fit, recurring revenue base, and scalable business model. The target candidates are B2B software companies with $500K+ of annualized revenue.

With Bluevine and Brex, you have:

• An online business bank account
• No ​​monthly fees, overdraft fees or minimum balance fees
• APY interest earning accounts
• Bank card
• Mobile application
• Lending

On the services side, Bluevine and Brex both offer direct integrations with accounting software such as Quickbooks, allowing customers to easily sync data like bills, transactions, and payees between the two platforms. Both banks don’t have any transaction limit fees or ACH fees. 

In addition, ATM fees for Bluevine are free at MoneyPass locations nationally whilst Brex customers however can’t use the Brex card at ATM for withdrawals or deposits. 

Note: With these two service providers, becoming a customer is quick and easy. Your online business bank account can be opened in minutes.

Their interfaces are online on the web or on via their mobile applications which are intuitive and easy to use on a daily basis. Bluevine and Brex are aimed at professionals, SMBs and the self-employed who are looking for a simple and affordable banking solution.

Bluevine and Brex differences

Now we’ll take a look at the differences between Brex and Bluevine. The following table provides a summary of these differences. 

	Bluevine	Brex
APY	1.5% on balances of up to $100,000	Uninvested cash: no yield. Cash invested in money market funds: 2.81% seven-day yield rate (as of this writing).
ATM Fees	Free at MoneyPass locations nationally, $2.50 plus operator fees for non-network ATM use	Cannot use your Brex card to make cash withdrawals or deposits at an ATM
Checks	Up to 2 free checkbooks annually	Only process virtual check deposits in the Brex app. Physical checks by mail not accepted
Wire Transfers Fees	$15 for outgoing;incoming free	$25 for outgoing domestic wire, some fees for receiving wires, varies by provider
Promotion	SEE THE OFFER	SEE THE OFFER

There are a number of differences between these two bank accounts that will help you decide between them and make your choice.

Bluevine has a solid APY, better software integration, a larger free ATM network, and fewer additional fees. In addition, Bluevine’s line of credit is very easy to use and approval time for  funding is generally within one day, which gives businesses quick access to needed capital. 

Its repayment terms are also flexible and can be monthly or weekly and can extend out to a year. Bluevine will approve lines of credit for business owners who have been in business for as little as six months.

Whilst for Brex, uninvested cash has no yield and cash invested in the money market funds has a yield of 2.81% seven-day yield rate. When it comes to domestic wire transfer prices, Brex has a $25 outgoing domestic wire and some fees for receiving wires vs Bluevine’s $15 outgoing wire fee. 

Now that we know more about the similarities and differences between the two banks, let’s take a closer look at the details of the Bluevine and Brex offers.

Bluevine vs Brex: Pricing, plans & services

Fees

Even if the two banks are aimed at small business owners and freelancers, there are some differences when it comes to the overall pricing, plans and service. Here is some information on the offers of Bluevine and Brex.

	Bluevine	Brex
Free offer	Yes	Yes
Monthly fees	$0	$0
Transaction fees	$0	$0
Number of accounts	Up to 5 sub accounts	Up to 7 accounts
Cash Deposited	$4.95 fee per transaction, available through Green Dot retail locations	Not supported
Monthly transactions	Unlimited	Unlimited
Line of credit	Up to $250,000	Up to 30% of your Brex Cash balance

From a monthly fee perspective, both Bluevine and Brex are competitive with no fees for setup and maintenance and an unlimited amount of daily transactions. Bluevine provides two free checkbook orders per year, whilst for Brex, virtual checks can be sent in the Brex app or in its online dashboard.

Neither bank requires a minimum opening deposit or minimum balance whilst a big plus for Bluevine is its 1.50% annual percentage yield (APY) across all funds. 

Other services

	Bluevine	Brex
Funding	Yes	Yes
Overdraft	Yes	Yes
Accounting	Yes	No

Bluevine and Brex are two good bank accounts for small businesses and indeed larger startups with VC funding in Brex’s cash with both offering credit to businesses. 

Brex Venture Debt uses less-dilutive capital to retain more ownership while fueling your growth and is designed for early-stage, VC backed tech firms. 

Bluevine meanwhile may be able to offer you a same-day business loan, with funds in your bank account in as little as 24 hours. If you opt to pay a $15 fee for a wire transfer, you can get your funds in just a few hours. 

To qualify for a line of credit with Bluevine, you must have been in business for at least 6 months, have a business revenue of at least $10,000 per month, not have a bankruptcy within the past year, and the guarantor must have a personal credit score of 625 or higher.

Payment and collection methods offered by Brex and Bluevine

Payment methods

Here is a comparison table of payment methods offered by Brex and Bluevine.

	Bluevine	Brex
Card type	Mastercard	Mastercard
Checks	Yes	Yes
Wire transfers	Yes	Yes
International wires	No	Yes
ACH transfers	Yes	Yes

Means of collection

Here are the payment methods available with these two accounts.

	Bluevine	Brex
Checks	Yes	Yes, only processed by virtual check deposits on the Brex app. Physical checks by mail not accepted.
Wire transfers	Yes	Yes
ACH wires	Yes	Yes
International transfers	No	Yes

At this time, Bluevine cannot accept or initiate international wires whilst Brex customers can make incoming and outgoing international wires (although the recipient’s bank may charge a fee upon receipt of international wires).

Bluevine vs Brex: How to choose?

Both Bluevine and Brex offer a very attractive online business checking account. So how should you make your choice? Here are the main things to keep in mind when making your choice:

• Services: Depending on your needs, some business checking accounts are more suitable than others. Bluevine stands out for its cash deposit facility, no monthly, balance or transaction fees, a solid APY yield whilst Brex certainly impresses with its wide range of features and ease of use.
• Line of credit: Bluevine’s quick and easy access to funding is a huge help for small businesses whilst Brex offers an interesting proposition with its Venture Debt product for VC backed tech firms.
• International transactions: Are you going to be making any or indeed a lot of them? If you are, Brex is the one for you as Bluevine does not currently facilitate international wire transfers.
• Other: One of the main deal breakers when choosing between the two is the type of business you run. Brex is more narrow in terms of businesses it takes on as the company has now pivoted to only VC funding backed business whilst Bluevine is a real contentender for most traditional small businesses.
  • Aside from this, Brex offers up to 7 sub accounts vs 5 sub accounts from Bluevine however Brex doesn’t support cash deposits at all whilst Bluevine does have this facility, a major plus for many SMBs. 

For further information:

• Read our detailed Bluevine review
• Read our detailed Brex review

There are many other business accounts available and some are worth looking into too. SMBs can take a look at Kabbage or Relay or indeed Chase, the largest bank in the U.S.

For those looking for a bank with a large number of locations, Bank of America may be for you     whilst Capital One offers a broad array of financial products and services to small firms. 

To discover all the business bank alternatives, feel free to take a look at our business bank account comparison.

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