Capital One Business Checking Review

Summary of our opinion

Don’t have time to read it all? Here is a summary of our opinion on Capital One, to help you understand whether Capital One is a good choice for you or not!

Capital One is on the list of largest banks in the United States and has developed a reputation for being a technology-focused bank.

Capital One allows entrepreneurs and SMB’s to set up a bank account which has unlimited transactions, free debit cards, waivable maintenance fees, and business credit cards. 

In summary, Capital One is a good choice for business owners who want fee-free unlimited transactions and access to both traditional and online and mobile banking. For a full in-depth review, the following is our opinion of Capital One in detail.

Capital One fees

Fees and features

Here is a summary table of Capital One’s main pricing plans. It has two business checking accounts, namely the: Spark Business Basic Checking and the Spark Business Unlimited Checking:

	Spark Business Basic Checking	Spark Business Unlimited Checking
Monthly fees	$15; waivable if conditions are met	$35; waivable if conditions are met
Opening deposit	$250	$250
Transaction limit before fees	Unlimited	Unlimited
Minimum balance	None	None
Overdraft fee	$0	$0
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)	None	None
Domestic Wire Transfer Fees	Incoming: $15Outgoing: $25	Incoming: FreeOutgoing: First five free each month, $25 thereafter
International Wire Fees	Incoming: $15Outgoing: $40 for foreign currency; $50 for US dollars	Incoming: $15Outgoing: $40 for foreign currency; $50 for US dollars
Online banking	Included	Included
Bonus	None	None
Cash Deposit Fee	Up to $5,000 per month with no fee, after that $1 fee per $1,000 deposited	Free
ATM Fee	Free at more than 70,000 Capital One, Allpoint, and MoneyPass ATMs nationwide	Free at more than 70,000 Capital One, Allpoint, and MoneyPass ATMs nationwide
Customer support	Mon – Fri: 8am to 8pm EST	Mon – Fri: 8am to 8pm EST

The basic checking account caters to business owners who would need to deposit $5,000 or less in cash every month since cash deposit fees apply in excess of that amount. Meanwhile, the unlimited checking account is suitable for business owners who have high transaction volumes and would benefit from the unlimited fee-free cash deposit feature.

Our opinion on the monthly cost

As business bank accounts for LLCs, freelancers and startups go, Capital One offers many positives including unlimited fee-free transactions which includes deposits, withdrawals and transfers, a big help for businesses starting out. If you do need an overdraft, again there are no fees for this.

You can also withdraw cash without fees from over 70,000 fee-free ATMs via its partnership with MoneyPass and Allpoint ATM networks, with no added charge from Capital One, another big plus. 

Both Capital One business checking accounts have a monthly fee. While it can be waived if the minimum balance is maintained, that bar can be rather high for business owners operating on tight margins. 

In addition, there are a range of incidental fees which don’t help small business including overdraft and non sufficient funds fees ($35 each) and international wire transfer fees ($15 for incoming, $40 for outgoing, $50 for outgoing in U.S. dollars).

Our opinion of the other fees

Outgoing wire transfer fees are pretty standard in the industry, but incoming wire transfer fees are much less common. Capital One is one of the few banks that charge these, and that could make the account costly if you’re used to accepting deposits into your account this way. 

Capital One charges you anywhere from $2 to $5 every time you use an ATM that’s not within its network, and that’s in addition to the fee the ATM owner might charge you. This could make Capital One a costly choice for businesses that are not located near a Capital One ATM..

Who can use Capital One?

To open a Capital One Business Checking account, you must be a small business owner, at least 18 years old, and have a verifiable U.S. address. 

Customers must be a U.S. citizen or resident with a verifiable U.S. address. In some cases, you may need to provide your EIN confirmation letter from the IRS. 

Means of payment

Regarding payment methods, Capital One mainly offers the following:

Payment	Features offered?
Debit card	Mastercard
Check	Yes
Wire transfers	Yes
ACH transfers	Yes
International wires	Yes
POS withdrawal	Yes

The question of means of payment remains the same as for other financial institutions: Will your business be satisfied with these means of payment. This is a decision each individual business owner will have to make. If the answer is no, you can always consider an alternative business bank. 

Means of collection

The means of collection are the basics of any financial institution. Capital One customers can conduct wire transfers, generally the fastest method to transfer funds electronically. At this time, Capital One charges $15 for incoming international wires.

Payment	Features offered?
Mobile-deposited check	Yes
Mailed checks	Yes
Wire transfers	Yes
Electronic transfers	Yes
Branch deposit	Yes
International wires	Yes

Transfers

Customers can quickly transfer funds in and out of your checking account from accounts at other financial institutions.

Payment terminal

In recent years, Capital One took an interest in credit card processing with the launch of its SparkPay mobile phone processing service and an iPad-based point-of-sale system called Spark Point of Sale. Both products have since been discontinued.

Capital One processes credit and debit card payments through virtual and smart terminals, hosted web pages, and mobile readers. They allow most major payment methods including swipe, EMV, contactless, keyed-in, phone order, email invoicing, PayPal, most major credit cards, and gift and loyalty cards.

Services and features offered by Capital One

Capital One offers a bank account focused around features dedicated to small businesses and professionals. These offers are exactly what have made Capital One stand out from the competition.

Business bank account

Capital One offers the classic services of a bank with a very user friendly banking interface. 

All Capital One business banking accounts include free online and mobile banking with bill pay. Its mobile apps also allow you to remotely deposit checks with no limits on monthly deposits.

Businesses that open a basic checking account receive unlimited transactions each month, along with a business debit card. Capital One requires a $250 minimum deposit to open a Spark Business Basic Checking account. Customers with a linked small business deposit account also receive overdraft protection.

In addition to its business checking accounts, Capital One offers business savings accounts, loans, credit cards, merchant services accounts, and more. This makes it a one-stop-shop for small business owners.

A wide range of services for all entrepreneurs

In addition to being an excellent professional bank account, we appreciate the various services offered by Capital One including:

• Remote deposit of checks 
• No limits on monthly deposits.
• Pay via ACH, wire transfer or check
• Mobile app transactions

Unlimited free transactions

One of the biggest draws of the Capital One Spark Business Basic Checking account is that it allows you to make unlimited monthly deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.

Many other business checking accounts, particularly those at brick-and-mortar banks, restrict your transactions and charge costly fees for exceeding their monthly limits. If your company moves money around frequently, there’s no overstating the value of this Capital One business bank account.

*** Screenshot 2: Capital One dashboard ***

Cash deposits

Capital One allows Spark Business Basic Checking account holders to deposit up to $5,000 in cash per month, which is on par with what many of the best small business checking accounts offer and better than many online business checking accounts, which often don’t allow cash deposits.

If you exceed the $5,000 per month, you’ll pay an additional fee of $1 per $1,000 deposited, but this is also pretty reasonable.

Travel features

If your limited liability company (LLC) requires you to travel regularly, Capital One can issue a Spark Miles for Business card that lets you earn travel rewards. It has a low annual fee and gives out unlimited 2x miles for all your purchases.

ATM access

Although Capital One doesn’t offer the kind of in-person banking of other large banks, it does have an extensive network of fee-free ATMs across the country, thanks to partnerships with the Allpoint and MoneyPass ATM networks. Capital One customers have 24/7 access to more than 70,000 fee-free ATMs.

Free overdraft protection

Some banks charge a fee for overdraft protection or simply cancel transactions that exceed your account balance. Capital One charges a $35 overdraft fee but also offers a way to get free overdraft protection. Business customers who link a Capital One business deposit account receive free overdraft protection.

Real estate

If you’re a real estate investor who needs financing options apart from unlimited free monthly transactions, Capital One provides real estate financing services, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and real estate investment funds (REIFs). 

Mobile application

Capital One lets you enjoy fee-free unlimited digital transactions and has both Android and iOS mobile apps, both of which have great reviews. On Google Play, Capital One earned 4.6/5 with more than 1.37 million ratings and on the App Store, it received 4.9/5 stars from 5.7 million ratings.

Reviewers appreciate the app’s simplicity and ease of use. Others, however, left low ratings because they encountered issues during app updates.

Open a Capital One account

You can visit a local Capital One branch to open a business checking account. Talk to a banking associate about your business needs at a Capital One location.

To complete your application, you’ll be asked to provide the following:

• Personal information, including name, date of birth, Social Security number, and birthdate
• Email address and phone number
• US address and owner establishment date, not a post office box
• Legal name of business and type of business
• Business establishment date with signer’s full name
• Tax ID number (TIN), ownership structure, and number of employees
• Percent of ownership and annual gross revenue

Generally, applications are reviewed within 24 hours; however, the process may take anywhere from 3 – 5 business days. After you receive approval from Capital One, you’ll need to accept the account agreement and then you’ll be able to fund and access your account.

Customer Service and Support

Besides receiving in-person assistance at your local Capital One Café or branch, small business bank support is available by calling 888-755-2172 during business hours, Monday through Friday 8am to 8pm ET. 

Business customers who have digital access only can call customer service at 844-88-SPARK (7-7275), Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm ET. For general support questions, you can also send a tweet to @AskCapitalOne on Twitter. They also have multiple resources and support articles on their website. 

Capital One: Customer reviews

Per this review update, Capital One had more than 1,535 reviews on Trustpilot, for an average rating of 1.2/5, which by all accounts is poor. 

Many of these negative reviews relate to Capital One’s credit cards with users complaining that Capital One took too long sending initial or replacement credit cards, that it doesn’t offer robust fraud protection, and that Capital One keeps mistakenly blocking cards.

Other negative reviews complain about bad customer service, including long hold times and unhelpful customer support reps and branch closures. 

If that’s a problem for you, as you will have to visit a branch to open a business bank account, you might want to go with another bank instead.

When reading the positive reviews, many reviews point to the individual shout outs to specific customer services representatives by name, who assisted with resolving particular account or service related issues. 

Capital One: Overall verdict

Capital One offers a broad array of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients in the U.S. and positions itself on the belief that no one should be locked out of the financial system. 

Their business bank account is somewhat lacking in some areas however:

• Must apply in person 
• Available in only eight states 
• High opening deposit of $250
• Extra fees including minimum maintenance and incidental fees

On the positive side, Capital One offers unlimited fee-free transactions and customers have access to over 70,000 fee-free ATMs with no added charges. If you can cope with the limited availability and potential fees, then Capital One is for you.