Starting August 15, 2022, thousands of Brex SMBs will be left looking for a business banking alternative.
There’s no questioning that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. And our mission at Relay is to build a banking platform that truly serves small businesses from day one. That’s why we’re using this as an opportunity to help SMBs find companies similar to Brex. 🔎
We’ve put together nine of the most popular business banking and spend management options to fit your needs, including neobanks, traditional banks, and dedicated expense management platforms. Here are the best Brex alternatives for SMBs.
For those that no longer meet Brex’s requirements, we’re here to support you. So let’s go ahead and dive into each platform. 👇 But before we do, let’s get on the same page: what exactly is Brex?
What is Brex?
Brex is an all-in-one financial management platform that promises to help founders, finance teams, and employees to spend smart and grow fast. Brex offers banking services, charge cards, capital, and spend management all in one place.
Though Brex previously served businesses of all sizes, including SMBs, it recently announced that starting August 15, 2022, the company will no longer serve thousands of small business customers. This is part of a renewed focus on high-growth tech startups.
Those still eligible to bank with Brex can do so without paying any account fees. But this recent news begs the question, what banks are actually serving SMBs? For those that are affected by this change, now’s a great time to consider the financial services your business needs most and which ones have the best pricing.
Why do you need a Brex alternative?
Due to the recent decision to fire all small businesses with less than 50 employees, many business owners will no longer qualify for Brex. Because of this, you’ll need to find a Brex alternative for your banking needs. According to Brex, here are the new qualifications to be eligible to use their banking services:
You have received an equity investment of any amount (accelerator, angel, VC or web3 token)
You have more than $1 million a year in revenue
You have more than 50 employees
You have more than $500k in cash
You’re a tech startup on a path to meeting the criteria above and are referred by an existing customer or partner
The good news is that if you no longer qualify, now’s a great time to revaluate the banking services your business needs to manage your finances better. Let’s look at how Brex alternatives stack up to your needs.👇
⚡️ Neobank alternatives to Brex
A neobank, also known as a digital bank, is a bank without branches that operates completely online. 🌐 Unlike most traditional brick-and-mortar banks, neobanks have a robust online suite of services to help you better manage and take control of your finances. Given that Brex is itself a neobank, choosing one of these alternatives will give you the most similar experience.
Neobanks are also more likely to offer continuous improvements to their services to better adapt to the needs of their clients. This makes digital banks an excellent option for businesses of all sizes with a wide range of financial needs. 🙌
Relay
Relay is an online banking and money management platform for SMBs that want to stay on top of their money. We know that small businesses continue to be underserved by the banking industry, which is why we’ve built banking that truly helps small businesses get unparalleled clarity into their income and expenses.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/6WPlGbIbjrQ
Unlike Brex, Relay is truly focused on helping small business owners solve some of the most painful parts of business banking. With Relay, you don’t have to worry about high account fees, messy banking data or a lack of visibility into cash flow.
Relay makes it easy to understand precisely what you’re earning, spending and saving so you can make the smartest decisions for your business. Collect income in one place, use up to 20 checking accounts to organize and allocate income, separate cash reserves, and make more intelligent cash flow decisions with Relay.
Features:
No account fees, overdraft fees or minimum balances
Up to 20 individual checking accounts
50 virtual or physical Mastercard® debit cards
Payments and deposits via ACH, wire and check
Deposits from payment processors like PayPal, Stripe, Square and more
Direct integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero
Pros: 👍
Truly built for SMBs with 1 - 100 employees
FDIC Insured via Thread Bank
Up to 50 business cards
Free withdrawals from Allpoint ATMs — 50,000+ across the U.S.
Free domestic and international wires with Relay Pro
Quickbooks, Xero and Gusto integrations
Will request payee information and W-9s for an easy year-end
Accounts payable automation with Relay Pro
Cons: 👎
No venture funding ❌
Accounts payable automation requires Xero or Quickbooks Online
Mercury
Mercury is an online banking solution for high-growth, digital-first tech startups. In addition to a suite of basic banking features, they give founders access to a venture debt product that facilitates fundraising for seed, series A and DTC rounds through their investor network.
Mercury also offers resources such as a curated investor list, a networking program that connects founders with investors, and tech perks like Amazon Web Service, Hubspot and QuickBooks Online discounts, making it the best option for tech-focused startups.
See the big differences between Mercury vs. Relay here.
Features:
Serves tech and venture-backed startups
No monthly account fees
No minimum balance requirements
No overdraft fees
Free ACH payments
No fees on deposits
Free checking accounts: 15
Pros: 👍
FDIC Insured
1 savings account per business with 0.001% interest
Venture debt program
Free domestic and international wires
Quickbooks and Xero integrations
Cons: 👎
Only 1 debit card per user
Limited payee management features
Hyperfocused on tech startups vs. general SMBs
No accounts payable automation ❌
No Gusto integration ❌
Novo
Novo is a business banking platform built for today’s business owners. With Novo, you can manage your business finances on the go by connecting to your existing tools, sending invoices, paying vendors and much more.
Not sure if it's the right fit? Compare Novo vs. Brex here. Or compare Novo vs. Relay.
Freelancers, startup founders, and small business owners can open a business checking account securely and easily online, in minutes. You do not need to maintain a minimum balance to hold an account.
Features:
No monthly account fees
No overdraft fees
Unlimited check deposits
Free ACH payments
Stripe integration
Pros: 👍
FDIC Insured
Quickbooks and Xero integrations
Savings accounts
Free domestic and international wires
Accounts payable automation
Cons: 👎
Only 1 checking account and debit card per user
Requires a $50 deposit to get started
$27 insufficient funds fee
Small daily deposit limits
No notable AP features ❌
No Gusto integration ❌
Doesn’t accept eChecks ❌
🏦 Traditional bank alternatives to Brex
Unlike digital banks, traditional banks have physical branches. While more established traditional banks offer some mobile banking services, they still require you to visit a physical site for many services like opening and closing an account. Of the most popular big bankd, there are two traditional banks that most business owners gravitate towards for their banking needs.
Chase
Chase business checking solutions are designed to help you manage cash flow, save time, and get the support you need when you need it. It offers three business account tiers to fit your needs and a $300 sign-on bonus.
With Chase, you can seamlessly manage your cash flow, deposits, incoming wires, and payroll through Chase Business Online and the Chase Mobile® app.
Features:
Chase Business Online and Online Bill Pay
Chase Mobile® Banking
Free Chase debit card with chip technology
Associate Debit and Employee Deposit Cards
Chase business savings account
Access to 16,000 ATMs and more than 4,700 branches
Pros: 👍
FDIC insured
No minimum opening deposit.
Unlimited electronic deposits.
Chance to earn $300 sign-up bonus.
Access to over 16,000 Chase ATMs and 4,700 branches across the U.S.
Corporate credit card processing
Cons: 👎
$15 monthly fee or $0 with $2,000 of minimum daily balance
Minimum balance requirements can hinder envelope budgeting strategies
Fee-free cash deposits limited to $5,000 per month
Fee-free physical transactions limited to 20 per month
High overdraft fees
Bank of America
Bank of America business bank accounts are designed to move your business forward with financial tools, services and dedicated support, all in one place. Bank of America offers two primary business checking accounts: Business Advantage Fundamentals Banking and Business Advantage Relationship Banking.
Compare Brex vs Bank of America here.
In addition to these core options, Bank of America offers a suite of digital tools, including cash flow monitoring, digital debit cards, profile linking between personal and business accounts and more.
Features:
Efficiency tools like Cash Flow Monitor®
Mobile Check Deposit
Zelle® for your business
Access to dedicated small business specialists
Fraud protection and security
Savings account for an additional cost
Payroll Services Cash Back
Pros: 👍
FDIC insured
Digital debit cards
Free domestic wires
Profile linking
25%-75% Rewards Bonus
Cons: 👎
$16 monthly fee or $0 with a $5,000 combined average monthly balance
Minimum balance requirements can hinder envelope budgeting strategies
High incidental fees
Charges to use non-Bank of America ATMs
$100 minimum deposit requirement
Up to $7,500 free cash deposits, then 30 cents per $100 deposit
💳 Expense management alternatives to Brex
Expense management solutions can help your company better manage employee spending, reimbursements, travel requests and more. While necessary, this busywork can keep you from getting back to the more critical parts of your business, like launching new products or services.
The right expense management solution and accounting software can streamline and reduce the time spent on managing your expenses, allowing you to get back to the work you love doing.
Ramp
Ramp is an expense management platform that helps you automate financial busywork. Ramp offers visibility into your business finances with real-time reporting, trends, insights, analysis, and forecasting features.
With streamlined workflows, like bill payments, onboarding and travel, Ramp promises to save you time and help you focus on scaling your business.
Features:
No annual account fees
No overdraft fees
Free ACH payments
1.5% back on every purchase
Merchant and category controls
Unlimited AI invoice transcripts
24/7 customer support
Pros: 👍
Free domestic and international wires
Quickbooks, Xero and Gusto integrations
Unlimited virtual and physical cards
Apple and Google Pay
Cons: 👎
Minimum cash reserve balance of $75,000
Only available to registered, incorporated businesses
Not available to sole proprietors ❌
No mobile app ❌
No business checking account ❌
Divvy
Divvy provides streamlined expense reporting so you can execute month-end. Divvy also allows you to understand and categorize business spending in real time with expense tracking, business credit reconciliation and automated expense reports.
Divvy can provide automatic receipt matching and rule-based auto-categorization. Capture expense information, review, approve and sync transactions all in one place.
Features:
Serves businesses with 1-500 employees
No annual account fees
No overdraft fees
Mobile app
Time and expense tracking
Activity dashboard
Pros: 👍
FDIC insured
Free domestic wires
Unlimited physical and virtual cards
Up to 7X points on certain transactions
Duplicate payment alert
Cons: 👎
0.2%-0.9% foreign transaction fee
2.99% or $38 late fee
No business checking account ❌
Airbase
Airbase replaces manual workflows with a single automated spend management platform. It’s designed to give maximum visibility and control so that company purchasing is safe, easy and efficient. By automating approval workflows, you’ll free up the valuable time of finance and accounting teams to focus on value-added strategic work.
Airbase helps your pay vendors, manage card spending, reimburse employees and more. With standardized practices, you can eliminate reconciliations, create an audit trail, and form a single source of truth for all company spending.
Features:
Serves businesses with 1-5,000 employees
No annual account fees for certain accounts
Mobile app
Software-controlled physical and virtual cards
Payment via ACH, check, vendor credits and virtual cards
Domestic and international payment support
Pros: 👍
Pre-funded cards with up to 2% cash back
Duplicate spend alerts and fraud detection
Quickbooks, Xero and Gusto integrations
1099 Preparation
Cons: 👎
Auto-lock is only available for certain accounts
Account fees vary for certain accounts
Caters mostly to mid-market and enterprise-level
Mainly focused on reducing spend
No business checking account ❌
Expensify
Expensify is a tool that automates expense management and receipt tracking. It promises to streamline your entire pre-accounting process and sync seamlessly with Xero and QuickBooks Online.
With Expensify, you can track expenses, submit expense reports, pay bills, generate invoices, collect payments, track mileage and plan trips with 4% back on Expensify Card purchases.
Features:
Serves SMBs and enterprise businesses
Access Controls
Activity Tracking
Corporate Card Reconciliation
Accounting, HR, and Travel Integrations
Basic analytical tools for expenses
Real-time Alerts
Pros: 👍
Quickbooks, Xero and Gusto integrations
One-Click Receipt Scanning
Advanced Tax Tracking
Automated Reminders
Duplicate Expense Detection
Cons: 👎
Only a preaccounting app
Too comprehensive for sole proprietors
Lack of user support
No multiple approval workflows on lower-tier pricing plans ❌
No business checking account ❌
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Now that you’re up to date on the best Brex alternatives, you should have a better understanding of the banking options that best fit your needs. You’re one step closer to making the right long-term banking decision for your business.
If you’re looking for an online banking solution with the most robust features that grow with your business, check out Relay—you can sign up here!
