Relay and Bluevine both built alternatives to traditional business banking. In September 2026, Bluevine agreed to be acquired by one: Valley Bank, in a deal expected to close in early 2027.
Both platforms keep running in the meantime, and they still solve different problems. Relay separates your money across independent accounts so you can see exactly what's available for payroll, taxes, and profit. Bluevine pays interest on your checking balance and pairs it with a line of credit. Which one fits comes down to whether you value cash flow visibility or earning yield on idle cash.
This comparison breaks down account structure, fees, team controls, and integrations so you can decide which platform aligns with how you actually run your business.
Relay vs Bluevine: which fits your business?
Choose Relay if your priority is cash flow visibility and control. Relay gives you up to 20 checking accounts, each with its own account number, so you can separate operating cash, payroll, taxes, and profit into real accounts instead of tracking them in a spreadsheet. It's the stronger fit for Profit First and any allocation system.
Choose Bluevine if your priority is earning interest on the cash sitting in your checking account and having a line of credit in the same place. Bluevine pays up to 3.0% APY on checking balances and lends directly, which Relay doesn't.
The rest of this comparison shows where each of those strengths matters, and where the trade-offs sit.
What Bluevine's acquisition means for your account
Valley Bank's parent company, Valley National Bancorp, agreed to acquire Bluevine for $340 million in September 2026. The deal is expected to close in early 2027. If you bank with Bluevine today, nothing has changed yet: your accounts, cards, and line of credit work the way they did before.
What changes is who sits behind them. Bluevine's roughly 175,000 small business customers and $2.1 billion in deposits move under Valley Bank, which holds about $66 billion in assets. Bluevine holds deposits through Coastal Community Bank today, and those are expected to transfer to Valley in the first half of 2027. Watch for notices from Bluevine about any changes to your account terms.
The open question for most owners is whether a platform built for small business keeps getting built that way once it belongs to an institution serving a much wider set of customers.
How each platform approaches business banking
Relay is built for cash flow visibility through account separation. The platform provides up to 20 checking accounts per business, each functioning as an independent account with its own account number. This allows you to separate cash systematically: operating expenses in one account, payroll in another, tax reserves in a third, profit allocation in a fourth.
Bluevine is built for earnings on working capital through interest-bearing checking. The platform offers checking accounts earning between interest rates of 1.3% to 3.0% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) depending on plan tier. Bluevine combines this with sub-account organization (5 to 50 sub-accounts depending on plan) and integrated lending products including lines of credit up to $250,000.
Account structures
Both platforms let you split money across multiple accounts. What separates them is how many accounts you get and what you pay for them.
Relay provides 20 checking accounts on the Starter plan without monthly maintenance fees. For sophisticated cash flow systems like Profit First, this structure works well.
Bluevine provides sub-accounts within a tiered plan structure. The Standard plan includes 5 sub-accounts with no monthly maintenance fees. The Plus plan ($30 monthly) includes 10 sub-accounts. The Premier plan ($95 monthly, waivable with $100,000 average balance and $5,000 monthly card spending) includes up to 50 sub-accounts.
Relay gives you all 20 accounts on the Starter plan, with no balance requirement to unlock them. Bluevine includes 5 on Standard; getting to 10 costs $30 a month and getting to 50 costs $95, unless you hold a $100,000 average daily balance and spend $5,000 a month on the card.
Fee structures and transaction costs
Both platforms offer entry-level plans with no monthly fee, but their pricing models differ as you scale. Here's how monthly fees and transaction costs compare across tiers.
Relay operates on subscription tiers:
Starter Plan: $0 monthly subscription fee
Grow Plan: $30 monthly subscription fee
Scale Plan: $120 monthly subscription fee
All incoming ACH transfers carry no fee across all plans
Bluevine operates on balance and activity tiers:
Standard Plan: $0/month (5 sub-accounts, 1.3% APY on balances up to $250,000, requires $500/mo card spend or $2,500/mo deposits to earn)
Plus Plan: $30/month (10 sub-accounts, 1.75% APY on balances up to $250,000)
Premier Plan: $95/month (up to 50 sub-accounts, 3.0% APY on all balances)
The monthly plan is only part of what you pay. Both platforms charge per transaction for same-day ACH, wires, and cash deposits, and for most businesses those add up faster than the subscription does.
Fee type | Relay (Starter / Grow / Scale) | Bluevine (Standard / Plus / Premier) |
|---|---|---|
Monthly subscription fees | $0 (Starter) to $120 (Scale) | $0 to $95 (waivable) |
Standard ACH | No per-transaction fee | No per-transaction fee |
Incoming ACH | No fee | No fee |
Same-day ACH | $1 / $0.50 / no fee | $10 / $8 / $5 |
Domestic wire (send) | $8 / $5 / $5 | $15 / $12 / $7.50 |
Cash deposit | No fee at Allpoint ATMs; up to $4.95 via Green Dot | $4.95 via Green Dot |
Relay also charges 1% on Starter, 0.75% on Grow, and 0.5% on Scale when a customer pays an invoice by bank debit, each capped at $10. Bluevine's invoicing is free to send, but collecting by card or bank debit runs through Stripe at 2.9% plus $0.60 for cards and 1% for ACH.
Interest potential
If earning interest on your operating cash matters, the platforms take different approaches: Bluevine pays interest on checking balances, while Relay keeps interest-earning separate in savings accounts.
For a business maintaining $100,000 in checking balances, Bluevine's Premier plan generates approximately $3,000 annually at the current 3.0% APY. After accounting for the $95 monthly fee (assuming it's not waived), this represents approximately $1,860 in net annual benefit. If you meet the fee waiver requirements ($100,000 average daily balance and $5,000 monthly card spending), the full $3,000 benefit applies. APY and fees are subject to change.
Relay's checking accounts do not earn interest. The platform offers savings accounts with tiered rates up to 3.21% APY1 depending on subscription plan. Relay's Scale-tier savings APY of 3.21% is above Bluevine Premier's 3.0%—the difference between the two isn't the headline rate. Relay's savings APY has no activity trigger (Bluevine's Standard 1.3% requires monthly card spend or deposits to earn), and it applies on every plan rather than sitting behind a balance requirement.
1For Relay Subscription Plans with an interest-bearing deposit account, the interest rate and Annual Percentage Yield on your account are accurate as of 9/17/2026 and are variable and subject to change based on the target range of the Federal Funds rate. Fees may reduce earnings: When you are subscribed to the Starter Plan, the interest rate on your savings accounts is 1.18% with an APY of 1.19%. When you are subscribed to the Grow Plan, the interest rate on your savings accounts is 1.86% with an APY of 1.87%. When you are subscribed to the Scale Plan, the interest rate on your savings accounts is 3.16% with an APY of 3.21%.
Team controls and card management
Managing team spending requires both card issuance and permission controls. Both platforms support multiple cards, but their approaches to access control differ.
Relay supports 50 physical and virtual debit cards3 with individual spending limits and card-specific checking accounts. Relay offers seven permission levels: Super Administrator, Administrator, Manager, Bill Payer, Cardholder, Deposit-only, and Read-only.
Bluevine also allows up to 50 debit cards total across your main account and sub-accounts with custom spend limits per card.
Relay can stop a purchase before it clears. On Grow and Scale, an admin signs off before a card payment goes through. Bluevine's controls are limit- and alert-based, so they catch spending after it happens.
3The Relay Visa® Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
Automation and cash flow management
Automating money movement reduces manual work and ensures consistent allocation. Both platforms offer automatic transfers, but the underlying mechanics reflect their different account architectures.
Relay's auto-transfer rules operate between independent checking accounts. Allocate percentages of every deposit to tax savings, payroll reserves, and operations, with each pool maintaining its own debit card access and permission controls.
Bluevine's automatic transfers move money between the main account and sub-accounts through percentage-based transfers, target balance maintenance, and zero balance sweeps. This provides budget organization without complete financial segregation.
Credit access and lending integration
Access to credit can be critical for managing cash flow gaps or funding growth. The platforms take opposite approaches: one builds lending in, the other focuses purely on banking.
Bluevine operates as a direct lender, offering lines of credit up to $250,000. Qualification requirements include: 625+ minimum FICO score, 12+ months in business, $10,000 minimum monthly revenue, and your business must be a corporation or LLC in good standing with no bankruptcies. Bluevine describes its line of credit as carrying competitive rates but does not publish a starting APR; actual rates vary based on creditworthiness.
Relay does not currently offer direct lending products. The platform offers a credit card4 to some customers by invitation, and maintains referral partnerships with third-party lenders.
4The Relay Visa® Credit Card is issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc and may be used anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted.
Accounting integration quality
Relay integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero through direct bank feeds. The QuickBooks connection supports two-way bill pay integration: import bills from QuickBooks into Relay and payments sync back to update bill status. Xero integration works similarly.
Bluevine connects to QuickBooks Online. It does not offer a Xero integration, so if your bookkeeper works in Xero, transactions have to reach the ledger another way.
Which platform matches your business needs
Based on the comparison above, here's a quick guide to help you decide which platform aligns with your priorities.
Choose Relay if:
You use the Profit First methodology or similar systematic cash allocation
You want all 20 checking accounts included from the Starter plan, with no balance requirement to unlock them
You value operational cash flow visibility over interest earnings on checking
You need immediate access to 20 checking accounts without monthly fees or balance requirements
You prefer earning interest through dedicated savings accounts
Choose Bluevine if:
You need integrated lending access alongside banking services
You want to earn interest directly on checking balances
You can meet the plan requirements for the number of sub-accounts you need
Making your decision
Banking features mean nothing if they don't match how you actually run your business. The right platform supports your operational needs rather than requiring you to adapt to its structure.
Evaluate both platforms with your actual transaction patterns and bookkeeping workflow. Calculate interest potential against organizational value. If systematic cash flow visibility is what reduces your daily friction, opening a Relay account gives you the structure out of the box: up to 20 checking accounts with no monthly maintenance fees, automated percentage-based transfers on every deposit, and QuickBooks Online and Xero sync to keep your books clean.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bluevine being acquired?
Yes. Valley Bank's parent company, Valley National Bancorp, agreed to acquire Bluevine for $340 million in September 2026. The deal is expected to close in early 2027.
What happens to my Bluevine account?
Nothing changes right away. Bluevine's accounts, cards, and lending products continue to operate while the deal moves toward closing. Bluevine holds deposits through Coastal Community Bank today, and those are expected to move to Valley Bank in the first half of 2027.
Is Relay or Bluevine better for a small business?
It depends on what you need most. Relay is better if you want to separate money across real accounts for cash flow visibility and Profit First allocation. Bluevine is better if you want to earn interest on your checking balance and have a line of credit in the same place. Many owners choose Relay for daily cash management and keep a lending relationship elsewhere.
Does Relay or Bluevine have monthly fees?
Both have an entry tier with no monthly fee: Relay's Starter plan and Bluevine's Standard plan. Relay's paid tiers are Grow ($30/month) and Scale ($120/month). Bluevine's paid tiers are Plus ($30/month) and Premier ($95/month), both waivable if you maintain the required balance and card spend.
Which has better interest rates, Relay or Bluevine?
Relay's Scale-tier savings pays 3.21% APY and Bluevine Premier pays 3.0% APY, so Relay slightly leads at the top tier. The difference is structure, not the headline number. Bluevine pays interest on checking (Standard's 1.3% requires monthly card spend or deposits to earn); Relay pays interest in dedicated savings accounts with no activity trigger.
Can I use Relay or Bluevine for Profit First?
Both can, but Relay is the stronger fit. You get all 20 checking accounts on the Starter plan and transfers trigger on every deposit, so each allocation happens as the money lands. Bluevine includes 5 sub-accounts on its Standard plan and moves money on scheduled rules instead. Relay is also an official Profit First Professionals partner.
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