Choosing a business bank account is the second-most-postponed task on every freelancer's list, right after invoicing. The difference between a good account and a bad one is roughly 30 minutes a month and a few hundred dollars a year. Worth doing once.
What freelancers actually need from a business account
Before comparing options, write down what you will actually use. For most solo operators it comes down to four things:
- A debit card that works internationally without surprise fees.
- Free or near-free incoming bank transfers (ACH, SEPA, Faster Payments).
- Clean exports to whatever bookkeeping tool you use.
- Multi-currency holding if any of your clients pay you outside your home currency.
The contenders
The three categories worth your attention:
- Pure fintechs — Mercury (US), Wise Business (global), Revolut Business (EU/UK). Fast onboarding, great UX, often free at low volume.
- Hybrid challengers — Novo, Found, Relay. US-focused, decent integrations, modest fees.
- Traditional banks with online accounts — Chase Business, BofA. Worth it only if you also need physical branches or business credit cards with serious rewards.
Multi-currency: who really needs it
If less than 20% of your revenue comes from outside your home currency, do not over-engineer this. A standard account plus occasional wire transfers will cost you less than the time you spend optimizing.
If more than 20% of revenue is foreign, multi-currency is not a luxury. Wise Business is the default answer for most freelancers because it gives you local account details in 9+ currencies, so EU clients pay you a "European" account number and US clients pay you a "US" account number — both of which deposit into the same dashboard.
Red flags to avoid
If the account requires a phone call to close, do not open it. If the fee schedule has more than two pages, do not open it. If "minimum balance" appears anywhere on the homepage, do not open it.
The single best test: how easy is it to export 12 months of transactions as a CSV? If you cannot do it in under three clicks, your bookkeeper will hate you and you will hate your bookkeeper. Test this before you move money in.
