The best business bank account for a services agency, whether you run a digital marketing, creative or design shop or a consulting firm, depends on your operational style. Relay is a strong pick for agencies that budget across separate accounts, Bluevine for interest on operating cash, and Mercury for venture-backed or tech-forward shops.
Solo consultants usually start with Found or Novo. Cash- and check-heavy shops lean on Chase or Bank of America, and debit spenders who want points pick American Express Business Checking. Agencies with growing teams that need corporate cards, spend controls and bill pay on the same platform as checking should look at Rho.
Four factors decide it: how you separate client money, what you pay in monthly and per-user fees, how many people need cards and what controls they need, and whether your bank syncs natively with your accounting software. Branch access only matters if clients still pay in cash or by check.
If you landed here but don't run an agency, see the best business bank accounts overall.
Best business bank account for agencies, by agency need
Provider | Best for | Why it fits agencies |
|---|---|---|
American Express Business Checking | Points on everyday debit spend | No monthly fees and no minimum balance. Earns 1 Membership Rewards point per $2 on eligible Business Debit Card purchases. Connects to QuickBooks Online and Xero. |
Bank of America | Agencies that want a branch and merchant services | Business Advantage Fundamentals is $0 or $16 a month, waivable several ways. Merchant services, Zelle, remote deposit and a QuickBooks integration sit with the account. |
Bluevine | Interest on operating cash | Interest-bearing checking on every plan, from a $0 Standard plan up to $95 a month (waivable), with multiple sub-accounts for separating funds. |
Chase | Cash and check-heavy agencies | More than 5,000 branches and 14,000 ATMs, QuickAccept card payments with same-day deposits, and a $15 monthly fee on Business Complete Banking that can be waived. |
Found | Self-employed consultants who want built-in tax tools | The $0 plan includes real-time tax estimates, up to 20 Pockets, unlimited invoicing and 1099 e-filing. Serves sole proprietors as well as LLCs and corporations. |
Mercury | Venture-backed and tech-forward agencies | Free plan with $0 ACH and domestic wires, employee cards with limits and controls, and unlimited invoices and bill payments. Publishes a dedicated agencies and consultants solution. |
Novo | Solo operators who live in their integrations | $0 monthly fee and no minimum balance. Integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, Squarespace, Amazon and Fiverr. Reserves are budgeting buckets inside one account. |
Relay | Profit First and multi-account budgeting | Up to 20 checking accounts on the free and $30 plans (50 on Scale), Profit First allocation rules, unlimited users, and QuickBooks and Xero on every plan. |
Rho | Agencies with growing teams that need corporate cards, spend controls and bill pay on the same platform as checking | No monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees on checking, $0 domestic ACH and wires, and unlimited checking sub-accounts for client retainers and taxes, each with its own account number. Corporate cards carry no annual or per-card fee, and expense management and Bill Pay are free. |
Best bank account by agency type: consultants, marketing and creative agencies
Skip the full reviews if you already know what kind of shop you run.
Solo consultant, not incorporated: Found or Novo. Both serve independent businesses with no monthly fee, and Found adds tax estimates and 1099 filing.
Small retainer agency running Profit First: Relay. Allocation rules move each deposit into the right account automatically.
Growing team with media buyers and contractors: Rho or Mercury. Both issue employee cards with limits and controls and handle bill payments. Rho puts corporate cards, expense management and Bill Pay on the same platform as checking, with no per-card fee.
Want expense management built into your bank account: Rho includes free expense management alongside checking, corporate cards and Bill Pay, so team spend is tracked on the same platform as the account it comes from.
Venture-backed or tech agency: Mercury or Rho. Mercury positions itself for startups and scaling companies, and Rho pairs $0 domestic ACH and wires with corporate cards and Bill Pay on the same platform.
International clients: Mercury. It publishes free USD international wires and a 1% fee on non-USD wires.
Cash and check-heavy: Chase or Bank of America. Branch access and in-person deposits are the point.
Large idle balance between projects: Bluevine, which pays interest on checking.
How to choose a business bank account for an agency
Most business-banking advice is written for a retailer or a restaurant. An agency's problems look different, and the account that solves them looks different too. Which of these matters most comes down to how your agency runs day to day.
Separating client money. Retainers, pass-through ad spend and tax reserves all need a home that isn't your operating balance. Some providers give you real sub-accounts with their own account numbers; others give you labeled buckets inside a single account. If clients pay into specific accounts, you want the former. See how business bank accounts with sub-accounts work.
Keeping fees off your margin. Monthly plan fees and per-user charges come straight out of a services margin. Check what the free tier actually includes before you compare paid ones.
Team card issuance and spend controls. Agencies grow by adding people, not by adding inventory. A bank that charges per user for cards turns headcount growth into a recurring cost increase. One that doesn't just removes that friction.
Accounting and project-accounting integrations. A native two-way sync with your general ledger saves hours at month end compared with a bank feed you still have to categorize by hand.
What that means in practice: no single account wins all four. Here's where each one does.
The best business bank accounts for agencies and consulting firms, reviewed
American Express Business Checking: best for points on debit spend
Amex Business Checking has no monthly fees and no minimum balance. It earns 1 Membership Rewards point for every $2 of eligible Business Debit Card purchases, with no earning limit.
It connects to QuickBooks Online and Xero and handles Zelle, ACH, same-day ACH and wires. It fits an agency that runs most spend through one debit card.
Bank of America: best for branch access and merchant services
Business Advantage Fundamentals costs $0 or $16 a month. The fee is waived with a $5,000 combined average monthly balance, $500 in debit purchases, or Preferred Rewards for Business.
Merchant services, Zelle, remote deposit and a QuickBooks integration come with it. Agencies that take card payments in person or deposit checks often like having it all at one bank.
Bluevine: best for interest on operating cash
Bluevine offers three checking plans: Standard at $0, Plus at $30 a month and Premier at $95 a month, with the paid fees waivable. Every plan pays interest, at a rate that depends on the plan and your account activity.
Multiple sub-accounts let you separate funds. It suits an agency that carries a meaningful balance between client payments.
Chase: best for cash and check-heavy agencies
Chase Business Complete Banking is $15 a month, waivable five ways, including a $2,000 minimum daily ending balance. Chase lists more than 14,000 ATMs and 5,000 branches.
QuickAccept takes card payments with same-day deposits, and Business Complete includes $5,000 of in-branch cash deposits per statement cycle. It earns its place when clients still pay by check or cash.
Found: best for self-employed consultants who want tax tools built in
Found's $0 plan includes team cards with spending controls, up to 20 sub-accounts it calls Pockets, real-time tax estimates, unlimited invoicing and 1099 e-filing. Plus is $35 a month and Pro is $80 a month.
Found serves sole proprietorships as well as LLCs and corporations, which matters if you haven't incorporated yet.
Mercury: best for venture-backed and tech-forward agencies
Mercury has a free plan with paid tiers above it. ACH and domestic wires are $0 on every plan, USD international wires are free, and non-USD wires carry a 1% FX fee.
Employee cards come with limits and controls, and invoices and bill payments are unlimited. Mercury publishes a dedicated solution for agencies, consultants and firms, and positions itself for startups and scaling companies.
Novo: best for solo operators who live in their integrations
Novo charges no monthly fee and requires no minimum balance. It integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, Squarespace, Amazon and Fiverr, among others.
Its Reserves are budgeting buckets inside one checking account that share the parent account number, rather than separate accounts. That works for setting money aside; it is less useful if clients need to pay into distinct accounts.
Relay: best for Profit First and multi-account budgeting
Relay's Starter plan is $0, with paid plans from $30 a month. You get up to 20 checking accounts on Starter and Grow and 50 on Scale, with unlimited users on every plan.
Profit First allocation rules are built in, and QuickBooks and Xero integrations come on all plans. Grow adds spend approval requests and multi-step approval rules.
Rho: best for growing agency teams that want cards, spend controls and bill pay with checking
Rho is a banking platform with no monthly, per-user or minimum-balance fees on business checking, and $0 domestic ACH and wires. That stays true whether your agency is 3 people or 30.
Corporate cards carry no annual, subscription or per-card fee, with card controls for team and vendor cards. Expense management is free, with no user or platform fees.
Bill Pay is free and pays vendors and contractors by ACH, domestic and international wire, check or single-use card. Invoicing is free; when a client pays by card, the 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee is absorbed by your business, not the client.
Agencies that track money by client can add checking sub-accounts on Rho, each with its own account number, with no limit on how many.
Sub-accounts can receive incoming payments and share the primary routing number, so a client retainer can land in its own account.
Rho syncs natively with NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct and Puzzle. It serves incorporated US businesses, and the application takes less than 10 minutes.
If your agency is hiring and you don't want banking costs to grow with headcount, open a Rho business banking account. Rho brings checking, sub-accounts, corporate cards and Bill Pay together on one platform, with no monthly or per-user fees on checking. Rho serves incorporated US businesses, and the application takes less than 10 minutes.
FAQs
It comes down to how the agency moves money. Agencies running Profit First across many accounts tend to pick Relay, and those holding cash between projects look at Bluevine for interest on checking. Startup-style and venture-backed agencies often use Mercury. One-person consultancies lean toward Found or Novo, shops that still take cash and checks stay with Chase or Bank of America, and Rho fits growing teams that need corporate cards, spend controls and bill pay on the same platform as checking, with unlimited checking sub-accounts for client retainers.
Not in the sense of a chartered bank that serves only agencies. Several providers publish agency-focused features, though: multiple accounts for client retainers and taxes, team cards with controls, and accounting sync. Pick the one that matches the problem costing you the most time today.
For a marketing or creative agency juggling multiple clients, use sub-accounts. Relay offers up to 20 checking accounts on its free and $30 plans, and Rho offers unlimited checking sub-accounts, each with its own account number, that can receive incoming payments. Novo's Reserves are budgeting buckets inside one account, and Found offers up to 20 Pockets for setting money aside.
For a one-person consultancy, Found or Novo are common picks because both serve independent businesses with no monthly fee. Once you incorporate and hire, the priorities shift to team cards, spend controls and accounting sync, which is where Mercury, Relay and Rho come in. Rho opens accounts for incorporated US businesses, so it becomes an option once you've formed your company and start hiring.
A single debit card works for a solo operator. Once media buyers, producers or contractors are spending on the agency's behalf, corporate cards with individual limits and controls keep spend visible and separate from the operating balance. Rho's corporate cards carry no annual or per-card fee and require no personal guarantee.