Where Stripe, Shopify, Mercury, Novo and Relay actually leave your money - when a payout lands, what the account charges to move it, and what gets held back.
Worked through in What Should an Online Seller Look for in a Business Account?, Alternatives to a Traditional Bank for an Online Store and Mercury vs Relay for an E-commerce Business.
The essentials
Are online-only business banks safe for keeping my company's money?
Read the guide ExplainerWhat should I look for when choosing a business bank account?
Read the explainer ShortlistWhat's the best business bank account for an online store with lots of small transactions?
Read it How-toHow do I open a business bank account for my LLC?
Follow the steps ShortlistWhich business bank accounts integrate well with bookkeeping software?
Read it Head to headWhich business bank accounts integrate well with bookkeeping software?
Read itReasoning on the page, never a score attached.
Where a seller’s money goes, item by item: payouts, fees, accounts side by side, deposit insurance, selling abroad, and choosing between a bank and an online account.
What an online seller should look for in an account: payout integrations, transaction limits, and sub-accounts for tax and inventory.
What Should an Online Seller Look for in a Business Account?
Monthly tiers, conversion fees and the conditions on fee waivers, for stores that move a lot of small payments.
Best Accounts for High Volumes of Small Transactions · Best Business Bank Accounts for Online Sellers
Business accounts aimed at online sellers, set against each other on the terms each one publishes.
Mercury vs Relay · Bluevine vs Novo · Chase vs Bluevine · Relay Business Banking Review
How deposit insurance applies when the account is opened through a fintech rather than a bank.
Multi-currency holding and international payouts, Wise Business against Mercury.
What a store gives up and gets back by banking online, the setup for a solo store, and opening the account.
Alternatives to a Traditional Bank for an Online Store · Best Banking Setup for a Solo Online Store · How to Open a Business Account for an Online Store
Worked through in Best Business Bank Accounts for Online Sellers, Best Accounts for High Volumes of Small Transactions and Best Business Accounts That Sync With Your Bookkeeping.
Choosing an account in the same three moves the device makes.
Work out which leg of the money is the actual problem - the payout landing, the fee, or the reserve held back.
Check that leg against the provider’s own terms. Most surprises are published somewhere; they are just published quietly.
Choose on the leg that costs you most, not on the account with the loudest landing page.
To work out which leg is the problem, start with What Should an Online Seller Look for in a Business Account? Sitemap
Asked and answered
The full list