North One Connected Bank Account Business Checking Review
- Fee
- From $0 per month
- APY
- N/A
- Minimum deposit to open
- $50
Our verdict
Offers a free plan and a ton of management tools, but no international wires.
North One, or NorthOne Inc., is a fintech with banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. The Connected Bank Account is a digital business checking account, best suited for small businesses, freelancers or startups. There are two plans: Standard for $0 and Plus for $20 per month, both requiring a $50 opening deposit. The paid plan offers savings on services such as same-day ACH payments, digital bill payments, outgoing domestic wires and cash deposits, but the free plan is also well worth considering. Both plans include features like bookkeeping and accounting tools, various software integrations, the ability to search or filter for specific transactions, envelope budgeting, savings goals, cash deposits, paper checks and more. But North One doesn't offer savings with APY, and it doesn’t support international wires or SWIFT payments so it’s best for businesses that operate solely in the US.
Best for: US-based small businesses or freelancers.
Pros
-
$0 monthly fees with the Standard plan
-
Unlimited transactions, budgeting and checks
-
Supports over 20 software integrations
-
Accepts cash deposits
-
Debit cards for all co-owners
Cons
-
No international wires
-
No APY
-
No physical branches
Who is North One best for?
As a digital checking account, the North One Connected Bank Account is well-suited for online businesses, freelancers or small business owners. It can also accept cash deposits at Green Dot locations, which isn’t always a given with digital accounts. But since it can’t accept or send international wires, it’s best suited for businesses that are entirely US-based.
North One is an online banking option, so if you prefer in-person support and physical branches, you may want to look elsewhere.
North One plans and cost
There are two North One plans to choose from, and one has no monthly fee.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Features |
|---|---|---|
| North One Standard | $0 |
|
| North One Plus | $20 | Everything with Standard, plus:
|
What we like about North One Connected Bank Account
Not having to pay monthly fees is always a plus — North One’s Standard plan doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees and has no balance requirements. However, the extra perks of the paid Plus plan might be worth the price. If you spend more than $20 on outgoing wires, same-day ACH transfers, bill payments and writing checks, then Plus monthly fee might pay for itself.
The North One Mastercard Small Business Debit Card also offers rebates for both Standard and Plus customers, through Mastercard. At select merchants, you can earn cash back at gas stations, hotels or restaurants. The rebate varies from 1% to 4%, depending on the purchase.
Cards for co-owners and ATM access
If you have a co-owner or multiple co-owners, each can get their own login and a North One Mastercard Small Business Debit Card. North One also offers physical and virtual debit cards, and each co-owner can track and view transactions and see who performed each transaction.
You can withdraw cash from ATMs in the Mastercard, Maestro or Cirrus ATM network, and you’ll get two free withdrawals with the Standard plan and six free withdrawals with Plus. North One doesn’t charge out-of-network ATM fees, either. You might incur ATM owner fees, but North One offers limited ATM reimbursements for both of its plan options.
Paper checks
Sending paper checks isn’t a standard feature with digital accounts, but North One will send a pre-funded paper check on your behalf. With the Standard plan, this costs $1 per check, while the Plus plan lets you send checks for free.
North One states they send checks via the US Postal Service mail and only within the 50 states, which will take around three to nine days for delivery.
Envelope budgeting
A standout feature we love to see is envelope budgeting. With North One, you can create Envelopes, which are subaccounts of your main account.
You can choose to separate incoming profits into different categories, such as profit, pay, taxes and expenses. How much goes into each envelope is up to you, such as 5% into a tax envelope, 10% into owner’s pay and 15% toward expenses.
Various software integrations and real-time sync
North One supports well over 20 integrations with popular accounting, financial management, payroll and invoicing software. Just a few standout integrations include:
- ADP
- Airbnb
- Amazon Pay
- BambooHR
- Etsy
- Expensify
- Google Sheets
- Gusto
- Jobber
- PayPal
- QuickBooks
- Quicken
- Revolut
- Slack
- Square
- Stripe
- Venmo
- Wealthfront
- Wave Accounting
Where it falls short
North One’s biggest downside is the inability to perform international wires or SWIFT transactions. If you often pay merchants or do a lot of currency conversions, North One may not be the most cost-effective business account for you. And if someone sends you an international wire, North One states the wire will be rejected.
If you’re a global business, we recommend checking out Revolut, which offers multiple plan options for all business sizes, monthly allotments for free currency conversions, multicurrency accounts, global virtual cards and more.
North One fees and access
| Type of fee | Fee details |
|---|---|
| Monthly service |
|
| Opening deposit | $50 |
| ATMs |
|
| Debit card fees |
|
| Overdraft or nonsufficient funds | $0 |
| Wire transfers | Domestic
|
| Other fees |
|
Compare North One to other business checking accounts
Narrow down top business checking accounts by monthly fees, deposits and APYs. For a closer comparison, tick the Compare box on up to four accounts to see benefits side by side.
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 300 checking accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, overdraft fees, opening deposit, customer support options, ATM network and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.
Customer reviews and ratings
North One, or NorthOne Inc., holds the highest Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+ and has received fewer than 100 customer complaints in the last few years. Most fintechs have hundreds or thousands of complaints. The BBB complaints are pretty typical, often expressing issues accessing their funds due to their account being frozen or fraudulent transaction refunds not being delivered. However, North One responds to these complaints and works to resolve issues.
Most of the threads about North One on Reddit are four to five years old, and reference it as NorthOne and a digital account that requires an offer code, and a $10 monthly fee. Past customers had mixed reviews, with a few saying they used North One in the beta phase with no issues. Others talked about frozen accounts. Besides those old threads, there’s not a lot of North One chatter, and we’ll take that as good news.
North One also has a stellar 4.3-star customer rating on Trustpilot — practically unheard of for digital banking options. Most of the reviews are positive, with happy customers citing great and helpful customer service, a seamless experience switching to North One and overall saying it’s a great platform for their business.
Business checking account ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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