Costs & Fees

Metric	American Express Business Checking	Novo Business Checking
Monthly maintenance	$0 — unconditional	$0 unconditional
Fee waiver	N/A — no monthly fee to waive	N/A — already $0
Transaction fees	No excess-item fees; effectively unlimited electronic and paper items (operational limits may apply unpublished)	No excess-item fees on schedule. Operational limits on ACH, RDC, mailed checks, ATM, POS (raisable in-app).
Overdraft/NSF	$0 NSF/stop pay/returns; overdrafting not a product — items exceeding balance generally refused	$0 Insufficient Funds; $0 Uncollected Funds Returned. No overdraft protection product.
ATM fees	Allpoint + MoneyPass in-network $0 Amex fee; out-of-network owner surcharge (no rebate). Daily ATM cash limit $1,000.	Novo ATM fee $0. Third-party operator surcharge rebate max $7/customer/month. No branded free network disclosed.
Wire/ACH	Incoming domestic wire $0. Outgoing domestic wire $25. Standard ACH $0. Same-day ACH $10 (cutoff 2:45 PM ET). Outgoing international wires not offered.	Incoming domestic: $0. Outgoing domestic: up to $45 (online only, eligibility-gated). Incoming intl: $0 Novo-side. Outgoing intl: via Wise (Wise fees apply). Standard ACH in/out: $0.

Interest & Yields

Metric	American Express Business Checking	Novo Business Checking
Checking APY	1.30% APY on first $500,000 per account (variable; no activity gate)	0% — non-interest-bearing (fee schedule Annual Percentage Yield 0%)
Savings APY	N/A — single checking product	N/A — Reserves earn 0%; same deposit account
FDIC coverage	Standard FDIC $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category at AENB (accounts aggregate)	FDIC pass-through at Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A. — $250,000 per depositor per ownership category

Features & Access

Metric	American Express Business Checking	Novo Business Checking
Branch/ATM network	No branches. 70,000+ Allpoint + MoneyPass ATMs for withdrawals only (no cash deposits).	No branches. Any ATM for withdrawal only — $7/month rebate cap. No ATM cash deposit.
Mobile app	Business Blueprint ~4.5/5 Google Play (~1.6k reviews); Amex app ~4.8–4.9 iOS cited	iOS ~4.8; Android ~4.5–4.6 (secondary 2026 aggregators)
Virtual cards	Not marketed for business debit product	Virtual debit included. Fine-grained merchant locks not documented.
Opening deposit	$0	$0 ($1,000 recommended)
Eligibility	Corporation, LLC, partnership, unincorporated association, sole prop. 25%+ owners must be U.S./territory residents with SSN/ITIN.	U.S. sole prop (incl. DBA), LLC, corp, partnership, 501(c)(3). Trusts not offered. One checking login per EIN.

Pros & Cons

American Express Business Checking

Pros

• $0 monthly fee, $0 opening deposit, $0 excess-item fee unconditionally
• 1.30% APY on first $500,000 per account with no balance or activity gate
• Membership Rewards on debit spend plus Redeem-for-Deposits into checking
• 24/7 specialist support — differentiator vs most online business banks
• 70,000+ Allpoint/MoneyPass ATM withdrawals at $0 Amex fee; up to 10 accounts at $0 extra

Cons

• Cash deposits not supported at all — need another bank for cash businesses
• No outgoing international wires; USD Fedwire domestic/territories only
• APY stops at $500k/account; FDIC remains $250k with no ICS/sweep
• Thin card/user toolkit vs Relay/Bluevine-style employee and virtual cards
• Beneficial owners must be U.S./territory residents with SSN/ITIN — blocks international founders

Novo Business Checking

Pros

• $0 monthly, $0 minimum, $0 NSF/stop-pay/statement/card replace (Feb 2026 schedule)
• Free standard ACH both ways; $0 inbound domestic and foreign wires
• Invoices + up to 20 Reserves in one account
• Stripe/Shopify/Square/QuickBooks/Xero connectors (40+ integrations)
• Virtual + physical debit; $7/month ATM rebate; fast U.S. online open including nonprofits

Cons

• No cash deposits at all
• 0% APY; Reserves earn nothing
• Advertised FDIC $250,000 only — no marketed multi-million sweep
• Outbound wires up to $45 and eligibility-gated; FX via Wise only
• Weekday support; added users get full owner access; freeze/hold complaints recur

Verdict

American Express Business Checking

American Express Business Checking is a single-tier online account issued directly by American Express National Bank — not a fintech wrapper. As of September 2026: $0 monthly fee, 1.30% APY on the first $500,000 per account (up to 10 accounts), standard FDIC $250k with no sweep. Strengths are unconditional $0 fees, decent APY without activity gates, MR on debit spend, QuickBooks, Zelle, and 24/7 support. Weaknesses are no cash deposits, no outgoing international wires, APY/FDIC gap above $250k, and limited multi-user debit tooling. Best for digital firms already in the Amex ecosystem; pair with a branch bank if the business handles cash.

Novo Business Checking

Novo Business Checking is a single-tier online account from fintech Novo Platform Inc. with deposits at Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A. (FDIC Cert. 28368). Feb 26, 2026 fee schedule: $0 monthly, $0 NSF, $0 standard ACH, $0 inbound wires, 0% APY. Costs appear on Express ACH (1.5%), Express Check Deposit (up to 2%), outbound wires (up to $45 when enabled), and ATM surcharges above $7/month rebate. Up to 20 Reserves inside same 0% account. Strong ecommerce integrations. No cash, no branches, $250k FDIC advertised. Fits indie digital businesses; weak for cash, treasury, international founders, and teams needing permission controls.