Novo Business Checking
No monthly fee + invoicing/integrations; online-only; no cash deposits; 0% APY
Meow Business Banking
Treasury + high coverage + free wires for startups/funds; not a cash or branch bank
Costs & Fees
| Metric | Novo Business Checking | Meow Business Banking |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly maintenance | $0 unconditional | Marketed $0. CRB published fee schedule: no fees currently imposed (reserves right to add with notice). |
| Fee waiver | N/A — already $0 | N/A — no published maintenance fee to waive |
| Transaction fees | No excess-item fees on schedule. Operational limits on ACH, RDC, mailed checks, ATM, POS (raisable in-app). | No published excess-item grid. Marketed unlimited free wires/ACH/checks. ToS: discretionary daily/weekly/monthly payment limits. |
| Overdraft/NSF | $0 Insufficient Funds; $0 Uncollected Funds Returned. No overdraft protection product. | CRB DAA contemplates NSF/overdraft per fee schedule; current schedule lists no fees imposed. Amounts not disclosed. |
| ATM fees | Novo ATM fee $0. Third-party operator surcharge rebate max $7/customer/month. No branded free network disclosed. | Not disclosed — no ATM network advertised |
| Wire/ACH | 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. | Incoming/outgoing domestic wires marketed $0. Incoming/outgoing international wire bank fee marketed $0 (FX separate via Airwallex 0.16%–1.00% margin). ACH marketed $0. |
Interest & Yields
| Metric | Novo Business Checking | Meow Business Banking |
|---|---|---|
| Checking APY | 0% — non-interest-bearing (fee schedule Annual Percentage Yield 0%) | |
| Savings APY | N/A — Reserves earn 0%; same deposit account | |
| FDIC coverage | FDIC pass-through at Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A. — $250,000 per depositor per ownership category | Standard FDIC $250,000 SMDIA per depositor per ownership category at partner bank |
Features & Access
| Metric | Novo Business Checking | Meow Business Banking |
|---|---|---|
| Branch/ATM network | No branches. Any ATM for withdrawal only — $7/month rebate cap. No ATM cash deposit. | None. Partner banks not offered as walk-in network. No ATM network or cash rails. |
| Mobile app | iOS ~4.8; Android ~4.5–4.6 (secondary 2026 aggregators) | No first-party mobile app by design (blog May 2026). Web dashboard + API + MCP. |
| Virtual cards | Virtual debit included. Fine-grained merchant locks not documented. | Included — unlimited virtual/physical, merchant lock, category limits, API |
| Opening deposit | $0 ($1,000 recommended) | $0 marketed for core checking |
| Eligibility | U.S. sole prop (incl. DBA), LLC, corp, partnership, 501(c)(3). Trusts not offered. One checking login per EIN. | Business entities; commercial use only; no consumers. Startups, funds, real estate, crypto-native marketed. Nonprofit/SPV not enumerated. |
Pros & Cons
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
Meow Business Banking
Pros
- Marketed $0 monthly, domestic/international wires, ACH, and checks (CRB schedule currently $0)
- IntraFi sweep advertised up to $125M–$200M at partner banks
- Treasury stack: T-bills at 1 bp/month marketing; Commercial Paper 3.56%–3.80% net (09/02/2026)
- Multi-entity dashboard, payment approvals, public API + MCP, USDC/USDT rails
- Virtual/physical cards with controls; 2.5% rewards on Anthropic/OpenAI spend
Cons
- Meow is not a bank; partner banks have rotated (FirstBank/OMB/Third Coast/CRB/Grasshopper)
- Checking APY tiered and partner-specific (Grasshopper 0.50%/3.02%); CRB may be 0% + rewards; not CP headline rate
- No cash, no branches, no official mobile app
- No complete public fee PDF; insurance max and eligibility language conflict across pages
- Thin reviews (Trustpilot 3.6/16); closures and holds in complaint set
Verdict
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.
Meow Business Banking
Meow Technologies is a fintech with checking at Cross River and Grasshopper. Marketed $0 monthly/wires/ACH/checks; CRB schedule currently $0 but incomplete public fee book. Grasshopper checking APY 0.50% to $100k and 3.02% above — not Commercial Paper 3.56–3.80%. IntraFi up to $125M–$200M advertised. No cash, no mobile app. API, stablecoins, and treasury are differentiators; partner rotation and disclosure gaps require diligence.