This is version 1.0 of the business bank accounts model, and it's published: these weights are final. The table below is generated from the model itself, so its weights are always the ones we use.
We score what a restaurant feels in its account every month:
- Cost for your restaurant. What a restaurant that deposits some cash and makes a normal number of transactions pays in a year: the monthly fee, cash fees on the cheapest channel whose published limits take that cash, fees for transactions beyond the included ones and one-time fees. A waiver counts only when the scenario meets it, and a fee that isn't published counts as missing, never as zero. An account that can't take the scenario's cash has no total and scores zero on cost.
- How easy the fee is to avoid. No fee, a balance or activity waiver, or only a relationship with another product.
- Cash. Where you can deposit cash and whether the bank caps it.
- Requirements. Whether the bank publishes a way for an owner with an ITIN and no SSN, and whether you can open the account online.
- Day to day and closing. Accounting integrations, mobile check deposit, the outgoing wire fee and the fee to close the account.
The bank that holds the money and its FDIC coverage are shown but not scored: deposits at a bank and at a fintech's partner bank are both insured up to the same limits. Interest, opening bonuses, third-party ratings and complaint counts never enter the score.
In the Spanish edition of this site, the Spanish-language criteria count too: support, business pages and the app or online banking in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score.
Nothing a bank pays us, or could pay us, changes its score. This is a factual comparison, not financial advice.
Criteria and weights
Spanish-language criteria count only in the Spanish edition
These criteria count only in the Spanish edition of this site: support in Spanish, business pages in Spanish, and app or online banking in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score, and the weights in the table add up to 100% without them. So an account can have a different RTC Score in each edition.
| Criterion | Pillar | Weight | What we measure | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month cost (reference restaurant) | Cost | 32% | 12-month account cost | 12-month cost of the reference restaurant: full score at $0, zero at $600; an account that can't take its cash scores zero |
| Where you can deposit cash | Cash deposits | 10% | Where you deposit cash | By option: Bank branch → 5/10; The bank's own ATMs → 3/10; Partner ATM network (e.g. Allpoint+) → 3/10; Retail stores (e.g. Green Dot) → 2/10 |
| Cash deposit limit | Cash deposits | 10% | Cash deposit limit | By option: No published monthly cap → 10/10; Published cap → 4/10; Has limits it doesn't publish → 2/10; Doesn't take cash → 0/10 |
| Owner with an ITIN and no SSN | Requirements to open | 10% | Owner with an ITIN and no SSN | By option: The bank publishes that it accepts an ITIN → 10/10; Not published for business checking → 4/10; The bank publishes that an SSN is required → 0/10 |
| Fee to close the account | Account agreement and closing | 10% | Fee to close the account | Linear: full score at $0, zero at $50 |
| How easy the monthly fee is to avoid | Cost | 8% | How to avoid the monthly fee | By option: No monthly fee → 10/10; Balance or account activity → 7/10; Keep a minimum or average balance → 6/10; Only with another product or relationship → 3/10; Can't be waived → 0/10 |
| Accounting software it connects to | Day to day | 6% | Accounting software it connects to | By option: QuickBooks → 5/10; Xero → 2.5/10; Wave → 1/10; NetSuite → 1/10; FreshBooks → 0.5/10 |
| Open online | Requirements to open | 5% | Open online | By option: Online → 10/10; Online for some businesses → 7/10; At a branch → 4/10 |
| Outgoing domestic wire fee | Day to day | 5% | Outgoing domestic wire | Linear: full score at $0, zero at $35 |
| Mobile check deposit | Day to day | 4% | Mobile check deposit | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
The formula
Each criterion gives a partial score from 0 to 1. The RTC Score is 10 × the weighted average of the criteria we could verify, reduced when data is missing: × (1 − 0.5 × (1 − completeness)). Completeness is the share of the total weight we could verify.
Below 60% completeness, an account is marked as not having enough data and isn't ranked. That check always uses the base weights, so a ranking by type of business never includes an account the overall ranking leaves out. A fee the bank doesn't publish counts as missing: it lowers completeness, and with too little data the account isn't ranked.
Reference profile for cost
Reference: $6,000 cash a month in 12 deposits, 60 transactions, 12 months: $6,000 in cash a month in 12 deposits, 60 transactions a month and a $0 balance kept all month, over 12 months.
Assumptions behind the cost criteria
- The cost adds the monthly fee of the cheapest checking tier that takes the reference restaurant's cash, the cash fees of the cheapest deposit channel whose published limits take it, the fees for transactions beyond the included ones and one-time fees.
- A waiver of the monthly fee counts only when the scenario meets it (the balance kept all month or debit card spend). Waivers tied to another product or a relationship with the bank, and free first months for new accounts, are not counted.
- Cash deposits are equal amounts spread over the month, at most one a day. An account that can't take the scenario's cash has no total and scores 0 on cost; one whose limits aren't public stays missing.
- A fee the bank doesn't publish never counts as $0: the estimate stays incomplete and the cost criterion counts as missing.
- Interest on the balance, opening bonuses and promotions are never taken off the cost and never count in the score. The opening deposit is your money, not a cost.
- This is a factual comparison of published fees and requirements, not financial advice. Each bank decides who can open an account.
Weights by type of business
Rankings by type of business multiply some weights. The overall ranking always uses the base weights.
| Type of business | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Lots of cash | Where you can deposit cash ×2 · Cash deposit limit ×2 · 12-month cost (reference restaurant) ×1.25 |
| Food trucks and small teams | How easy the monthly fee is to avoid ×1.5 · Open online ×1.5 · Mobile check deposit ×1.5 |
What never affects a score
Commissions, affiliate deals, sponsorships and price requests. The scoring engine has no access to them, and every vendor gets the same rubric.
Changelog
v1.0.0 ·
Published version. The weights of the 0.1.0 draft are now final, so no score changes with this version. This section is no longer a draft.
v0.1.0 ·
First draft: cost for the reference restaurant, cash deposits, owner requirements, day-to-day features and the closing fee, with Spanish-language criteria in the Spanish edition only.