Is Bluevine Safe and Legit?
Bluevine provides banking products for small business owners in the digital age. But is it safe and legit? Read on to find out.
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Bluevine is a fintech company that provides banking services for small businesses. They offer checking accounts, bill pay solutions, lending, and more - all in one easy-to-use platform.
But is Bluevine safe and legit?
In this detailed guide to the popular digital banking platform, we'll tell you everything you need to know to decide for yourself.
Is Bluevine Secure?
Although Bluevine isn't technically a bank, all Bluevine deposits are FDIC-insured up to $3 million per depositor, thanks to their partnership with Coastal Community Bank[1] and a trusted network of program banks.
Bill pay and credit card funds are held by Silicon Valley Bank, also a member of the FDIC.[2] Their Flex Line of Credit is offered in partnership with Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank.
Bluevine also keeps your account safe with data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and the ability to freeze any card that gets lost.[3]
Bluevine has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.[4]
Free Business Checking - Earn $300 Bonus
To earn the $300 bonus, customers must apply for a Bluevine Business Checking account anytime between now and 12/31/2024 using the referral code CD300.
After opening the account, customers must add funds within 30 days, then meet at least one of the following eligibility requirements every 30 days for the next 90 days from account funding:
- Deposit at least $5,000 from eligible merchant services to your Bluevine account OR
- Make at least $5,000 of outbound payroll payments from your Bluevine account using eligible payroll providers OR
- Spend at least $2,000 with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® and/or Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard®
Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC
How Does Bluevine Work?
As mentioned above, Bluevine isn't a bank, though it works with multiple banks to provide many of its services.
Bluevine is actually a fintech company, sometimes referred to as a neobank, that provides banking services as an alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar banks.
Designed with small business owners and freelancers in mind, Bluevine offers a range of useful services, including:
- An interest-bearing business checking account, with no monthly fees and subaccounts
- A business line of credit with short approval times
- A bill pay feature that allows you to pay your bills via check, ACH bank transfer, or credit card
- A Plus and Premier-tier business checking accounts that earn even higher interest
Bluevine was founded in 2013 by Eyal Lifshitz and Nir Klar, and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. They have offices around the world, including in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jersey City, New Jersey, New Orleans, Louisiana, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bar-Lev Israel.
Bluevine Features
Now that we've covered Bluevine in broad strokes, let's take a deeper look at the main features they offer: their business checking account, business lending, and bill pay feature.
Bluevine Business Checking
Bluevine's main offering is a business checking account. Like many of its competitors, it charges no monthly fees and has no minimum balance requirements.
Users also get unlimited transactions - deposits and payments - at no extra cost.
But where the Bluevine free business checking account really stands out is the generous interest it pays, which you can qualify for in two ways:[5]
- Spend at least $500 with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard per month (in-store, online, as well as through digital payment platforms), OR
- Receive $2,500 or more in payments from customers to your Bluevine Business Checking account (via ACH bank transfer, wire transfer, mobile check deposit, or your merchant payment processor)
The Bluevine Business Checking account comes with a Bluevine business debit card, provided in partnership with Mastercard. You can issue up to 4 additional debit cards for your team and easily track your team's expenditures on your Bluevine dashboard.
You can also create up to five subaccounts for easy budgeting, with unlimited transactions, instant internal transfers, and the same high interest rate as the primary account.
Users can also integrate their account with QuickBooks Online to save time on bookkeeping.
By upgrading to the Plus tier business checking account with a monthly fee, you'll enjoy higher interest earnings on your balances and a 20% reduction in most Standard payment fees. Plus plan customers can earn 3% APY with no minimum qualifications required.
Bluevine also offers a Premier tier business checking account that comes with a monthly fee. Premier customers get the higher 4.00% APY without minimum qualifications. This upgrade will also give you a 50% reduction in most payment fees, and access to priority support.
Free Business Checking - Earn $300 Bonus
To earn the $300 bonus, customers must apply for a Bluevine Business Checking account anytime between now and 12/31/2024 using the referral code CD300.
After opening the account, customers must add funds within 30 days, then meet at least one of the following eligibility requirements every 30 days for the next 90 days from account funding:
- Deposit at least $5,000 from eligible merchant services to your Bluevine account OR
- Make at least $5,000 of outbound payroll payments from your Bluevine account using eligible payroll providers OR
- Spend at least $2,000 with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® and/or Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard®
Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC
Premier Business Checking - Up to 4.0% APY
- 4.0% APY on balances up to $3,000,000
- $0 minimum opening deposit
- 50% off most Standard payment fees
- Priority customer support
- Waive the $95 monthly service fee with $100k average daily balance and $5k debit card spend
Plus Business Checking - Up to 3.0% APY
- 3.0% APY on balances up to $250,000
- $0 minimum opening deposit
- 20% off most Standard payment fees
- Waive the $30 monthly service fee with $20k average daily balance and $2k debit card spend
Bluevine Business Loans
With the Bluevine line of credit, you can get approved for credit lines up to $250,000 at fairly low interest rates. Applying takes just a few minutes.
You can borrow as much as you need, and only pay for as much as you use. Since it's a revolving credit line, it will replenish along with your repayments.
How do you know if you qualify? Here's what you need:
- FICO score over 600
- 24+ months in business
- At least $40,000 in monthly revenue
- Operating or incorporated in an eligible U.S. state
Provide your personal and business details and year-to-date bank statements or a bank connection to apply.
There are no prepayment penalties or monthly fees.
Bluevine Bill Pay
Bluevine Bill Pay makes it easy to pay your bills on time.
Schedule automatic payments through the Bluevine dashboard, sync with QuickBooks, and add payees manually or choose from a list of over 40,000 registered payees.
You can make payments directly from your Bluevine Business Account or by credit card, and decide whether your payee receives their money via ACH bank transfer, check, or wire transfer.
Depending on the payment method, payments can take anywhere from 1 - 7 business days to be delivered.[6]
Bluevine Payments is automatically integrated with your Bluevine Business Checking account.
What Does Bluevine Charge?
The Bluevine Business Checking account has refreshingly few fees. Here's what you can expect:[7]
- No monthly fee for Standard tier account
- Free unlimited transactions
- Two free checkbooks per year
- No minimum balance
- No required deposit to open
- No fees for incoming or outgoing ACH bank transfers
- No fees for check deposits
- No fees for incoming wire transfers
- Plus tier cost $30 per month (can be waived with $20k average daily balance and $2k debit card spend)
- Premier tier cost $95 per month (can be waived with $100k average daily balance and $5k debit card spend)
You will have to pay a $15.00 outgoing wire transfer fee ($12 for Plus; $7.50 for Premier), which is standard for the industry. Cash deposits will incur a fee of $4.95 at Green Dot locations or $1 plus 0.5% of deposit amount at Allpoint+ ATMs.
While you can access all of Bluevine's in-network ATMs free of charge, there is a $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee.
If you need a replacement debit card, there is a $30.00 fee that gets you express shipping in 1-2 days.
Bottom Line
Bluevine is a safe and legit business banking option for small business owners, freelancers, and startup founders. It provides services comparable to many of its competitors, with no monthly fees.
The main feature to recommend Bluevine is the interest it offers on its Business Checking Account, which is significantly higher than the national average, and not a feature offered by many similar services.
Where you may find it lacking is in-app integrations, which can be found in greater variety with other account providers.
References
- ^ FDIC. BankFind: Coastal Community Bank, Retrieved 5/12/2022
- ^ FDIC. BankFind: Silicon Valley Bank, Retrieved 5/12/2022
- ^ "Your Account Security": Bluevine, 2022.
- ^ "Bluevine, Inc.": BBB, 2022.
- ^ Bluevine. How do I earn interest?, Retrieved 5/12/2022
- ^ Bluevine. How long do my payments take to process?, Retrieved 5/12/2022
- ^ "Account Fees": Bluevine, 2022.
Free Business Checking - Earn $300 Bonus
To earn the $300 bonus, customers must apply for a Bluevine Business Checking account anytime between now and 12/31/2024 using the referral code CD300.
After opening the account, customers must add funds within 30 days, then meet at least one of the following eligibility requirements every 30 days for the next 90 days from account funding:
- Deposit at least $5,000 from eligible merchant services to your Bluevine account OR
- Make at least $5,000 of outbound payroll payments from your Bluevine account using eligible payroll providers OR
- Spend at least $2,000 with your Bluevine Business Debit Mastercard® and/or Bluevine Business Cashback Mastercard®
Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC
Free Business Checking
- $0 monthly service fee
- $50 deposit to unlock all features
- ATM fee refunds up to $7 per month
Jeremy Harshman is a creative assistant at CreditDonkey, a credit card comparison and reviews website. Write to Jeremy Harshman at jeremy.harshman@creditdonkey.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for our latest posts.
Note: This website is made possible through financial relationships with some of the products and services mentioned on this site. We may receive compensation if you shop through links in our content. You do not have to use our links, but you help support CreditDonkey if you do.
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