Is North One Safe and Legit

North One offers convenient online banking for small business owners. But is North One safe and legit? Read on to find out.

North One is a small business banking platform designed to take the stress of banking off your plate.

But can you trust them with your hard-earned cash?

In this guide, find out if North One is safe and legit, how it works, and more.

Is North One Secure?

Yes, North One is a secure banking platform. They are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 through the Bancorp Bank,^[1] which provides banking services for North One customers through an integrated API. That means, even in the case of bank failure or theft, your money is safe.

North One also employs industry best practices to maintain the security of your account, including:^[2]

• Two-factor authentication for account login
  
• Biometric login features such as Touch ID and Face ID
  
• Account monitoring for suspicious activity with immediate alerts
  
• Ability to lock and freeze your card via mobile app (lost cards are delivered within 5 business days)

In order to protect users' privacy, North One doesn't store sensitive personal information and only communicates through secure channels.

How Does North One Work?

North One was launched in 2017 by founders Eytan Bensoussan and Justin Adler with the goal of offering a better banking experience for small business owners.

Their flagship service is their North One Deposit Account, which is fully accessible through their app or desktop site. Business owners can make payments via ACH bank transfer or wire transfer, access ATMs, deposit checks, and more.

They also offer a budgeting feature they call "Envelopes" that enables users to set aside specific amounts or percentages of their deposits for things like taxes, payroll, and rent.

North One has also partnered with Mastercard to offer the North One Debit Card, which is accepted wherever Mastercard is.^[3]

With North One, users can also connect their accounts directly to the apps they use for business, such as Shopify, Etsy, and PayPal, or payroll platforms like QuickBooks and Gusto.^[4]

North One Features

Now that we have a general idea of how North One works, let's take a look at North One's features in detail.

Business Deposit Accounts
The North One Business Deposit Account is designed to make banking for small business owners, freelancers, and startups easy. It's mobile, meaning you won't have to visit bank branches to make deposits, send money, pay invoices, and more.

The app gives you quick access to your full account history and lets you manage receipts, helping you keep organized by immediately categorizing purchases.

You can connect your payment processor or POS directly to your North One account, meaning you'll receive payments sooner. And you can manage payroll directly through your app.

While North One doesn't have any physical locations, users get access to a national network of ATMs, and you can easily locate ones that are nearby through the app.

Envelopes
North One's Envelopes is an organizational and budgeting tool that lets you set aside money for specific uses.

You can schedule your account to set aside either fixed amounts or percentages on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. This makes it easier to put away enough for important things like taxes, payroll, and other expenses.

App Integrations
North One makes it easy to connect the apps you use for business to your bank account. Some of the apps that support integration with North One include:

• Etsy
  
• Shopify
  
• Amazon
  
• Square
  
• Airbnb
  
• Alto
  
• Venmo
  
• Lyft
  
• PayPal
  
• Stripe and more

And plenty of people are using apps for payroll and accounting services these days as well. With North One you can connect:

• Gusto
  
• QuickBooks
  
• FreshBooks
  
• Wave
  
• ADP and more

North One Debit Card
The North One Debit Card means paying and ATM withdrawals are quick and easy. It's offered in partnership with Mastercard and accepted where Mastercard is.

To ensure the security of your account, if your card is lost or stolen, you can lock and freeze it in minutes through your North One app, and they'll send you a replacement in as little as 7 business days.^[5]

North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY

• 2.50% APY on balances up to $250,000 for eligible customers
• Business banking for teams
• Automatic invoice ingestion and payments
• Sales and revenue analytics
• Unlimited account envelopes
• Close to 100 integrations
• Over $5000 in perks for new customers
• No monthly fees, no application fees, no minimum balance

North One is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC.

Click Here to Learn More

What Does North One Charge?

North One offers two plans: North One Standard has no monthly fees, and North One Plus costs $20 monthly.

For North One Standard, you may encounter fees:^[6]

• 1.5% same-day ACH transfers
  
• $1 to send a physical check
  
• $20 outgoing domestic wire transfers
  
• $25 to expedite mailing a card

When you opt for North One Plus, the monthly cost is $20. However, you'll enjoy no fees for same-day ACHs and physical checks. And your outgoing domestic wire transfer fee will decrease from $20 to $15.^[7]

While there are plenty of free business checking accounts available, it's worth noting that other platforms, such as Bluevine, do not require an opening deposit.

North One Customer Reviews & Support

North One has received mainly positive reviews over the years, with an average rating of 4.0/5.0 on Trustpilot.^[8] They're also BBB-accredited and has an "A" rating.^[9]

Customers commended North One for having a user-friendly interface, efficient system, and transparent pricing. Business owners said that using North One increased their efficiency and helped them budget for expenses more effectively.

In terms of customer support, most customers praised their team for being diligent and quick to respond, even on weekends. They also described North One's agents as professional, knowledgeable, and able to handle sensitive banking issues well.

However, some customers have complained about North One freezing their accounts without prior notice, which caused business delays and disruptions. North One encouraged them to reach out to its team for assistance and clarification.

Alternatives to North One

North One is a great choice for most small business owners, but they're not your only option. Here are some of the alternatives:

Bluevine
Bluevine stands out for offering business checking accounts with high APYs. The Standard tier alone already lets you earn up to 1.50% APY on your account balance. Opting for the highest tier (Premier) will give you up to 3.70% APY.

However, Bluevine only allows a maximum of 5 free sub-accounts while North One lets you create an unlimited number of Envelopes. The latter allows you to be as specific as possible when budgeting for business expenses.

	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One	Bluevine
	SPECIAL OFFER North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Free Business Checking - Earn $300 Bonus - Learn More
Monthly Fee	$0	Standard tier: $0 per month Plus Tier: $30 per month (can be waived with $20k average daily balance and $2k debit card spend) Premier tier: $95 per month (can be waived with $100k average daily balance and $5k debit card spend)
Balance Requirement	None	None
APY	up to 3.00% APY for Plus Accounts; up to 2.50% APY for Standard Accounts that meet eligibility requirements	3.7% APY on balances up to $3M for Premier customers; 2.7% APY on balances up to $250,000 for Plus customers; 1.5% APY on balances up to $250,000 for Standard tier customers that meet monthly eligibility requirements
Minimum Deposit to Open	$50	$0
ATMs	38,000+ MoneyPass ATMs	approximately 40,000 MoneyPass ATMs
Cash Deposit Fee	up to $4.95; 1 refund/month (Standard members); 3 refunds/month (Plus members)	$4.95 per deposit at Green Dot locations or $1 + 0.5% of the deposit amount at Allpoint+ ATMs
	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY North One Plus Business Banking - Up to 3.00% APY North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY	Free Business Checking - Earn $300 Bonus Free Business Checking - Up to 1.5% APY Premier Business Checking - Up to 3.7% APY
North One: Information sourced from the published website as of 02/25/2025.

Novo
Novo is worth looking into if you want integrations with more third-party apps. It's compatible with thousands of software, so you can seamlessly connect your checking account directly to your favorite business tools.

The main downside is the unavailability of cash deposits, so Novo might not be the best choice if your business handles cash. It also doesn't have its own ATM network, but it allows up to $7 per month ATM fee reimbursement.

	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One	Novo
	SPECIAL OFFER North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Free Business Checking - Learn More
Monthly Fee	$0	$0
Balance Requirement	None	None
APY	up to 3.00% APY for Plus Accounts; up to 2.50% APY for Standard Accounts that meet eligibility requirements	N/A
Minimum Deposit to Open	$50	$50 to access all Novo's features
ATMs	38,000+ MoneyPass ATMs	up to $7 per month reimbursement of ATM fees worldwide
Cash Deposit Fee	up to $4.95; 1 refund/month (Standard members); 3 refunds/month (Plus members)	N/A
	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY North One Plus Business Banking - Up to 3.00% APY North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY	Free Business Checking
North One: Information sourced from the published website as of 02/25/2025. Novo: Pricing information from published website as of 09/27/2024.

Lili
Lili can be a great alternative for sole proprietors or freelancers because of the built-in bookkeeping and accounting tools. These help you stay on top of your business finances and can make tax season less stressful and daunting.

The main drawback is that the majority of the handy features for businesses are only available in their paid plans. You have to pay a monthly fee if you want access to them.

	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One	Lili
	SPECIAL OFFER North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Free Checking Account for Small Business Owners - Learn More
Monthly Fee	$0	$0
Balance Requirement	None	$0
APY	up to 3.00% APY for Plus Accounts; up to 2.50% APY for Standard Accounts that meet eligibility requirements	N/A
Minimum Deposit to Open	$50	$0
ATMs	38,000+ MoneyPass ATMs	approximately 40,000 MoneyPass ATMs
Cash Deposit Fee	up to $4.95; 1 refund/month (Standard members); 3 refunds/month (Plus members)	Up to $4.95
	Visit Site	Visit Site
	North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY North One Plus Business Banking - Up to 3.00% APY North One Free Business Banking - Up to 2.50% APY	Free Checking Account for Small Business Owners Lili Pro Business Checking
North One: Information sourced from the published website as of 02/25/2025.

Bottom Line

If you're running a small business, a startup, or are a freelancer looking for a mobile banking provider created with business owners in mind, then North One is certainly worth consideration.

They take comparable measures to those of other, similar services to keep your money and your information safe and provide a range of useful tools at no monthly fees.

And while they have a limited number of reviews online, their customer service team appears quick to respond with helpful feedback for anyone in need of assistance.

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