SmallBusinessBank - www.smallbusinessbank.com

I was approved before and everything was fine. There was a mistake on the part of PayPal and they closed my account. I paid what I owed and they opened another account. I was told it was active and open. I sent out a check to pay since I had money in the account. They took money from my credit card to open the account. Today I learn they ask me not to withdraw anything else from the account and as of 5/10/18 I think the account will be closed. But after talking to them through secure messages they told me they already returned the money back to my credit card. I told them they were doing some shady dealings. When I went back to advise them that they would be responsible for the amount of the check and any fees occurred if they return it. They had blocked me from sending them messages. Now I am sure they will say I was rude and out of line but I feel say what I said is no way as rude as what they did to me. So my advice :

STAY AWAY FROM SMALLBUSINESSBANK.COM !!!!

I was approved before and everything was fine. There was a mistake on the part of PayPal and they closed my account. I paid what I owed and they opened another account. I was told it was active and open. I sent out a check to pay since I had money in the account. They took money from my credit card to open the account. Today I learn they ask me not to withdraw anything else from the account and as of 5/10/18 I think the account will be closed. But after talking to them through secure messages they told me they already returned the money back to my credit card. I told them they were doing some shady dealings. When I went back to advise them that they would be responsible for the amount of the check and any fees occurred if they return it. They had blocked me from sending them messages. Now I am sure they will say I was rude and out of line but I feel say what I said is no way as rude as what they did to me. So my advice :

STAY AWAY FROM SMALLBUSINESSBANK.COM !!!!

I made the mistake of opening my California business bank account with a KANSAS bank that must follow the rules of KANSAS. News to you Small Business Bank/Gardner Bank - different states operate differently and have different requirements.

Specifically, I filed a DBA under my corporation and Small Business Bank wouldn't accept my DBA because it wasn't filed with the State. News flash SBB, CA has its businesses filing their DBAs through the County. The CA Secretary of State only handles filings for new corporations, LLCs and Limited Partnership.

Closing my account! My mistake.

I opened an account with SBB to fund a new business buying and renting properties, and when I tried to fund it, I received a call telling me that they were returning the wire and closing my account because the funds were too large. The funding amount was about $240,000 which, in my mind, is not that large of a business. I was told that this was over their limit. I said that there was no mention of a limit on their website, which she admitted and said they were changing the wording to address this. When I asked what the limit was she just said that it was too large to be a small business. When I pressed for an answer, she said 500. I asked $500?? and she said yes. Then she mentioned some mumbo jumbo about the bank not wanting to take liability for that amount and when I asked about what liability she said something about fraud and that she wasn't at liberty to discuss their policy further. What a waste of my time! Now I have to find another bank which will accept my HUGE deposit! If they only take businesses that only need $500 they should call it MicroBusinessBank.com!

After banking with SmallBusinessBank.com (SBB) for a few months now, I am loving it. Here's why. The customer service is absolutely fantastic. The main customer service team is always ready to help you with anything and everything. You can always hit them up via live chat and you can expect your issue to be resolved to your satisfaction. Most of all, SBB offers for free what other banks charge an arm and a leg for.

I am really amazed by the negative reviews. They are not legitimate at all in my opinion. Here’s why. If you read into the negative reviews, you will see that these reviewers are using this site to vent their anger at SBB, which is flat out wrong. Their anger should be directed at themselves because they failed to do their due diligence. SBB is legit. The negative reviews are rubbish. Read on. Let me explain why they don't really know what they're talking about.

My experience was completely different from theirs because I actually took the time (approximately two months) to learn about the whole application process before applying. During the two months, I read everything on the website. I also took the time to contact the customer service representatives about the application process via live chat to make sure I understood everything about it. This allowed me to not only be comfortable with SBB but also test its customer service and see if SBB is a right fit for the businesses that I manage.

The verification process also didn’t go through smoothly for me the first time around. I think it was a technical difficulty on the part of DocuSign (a third-party company that SBB uses for identity verification). DocuSign could not verify me with the information I entered. So I had to call SBB and ask for a second chance. The second time it worked properly.

After going through the account opening process for two separate businesses (i.e., LLCs), my advice to you is as follows:

1) Don’t expect it to be quick and easy. It will take you some time. The verification process may not go smoothly for you the first time around depending on how established your public record is, which is correlated with your age and the duration of your residence in the United States. You may need to call in or do a live chat and have one of the customer service representatives send you an email for a second chance. 


2) Do your research and due diligence. Take the time to learn about the application process by reading the website and contacting the customer service via live chat.
 Be comfortable before applying. Make sure you know what you're doing. This is key.

3) Get all your business documents ready to go. This will greatly facilitate the application process. What business documents you need depends on the type of company you have (sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation). I suggest doing a live chat and asking what you need to have on hand when it comes time to opening the account. 


4) Don’t assume that you passed through each step of the application process just because you saw a confirmation message. Technical difficulties may still arise. Follow up with SBB by talking to the representatives via live chat.
 For example, after submitting your business documents, do a live chat and ask the representative if SBB received what you sent through via secure document upload on its website. Be prepared that this will take more than few minutes as the representative does need time to look into it for you. So don't be in a hurry when you're following up with SBB.

5) Don’t rely on SBB as your only bank. SBB is still growing and may not have everything you're looking for. For example, you may need a more advanced Bill Pay feature. As a good solution, I recommend opening other free business bank accounts at banks near you to use in tandem with your No Bull Checking account. This will not only make up what SBB lacks but also increase your FDIC coverage. Also, when you open other business bank accounts or do some comparison shopping, you will quickly learn the value of SBB and what it has to offer. 


6) Only the first No Bull Checking account is truly a “No Bull Checking” account. You find this out by looking at the fee schedule. The second checking account costs $5/month, and this fee, as I’ve learned, is not assessed on a business level. It is rather assessed on a per authorized signer basis. In other words, if you are the authorized signer for two different businesses with separate tax identification numbers (i.e., EINs), you may be charged $5/month for the second business. I say “may” because you can talk to David Shopmaker and ask him to waive this fee for you. However, your reason must be legitimate.


7) The $500 initial deposit is not a fee. This is the required amount to open a No Bull Checking account. There is no monthly minimum balance requirement, meaning your account can drop to $0 and you will not be charged. The negative reviewer doesn't know what he/she is talking about. There is a BIG difference between initial deposit and monthly minimum balance. They are two worlds apart. The initial deposit is the amount needed to open an account. The monthly minimum balance is usually the minimum amount you need to keep in your bank account to avoid monthly maintenance fees at big banks. This is not something you have to worry about at SBB.

8) Feel free to refer back to this review to help you through the application process. I left a lot of advice to really help you out.

Lastly, I would say this: Give SBB a chance. You won’t be disappointed. Seriously.

I applied for a No Bull Checking account online, filled out the form and passed the ID verification successfully (as promised, took 2 minutes).

3 hours later I received an email... with a link to "ID verification". The link was actually to Docusign, a site that allows to sign documents electronically, not specifically an ID verification site. I noticed that they used an alias of my name different from my legal name I put on the form (was the alias taken from the internet or something? as I didn't provide it) but it gave me recognizable information anyway. I filled everything right, but then the next page told me I failed the ID verification. I emailed them back, asking to correct my name and reset the form but then next morning I received the email "... automatic denial of your application... No exceptions can be made and you will not be allowed a second attempt at ID verification" and blah-blah, the rest of it (see the review called RUBBISH). The "automatic" part apparently took something like 15 hours. The particularly insulting was "YOU failed to pass the ID test". You didn't put the right name, I asked to correct it, and now it's me who failed the test. I also have an account with Docusign and it displays this envelope for me, and it was empty, they really didn't sent me any documents.

Also, they collected my SSN and DL numbers, but Docusign uses the name, birth date and current address for verification, no SSN or DL needed. And also this second "ID verification" and using the name I didn't give to them. Kind of creepy. I'm sure they take their's and their customers security seriously, but not the applicants.

I just today turned down SmallBusinessBank.com. I applied a week ago for their No Bull Checking and had to wait while they requested my proof of business documents and so on. Finally received the approval paperwork this morning.

Now, I doublechecked their site - for No Bull Checking, it says no minimum balance, and NOTHING about a deposit anywhere, even on their fees page. The 3-page approval document they sent even says Initial Deposit $0 on the first page, but on the third page asks for banking information for an initial ***$500*** deposit. I was furious, because I'd now wasted a week waiting for them when I could've been shopping for an honest bank.

While googling review sites for it after, I saw that Gardner Bank (their parent bank) charges $500 for their savings accounts, so I don't know if wires got crossed or if they were just being flat out deceitful? But either way I'm never doing business with them.

My business account was officially opened today. It's as real as it gets! I first researched online FDIC Bank Find & their FDIC Certificate #25744. They have three branches in Gardner, KS. Then I started the process. I called the mngr. on the email 2 days after setting it up (to check on my status) & found out that you need to send the documents individually. I first sent them as a group file & they only saw the first item. Then, it was smooth sailing. I love it since there are no minimums & nickle & dime charges! Every bank I've used over the last twenty years has killed me with various charges! I will keep you posted...

Ive been dealing with SBB for about 2 years. I do all my deposits with there check scanner. Any service I need is handled over the phone. I've saved thousands of dollars by changing to SBB.

I was impressed with how easy it was to open an account. While it was hassle free for me, I could really tell that security is extremely important to them. That was refreshing! The customer service has also been a breath of fresh air. They have been extremely knowledgeable and convey that they are happy to help. They have even been willing to walk me through steps of online banking. The security is top notch. I would recommend this bank to anyone who is tired of bank fees and hassle.