NorthOne Review: Business Checking With Plenty Of Perks

Businesses have no shortage of choices when it comes to online banking. In just minutes, you can set up an account on an online banking site and start transferring funds and making payments.

With NorthOne, you get plenty of business perks for one small monthly fee. In addition to unlimited funds transfers and payments, you can also manage your money and send invoices. You can do everything on the mobile or web app, so you can bank whether you’re sitting on your sofa or hanging out by the pool on a tropical island.

What is NorthOne?

Founded in 2017, NorthOne was designed as a mobile-only alternative to traditional online business banking, but they now include web access as well. You’ll pay a monthly fee of $10, but that includes everything you need to invoice, pay bills, and manage your business’s money. For its banking services, NorthOne partners with Bancorp, the fifth-largest bank in the U.S.

What sets NorthOne apart from others is its easy-to-use mobile and web interface. Everything is in one place, so you don’t have to worry about tracking down information when you need it. From the start, NorthOne’s goal has been to make banking easier for business owners so that they can focus on more important tasks, and that’s the very thing that makes NorthOne appealing.

How does NorthOne work?

NorthOne is only available via a mobile app or web page. You’ll see this as soon as you try to open an account on their website. 

You can download the NorthOne banking app on either your iPhone or Android Phone or apply online.

You’ll first need to input a phone number.

You’ll also have to provide your email address, inputting it twice to make sure you’ve entered it correctly. You’ll receive a request to confirm your email address in your inbox within seconds of providing it, but you can continue with the signup and confirm later.

Next, you’ll choose a complex password and enter it twice. The Continue button will remain grayed out until you’ve satisfied all the password requirements.

You’ll have to accept the terms of service to finalize the account setup.

You can either opt-in or out of account notifications.

As with many apps now, NorthOne lets you enable Face ID for an easier login with each visit.

The next step is the identity verification portion. You’ll need to gather your business and personal financial details, including your Social Security number and your business’s Employer Identification Number.

First, NorthOne gives you the chance to opt into push notifications so you’re alerted any time there’s activity on your account.

After this, you’ll provide the information necessary for NorthOne to run a credit check on you and your business. This check will not affect your credit score.

Pricing for NorthOne 

NorthOne keeps its pricing as transparent as possible. For $10 a month, you’ll get unlimited transactions, including debit card purchases and check deposits. One area where you may deal with fees, though, is in ATM transactions.

You’ll get free ATM transactions at more than two million Cirrus® ATMs worldwide. If for some reason you can’t locate a Cirrus® ATM, any third-party machines you use may charge a fee. NorthOne doesn’t reimburse those. 

The only other fee NorthOne charges is a $15 domestic wire transfer fee. That means you won’t pay for overdrafts, ACH returns, or insufficient funds. Your account will truly be fee-free.

Here’s a breakdown of some key information about banking with NorthOne.

NorthOne features

Businesses have plenty of options when it comes to banking. Here are a few reasons NorthOne is worth your consideration.

Three months free

If you’re reading this, you’re eligible for an exclusive offer to Money Under 30 readers! You’ll get three months free to try out the NorthOne banking platform. There’s no obligation, and if you like what you see, you’ll just pay $10 a month starting in the fourth month.

Convenient mobile app

With NorthOne, you can do all your banking through the mobile app or via the web. This keeps everything in one place while also allowing you to do your banking on the go. You can also control your NorthOne cards from within the app, including locking one temporarily if you can’t find it.

You can also easily deposit checks without having to track down a bank. If you have cash to deposit, you can visit one of one million ATMs located nationwide to get the funds out of your wallet and into your bank account.

Web banking

While NorthOne does offer a robust mobile app, they recognize that being able to bank from your desktop or laptop is still a key feature that users look for.

With NorthOne’s web banking feature, you can pay your bills in minutes, all from one place. You can also easily export your financial info into Quickbooks or Excel and jump between sub-accounts in a few clicks. You’ll also be able to see all your transactions right on your dashboard, so you can keep track of where your cash is going.

Chat or phone support

NorthOne offers one thing that many online banks don’t: live one-on-one support from a human representative. You can contact support Monday to Sunday, 8AM to 10PM EST.

Live chat is available within the app, but you can also get help by email or schedule a phone call at a time that’s most convenient for you.

Save money with sub-accounts

One handy feature of NorthOne is the availability of sub-accounts. This feature, called envelopes, lets you set up accounts for various purposes, similar to putting cash in different envelopes each month. You can set up one of these accounts for the sole purpose of saving money for multiple goals, then create rules that automatically move money to them on a periodic basis.

Although you can use this feature for a wide range of tasks, I find it especially useful for putting money aside for paying taxes. This lets you separate the money you’re saving for taxes from the money you’re saving for other purposes, like future business growth or buying a new laptop.

Grant read-only access

Read-only access makes it easy to hand off duties to outside contractors or internal employees. For instance, you can set it up so that your accountant or bookkeeper can access your accounts and gather necessary information.

Transaction search

If you need to track down a specific transaction, NorthOne has you covered there, as well. You can search by name or use filters to pull out specific types of transactions. For example, you can use this to pull up all transactions for one card number. There’s no limit to how far back you can search.

Fee-free ATM withdrawals

Mobile banking is great, but sometimes you need a little cash. Your NorthOne account gives you access to fee-free cash withdrawals at any ATM with the Cirrus® branding on it.

That includes MoneyPass® ATMs. There are more than one million locations in the U.S. and more than two million worldwide. You can also add cash to your card at any Green Dot® location.

No hidden fees

All your banking is wrapped up in that $10 monthly fee. That includes any overdrafts or insufficient funds transactions. You can transfer funds and pay bills using your bank account at no charge whatsoever. There is a $15 charge for domestic wires.

Backed by Bancorp

NorthOne has partnered with Bancorp for its banking offerings. Bancorp is the fifth-largest commercial U.S. bank by assets. This gives you all the benefits of big banking, combined with the perks of using an online-only bank.

NorthOne App integrations

For businesses, the biggest benefits of any app often come from integrations. You can greatly boost your productivity by choosing apps that work with the solutions you already use. NorthOne integrates with some of the most popular accounting and payment tools, including:

• Expensify.
• Freshbooks.
• Quickbooks.
• Wave.
• Xero.
• Amazon.
• PayPal.
• Shopify.
• Stripe.

My experience researching NorthOne 

I had the opportunity to review the features of NorthOne extensively as an alternative to traditional online banking. And I have to say, I am convinced.

Let me go into a tad more detail about why NorthOne seems to have a good thing going here.

Live chat support is very helpful

One thing I really like is the support offered by NorthOne. I’m the type of person who prefers to do a live chat if that’s an option. It definitely beats waiting for a response to an email or dealing with long hold times for a phone operator. I love the fact that you can chat with a human operator in the app, versus the chatbots my own bank uses.

Payment integrations are great for small business owners

Another thing that stood out was NorthOne’s payment integrations. I can definitely see the benefits of being able to view the invoice numbers for the PayPal payments that go into my account. They do the same for your transactions with Amazon, Shopify, Stripe, and more.

Saving for taxes is super easy with NorthOne

The sub-accounts are also attractive to me as a freelancer. If you’re self-employed, you know it’s essential to set money aside each month for those taxes that are due each quarter. Sub-accounts let you handle this automatically, storing that money in one handy folder that you name.

Simple, transparent pricing structure

What impresses me most about NorthOne is that you know exactly what you’ll pay upfront. The $10 monthly fee covers everything, including any overdrafts.

Now that Money Under 30 readers can enjoy three months free, there’s an even bigger incentive to try it out!

Who is NorthOne best for?

Freelancers and small business owners

Small businesses can benefit from NorthOne’s many features, but it’s especially beneficial for independent contractors. With sub-accounts, you can easily save money for separate expenses, such as taxes, slow periods, or future equipment purchases.

But small businesses can also benefit from these features, not only for taxes, but for setting money aside to expand inventory, pay insurance, or attend an upcoming tradeshow or conference.

Businesses with contractors and employees

If you work with outside contractors, the ability to set up read-only access is beneficial. But you’ll also find this account convenient if you have employees. You can order debit cards for each employee and manage it all directly within the app.

Who shouldn’t use NorthOne?

Frequent cash users

You can use your NorthOne card at one of the two million ATMs in its network to withdraw and deposit fee-free. If you go out of network, you may be charged fees by the third-party bank for the transaction. NorthOne won’t charge you a fee for going out of network.

Summary

With NorthOne, you’ll get everything you need to run the financial side of your business. Being able to invoice and manage your funds easily in the app means you’ll be able to do your banking from anywhere. The $10 monthly fee for unlimited transactions means you can work it into your budget without having to worry about unexpected fees.

Read more:

• 6 Of The Best Business Checking Accounts For Entrepreneurs
• Best Free Business Checking Accounts For Freelancers And Side Hustlers