American Express

Bank of America Background

Bank of America, with total assets of $2.2 trillion, is the second largest bank holding company in the U.S. by assets. It’s one of the ‘Big Four’ banks in the U.S., and was listed by Forbes in 2010 as the third-largest company in the U.S. Bank of America operates – but doesn’t have banking centers – in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 40 other countries.

Bank of America Banking Options

Bank of America offers two types of checking accounts for small businesses: Business Advantage and Business Fundamentals. The latter, which offers fee-free service for the first two months, is for businesses with basic banking needs. The Advantage program, which is fee-free for the first three months, is for businesses with complex needs. Maintaining minimum balances or using Bank of America Merchant Services, payroll services by Intuit, or Remote Deposit Online Service can earn ongoing relief from monthly fees.

Bank of America Merchant Services offers a number of individual services including making money available as soon as the next business day, credit card processing, 99.9% authorization services uptime, advanced security and customer service 24/7 availability.

The company’s mobile banking app allows for check deposits, account balance checking, and money transfers “to most anyone,” as the web site notes. This app also allows text banking — to check balances and perform a number of other tasks.

As you’d expect, Bank of America offers both debit and credit cards to small businesses. Information about those cards is available here.

Bank of America’s web site is comprehensive, but not as easy to navigate (back to a previous page) as it could be.

Customer Review

“Bank of America is nearly everywhere, which is handy for small business people who have to travel. While mobile banking can meet most of my on-the-road needs, sometimes it’s nice to just sit down and discuss an issue with a banker. As a BOA customer, I can do that pretty near wherever I go.” – Louis J.