Santander Business Checking Review: All You Need to Know

Spain-headquartered Santander Group has more than 14,000 bank branches worldwide. In the US, it's a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)-insured bank with physical branches in nine states.¹

There are three types of Santander business checking accounts: Basic Business Checking, Business Checking and Business Checking Plus. In this Santander business checking review, we highlight the main features of the Business Checking account to help you decide whether it’s a good option for your business.

If you’re looking for a business checking account that allows you to send and receive international payments, you can also find out about Wise Business in this article.

Santander Business Checking Review: Quick Overview

Santander Business Checking: Key Features

All the Santander Bank business checking accounts offer basic features including online and mobile banking, check order discounts and a business debit card.

The Santander Business Checking Account has a fee-free limit on cash deposits of up to $10,000 and doesn’t charge for the first 300 transactions per month. You pay $0.60 for additional transactions and $0.27 per $100 of cash deposits above the limit. This is reduced to $0.22 cents per $100 with the bank’s Express Cash Pack service.

Santander charges a $15 monthly fee, but this is waived if you maintain an average daily balance of $5,000, have a combined balance across business deposit accounts of $10,000, receive one or more Santander Merchant Services payments within a month, pay $50 or more in cash management fees per month, or make three or more purchases using a Santander Business Debit Mastercard within the period.⁴

Santander Bank also provides other business banking services, including merchant services, business loans, money market accounts, lines of credit, commercial real estate lending, equipment financing, and small business administration (SBA) loans.

To open an account, you need to visit a physical Santander branch location. There are physical branches in nine states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Note that in Florida, however, Santander has only one branch, in Miami.

The Santander business checking requirements include providing documentation such as your personal information and business tax identification.

Ease of Use

To make this easy for customers, Santander business online checking offers mobile check deposit through the Business Mobile Banking app, online deposits or Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, fund transfers, balance checking, and employee access management.

You can also enable customized alerts on account deposits, debits, low balance, incoming and outgoing wire payments, and so on.

Reviews on independent review site, Trustpilot, refer to Santander’s personal banking services as well as its business accounts. Positive reviews from business customers praise individual customer service staff for resolving their issues.⁵

However, some negative reviews from Trustpilot mention problems accessing the mobile app and the inability to do wire transactions online.⁶

Customer Service

Santander provides customer support in its branches and over the phone from its Business Customer Service Center.⁷

Santander Business Checking Fees

Below are some of the main fees you’ll find with a Santander business account:⁸

• $15 waivable monthly fee

• $0.60 per transaction above 300 monthly limit

• $0.27 per $100 for cash deposits above $10,000 monthly limit

• $7 online ACH transfer, waived for payments to other Santander accounts

• 4% international debit card transactions, $6 + 3% international ATM withdrawals

• $3 non-Santander domestic ATM withdrawals

• $30 monthly service charge for Santander Check Deposit Link

• $0.60 batch deposits and items processed by Santander Check Deposit Link

There are also specific wire fees, which depend on the direction and the mode of the wire transfer:

• $15 incoming domestic or international wire transfer in branch or by telephone
• $27 outgoing domestic wire transfer in branch or by telephone
• $40 outgoing international USD wire transfer in branch or by telephone
• $31 outgoing international foreign currency wire transfer in branch or by telephone
• $20 online wire transfer waived for payments to other Santander accounts

Santander Business Checking Pros and Cons

What are the benefits of Santander Business Checking?

For businesses that operate in northeastern states with a physical branch nearby, Santander charges a relatively low monthly service fee for its Business Checking account and offers several ways to waive the fee altogether. Customers can make 300 free transactions each month and deposit up to $10,000 at no charge. This compares well with other mid-tier accounts that limit deposits to $5,000.

For businesses looking to do all their banking in one place, Santander also provides merchant, payroll processing, and advanced cash management services, as well as business lending.

What are the considerations of Santander Business Checking?

As Santander only operates in nine states and doesn’t offer online account opening, businesses based in the rest of the country will need to find an alternative with branches near their location or that provides online signup.

Santander charges a setup fee and a monthly service charge to send and receive ACH payments. Transfers to non-Santander bank accounts cost $7. In addition, incoming wire transfers cost $15, and outgoing transfers cost $27 for domestic transactions while international transfers cost $31 or $40 depending on the currency – these fees quickly add up if you regularly do business with customers overseas.

ATM charges can also add up, as Santander only operates ATMs in the northeast and charges for out-of-network withdrawals, whereas some competitors have nationwide networks and/or reimbursement non-network fees.

Conclusion: Is Santander Business Checking the Best Choice for Your Business?

Whether the Santander Business Checking account is the right choice for your business will depend on how many transactions you handle each month and whether you can meet the requirements to waive the monthly fee.

If you conduct business with customers and suppliers abroad, you may find the account’s international transaction fees costly and find a more cost-effective alternative elsewhere.

Discover Wise Business: The Low-Cost Way to Make International Payments

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks.

Wise has designed an affordable solution for small businesses that send and receive frequent international payments. It can help you save on costs with transparent, low-cost fees for foreign currency transactions online and in-store.

The account features:

• No monthly fees
• International payments at the mid-market exchange rate
• Easy batch payments
• Ability to manage multiple currencies all in one place
• Hold over 40 currencies
• Receive payments like a local with major currency account details for a simple one-time fee

Open a Wise Business account online

About the author:
	Panna is an expert in business finance topics for the US, covering topics from invoicing to international expansion. She creates high-quality reviews on business finance tools and products with the aim to help businesses save time and make informed decisions. You can read more useful business articles on her author profile.

All sources checked April, 2024.