Choosing the best professional bank in 2024

When it comes to choosing the best business bank for your company, the stakes go far beyond simple administrative formalities. The banking world has adapted to the specific needs of legal structures such as SARLs, EURLs and SAS/SASUs. To help you make this crucial decision, the lecomparatif.com website examines the essential criteria and presents a ranking of the best online business banks, offering a comprehensive overview to guide your choice according to your company’s specific needs.

Why choosing the right business bank is crucial

For entrepreneurs, choosing the right business bank is far more important than a mere administrative formality. It is the financial pivot that can shape the success or future of any business. Within this complex banking universe, needs differ depending on whether you’re a SARL, EURL or SAS/SASU.

Assessing your company’s needs

To choose the best online business bank, it’s essential first to identify those that are willing to work with your specific legal structure (SAS, SASU, EURL, etc.). As the choice of a bank is based on its most attractive offers or advantages (according to your criteria), it’s important to note that each banking establishment may have preferences and favor a particular legal status.

Once you’ve made your initial selection, you can use our bank comparator to start listing the criteria that are important to you. Most banks, whether traditional or online, accept SARLs, with the exception of Boursorama, Hello Bank and Monabanq.

Similarly, most business banks are accessible to sociétés par actions simplifiées (SAS). New business banks such as Qonto, Anytime and Shine also accept them, even offering the possibility of depositing share capital online – a crucial step when setting up a company. However, it is also entirely possible to turn to traditional banks such as Société Générale, BNP or La Banque Postale.

Unlike the above-mentioned structures, self-employed entrepreneurs are not required to open business accounts. They are free to choose their bank from among all those offering bank accounts.

Ranking of professional banks in 2024

Not all banks are created equal. The website lecomparatif.com analyses in detail essential criteria such as management fees, specific offers for businesses, financial support and the availability of online tools and mobile applications. For an optimal banking experience, it’s imperative to take all these aspects into account.

According to lecomparatif.com, here are the top 3 best online business banks:

Qonto

Since its creation in 2016, Qonto has established itself as a leading professional online bank, and now boasts over 300,000 customers. The services and products offered by Qonto are aimed at self-employed entrepreneurs and very small businesses. It includes a business bank account with a French IBAN number, a MasterCard business with insurance, online registration of share capital, simplified accounting and a free one-month subscription when you open your account.

Qonto’s offers vary according to whether you work alone or as part of a team. There are three packages for the self-employed (Basic, Smart and Premium, from 9 to 39 euros per month), three for small businesses (Essential, Business and Enterprise, from 29 to 249 euros per month), and three more for SMEs and startups (Business, Enterprise and Custom Package).
Finally, for start-ups, 3 packs offer savings in the second year. The Basic Pack costs 169 euros the first year, then 108 euros the second, the Smart Pack 289 euros the first year, then 228 euros the second, and the Essential Pack 399 euros the first year, then 348 euros. The differences between these offers lie in the range of bank cards, exchange commissions, withdrawal costs and payment limits.

Blank

Established in 2021, Blank has rapidly positioned itself as one of the best professional banks on the market. The online bank caters for a wide range of legal forms: auto-entrepreneurs, SAS, SARL, EI, EURL and SCI. Blank’s banking offerings include a Visa Business card, a French IBAN, accounting and billing tools, and insurance and guarantees.

The professional bank offers three business bank account packages: Simple at 6 euros per month, Confort at 17 euros per month and Complète at 39 euros per month.

Blank also has 2 offers for business start-ups: for micro-businesses at 59 euros and for companies at 99 euros. Finally, the bank offers a unique capital deposit package costing 69 euros.

Revolut Business

Revolut Business is a banking institution that has been in existence since 2015. It offers a comprehensive range of services for individuals, micro-businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs. The professional bank includes numerous services in its offering, and apart from self-entrepreneurs, it offers a formula suitable for SMEs and VSEs. Revolut Business offers a multi-user, multi-currency Mastercard. With this card, customers benefit from free payments in all currencies.

Businesses have access to several formulas, with rates varying according to the volume of transactions carried out by the customer. The Free package is free, the Grow package costs 25 euros a month, the Scale package 100 euros a month, and the monthly fee for the Enterprise package varies according to the services chosen.

For their part, freelancers have access to 3 professional account offers: the Free offer, free of charge, the Professional offer at 7 euros per month and the Ultimate offer at 25 euros per month.

The reign of online professional banking

Fast account opening, ease of use, very attractive rates and highly competitive welcome offers: online banks have many advantages. These establishments have been revolutionizing bank account management for some time now, and seem to be gaining in popularity with their customers year after year. In France, 33% of new accounts opened in 2019 and 2020 were via online banks!

Access to your accounts via a mobile device isn’t the only advantage offered by an online business account. It also allows you to stay in control of your finances wherever you are, whenever you want: simply download the bank’s app and log in to access online banking features. This includes checking your balance, as well as operations such as funds transfers and wire transfers.

But online banking also saves time. You no longer need to visit a bank in person, or even use a computer to carry out routine transactions. Finally, security is reinforced. You can receive SMS alerts if your account is debited or your card is used. A mobile bank will automatically block access to your accounts after three unsuccessful attempts to enter the password.

Most professional online banks are linked to a large group. These include Crédit Mutuel, for Monabanq and Fortuneo, BNP Paribas for Hello bank, Orange for Orange Bank, Société Générale for Boursorama, while BforBank is a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole.

According to lecomparatif.com, the three best online banks are Boursobank, Fortuneo banque and Hello bank. They are ranked according to the banking fees charged by each bank, as well as the conditions for opening an account, which may be a minimum income requirement or compulsory deposits.