Small Business Online Banking

Myth's Small Business Online Banking: As I moved to the United States and took care of my husband's business banking I figured out by accident what "online banking" means in the United States of America. Perhaps this story sounds funny to you but for me, it was hell.

In Germany, when we do online banking, it is online, meaning there is no human being in the bank processing. You pay something from your account and a computer will handle the bank process. It takes few minutes, perhaps few hours, that the money arrives at the payee's account.

I assumed the same for the United States. How naive I was! Online banking here still means that, if the payee isn't reachable through his bank account online, it could take up to five (yes, I wrote 5!!!) days before the payee receives my payment.

The first lesson to learn: Know how long it takes your bank to pay your bills to each payee so you don't have late payment fees and a bad credit score. If you need a faster bank process think about to move your accounts to another bank that fits your business needs.

The second lesson that would be important to me: Your Small Business Online Banking should never cost you money. There are so many banks who offer free online banking. To choose is up to you.

The third lesson includes small business credit cards A good bank will not only offer you a great online banking tool, it also will provide you with an affordable low interest rate and a high credit line for your business credit card.

And last but for sure not least: It should be possible for you to apply for a business loan at your house bank. I know times are tough and the economy isn't doing well. But if you have your business documents - business plan, financial plan, and gain-and-loss sheet, and so on - properly in place it should be possible.

Perhaps the bank that offers the best online banking benefits to you is not the one that offers the best small business financing. What should you do? The solution could be to set up more than one business banking account to satisfy both business needs. The bank who can oversee your business accounts and your ingoing and outgoing money will be happier to provide you with other services as a bank you don't have any accounts with.

Do you have a bank that offers great online banking features? Please share!

Do you have a great online banking story? Share it!