Cash, coin and the counter
The requirement that decides this for most businesses: what happens when takings have to be physically deposited, and which routes can actually accept them.
the counter the screen
Branch or app
A business account you can walk into. Cash and coin over a counter, a banker who knows the file, and terms that get arranged rather than published.
A business account that opens in a browser. Onboarding without a visit, sub-accounts and card controls on a phone, and no counter to deposit anything into.
two counters, one question
The ground this splits over
Nothing is published here yet — this site is new and the first write-ups are still being prepared. The list below is the ground they will cover, set out so you can judge whether it is worth coming back to. Each entry sits on the side of the line it belongs to.
Opening in a browser
What an online-only application asks for, how long it takes to clear, and what a business is able to do before the account is fully approved.
Relationship pricing
Monthly fees, balance minimums and the terms that only exist because somebody at a branch knows the business. What the relationship is worth, and what it costs.
Rails and settlement
ACH, wires, card rails and instant transfers — where each route actually moves money, when it lands, and what each leg is charged for.
Lending and treasury
Credit lines, merchant services and sweep accounts, and how much of that is still arranged in person rather than in an app.
Bookkeeping and integrations
Feeds into accounting software, sub-accounts, receipt capture and permissions — the day-to-day admin the two routes handle differently.
posted on both walls
What holds on either side
Worth stating before there is anything to read, because it is what the writing will be held to once there is.
House rule
Nothing is scored
No ratings, no star counts, no tier boards. Where one route is preferred for a situation, it is argued in words with the reasoning on the page.
House rule
Neither side is the default
A branch is not the safe answer and an app is not the modern one. Which side wins depends on the business asking, and the write-ups start from that.
House rule
Terms are quoted and dated
Fees and requirements change. Anything specific is taken from the provider and dated, or it is described in words rather than numbers.
House rule
Affiliate links are disclosed
Some links earn a commission. That never decides which route a write-up recommends, and it is stated on every page it applies to.
crossing the line
The order to settle it in
Four questions, taken in this order, decide it for most businesses. They step from one side of the line to the other because the answer usually does too.
1
Start with the cash
Work out what physically has to happen to your money each week. That single answer rules one side out more often than anything else does.
2
Check what opening asks for
Entity documents, ownership, address and age of business. The two routes weigh the same paperwork very differently.
3
Price the whole relationship
Not the headline monthly fee — the minimum, the per-item charges and whatever the branch waives once it knows you.
4
Read the rails last
Once the account can exist, work out whether money arrives when you need it to. That is where the two sides separate again.