Ask HN: Best Bank for Startups?

by cbisnett on 6/29/2020, 8:32:20 PM with 53 comments
We've been using Silicon Valley Bank for the last 4 years and while their services generally "work", they aren't the best. We've been working with SVB to setup a line-of-credit just to have in case we need it, and we recently talked with them about their Innovators card. Unfortunately their sales people cannot show you any kind of demo so that you can see how it works or what the UI looks like even. This is a tough ask as the only way to see it is to sign up for an account and start issuing cards. We also talked with Brex about their solution and even looked into Expensify's card.

Brex was able to show us a demo and as part of the trial we attached our SVB account which causes a $0.01 deposit and withdrawal. After doing this we received an email from our SVB sales rep acknowledging the transaction: "It looks like I see a penny test from Brex on June 3rd so it may be that you just set something up." I'm not sure what's buried in the SVB ToS, but SVB sales reps looking into our transactions didn't sit quite right with me. Then we told them that we decided to go with Brex because we liked the solution and not being able to get a demo from SVB made it basically a non-starter. A couple days later we get a call from a Managing Director and he tells us that the line-of-credit will need to be venture debt and backed by equity or warrants, which we're not interested in since this is only a rainy-day LoC and we've got plenty of money in our SVB account. Fast forward to today and they tell us that they won't give us the LoC anymore unless we also agree to use their Innovator card.

Basically I'm looking for other banks that are great to work with and understand how startups work and the needs they have. I've looked at Mercury, and we have an account there, but I was hesitant to move too much away from SVB because it "just worked", but obviously now I'm reconsidering. Hopefully HackerNews has some good advice and recommendations.

  • by immad on 6/29/2020, 8:52:01 PM

    (I am the CEO of Mercury.com.)

    Lots of people switch over from SVB to us. Happy to answer any questions you have.

    We go out of our way to be transparent in pricing, have great customers service and "just work". We dont currently do LoCs though.

    Also feel free to email me (my username AT mercury.com)

  • by bberenberg on 6/29/2020, 8:54:03 PM

    JP Morgan Chase. They aren't sexy. They don't have a great API. They don't have a good UI. They're slow as shit to process your paperwork. Our rep calls us every time even though I have asked him to email instead. They suck in almost every single way you can imagine. But, they also tend to function like a real bank, and outside the last few months, have treated us pretty well.

  • by todsacerdoti on 6/29/2020, 8:42:57 PM

    Mercury - https://mercurybank.com - They also have the best API available for a bank.

  • by lfittl on 6/29/2020, 8:55:47 PM

    I assume you know this, but just to mention it:

    For issuing cards, you can use Stripe nowadays. If you're doing this as part of your business (e.g. like Expensify is doing), its available to all US based businesses: https://stripe.com/issuing

    The more convenient Stripe Corporate Card (which sounds like that may be your use case?) is still invite only: https://stripe.com/docs/corporate-card

    (I myself am queued up for an invite on the Corporate Card, and using Chase Credit Cards in the meantime, which are okay, but not great)

  • by esilverman on 6/29/2020, 9:44:48 PM

    +1 for Mercury. We (FeaturePeek) started on SVB and it was a terrible experience. Mercury has been great

  • by cweagans on 6/29/2020, 9:03:00 PM

    Azlo https://www.azlo.com/

  • by markvdb on 6/29/2020, 11:00:23 PM

    Related question: what bank would you go with for a super simple euro zone llc?

    The requirements are simple:

    - a proper EU based IBAN

    - SEPA bank transfer

    - SEPA direct debit

    - proper customer support

    - proper web experience

    - debit card

    - (preferably) limited credit card support

    - honest and transparent pricing

    There's obviously the company's home country banks, but I'm specifically wondering about banks offering EU wide services. Either I'm not looking well enough or there isn't really a decent bank offering these services EU wide:

    - Many more traditional banks don't seem to be interested in working with companies in different EU countries.

    - N26 doesn't seem to do llc's.

    - Revolut doesn't have a proper web client.

  • by awad on 6/29/2020, 10:08:35 PM

    First Republic has phenomenally great service and absolutely terrible tech, UI, etc. It all boils down to what your needs are from your bank. FRB are not great when it comes to lines, venture debt, etc but for day-to-day banking it's nice to have a real person on the other side.

  • by surferbayarea on 6/29/2020, 8:40:34 PM

    First Republic Bank

  • by blatherard on 6/29/2020, 8:50:32 PM

    You might want to check out https://www.grasshopper.bank/, which is a fairly new startup-focused bank based in NYC

  • by tmcpro on 6/29/2020, 8:43:44 PM

    Take a look at banknovo.com

  • by nikivi on 6/29/2020, 8:43:14 PM

    Monzo if you are UK based. Maybe US too.

    https://monzo.com/i/business/

  • by tapmap on 6/29/2020, 9:41:03 PM

    I have had SVB see transactions from Transferwise in my account and then call me up and offer a better rate on their foreign transfer services. Interesting!

  • by jondishotsky on 6/29/2020, 10:01:55 PM

    +1 for Mercury!