What are the best banks for small businesses?

I would like to refer you to a brief I wrote a month or two ago in the Finance section of focus which discusses 10 ways to manage business credit. This might be helpful to you.

Clearly your bank is not doing a good job of tending to your account. But before you leave, be sure your relationship is just deposit and not borrowing. If you are borrowing from the bank, I do not recommend leaving; rather go fight with your loan officer for better service and a dedicated operations person.

Banks have many customers and regardless of which you are with, you will deal with nameless and faceless folks who process your transactions. If you keep your requirements in line with what their existing systems can provide, most banks can provide accurate transaction accounting. If you are not borrowing, then checking references on a number of local banks before you switch should get you into better hands.

Interesting because I went from a "local bank" to a large bank PNC, and love it much more. I have all my banking even my personal banking there.

Dan,

I feel your pain!

What I did was write a list of attributes I wanted my new bank to have i.e. the attibutes of my ideal bank.

I found one that was pretty close and local. They know my name. And I can easily download my files from their website and upload them into Quickbooks making my book keepers work easier.

Dan, I don't know if a national bank or a local bank will make that much difference. It might be a good idea to set up a personal relationship with a manager at a bank that is convenient for you.
I've been with a national bank all the years I've been in business, but deal mainly with two local branches. I'm known at both branches & have a good relationship with the manager, tellers & other employees. I find this to be the most helpful when choosing a bank--you can depend on great customer service no matter what the problem is.
Another plus with this bank is they are easy to do business with online. Their site is user-friendly.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
Ronni

Having had experience with all sizes of banks and in different parts of the country, my suggestion is to do some homework and research on banks that you have access to and what type of banking relationship you need.

My experience with the huge, national banks has never been favorable. Their business model is to work with big businesses not a small business or a consumer. Those are penny ante accounts and usually more trouble than they are worth in their model. Look beyond their own website to see about possible unethical or even illegal practices, consistent problems and complaints. If you feel the need to work with one of them perhaps for international banking purposes then you must be prepared for dealing with a lack of concern for any issues you may have.

Local banks can be very customer focused with great customer service. However there are two factors that one has to take into account. Not all of them may be able to provide some of the functions you might need as easily or even at all. Some may not have expertise in complex banking instruments or have loan or line of credit capabilities that your business might need. In addition, the bank is far more dependent on the local economy and if yours is depressed or volatile because of a single industry or other factors, then its ability to meet your needs during a poor economy may be problematic.

Regional banks may be a better choice because the have a tendency to still have excellent customer service, the ability to provide all needed services and are less dependent on the local economy for stability. They have spread the risk so to speak.

Credit unions are great for consumers but were never really developed for small business some have been changing that but they often do not have many of the services a business may need.

In making a choice, you might want to include this website in your research. http://www.fincen.gov/ Here you can find out if a bank has been involved in any type of financial crime or has been fined for something. If you find out that a bank has been fined because it has no really functional plan in place to monitor for money laundering you might ask yourself what other kind of safety precautions they are not taking.

You have received several good answers here and I hope they help. I have worked in the financial services industry for several years and would say that for a small business needing mostly checking and money management services, a local bank with the potential for personal services and more flexibility in what they can provide to support your needs is a great choice. Not to say that a national or regional bank can't provide personalize service and even personal bankers, but the community bank has more ties to the local businesses and when it comes time to obtain additional funding for your business can often be more flexible. I have as a business person had accounts at the larger banks and not prefer my local bank. Having worked at some of the largest banks in the world, I know first hand the challenges of providing the quality of service needed. For my personal account, I still do all my banking back in New York, over the phone and internet, but when I want real service for my business accounts I depend on the local community bank.