Grasshopper Bank vs. BlueVine Bank: Which One is Right for Your Business?

Searching for the right bank for your business can be a daunting task when you're sifting through dozens of choices that all have similar features, benefits, and perks.

That’s exactly why we decided to spend the time and do the work for you to compare dozens of banks—to help you make the best decision for your own business. We dive deep into each one, so all you have to do is read this blog.

Let's discuss how Grasshopper Bank compares to BlueVine Bank. Both are built with business banking in mind and offer lending as a primary service. Grasshopper Bank and BlueVine Bank are both fully digital banks and have similar account and lending features and perks. However, one rises slightly above the other in certain aspects. We'll break down those differing factors for you.

Quick Overview of Grasshopper Bank vs. BlueVine Bank

Grasshopper Bank Features

Grasshopper offers digital banking that's built for businesses and provides specific large loans.

Business Banking

Grasshopper offers small business, startup, and venture capital and private equity accounts.

It has a host of features for small businesses that are built around your precise business processes, such as online bill pay from your account, the ability to send digital invoices straight to customers, and instant check deposits. (Quite a few online banks don’t offer instant check deposits, so this service is a huge plus.)

Grasshopper for small businesses also has built-in automated bookkeeping features, and it integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. It also offers a free Visa debit card that earns 1% cash back on online and signature-based purchases. Your checking account is accompanied by a 1.51% APY, so your money is making you money. It also offers fee-free withdrawals at 37,000+ MoneyPass and 8,500+ SUM ATMs nationwide.

Grasshopper not only offers all of the same great features for startups, but it also makes an effort to help you scale your startup by identifying lending solutions that fit your business’s needs, offering pitch practice to potential investors and holding office hours for you to speak to industry experts.

Grasshopper also caters to venture capital and private equity entities. The company offers flexible financing solutions for all stages of your fund, interest-bearing deposit accounts, 24/7 online treasury management, access to industry experts, and portfolio support.

As far as credit cards go, Grasshopper offers a corporate credit card on a referral basis only. Grasshopper has partnered with Ramp, a service that provides credit for businesses, and Grasshopper streamlines the process. Through Ramp, it offers high-limit cards and 1.5% cash back on purchases.

Lending

Grasshopper also offers specific loans, including small business administration (SBA), venture capital and private equity, commercial real estate, and yacht loans.

As a preferred lender of the Small Business Association, it offers SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans. For venture capital and private equity, it offers general partner (GP) term loans (up to 70 percent of GP’s commitment to the fund), capital lines of credit, management company working capital lines of credit, and end-of-life facility loans.

Grasshopper’s commercial real estate loans start at $1 million and provide liquidity lines of credit, and its yacht loans range from $1 million to $10 million, with terms of up to 20 years.

BlueVine Bank Features

BlueVine is another digital bank that offers business checking and lines of credit. Some of the features of banking with BlueVine include:

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• Earn a $300 bonus when you open a new account and complete qualifying activities
• Up to 4.25% APY available with paid tiers; Standard has no fee
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• Unlimited transactions, no overdraft fees, and no fees on ACH payments or incoming wires
• Add up to 5 sub accounts each with designated account numbers
• Get up to $3 million in FDIC insurance — that’s up to 12x the national average
• Live customer support from dedicated professionals (A+ rated by BBB)

Bluevine Business Checking View Offers

Year Founded	Pricing	BBB Rating	APY
2013	No service fees	A+	4.25%

Banking

BlueVine's business checking accounts were built with small businesses in mind. It has no monthly or overdraft fees, and no minimum balance is required. The company features a rather high-yield APY of 2.0 percent, which is well above the national average, provided you meet certain monthly debit transaction or deposit requirements.

Its online small business banking also comes with online bill pay, the ability to create up to 5 subaccounts with designated account numbers, the choice to create separate logins for different members of your teams, and no fees of any sort. It also integrates with QuickBooks Online.

BlueVine also offers a business debit Mastercard. You can withdraw money fee-free at over 37,000 MoneyPass ATMS. In our research on its website, there was no mention of any cash back rewards in regard to the debit card.

Business Lines of Credit

Apart from business banking, BlueVine also offers lines of credit for businesses. It offers up to $250,000, with rates as low as 6.2 percent. You're able to draw the funds on demand, you have access to revolving credit as your credit line replenishes as you make payments, and your credit limit grows with your business.

To qualify for BlueVine’s business loans, your business needs to:

• Have a 625+ FICO score
• Have been in business for over 2 years
• Have a minimum of $40,000 in revenue per month

General Comparison of Grasshopper Bank vs. BlueVine Bank

Both Grasshopper and BlueVine are digital banks that offer business checking and forms of credit. They both have no fees of any type, including no monthly fees, and their checking accounts also come with a free debit card. They also both integrate with QuickBooks.

They differ slightly in their checking account perks. Grasshopper has a 1.51 percent APY, while BlueVine boasts a 2 percent APY, which is very high compared to the norm. Grasshopper also offers a referral credit card, but BlueVine doesn’t offer a credit card.

Blue Vine does offer a large amount of credit to qualifying businesses. While Grasshopper doesn't directly offer credit, four specific types of loans can be obtained through its partner, Ramp.

Fees

In regard to fees, both BlueVine and Grasshopper have no monthly, ACH, or overdraft fees, and they both offer no ATM fees at thousands of participating ATMs.

Availability by Region

We looked everywhere on Google and Grasshopper’s website to see if it's available for use outside the United States. There was no clear answer anywhere after our thorough research, so we concluded that no, it isn't available for use outside of the U.S.

BlueVine is available in the U.S. and Canada, but it can't accept or initiate international wires.

Security

When it comes to banking, one of the top concerns is security. You want to know your money is going to be safe, even if your information is stolen. It's important for a bank to take your security seriously and do everything it can on the IT side to protect your information.

Both banks are covered by FDIC. Grasshopper checking accounts are insured up to $250,000 through FDIC, and BlueVine accounts are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 through a partner bank, Coastal Community Bank.

Mobile App

Both Grasshopper and BlueVine are fully digital banking apps and both are available for both Android and Apple products. They're both also available for your desktop.

Grasshopper has a 4.2-star rating for Androids and a 4.5 rating for Apple. BlueVine has an Android rating of 4.5 and an Apple rating of 4.7 stars.

Debit Cards

Both Grasshopper’s and BlueVine’s checking accounts come with a free debit card, both of which give you cash back rewards.

You can withdraw money fee-free from your Grasshopper account at 37,000+ MoneyPass ATMs and 8,500+ SUM ATMs. BlueVine offers fee-free withdrawals at over 37,000 MoneyPass ATMs, with an out-of-network fee of $2.50 per transaction.

Credit Cards

Both Grasshopper Bank and BlueVine Bank offer credit services.

Grasshopper offers a corporate business credit card through its partnership with Ramp. Small and midsize business clients can apply for a corporate card on a referral basis in as little as 15 minutes. As a bonus, clients receive a $500 Amazon eGift Card after spending $1,000 within 30 days of opening their account. This credit card offers 1.5% cash back.

Grasshopper also offers lending services. It provides loans for small business administration, venture capital and private equity, commercial real estate, and yachts.

BlueVine doesn’t currently offer a direct credit card. However, it does offer a line of credit for large personal or business purchases up to $250,000, with interest rates as low as 6.2%. It also gives you the option to pay bills with a credit card through its app; you would just need to add your own credit card. If you pay a bill with a credit card through the app, there's a 2.9% fee per transaction.

Customer Service

How well a bank serves its clients and customers can make or break whether someone continues to choose to use it. Bad customer service can cause a bank to lose customers more than not-so-good perks can.

With that being said, Grasshopper offers telephone, email, live chat, or text support. Oddly, the hours and days of operation weren't mentioned on its website and weren’t found with a simple Google search. When you click to chat with a customer service representative, it takes you to its partner's website. However, it does have a form you can fill out to get in direct contact with a Grasshopper team member.

BlueVine has phone and email listed as ways to reach its customer service team. Its phone lines are open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. When you email the company, you'll get a message that says they'll “get back to you shortly,” so expect to wait a few hours for a reply. No live chat is available. Both Grasshopper and BlueVine have an extensive help center that includes in-depth guides and FAQs.

Why Choose Grasshopper?

As with any big decision, the biggest deciding factor is how well the choice fits your needs.

Grasshopper fits the needs of a small business very well. One aspect that sets it apart from BlueVine is its self-accounting features, including the ability to send digital invoices to customers and clients, built-in automated bookkeeping software, and integration with Quickbooks. It also offers SBA loans to small businesses and is a preferred lender.

The company seems to want to grow with your business, and it gives you a boost to do so, as its accounts offer a 1.51 percent APY. Its debit card has a 1 percent cash back reward, while its corporate credit card has 1 percent cash back.

Why Choose BlueVine?

BlueVine was designed with business needs in mind. Within your checking account, you can create up to five subaccounts, each with its own account number, so you can categorize your accounts according to your business needs.

It also offers a higher APY at 2.0 percent (an industry-leading percentage) for your checking account. However, you'll only receive this rate if you meet certain balance and transaction amount requirements. You must spend $500 a month using your BlueVine-issued debit card on qualifying purchases or receive $2,500 per month in customer payments into your BlueVine checking account or subaccounts to qualify for the 2.0 percent APY.

If your account doesn't meet those requirements, your account won’t yield any interest for that month. If you make a lot of purchases on certain things and use your BlueVine checking account, earning the 2.0 percent shouldn’t be an issue. BlueVine also offers a revolving line of credit to qualifying businesses of up to $250,000.

Evolution and Design Analysis

Grasshopper Bank has positioned itself as a robust solution for small to medium-sized businesses and startups. Its services are designed to streamline the financial operations of a business, with tools such as automated bookkeeping and digital invoicing which directly integrate with QuickBooks. This design philosophy not only supports financial management but also enhances operational efficiency.

BlueVine Bank focuses on flexibility and financial growth, offering high-yield APY for eligible checking accounts and multiple sub-accounts which can be tailored for different financial needs or projects. This capability is particularly beneficial for businesses looking to optimize their cash flow management.

Industry Comparison

When matched against industry standards, both banks offer unique advantages. For example, BlueVine’s APY of 2% on checking accounts is quite competitive, particularly when compared to traditional banks which often offer lower or no yields on business checking accounts.

Grasshopper’s integration with financial management tools is a standout, aligning with fintech trends towards greater automation and integration.

Broader Market Context

In a broader comparison with the likes of Chase and Bank of America, both Grasshopper and BlueVine maintain distinctive value propositions through their digital-first approaches. Unlike these larger banks, which often have complex fee structures and lower adaptability to digital trends, Grasshopper and BlueVine offer streamlined, transparent services that appeal to modern businesses.

Personal Evidence and User Experiences

Feedback collected from various business owners highlights Grasshopper’s effectiveness in loan offerings, particularly with SBA loans, which have facilitated many small businesses in securing essential funding.

BlueVine’s clients commend the flexibility of its credit lines and the ease of its digital banking solutions, which provide substantial operational efficiencies.

Bottom Line

You need to consider which bank’s features best match the needs of your business. Both offer similar services, features, and perks, but it seems that Grasshopper may be better built for small businesses, as it has a decent APY and directly offers SBA loans.

If you would like to explore comparisons of other similar banks, check out our entire blog series to help you decide which digital bank best fits your business’s needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Selecting between Grasshopper and BlueVine can be challenging, so ensure you are well-acquainted with the details of each account before making a banking decision.

Can I apply for an account online with either bank?

Yes, both Grasshopper Bank and BlueVine Bank allow businesses to apply for accounts online, providing a convenient and efficient application process.

How is a business bank account different from a personal account?

Contrary to personal accounts, business bank accounts might impose restrictions on your monthly cash deposits or transaction numbers. However, many business accounts supplement these limitations with additional features such as invoicing, payment processing, and other helpful tools, simplifying the management of your business operations.

Is Bluevine business checking a real bank account?

Yes. While Bluevine is not a bank, they’ve partnered with Coastal Community Bank to handle the banking half of the offering since starting a bank from scratch is incredibly time-consuming and expensive.

About The Author

Andy Chang

Founder of TheCreditReview

Andy Chang is the founder of TheCreditReview, a review site started in 2017 that is dedicated to helping consumers find the best companies in financial services. Andy is passionate about financial education and wellness, and helping others reach financial freedom. He consistently writes about topics ranging from credit to banking and lending.

Articles by Andy Chang

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