Relay Bank vs. Chase Bank: Choosing The Right One

Choosing the right bank for your business is a crucial decision that can have a significant impact on your financial success. Whether you're just starting out or looking to switch banks, selecting the right institution can mean the difference between seamless financial operations and costly mistakes. With so many options available, it's important to take the time to carefully consider your needs and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each potential banking partner. In this blog, we'll explore the importance of choosing the right bank for your business and provide some key factors and specifics about two banks in particular - Relay Bank vs. Chase Bank - to consider in your decision-making process.

Both Relay Bank and Chase Bank are built with business banking in mind. Relay Bank and Relay Bank are both fully digital banks, but Chase also has thousands of brick-and-mortar locations across the United States.

Quick Overview of Relay Bank vs. Chase Bank

Relay Bank Features

Relay is an all-digital bank that offers business checking. Like US Bank, Relay Bank has a free basic plan and a paid Pro plan. Their basic plan for small businesses has no account fees, overdraft fees, or minimum balance requirements. You can create up to 20 individual checking accounts according to your business’s needs and have the option to be issued up to 50 virtual or physical Visa debit cards. You can withdraw and deposit cash at over 40,000 Allpoint ATMs across the United States, and this plan also integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero.

Relay Bank has a Pro Plan for $30 a month. It comes with all of the features in the basic plan, plus you can get same day ACH and free outgoing wires (Compared to 1 to 2 days and a small fee in their basic plan), auto-import bills from QuickBooks, Xero and other accounting softwares, create rules for bill payments, approve and pay bills under one dashboard, and consolidate payments to the same vendor in a single transaction – all tasks that are meant to streamline your accounts payable. Relay Pro also comes with 50 same-day ACH transfers per month.

Chase Bank Features

Chase Bank is a digital bank and mobile bank, but also has more than 5,100 physical branches nationwide, making it a brick-and-mortar bank, too. Chase Bank offers a variety of banking services: personal and business checking and savings accounts, home, auto, and commercial loans, personal and business debit and credit cards, and investing solutions.

To keep on the brief side, we will mostly discuss their personal and business checking.

Personal Banking

Chase Bank offers both a checking and savings account for personal banking.

They offer 5 different types of checking accounts available for individuals interested in personal banking to choose from.

1. Chase Total Checking: This is a basic checking account that comes with standard features such as online banking, mobile banking, and access to over 16,000 ATMs and 4,700 branches. There is a monthly service fee of $12 for this account, which can become $0 if certain criteria are met.
2. Chase Premier Plus Checking: This account offers all the features of the Total Checking account, plus a few additional benefits such as interest on your balances, no fees for using non-Chase ATMs, and free checks. There is a monthly service fee of $25 for this account, which can be waived, again, if certain criteria are met.
3. Chase Secure Banking: With Chase’s Secure Banking checking account, there is no minimum balance requirement, no overdraft fees, you get a free debit card, and it has a low monthly fee of $4.95. (This amount cannot be waived with certain criteria met, unlike the first two mentioned.)

The next 2 checking accounts are meant for personal banking customers who may have needs that are greater than the average banker who just wants a simple account. There are two higher-end premium checking accounts available through Chase. They are:

1. Chase Sapphire Checking: This account is designed for customers who maintain a higher balance in their account and want more personalized service. It offers all the benefits of the Premier Plus Checking account mentioned above, plus no fees for incoming wire transfers, no foreign exchange fees, and a dedicated customer service line. The monthly fee for this account is $25, but can be waived to $0 if certain deposit and balance criteria are met.
2. Chase Private Client Checking: This is the ultimate checking account that Chase offers. It includes everything that the Sapphire account has, plus close collaboration with a dedicated Private Client Banker, a personal Business Banking Advisor, and discounted rates on home and auto loans.

All Chase checking accounts come with a debit card. Some come with cash back rewards if you meet purchase and transaction requirements.

Chase Bank also offers account options to younger populations: parent-owned accounts for children aged 6-17, parent co-owned accounts for kids ages 13-17, and accounts for college students ages 17-24.

Chase Bank offers savings accounts that can earn you interest on your balance (interest rate depends on where you live), automatic transfer with a Chase checking account, mobile banking, and up to 5 free transfers a month.

Business Banking

For businesses, Chase offers checking and savings accounts, loans, financing, retirement solutions, and debit and business credit cards. For brevity’s sake, we’ll mostly share about their checking and savings accounts.

Their business checking accounts include:

1. Chase Business Complete Banking: This account is $0 per month if you meet criteria ($15/month if you don’t). You can make unlimited debit and ATM transactions, make up to $5,000 in cash deposits without a fee, and no hidden fees.
2. Chase performance business checking: This account is also $0 monthly if you meet the criteria ($30 a month if you don't). You also get up to 250 transactions per month and unlimited electronic deposits and incoming wires.
3. Chase Platinum Business Checking: This account is $0 if you meet requirements, $95 if you don’t. This account comes with up to 500 transactions per month at no charge. With a certain balance, you can receive a CPC relationship status and fee waiver.

Chase Bank offers two types of business savings accounts. They both can earn you interest, have automatic savings transfers enabled if you link it to a Chase checking account, and can have the monthly fee waived for both, if you have a qualifying Chase checking account.

Chase also offers a wide variety of debit and credit cards for businesses that come with cashback rewards and grow with your business by raising the credit limit.

General Comparison of Relay Bank vs. Chase Bank

Both Relay and Chase are digital and mobile banks that offer business checking. However, that is the extent of what Relay Bank offers. Chase Bank offers both business and personal savings and checking, loans and financing, and personal and business debit and credit cards.

Relay has a basic free plan, while Chase Bank’s business checking plans all cost a monthly fee. However, most of these can be waived if certain account and transaction criteria are met.

Relay has one paid plan for $30, while Chase Bank has several to choose from. They do have one for the same amount of $30. According to the $30 Relay Pro plan, you get up to 50 free same-day ACH transfers per month, while in Chase Bank’s $30 plan, you get up to 250 free transactions a month.

As for added on perks of the business checking account, Relay Bank allows you to create up to 20 sub-accounts with their own numbers within your account and receive up to 50 different debit cards. This is helpful if you have a bigger team making purchases on your business’s behalf. Relay Bank’s debit card does not offer any cash back. They also don’t any APY on any of their accounts.

Chase Bank has several different options for business checking accounts. They also offer personal and business savings, debit cards, and credit cards. All of these services under one bank is extremely convenient for business banking. Chase Bank offers an APY rate and cashback on qualifying debit and credit cards.

Fees

Relay Bank offers offer no minimum balance, no monthly fee on their basic plan, no annual fees, and no ATM fees at participating ATMs across the United States. Relay also offers no overdraft fees.

On most of Chases’s personal and business checking accounts, they offer a $0 monthly fee if you meet specific account requirements when it comes to transactions and balances. (If you don’t meet the requirements, then you are charged a monthly fee. The amount depends on which type of account you have.) However, their most basic checking account is $4.95 a month and can’t be waived. Chase Bank also has no ATM fees at thousands of ATMs nationwide.

Availability by Region

Chase Bank operates in over 60 countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Relay Bank is available in the U.S., and also 200+ other countries if business has an operating presence in the U.S.

Security

Both banks are FDIC insured. Relay accounts are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through a partner bank, Thread Bank. Chase Bank is FDIC insured through itself.

Our research showed on Relay’s website that there was no specific dedicated space or page to show what security measures they take for their customers. However, they did publish a blog to show how safe online banking is compared to traditional in-person banking, and in that blog, they have an infographic that states the following security measures are taken at Relay: liability protection on cards, multi-factor authentication, multiple checking accounts to minimize the risk of fraud, instantly freeze cards and issue new ones, and collaborate on banking securely, without needing to share login details.

Chase Bank offers multiple authentication checks, reports suspicious activity, and encryption technology.

Mobile App

Both Relay and Chase are digital/mobile banks and are available for both Android and Apple products. They both are also compatible with desktop. You can complete all of your banking tasks on their mobile apps.

Debit Cards

Both Relay’s and Chase’s business checking accounts come with debit cards. Through Relay’s Pro plan, you can get up to 50 business debit cards for your business checking account. They don’t come with any cashback rewards.

Chase checking accounts come with debit cards. Certain checking accounts offer debit cards with cash back rewards. Cash back percentages depend on the level of account you have. Chase has more than 17,000 ATMs nationwide where you can make free withdrawals.

Credit Cards

Currently, Relay doesn’t offer credit cards as part of their services.

Chase Bank has a wide suite available of different types of personal and business credit cards with cashback rewards. Chase Bank also offers financing and loans.

Customer Service

Relay offers support via email 7 days a week – they state they “will get back to you in a few hours.” They also have live chat available on the browser version of Relay. Live chat is available M-F from 9 AM to 6 PM EST and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 PM to 3 PM EST. Their phone lines are available M-F 9 AM to 5 PM EST.

Chase Bank offers specific phone lines for the different services they offer. You can also message them on their social media platforms. No live chat was mentioned on their website.

Both Relay and Chase have extensive help centers that includes in-depth guides and FAQs.

Why Choose Relay?

If you're starting to hire other employees within your business and your spending is increasing across multiple types of vendors, Relay may be the way to go for you. With the Relay Pro plan, they offer up to 20 individual checking accounts and up to 50 different physical or virtual debit cards. If you are a bit of a larger company, you probably already have accounting software – Relay easily integrates with Quickbooks, Xero, and others.

Why Choose Chase?

If you are an individual or business that needs greater options and a bank that scales with you, Chase Bank may be the best route for you. You can also access credit cards and loans through them. Their wide array of account choices—with scaled features each level you go up—is sure to fit your business’s growing needs. If you are looking for a wide variety of personal and business account choices, debit and credit cards, and loans, then Chase may be the right choice for you.

Bottom Line

You know what your business’s exact needs are. Large factors in choosing between these two banks are business size and rate of growth. We hope that after reading this, you are educated on both and are close to making the choice of which one is right for your business.

Interested in what other banks can offer you? Read our other business banking comparison blogs here.

About The Author

Bryan Huynh

Product Tester & Writer

Bryan Huynh, a committed Product Tester and Writer, ensures that you are well-informed, guiding you in discovering and comparing top-rated financial services, including personal loans, business loans, credit repair, and tax relief.

Articles by Bryan Huynh

---