Bluevine vs. Relay

In the comparison of Relay vs. Bluevine, the three biggest differences are:

• The option to access a Bluevine Line of Credit or revolving balance credit card alongside your checking account
• The ability to earn interest in your checking account
• The speed of mobile check deposits

While Relay offers multiple checking accounts and a savings account, there are few credit options available for businesses that may require additional cash flow to grow. Additionally, out of all Relay’s accounts, interest is only offered in their savings accounts on balances over $1,000. The Bluevine Standard plan earns 1.3% APY^BVSUP-00013 on checking balances that meet activity requirements, while Plus earns 1.75% APY^BVSUP-00014 and Premier earns 3.0% APY^BVSUP-00015 after a monthly fee. That means, assuming activity requirements are met, you earn interest on all your money, from the moment it hits your account—not just what you set aside. Finally, Relay’s check deposits can take up to seven days, while Bluevine deposits 97% of checks on the same day (can take up to five business days).

Bluevine and Relay both offer ways to earn interest on your account. However, Relay’s interest is earned in a savings account, while Bluevine allows you to earn interest directly in your checking account and sub-accounts, taking away the need to transfer money between accounts to earn interest. Relay’s checking account offers 0% APY—Bluevine’s offers up to 3.0%, depending on account type.^BVSUP-00184

Both Relay and Bluevine support a wide variety of customers, from solopreneurs to startups, and all sizes of small and growing businesses in between. Relay tailors more of its offering toward businesses that embrace the Profit First cash flow management methodology.

While Bluevine embraces all small business owners, its full-featured banking platform can also be suitable for profitability, especially with up to 50 sub-accounts with automatic transfer rules. Bluevine also offers invoicing and Tap to Pay payments, which route directly to your Bluevine Business Checking account, high interest in that checking account, and lines of credit to help with cash flow for all qualified businesses.

Required documentation may vary slightly depending on what type of entity your business is, but this information broadly falls into three categories:

• First, we’ll ask for some basic information to create your sign-in: your full name, email address, mobile phone number, and a secure password.
• Second, we’ll want to know about your business: trade name or DBA name, business address and phone number, EIN confirmation letter, annual revenue, entity type, and your industry.
• Third, we’ll want to learn about you and anyone who owns 25% or more of the business: home address and phone number, date of birth, SSN, and ownership percentage of the business. We may also ask for the front and back of your driver's license.

For a detailed breakdown of what you’ll need by entity type, click here.

We currently offer three Bluevine Business Checking plans: Standard, Plus, and Premier.

Our Standard plan comes with 1.3% APY for customers with qualifying activity,^BVSUP-00005 no monthly fees, a three-month free membership to Xero,^BVSUP-00181 and FDIC insurance up to $3,000,000 through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.^BVSUP-00108

With our Plus plan, you get all the great benefits of our Standard plan, and 1.75% APY,^BVSUP-00131 20% off most Standard payment fees, six months of Xero, and more for a waivable $30/month fee.

Finally, with our Premier plan, you’ll enjoy 3.0% APY on checking balances up to $3,000,000,^BVSUP-00116 50% off most Standard payment fees, six months of Xero, and access to priority customer support for a waivable $95/month fee.

Yes, Bluevine accounts are FDIC insured up to $3,000,000 per depositor through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC and our program banks. $3,000,000 in FDIC insurance is offered by multiplying the standard $250,000 FDIC coverage across multiple banks.^BVSUP-00108

While being a Bluevine Business Checking customer is not required to apply for a line of credit, if you open a business checking account you'll be considered for all our weekly and monthly repayment plans.