Opening a Business Bank Accounts in Singapore

Top 3 Business Bank Accounts In Singapore For New Business Owners

Opening a business bank account is the first step for any new business.

Running a business is not easy and we all know there are lots of risks involved. We’ll discuss the important considerations, but first, let’s talk about the top 3 business bank accounts.

The top 3 business bank accounts in Singapore In no order: 1. DBS Business Digital Account: – No minimum monthly balance (consequently, no fall-below fee either).

– Initial deposit: S$1,000 – Monthly maintenance fee: S$18/month.

– Online banking features, a checkbook, and a debit card are free of cost.

2. UOB eBusiness Account: – Average monthly minimum balance: S$5,000. Fall-below fee: S$15.

– Initial deposit: S$1,000.

– Annual account fee: S$35.

– Comes with digital banking features.

– S$0.75 per cheque cheque-clearing charges; over-the-counter fees of S$20/transaction.

3. OCBC Business Growth Account: – No minimum monthly balance.

– No initial deposit.

– Monthly maintenance fee: S$10/month.

– Online banking, mobile banking, PayNow Corporate, digital tokens, e-invoicing, ealerts, cashflow management tools, etc. available.

– S$0.75 per cheque cheque-clearing charges; over-the-counter fees of S$20/transaction.

– S$25 per checkbook.

What are the important considerations?

Those aren’t the only banks! You’re free to do your research.

There are many important considerations when it comes to selecting a business bank account that fits the bills. It’s not wise to try to determine the best business bank account. The modern Singapore business climate is so vast and versatile that what one business finds great in a business bank account, another might even shun it.

That’s the current scenario of entrepreneurship. We have so many banks providing so many different types of bank accounts. This guide will help you cut through the clutter and focus on what matters.

We’ll describe all the important considerations. This will allow you to do your own research and make up your mind about which business bank account should you go for.

The most important considerations when hunting for a new business bank account can be quite baffling. So many features and so many options – how do you even begin to choose?

Thankfully, most of the jargon can be slimmed down to a few bare essentials.

Separating the wheat from the chaff is important and that’s precisely what we have done. We have separated the valuable features from purely marketing-specific lingo.

Here are the questions you should get answered to compare different bank accounts.

You can either research or call the bank’s agent to get your answers.

Heads up: This is where you create a spreadsheet and start recording the responses to the following questions.

What’s the minimum deposit when making the account?

Usually, business bank accounts need a minimum deposit initially to create the bank account. Directly ask what deposit is required.

This deposit will be stored in the bank account itself. It’s generally around S$3,000.

What are the minimum monthly balance limit and the fee or penalty for falling below it?

Business bank accounts also have a minimum threshold. Your account must have a minimum balance of S$10,000 for example (or equivalent if you have a multicurrency account). If you go below this, then there will be a fall-below fee.

Fall below fee is usually around S$40.

There are averaged costs.

Some banks also have no minimum fee accounts. For example, the DBS Business Digital Account for SMEs.

How will you be able to scale the account?

Your initial bank account will quickly become insufficient to handle larger and more frequent transactions if all goes according to your plan.

– What are your options then?

– Which higher bank accounts you can upgrade to, if any?

– What are the features of those bank accounts?

– What is the typical process of the said upgrade?

– Will upgrading require you to reopen a completely new account and wait for days?

How easy is it to scale in the future is a key consideration. Many startups choose a bank that has low fees and low minimum thresholds. They also don’t inquire about scalability options because that’s not a priority at the time.

A large number of these businesses end up opening completely different accounts in other banks later on. It ends up costing more money and time than upgrades.

What is the account maintenance fee?

Many banks charge an account maintenance fee or service charge. This is typically divided into a monthly account fee and an annual account fee.

A bank might only have one of those fees or even none, in some cases.

An annual account fee will be around S$30-50 in most cases.

What are the online banking features that the account will provide?

You must find out the online banking features that are supported because your business will not just be doing cash transactions.

Generally, SMEs are easily provided internet-based and mobile-based banking without any additional fee.

These can be website platforms where you can register and use various features such as payments or mobile apps that you can also use to receive notifications for payments in real-time.

It varies wildly between banks. As a business owner, you will surely have different priorities for your business and different expectations from your bank account. That’s why it helps to do some digging into this aspect.