The first pure-play online bank, Security First Network Bank (SFNB), launched in 1995, just a year after Amazon.com. But unlike ecommerce, digital-only banking was slow to catch on. The legacy banks (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, et al) maintained market share by providing digital services deemed “good enough” to retain customers loath to switch banks.
But that began changing in the mid-2010s, first in the UK, then elsewhere as well-financed digital players started making inroads with consumers. There was Monzo, Revolut, Starling, Nubank, Chime, just to name a few. But we still haven’t seen a breakout small business bank, partly because of the love/hate relationship business owners have with big banks.
In the adjacent SMB lending space (see our Top 30 Digital Lenders list), top brands such as Kabbage (now American Express), Square, Paypal, Amazon, Brex, and others have grabbed significant share. But there is not yet a place where small businesses flock to get deposit, payment, and financing needs met in a single interface. Brex was probably the closest, but it recently abandoned the SMB market to focus on larger enterprises.
So who are the best digital challenger business banks? Let’s start with our definition.
- Centered around deposit and debit/charge card services (eliminates Kabbage and most SMB lenders)
- Predominantly focused on small-business financial services (eliminates Paypal, Amazon, Block
- Primarily digitally delivered (rules out Wells Fargo, BofA, and the majority of traditional banks*)
- Founded since 1999
For the latest table, check our Challenger Bank table.
Challenger of the Month*
Mercury Bank
Startups of all sizes rely on Mercury
Banking for what you’re building. Startups of all sizes rely on Mercury as they create the next great companies.
Introducing Mercury Vault: Protect your cash with a money market fund and up to $5M in FDIC insurance – 12x the industry standard.
HQ: SF | Founded: 2017 | Raised $136M (including $120M in 2021) | Valuation: $1.7 billion | Website visits: 2.2 million/month | Employees: 728 | Article citations: 20 | Linkedin: 37,000 followers | Trustpilot: 3.9 (822 reviews) | iOS app: 4.9 (3,800 reviews)
Resources: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: Small Business (SMB) savings/treasury accounts (7) | SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (15) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (16)| Payment processors (7) | Subscription processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)
The FAB Score (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size of a private fintech company.
Leading Digital Small Business Banks (United States)
ranked by our FAB score (Fintech Attention Barometer**)
| Rank | Company | FAB** | Reviewed | Founded | HQ | Funding ($M***) | Visits (Mar’24) |
| 1 | Mercury | 504 | 18 Mar 24 | 2017 | SF | $152 | 2,400,000 |
| 2 | NOVO | 319 | 18 Mar 24 | 2016 | NYC | $296 | 910,000 |
| 3 | Found | 162 | 18 Mar 24 | 2019 | SF | $75 | 630,000 |
| 4 | Relay | 150 | 18 Mar 24 | 2018 | Toronto | $43 | 660,000 |
| 5 | Arc | 99 | 18 Mar 24 | 2021 | SF | $181 | 11,000 |
| 6 | Lili | 54 | 18 Mar 24 | 2018 | NYC | $80 | 200,000 |
| 7 | NorthOne | 54 | 18 Mar 24 | 2016 | NYC | $90 | 81,000 |
| 8 | Grasshopper | 49 | 18 Mar 24 | 2016 | NYC | $172 | 48,000 |
| 9 | Viably | 47 | 18 Mar 24 | 2021 | NC | $71 | 28,000 |
| 10 | Baselane | 35 | 18 Mar 24 | 2020 | NYC | $7.9 | 130,000 |
| 11 | Slash | 29 | 18 Mar 24 | 2020 | SF | $19 | 71,000 |
| 12 | Meow | 21 | 18 Mar 24 | 2021 | NYC | $27 | 5,000 |
| 13 | Moves | 16 | 18 Mar 24 | 2020 | Dover, DE | $6.6 | 43,000 |
| 14 | Winden | 15 | 18 Mar 24 | 2021 | LA | $5.3 | 33,000 |
| 15 | ZilBank | 9 | 18 Mar 24 | 2021 | Dallas | $0 | 15,000 |
| 16 | Arival | 9 | 18 Mar 24 | 2018 | Miami, FL | $10.8 | 11,000 |
| 17 | Guava | 4 | 18 Mar 24 | 2018 | NYC | $2.4 | 2,000 |
Sources: FintechLabs, Pitchbook, Crunchbase, SimilarWeb; 18 Mar 2024
*Our business model depends on revenue from referrals and sponsors. When you see a referral link in the URL, we may earn a fee for new accounts (thanks!). This can improve visibility on our website, but does not impact the company’s FAB score.
** The FAB score, Fintech Attention Barometer, is a proxy for the overall size of a private company since they typically do not release traditional metrics (# customers, deposits, AUM, etc). The score is based on VC funding, website traffic, mobile downloads, and the number of employees. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes in the formula.
***Funding is the amount invested into the company as either equity or debt.
****Provide SMB checking accounts, but is not its core business.
Challenger SMB Banks Currently Active in the United States
1. Mercury Technologies
FAB Score = 504 (up 40 from Mar ’24)
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
Founded: 2017
Partner banks: Choice Financial Group, Evolve Bank & Trust, and a network of 20 banks to hold excess deposits; Patriot Bank (IO card issuer)
Traction
– More than 100,000 customers (Techcrunch, Mar 2023)
– $50B processed in 2022, double the $23B in 2021
– Raised $152M (Crunchbase) including $120M in 2021
– Valuation: $1.7B (based on July 2021 round); $1.6B based on Q3 ’23 secondary market sales
– Website visits: 2.4 million (Mar 2024; SimilarWeb) <<<< Most website traffic
– Employees: 800 (Pitchbook), up 72 since March, up 119 since January, up 131 since August
Social
– Articles: 20 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 40,000 followers (806 employees, up 35 since Mar)
– iOS app: 4.9 (4,100 reviews, up 300 since Mar)
– Trustpilot: 3.8 (872 reviews, up 50 since Mar)
2. Novo
FAB Score: 319 (u9 86)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2016
Traction
– Raised $296M including $125M in Aug 2023, $125M in 2022, and $41M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 910,000 (Mar 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 408 (Pitchbook), down 38 since Mar
– Integrations: Wise, Xero, Slack
Social
– Linkedin: 28,000 followers (410 employees, up 17 since Mar)
– Articles: 223 (Crunchbase)
– Industry awards: 4 (Novo)
– Trustpilot: 4.5 (4,160, unchanged)
– iOS app: 4.8 (13,600 reviews, unchanged)
3. Found
FAB Score = 162 (up 14)
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
Founded: 2019
BaaS partner: LendingClubBank
Traction:
– Raised $75.2M including $60M in Feb 2022; $12.75M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 630,000 (SimilarWeb, Feb 2024)
– Employees: 93 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, down 2 since October
Social:
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (90 employees, up 1 since Feb)
– Trustpilot: 1.7 (23 reviews, up 1 since Mar)
– iOS: 4.8 (15,800 reviews, up 800 since Mar)
4. Relay
FAB Score: 150 (down 6)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2018
– Partner bank: Thread
Traction
– Raised $43.3M including $24M in 2024, $15M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 660,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 152 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Mar, up 10 since Feb, up 24 since Nov
Social
– Linkedin: 7,000 followers (174 employees, up 14 since Mar)
– TrustPilot: 4.5 (1,550 reviews, up 80 since Mar)
– iOS: 4.7 (1,000 reviews, up 60 since Mar)
5. Arc
Fab Score = 99 (down 4)
HQ: SF
Founded: 2021
Banking services provider: Piermont Bank
Traction:
– Raised: $181M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 11,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 45 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 10,000 followers (144, up 6 since Mar, up 22 since Feb, up 31 since Jan, up 36 since Nov)
6. Lili
FAB Score = 54 (down 2)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2018
Traction:
– Raised $80M including $55M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 200,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 105 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 18 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 12,000 followers (80 employees, up 12 since Feb, down 154 since Feb, down 145 since Nov)
– TikTok: 234,000 followers; 600,000 likes (unchanged for a year)
– Trustpilot: 4.7 (3,040 reviews, up 100 since Mar)
7. NorthOne
FAB Score: 54 (up 5)
HQ: NYC/Toronto
Founded: 2016
Traction:
– Raised $90M including $67M in Oct 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 81,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 61 (Pitchbook), down 1 since Mar, down 2 since Feb, down 2 since August
Social:
– Articles: 33 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 9,000 followers (63 employees, up 1 since Mar, unchanged since Feb, up 3 since Jan, up 1 since Nov)
– TrustPilot: 4.4 (182 reviews, up 33 since Mar)
– iOS app: 4.7 (2,700 reviews, unchanged since Nov)
8. Grasshopper Bank
FAB Score = 49 (down 1)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2016
Traction:
– Raised $172M including $10M in Jan 2024, $30M Aug 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Assets: $620 million (12/31/22), 2.1x growth year over year (source: company)
– Deposits: $550 million (12/31/22), 2.2x growth year over year
– Loans: $450 million (12/31/22), 3.6x growth year over year
– Revenues: $17 million (2022), 2.4x growth year over year
– Website visits: 48,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 119 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Feb, up 18 since August
Social:
– Articles: 26 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 23,000 followers (122 employees, down 2 since Mar, up 2 since Feb, up 3 since Jan, up 9 since Nov)
– Trustpilot: 3.3 (93 reviews, up 7 since Feb)
9. Viably
FAB Score: 47 (up 1)
HQ: Charlotte, NC
Founded: 2016
Traction:
– Raised $71M including $50M (debt) in 2023 and $21M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 28,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 34 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Mar, up 3 since Feb, up 3 since Jan, unchanged since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 8 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,100 followers (35 employees, up 1 since Mar, up 2 since Feb, up 4 since Jan, up 3 since Nov)
– iOS app: NA
10. Baselane
FAB Score: 35 (down 6)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2020
Traction:
– Raised: $7.9M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 130,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 36 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Mar, up 5 since Feb, up 7 since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 5 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (36 employees, down 1 since Mar, unchanged since Feb, up 3 since Jan, up 6 since Nov)
11. Slash
FAB Score = 29 (down 1)
HQ: SF
Founded: 2020
Traction:
– Raised: $19M (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 71,000 (Similarweb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 18 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Jan, down 1 since Nov
Social:
– Article: 1 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,000 followers (18 employees, up 1 since Mar, up 1 since Jan, unchanged since Nov)
12. Meow
FAB Score: 21 (down 15)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2021
– Banking service providers: FirstBank, Grasshopper Bank, Third Coast Bank
Rates (APY)
Top: 5.0% Treasuries/4.80% FDIC insured (11 Dec 2023**)
Minimum Balance: none
Traction
– Raised: $27 million including $22 million in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 25 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Mar, down 2 since Feb, down 2 since Nov
– Website visits: <5,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Linkedin: 5,000 followers
13. Moves
FAB Score: 16 (up 3)
HQ: Dover, DE
Traction:
– Raised: $6.6M including $4.8M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 43,000 (Similarweb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 17 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Mar, down 25 since Feb, down 28 since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 10 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (15 employees, down 1 since Mar, down 9 since Feb, down 20 from Jan, down 29 since Nov)
14. Winden
FAB Score = 15 (up 3)
HQ: LA
Founded: 2021
Traction:
– Raised: $5.3M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 20 (Pitchbook), unchanged since August
– Website visits: 33,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
Social:
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (13 employees, down 1 since Mar, down 3 since Jan and Nov)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
15. Zilbank
FAB Score = 9 (down 19)
HQ: Grand Rapids, MI
Founded: 2021
Traction:
– Funding: INA (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 6 (Linkedin)
– Website visits: 15,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
Social:
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (5 employees, down 1 since Mar, down 1 since Jan, unchanged since Nov)
– Articles: 5 (Crunchbase)
16. Arival
FAB score: 9 (unchanged)
HQ: Miami, FL
Founded: 2018
Traction:
– Raised: $10.8M including $5M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 11,000 (Similarweb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 40 (Pitchbook), down 3 since Nov
Social:
– Articles: 6 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 15,000 followers (41 employees, down 1 since Mar, up 1 since Feb, down 1 since Nov)
17. Guava
Fab Score = 4 (unchanged)
HQ: NYC
Founded 2018
Banking services provider: Piermont Bank
Traction:
– Raised: $3.1M including $650k in Feb 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 2,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 10 (Pitchbook), unchanged since August
Social:
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (16 employees, unchanged since Mar, up 1 since Feb, up 2 since Jan, down 1 since Nov)
– Articles: None (Crunchbase)
Other SMB checking accounts at companies whose core business is not SMB banking
1. Bluevine
FAB Score = 274 (up 20)
HQ: San Francisco
Founded: 2013
Traction
– Raised: $769M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase) <<<<Highest funding amount
– Valuation: $1B+ (estimate)
– Website visits: 820,000 (SimilarWeb, Mar 2024)
– Employees: 606 (Pitchbook), up 22 since Mar, up 28 since Nov
– Articles: 127 (Crunchbase)
Social
– Linkedin: 55,000 followers (611 employees, up 12 since Mar, up 18 since Jan, up 31 since Nov)
– Trustpilot: 4.3 (7,890 reviews, up 160 since Feb)
Unlaunched or No Longer Listed
Lance (pivoted to Sequence spend management Sep 2023)
FAB Score: 7 (NEW)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2018
Traction:
– Raised: $4.7M (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: <5,000 (Similarweb, Sep 2023)
– Employees: 31 (Pitchbook)
Social:
– Articles: 7 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,200 followers (81 employees)
Vergo (pivoted to spend management for construction industry Sep 2023)
FAB Score = 10 (down 6)
HQ: NYC
Founded: 2021
Traction:
– Raised $4.2M including $4.1M in June 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: less than 5,000 (SimilarWeb, Sep 2023)
– Employees: 29 (Pitchbook)
Social:
– Articles: 3 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,300 followers (25 employees, unchanged)
– Trustpilot: NA
LiveOak Bank (discontinued business checking Aug 2023)
FAB Score = 45 (down 6)
HQ: Wilmington, NC
Founded: 2008
Traction:
Raised: $152 million (Crunchbase)
Revenue (TTM): $392M (Yahoo)
Valuation: $1.4B (Public; 30 Aug 2023, up $100M since 14 July)
Website visits: 150,000 (Similarweb, July 2023)
Employees: 886 (Pitchbook), unchanged
Social:
Articles: 3 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 18,000 followers (915 employees, up 9 since May)
Trustpilot: 4.2 (70 reviews, up 37)
Oxygen (removed Feb 2023, because they appear to be more focused on consumers)
FAB Score = NA
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $45M including $20M in 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 230,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2023)
– Employees: 92 (Pitchbook), down 5 since March
– Articles: 22 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 5,700 followers (97 employees, up 2 since March)
– Trustpilot: 3.3 (192 reviews)
– iOS app: 4.8 (24,100 reviews)
Zifi (Zions Bank)
Pivoted to card processing provider (April 2023)
– HQ: Salt Lake City, UT
– Founded: 2022
– Raised: NA (unit of Zions Bank)
– Website visits: 24,000 (SEMrush, April 2023); 4,300 (SimilarWeb)
– Linkedin: 267 followers (12 employees, up 12 since March)
Challengers Closed to New Accounts
Nearside (formerly Hatch) (removed Feb 2023)
Note: Plastiq acquired Nearside in Nov ’22 for a reported $130M and is shutting down its banking services
FAB Score = 66 (down 2)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $73M including $58M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 8,000 (SimilarWeb, April 2023)
– Employees: 57 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 5 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,500 followers (24 employees, down 15 since March)
– TrustPilot: no reviews
– iOS: 4.3 (183 reviews)
Solid (was Wise) >> pivoted to Fintech as a Service in 2021
FAB Score: NA
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $18M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 1.9 million (Mar 2022; SEMrush)
– Employees: 126 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,020 followers (56 employees)
Joust (acquired by ZenBusiness, 30 July 2020; currently referring customers to Radius Bank)
– Target: Freelancers
– HQ: Austin, TX
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $11M (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: Unknown
– Employees: 18 (Pitchbook)
– Citations: 5 (Crunchbase)
– Twitter followers: 448
– Trustpilot: NA
– iOS: 4.1 (28 reviews)
Seed (Acquired by Cross River Bank currently closed to new customers)
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
– Founded: 2014
– Raised $5.2M (2015) (Crunchbase)
– App downloads (last 30 days): 425 (Apptopia)
– Website visits: 210 (May 2021; SEMrush)
– Number of employees: 12 (Pitchbook)
– Citations: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Twitter: 810 followers
Addendum: Other SMB/SME challenger banks around the world (not a definitive list):
UK
- Alicia Bank – Raised $147M in Nov 2021
- CountingUp
- Allca Bank — was CivilizedBank
- Redwood Bank
- Tide – Raised $195M (through Nov 2021)
- OakNorth – Raised $1B (through Nov 2021); first SMB banking unicorn
Germany
- Kontist – Raised $48 million (through Nov 2021)
- Penta – Raised $83 million (through Nov 2021)
Australia
- Judo(public)
- Volt
- Zeller – Raised A$50M in June 2021
France
Rest of world
- Holvi – Finland: Acquired by BBVA March 2016
- Juni – Sweden: Serving ecommerce companies. Raised $21.5M A-round July 2021
- Tochka – Russia
