Great People great service some of the tech is a bit outdated but its zero fees and great service thats what counts Thank you

Let me begin by stating, Karen, the woman I interacted with was kind, professional, knowledgable, and did all she could to assist. With that - SBB app has is the only way to work with them and their upload mechanism is not very functional. I had to create a workaround with my phone to supply them with my EIN form, drivers license, etc. I have a legitimate company open for many years, in good standing. It can be verified via the state, IRS database, BBB, D&B and many other sources, not to mention my own ID and SS card are legitimate. I simply wanted to follow my financial advisor's advice for an additional bank account to use in the event of an outage at my main bank, etc. He recommended SBB and a few others, so I chose SBB. It took them over a week to decline my application and refuse to provide any reason. I took my information to another recommended online account and had my new account within hours. Keep I mind, the account I have at my current bank I have had for 17 years without any issues. I question the process they use to verify. There are several other online banks my advisor suggested, Grasshopper and Bluevine being among them. read more

Almost ever interaction I have, they tell me something different and then are short with me or flat out rude. I got called today after calling Friday to have my account closed since the business is no longer in operation and I was told I would be contacted in a few days when complete. I just got called today on a Sunday asking if I needed help. I said I didn't think so because I called on Friday to close my account and they said it should be fine soon. I was told I needed to send a secure message to close the account instead. I questioned why they would tell me something different in Friday and the conversation went downhill from there. She ended up saying well we can just see what they do. What does that mean? Am I getting called back? Am I not? Are they going to close my account? Are they going to inform me if they cant close my account? I strongly do not recommend SBB based on customer service alone. There are banks that offer similar services and are much more friendly. read more

RUN! If there was a 0 star I would give SBB... If there was a 0 star I would give Small Business bank "SBB" that. Unfortunately I have to click on 1 Star. In my 57 years of doing business I have never gone though anything so unprofessional as to what I just went through with Small Business Bank. The only reason I decided to use a online bank is because I'm opening a online business. BIG mistake. 1st - their website is slow, hard to navigate and way out of date. 2) - there's an 800 number that goes to a calling center, who knows where the calling center is but it's not the actual bank so all they can do is answer the phone eventually and then take a message for someone at the bank or try to put you through but most of the time no one answers at the bank. The calling center people are actually polite and try to do their job, but there's only so much they can do. So none of this is their fault. 3) once you leave a message they either never get back to you or it takes for ever. Really bad service. 4) I eventually got through to them, and was able to open an account. Once I went through all the BS of applying, they gave me my log in credentials, I logged in and noticed there was messages on their crappy slow secured message box. The messages stated I needed to upload mine and partners gov. ID's. Which I did but their 1980 website kept telling me they didn't upload. So, again replied to their email asking them if they received the ID's or not because I couldn't tell but it seemed it worked. Eventually, (2) days later they emailed me back to let me know they had received our ID's. But then I needed to fill out my partners info, which I had already done when I originally applied, weird right?. I figured I would do it again, once I filled out her info again I never received confirmation it was done, so again I don't know if they received the info they requested. I received another secured email letting me know I needed to get a some form, I can't remember what they called it but I needed to fill it out, signed and notarized. I felt it was weird, so I questioned it, and they emailed me back apologizing that I didn't have to do that it was a mistake of their part. Again, more BS from them. After all that I'm thinking I have an account and I'm about ready to link to my online business to start depositing money. 5) A few Days later I get an email on my personal real life email letting me know I have an email in the secured box in my back office of their website. So, I go to log into their website and I'm not able to log in. I call the call center, they can't put me through to the bank and I leave a message but no one gets back to me for 3 days. I call back a man answered and I'm on the phone for over an hour trying to get through to the bank and NADA, I can't get through and the guy on the call can't find my account anywhere. I gave him my account number, business name, you name it, I gave it to him and nothing. So we leave another message LOL. None of this was his fault. It's the blind leading the blind because the so called fake online bank doesn't communicate with them. 6) Next day I call again, because again no one calls me back from the bank and leave another message. Finally, the next day someone calls me back to tell me my account was closed because of a discrepancy. WHAT? no explanation? no reason? I have perfect credit, have plenty of money in the bank, been in my home for a long period of time, have owned many businesses. HUH? MORAL OF THE STORY - DO YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR MONEY IN A SO CALLED BANK THAT, WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING OR WANT TO TAKE YOUR MONEY OUT, YOU CANT GET AHOLD OF ANYONE IF THEIR IS A PROBLEM AND NEED MONEY IN A EMERGENCY and no one gets back to you and you can't call the bank directly? They open an account with you, take out the $5.00 from your REAL bank account and deposit it. You upload everything they ask for only to find out (2) weeks later there's a discrepancy and they close your account without any explanation. I have an account number, log in etc. They are so stupid they send you an email you can only read or open through their 1980's website secure portal but close your account so you can't log in to read. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. My recommendation would be to RUN and not put your money in this so called virtual bank, you may have trouble getting your money out when you need it. By the looks of the reviews, I'm not the only unhappy person. read more

Small Business Bank - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Lenexa, Kansas

Small Business Bank has been great for my small biz for the past 9 years, up until today. I have not been able to get the app to function for 3 days now and the website is not functioning. To call, you get through to just leave a message that no one responds to. I am FREAKING OUT because I now have no way to even see how much is in there, put money in and take money out. NOT OKAY FOR A BUSINESS BANK!!! read more

I do not have an account yet, but noticed they do not have an email on their website. You have to call them. They were nice, the one time i called them. read more

Decent rates and fees but absolutely horrible customer service. I was with them for a couple years but have not been able to access my money for several months now after their failed migration to a new website and new mobile app. I have called customer service numerous times but no one answers the phone. I cannot even re-register to get to my account. read more

Small Business Bank's customer service has gone totally down hill. Their move to a new banking system locked us out of accounts. Their outsourced business support line tells you to leave a message. In the meantime we can't make deposits, transfer money or get balance information. Their process to re-register accounts since their banking change over is a total farce. Their re-registration process doesn't work. read more

HORRIBLE. First they make it so that I cannot pay bills out of the account, like my rent! Then they tell me if I buy a phone they will pay for it. NOT TRUE, sent the receipt and they said too late, too bad for you. Never said their was a time limit on when I could afford a new phone. Then once I get this new phone, there is no way to download the app to the phone and no app store will carry it. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE MESS OF LIES AND NOT A BANK FOR ANY BUSINESS. read more

Great bank! I really don't understand the negative comments-and the reason I am leaving a review. Whenever I call them (and I prefer calls to email and texts), their representatives have been extremely helpful and courteous. I RECOMMEND SBB to anyone. read more

I saw reviews saying they have fairly quick (~4 hour) approval time, but that was not my experience. I filled out the application and received a screen saying I would get an email "momentarily" telling me how to proceed. A full day later, and no email. I did upload the documents I figured they would require. I called them late today and asked about status and they told me they were upgrading their system to "make things easier for people signing up, and to make things flow better" and that I would receive an email from them either late today or tomorrow. We will see, and I will adjust my review as appropriate. But thus far... they are a "meh" for me. read more

I must say, after the horror show trying to set up business banking locally that Small Business Bank is amazing! My LLC account was approved to move forward in under 10 minutes. Customer service returned my call immediately the first time and I actually had a live person on the line the second time that I called. Try that at your expensive local bank! read more

This review is for Small Business Bank, a division of Gardner bank. It is NOT a scam. To address the previous review - just because they weren't able to verify your identity doesn't mean it is a scam. It means they weren't able to verify your identity, and take security seriously. SBB made it very easy for me to open an account for my business remotely (I'm in California, they're in Kansas), they were very prompt and professional in their correspondence, and called me to let me know that they had received my documents. All the other banks I contacted about opening a business checking account were a hassle to deal with. This, however, was exactly the experience and level of service I wanted. read more

Awful, awful bank. They got my address wrong on my checks even though it was correct on the slip they had me verify. I'm not sure if they retyped it or what, but apparently it isn't an electronic system for them. They updated it but then the zip code was wrong. I asked them to change it several times and they said it was, but they could never explain why my credit card transactions always got declined for "zip code mismatch". I used the account anyway for several years using only bank to bank transfers, deposits from my merchant account, and check deposits. The good: - it's free - if you are an LLC you can set it up easily 100% online The bad: - very poor attention to detail (see above) - the website is requires you to pick awful passwords and then change them often. The logon process is also spread out over 3 screens so you can't even have a password manager remember it for you. Finally, there is a checkbox "forget this computer" that is checked by DEFAULT! so unless you remember to uncheck that the next time you logon you have to answer your security questions as well. - the website is slow and shows a loading screen a lot. it's not very intuitive and is, frankly, ugly. It looks like it was built about 5 years ago and just never updated - transactions don't appear online for a couple days. My other banks shows the same transactions in hours - the app is even worse than the website. Easily the worst app I've ever used. The view shown when you deposit a check is reversed so when you move you phone up the check moves down. When you move your phone left the check moves right. It's like a really frustrating game. And, of course, since this is a 100% Internet based bank there is no other way to deposit a check. Eventually I got frustrated enough and just switched to a local bank. It's also free, has NONE of the bad points above (awesome website and app) and the only downside was I had to drive 5 minutes and spend 20 minutes setting up my account. As a final slap in the face when I closed my account they had me email in a form. I did and then sent me and email saying I had a secure message waiting on the website but it was "secure" and couldn't be sent through email. I had to logon to read it. I tried to logon but it asked me security questions that I had never set up. I had to do a web chat where they explained my account was closed. The system wasn't smart enough to know it shouldn't send a secure message to someone who logon to read it. read more

Small Business Bank through Gardner Bank is horrible! RUDE people, terrible customer service. They hold your checks for 10 days which is way too long and when you ask a question using their online contact form...you never, ever get a reply. I said to them in the beginning that I would not need to take credit cards, yet they sent me a Priority Payment Systems card reader anyway stating that it was no charge to me so I might as well have one in case...Wink. So now I get a letter from Priority Payment Systems saying they are going to charge me $12.50/mo. unless I use it. I am returning that reader now and I have to pay shipping to send it back! I called PPS to see if they had a return label and my "handler" Lauren was SO RUDE to me on the phone saying they have not charged me anything to have the reader and an open account for so long and they would not pay for shipping to send it back..she even suggested that I keep the reader and they would just send me a bill for it. All I did was ask! WOW...REALLY????? SmallBusinessBank/Gardner Bank works with THESE people to give their customers a good banking experience???????? Now, I have to send the bank a form to cancel my account on their secure server that kicks me out every time I try to upload the form. Shouldn't an ONLINE bank work ONLINE? Uggh...I just want out of this HELL! Never banking here again... read more

Please look at the most recent reviews... I would leave NEGATIVE 5 STARS if it were possible to do so! Was steered to this bank in 2014 by a private SBA loan "facilitator" that I now suspect probably was getting a commission. I have had nothing but problems with this so-called "bank" - poor overall performance doesn't even describe my experience. I had a business loan with them. Through the COVID pandeminc I was the one to find out the details of SBA loan foreberance/help programs.I was th eone sending them the links to SBA.org and pointing out what programs I qualified for. Then they interpreted the directives from SBA and failed to communicate the changes to me. Never call when they sey they are going to; emails take a while to be returned, when they are. I got fed off and paid off the loan on the phone, something I didn't want to do because I would have no paper trail. Couldn't do it online as I was used to since access to my account, like that of so many others who are leaving reviews, could not and STILL cannot be accessed as of the writing of this review. The app will NOT connect with their server. Having received no communications since, I checked my account and see that the payment has not being withdrawn. Now I am tryinig to reaxch the bank and I am being sent to voicemail any time I try to reach the loan department or the bank president. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS BANK - they underperform, you will have a hard time reaching anyone to help you past the "customer service" rep (read "switchboard operator") and you will waste precious time from your life doing their work for them. Just talked to a new person in the loan department -the previus officer "no longer works at SBB" [turnover seems to be a problem with this bank]. Sure enough, my payoff payment, done on the phone, for the whole amount on the loan done 2 weeks before this review WAS NOT PROCESSED! You do not want this headache. Lots of great banks out there. Lots of CREDIT UNIONS, if you qualify for their services. Go ANYWHERE but to SBB. JUST. DON'T. TRUST. YOUR. FINANCES. TO. THEM. read more

I am re-posting part of my review from the review I left on SBB's Facebook page with additional details: I've been banking with SBB for over a year now. While the setup process was a little tedious and it took longer than expected, the experience since that time been excellent. Remote check deposit from their mobile app works great (they will hold the deposit for 3 business days if it's over a certain amount). I am able to accept direct deposit payments. And I can transfer money from the business account to my personal checking account using their online Bill Pay feature (free, built into your account). I am able to accept payments using my DBA name as well as my legal name (had to fill out paperwork to do this). If you have account questions, they have a secure messaging feature in your account when you log in. Usually takes 2 days to get a response, so if you need a faster answer, call 'em. I would recommend SBB to any micro business owner. After scanning a few Yelp reviews, some people have complained about the user interface of their online banking system. I don't find it confusing at all. I have personal checking accounts with two separate banks. One is a larger community bank and provides a more GUI-attractive online interface and I'll tell you, I find their user experience to be confusing. Sometimes I have to email them to find out where stuff is hidden. SBB seems straightforward compared to others in my experience. To address mentions of poor communication practices, I will say that it took me a few phone calls to check up on the status of my application. They seem very small but very friendly. The person I spoke to said that due to the popularity of the SBB program, they needed to hire more staff fast and that training these new hires takes a long time. No excuse for poor customer communication in the meantime, but there's their answer. Seems like they may have had about 5-ish people working solely on SBB at the end of 2014. I'd hope that now their staff has been augmented and trained and perhaps response time has improved. If it helps to know, I am a marketing consultant that works with clients around the country. My typical deposits range from $400 to $4000 and are made via direct deposit, mobile app check deposit (take a pic of the check on your smartphone with their app), or electronically via Harvest, my invoicing application. read more

I applaud them for trying and we certainly need better online business banking options than are currently available, but SBB isn't there yet. Positives: you can call and speak to an actual person without too much delay, during Central business hours. Both times I've called the banker was nice and knowledgeable. Cons: ATMs - SBB's debit cards only work at Shazam (I had to look it up) atm's which aren't many. The cards aren't linked to ANY of the major atm networks (Plus, Cirrus) and won't work internationally. SBB also doesn't reimburse the atm fees. This just doesn't cut it for any bank operating out of ONE brick and mortar location and trying to break into the internet banking market. "Security Validation" - Our first attempt to open an account at SBB was blocked simply because I have a freeze on my credit file due to past identity theft. (A routine security practice everyone should have.) They didn't bother to ask me for a code to release the info, they just cancelled our application. My partner was able to easily open an account even though we later realized he'd typed in the wrong SSN number. Great validation, guys. Soapbox: I'm calling out other reviews and SBB's response here on yelp for blindly promoting security theatre. Many companies these days rely on third-party "security validation" services run by data brokers with no fact-checking on the files they keep on everyone. These "Data Marketers" should be held to the Fair Credit Reporting Act but aren't. We need to do better and stop blindly thinking these companies are worth any trust. read more

Do NOT use Small Business Bank - this is a scam!!! Here is the reply I got - after stupidly taking the other reviews on this site for the real thing and entering all my personal information into their online "Secure" application: exact quote: "Thank you for your application to open a smallbusinessbank.com checking account. You failed to pass the ID test when you submitted your application which resulted in an automatic denial of your application. Your application has been deleted from our database. No exceptions can be made and you will not be allowed a second attempt at ID verification. Best Wishes, SBB Office - 913-856-7199 Toll Free - 1-855-856-0233 www.smallbusinessbank.com" ...can you say personal information scam?? Do NOT trust your info to their site (www.smallbusinessbank.com). read more

Unsure of who manages this bank, and why they are still employed in that capacity. I applied for their small business account, and everything seemed to go easily enough. I have multiple existing clients and physical addresses, but I am still operating what is generally a new business. I was quickly contacted via phone to clarify an issue with application. Then contacted again, for the exact same issue. No biggie, but this was a sign the office generally lacks any sort of communication. I was asked to send additional documents multiple times. Each time I was told I would be contacted again about the status of my account. That never happened. Not once. I was forced to call them multiple times to ask about the status of the documents they requested. I was eventually told my account looked good to go, and I should receive a confirmation email that my account was ready. I even made my initial account funding. Never received an email. Or a phone call. Or any contact. For two weeks. The money left my personal bank account, but I still did not have an account with Gardner Bank. I managed to fund an account that was still not ready. Called again! Asked what was going on with my account application. It had been more than one month since anyone had contacted me regarding the application. The individual looked over my info, could not seem to figure out what was needed, and told me my usual contact would call me back as soon as they were off the phone. I emailed the company a few days later, after hearing nothing. Again, I heard nothing. Zero response to my email. I was then over two months from my initial application. Despite multiple assurances I would hear back from this bank, I heard nothing. Well over a month of contacting Gardner bank, sending them additional documents, and hearing nothing. I will admit that they refunded my initial funding fairly quickly, after asking them to close my account or application. I still have no idea what happened with it, or what the problem was, or if they needed more information. Otherwise that, what is going on here? I think I totaled 5 phone calls, 5 emails, and sent them documents a total of 4 times. I completed my process online with a "big bank" in under a week. They needed less documents, and they contacted me when they needed something else. I think sometimes you pay what you get for, and Gardner Bank's zero fees results in zero customer service. read more

The account is still open and the jury is still out, so I may have occasion to modify this review. So far, however: 1. The process to open the account was far longer and far less efficient than other banks. 2. It seems like "any excuse will do" for rejecting our customers checks for deposit. When they do reject a check for deposit, they don't even contact us, they just post a message to the account web page - leaving us to figure it out and later mail the deposit in via snail mail. 3. Responses to direct questions via secure server on their mobile app are either doltishly simplistic or absurdly vague. 4. The amount of time they take to make funds available from a deposited check adds horrendously to our payment cycle. For example, the customer pays us the day of service. The check is deposited via remote capture the following day. Funds availability continues to be 5 or more business days, which means we don't see our customers payment until the second week after providing service - we're effectively loaning our customers money at no interest. (The local bank makes funds available the following business day. 5. Really, the only reason we opened this account was for the CC processing function and remote check deposit. It may be time to reconsider. 06/01/15 - Update - Mobile Check Deposit barely worked to begin with and now it seems it's getting worse. 07/21/15 - The only bank I've ever known that doesn't allow you to wire funds to another bank. No explanation or lame justification offered. The verdict is finally in. Worst bank ever. Run like the wind. read more

I gave this online bank a try for my sole proprietorship because I'm planning to travel and wanted all my accounts to be online. I have decided against using SBB, and just wanted to pass along why. I found the customer service to be quite helpful and personal on the phone or via chat. The online UX is fairly weak as others have mentioned. They seem like a really small organization that is trying but doesn't have the resources to do things particularly well; I mean, it isn't that hard to find good examples of online banking UX to copy but they sure haven't done so. Anyway that wasn't a huge issue for me; I don't use online banking for anything other than downloading my statements which I was able to do. During signup I did all the paperwork for sole proprietorships and when nothing happened, I checked in after a few weeks to learn there were additional things I had to do for all accounts that were not listed on the "for sole proprietorship accounts" list; perhaps I should have realized, but I'm not sure I would have known if I hadn't called. Anyway once I called I got good help and got the account set up and ordered some checks. The people there are very nice. The dealbreaker ended up being this: there are several kinds of checks they won't accept via mobile deposit, and for me that ended up being about half the checks I tried to deposit! You won't get notice of this until a day or two after you make the deposit. Among those they do not accept via mobile are checks my customers have sent out directly from their banks. So if a client's check is mailed out by their bank, because they use mobile banking to pay their invoices, that check will need to then be mailed in. They told me there had been past problems with these kinds of checks, and that surprised me; if anything these should be safer, since they literally cannot bounce, but there must be other concerns. So I'm in the process of closing this account. (Interestingly, the paperwork they sent me to sign and send in was an excel spreadsheet, and the fields weren't even set up to use well. I'm half inclined to send them a proper, useable PDF version of it, as a little gift on my way out!) So for now, I'm not sure there is a good online solution for small businesses. I'm glad they are trying, and they are REALLY nice but they are not there yet. For comparison, my test with Schwab online banking for my personal account has gone quite a bit better. Maybe someday Schwab will offer business banking online. read more

What a great product - the Small Business Bank. I'm not sure what others are referring to, but I sent in my application and I had my account open on the same day... SAME DAY! They reviewed my documents, called me, and even set up all logins etc within about 4 hours. I've never seen a bank move so quickly. You're paying $2.99/month for a small business account - you want fancy UI/UX? I'm a software architect - it's expensive to do that. Go to a "big bank" if that is what you need. For myself, and our business Trackete.com (plug!) we just needed a basic account. This works great. read more

I found this s bank on google with good reviews and free checking account for business online, I applied and they opened my savings account the same day, but I wanted a checking account, so after asking them to open the checking account the opened an account but I couldn't deposit any money in it, it's been 10 days since the account was first opened, Today I've had it with this bank and I asked for them to close my account, I need a bank to work with me not against me, I'm glad I severed the relationship with them before I got too involved read more

I'd been with the big box banks that are too big to fail for years. Fee gauged and had it with the bureaucracy of fluff banking. Gardner/SBB is the best bank ever for a small business. Their online interface is just plain simple, no frills.. which is just how I like it. I've been using them for almost 2 years.. and just can't say enough about how great and efficient their service is, and how helpful their phone support. So even though I'm half way across the country, Gardner gives that personal touch that will keep me and my business with them for forever! I tell everybody I can about Smallbusinessbank.com. read more

Small Business Bank - Best On-line bank, Very friendly and helpful phone support - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Lenexa, Kansas

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Used to be great. Glad I didn't review it then. They changed their mobile deposit policy and now I feel I can't ever get a check to post the same business day anymore. They are on central time, and instead of posting my money almost instantly like they used to, I have to wait till the next business day o actUlky be able to use any money. Everything is closed where I live before 4 central time. I'm on eastern time. So my money post a little after 5pm in my time. Biggest load of horse schlow I've ever stepped in. If they don't change back to how they were I can't stay with them or reccomended them to anyone. CHANGE BACJ TO HOW YOU WERE!!!!! read more

Small Business Bank - Banks & Credit Unions Near Me - Lenexa, Kansas

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Terrible customer service. My application was approved immediately, but I never received a confirmation email or a follow up phone call. Also, I could never speak to an account representative. The secretary always said, "...no one is available, so please leave a voice message." Today, I canceled my application...I will go somewhere else. Beware of this service! read more

Horrible bank! Customer service do not what they are doing. I opened an account 30 days ago and can't even access it. Now I'm trying to close/cancel my account and can't even get the proper help. read more

Very excellent banking experience. I applied online as everyone does, I did not have a problem with the verification process. I was told to email my Business details, drivers license etc, which I did, and I was soon approved. The whole process took about a week, because I had a expired ID from my business partner, and had to wait for a new ID to arrive. I love the Phone Customer Service. Someone always picks right up. There is NO time wasting prompts that make it hard to reach someone. This is one of my favorite features about SBB. It is very easy to reach Customer Service, and they respond quickly to emails. The website, is a bit slow , so I hope they improve on that, but overall not a big deal. So far I love SBB bank, and are very happy to be a part of their bank. My advice is this...try SBB bank out for yourself, some of the things that people are complaining about on the reviews, are downright silly. Most complain about failing the verification process. The SBB website gives them 2 chances to pass the verification. ALL banks nowadays when you apply online make you pass verification. This is just a part of life. and that does not make the bank bad. I am happy with SBB. read more

I spent a significant amount of energy trying to open an account at smallbusinessbank.com responding to requests for more and more documents and information, only to have them deny the application in the end. Their initial reason was that my company was "too large" and when I pointed out the error in that conclusion they changed the reason to "it's owned by a holding company." I asked where that policy was written, and was told it was an unwritten policy. Then I was told "had we let you open an account, we would have have provided you our written policy that says we can close your account anytime we want for any reason we want." Very little indication they have even minimal respect for their customers. Still waiting for $100 deposit to be returned. read more

I'm in CA and my company has had a small business account with Gardner Bank for 2 years. We've had nothing but positive experiences. Their mobile app could use some improvement, but it's nothing staggering. I recall the verification process being pretty involved, but who could blame them for that in this day and age. All of our correspondence with them has been virtual, so that should be expected. Gardner/SBB is one of the very few companies I'm loyal to. Great folks, great service. read more

trash bank. very unsecured my account gets hacked on the regular causing lots of problems with payments and then they charge overdraft fees and return payment fees when it was the banks breach in the first place. my entire family and family business has pulled out of this bank and so am i. read more

This review is specific to SmallBusinessBank.com (an online bank and branch of Gardner Bank). I would not recommend this bank for anyone who does not live near a brick and mortar branch of this bank - in fact, I would caution against using SBB. I conducted a lot of research before selecting a bank. I was drawn to SBB because they had no minimum balance (which as a start up was great because I was worried about paying a fee for the first few months, before I built up an operating account cushion), provided free checks, had the ability to process credit card payments, and promised a small bank feel with it's customer service. I read the warnings posted on Yelp, but most had to do with the verification stage of the account set up. I figured if that would be the issue, I would know immediately and that would be that. Thankfully, I didn't have any issues with setting up the account initially. I sent in all the documents requested and was contacted the next day. A couple days later, I was called to provide the start up funds for my account; I did so using a credit card. I logged on to the bank website about 3-5 days after I put down the initial deposit. To my surprise, the account stated it had a $0 balance. I called that same day (October 2) and asked why the initial deposit was not showing. I was informed that they sent me a signature card (via their bank secure messaging) that needed to be returned before the account was opened. I signed and returned the signature card that same day. I was told that it could take up to 24 hours to process the signature card and open the account - but that I was all set. I was paid by a client via ACH payment on October 7. I logged into the account to ensure that the payment had gone through. I called the bank on October 8 to determine how I could access the funds, as I had not been provided with a debit card or checks. They indicated that they had sent those items out and that I should receive them within 5-10 business days. On October 8th, I went to Chase and opened up a business banking account because I was frustrated with SBB and just wanted to have a physical bank location for my business account. On October 10th, I called SBB to arrange a wire of the funds in my account to my new Chase account and to close the SBB account. At this point, I was informed that the only money in my account was my initial deposit. When I asked what happened with the funds that were sent, they said they had returned those funds to the bank that sent the money because my account was not active. This is where I lost complete faith in this 'bank.' Now, as a start up business, I have to tell my biggest client that they have to resend their payment because of a banking error. W-A-Y-T-O-G-O SBB. Seriously though, issues like this can cause clients to doubt start ups and to question their financial fitness. Simply put - it makes me look like I don't have my stuff together - EVEN THOUGH I COMPLETED AND RETURNED ALL THE PAPERWORK REQUESTED. As of October 10th, I've now completed and returned my "Closed Account Form" and will chalk this experience up to being too optimistic about the ease of opening an online business banking account. Now, I'll just pay whatever the monthly fee is at Chase and know for certain (as they handle my personal accounts, credit cards, and mortgage) that my business needs will be met without questions and without fail. The only bright spot in dealing with SBB was that the people I spoke with on the phone were pleasant. However, being pleasant is not enough when the SBB bank system is totally inefficient. read more

Update: We went for DCU. I wouldn't say that DCU is perfect but you get free checking and less of a hassle. Avoid smallbusinessbank at all costs. This was a ludicrous and frustrating experience. We just had a similar experience as the other posters below. Unfortunately, I read those reviews after applying for an account. I completed my application, uploaded all of my documents as did my partner. They kept sending me emails and calling me leaving me messages about having my partner go through the application process even after he did it. Then we got the email. My partner failed his "verification" and his application has been deleted. No exceptions can be made. They wasted my time and caused a delay in launching our product. Here is the kicker. He works for a CREDIT UNION! Please avoid this bank. Please do not waste your time. "Thank you for your application to open a smallbusinessbank.com checking account. You failed to pass the ID test when you submitted your application which resulted in an automatic denial of your application. Your application has been deleted from our database. No exceptions can be made and you will not be allowed a second attempt at ID verification. David, please do not reply to this review asking me what you can do for me, because obviously you can do nothing for me so that's a pointless offer. I read your responses to the other people that can't open an account with your bank. I can open an account with another bank. read more

Just chiming in on the not-a-scam thing. Based on documents on the Federal Reserve's website, it's obvious that SmallBusinessBank.com isn't a scam, but rather a division of Gardner as Captain P noted. http://www.federalreserve.gov/SECRS/2012/August/20120803/R-1442/R-1442_080212_107967_463707262150_1.pdf read more

They were great...until they were not-so-great. Easy to sign-up and had great phone support. That said, one day an investor in my start-up tried to wire money to my account. His bank returned it saying that the account was closed. I assured him this was not the case and called the bank. The woman on the phone said that account was indeed closed the day before. I had no written or verbal notice in advance that they were closing my account, and had no prior warning that we had any activity that they were not equipped to handle. Apparently, I had too many wire transfers coming into the account. I guess FOUR incoming wire transfers over a several month period is too difficult for a bank in the digital age to accomodate. When I questioned the "manager" I was told that they work for small businesses. Mind you, the grand total of these four incoming wire transfers was less than $80K. We're not talking high finance here, simply an internet start-up with a little bit of investor capital. SO....they closed the account with no written or verbal notice in advance...and I had two outstanding checks. My lawyer had to call them and get them to keep the account open until these checks cleared. NO WHERE in the bank's terms of service does it mention a limit on incoming wire transfers, nor does it state anywhere that they can close an account without any advance notice. Heck, they could simply CHARGE for wire transfers like every other bank in the world and this would have been a decent profit center for them. Rather, they closed a business account without notice. Had those checks bounced, it would have adversely affected my credit rating. Clearly not the "helping small business" type of bank they promote on their site and in their literature. Further...the investor whose wire was rejected....well he's yet to re-invest and my company has lost out on a significant amount of startup capital as a result of Small Business Bank's unprofessionalism and ineptitude. My attorneys are filing an official complaint with the Better Business Bureau, the Banker's Bank of Kansas (with whom they are affiliated) and is contemplating filing suit for the amount of money lost for the wire that was rejected. I switched to Bank of America in one-day. They are pro and honest. STAY AWAY. read more

Just reiterating what JF already said here. It's a division of Gardner Bank in KS, and it is not a scam. Many of the negative reviews are due to Gardner's security measures. Aren't stringent security measures a good thing? It was easy to open an account, and I've always had the best experience with their CSRs. They're all helpful, polite and knowledgeable! read more

www.smallbusinessbank.com surprisingly doesn't like people from San Jose. I got exactly the same rejection email as another reviewer. I applied for a No Bull Checking account online, filled out the form and passed the ID verification successfully (as promised, took 2 minutes). 3 hours later I received an email... with a link to "ID verification". The link was actually to Docusign, a site that allows to sign documents electronically, not specifically an ID verification site. I noticed that they used an alias of my name different from my legal name I put on the form (did they take it from the internet or something? I didn't provide it) but it gave me some recognizable information anyway. I filled everything right, but then the next page told me I failed the ID verification and can't access the documents. I emailed back to this manager called David, asking to correct my name and reset the form but then next morning I received the email "You failed to pass the ID test when you submitted your application... automatic denial of your application... No exceptions can be made and you will not be allowed a second attempt at ID verification" and blah-blah, the rest of it (see another review here). The "automatic" part apparently took something like 18 hours. The particularly insulting was "YOU failed to pass the ID test". You didn't put the right name, I asked to correct it, and now "I" failed the test. I also have an account with Docusign and it displays this envelope for me, and it was empty, they really didn't sent me any documents (2 weeks later I got an email that the envelope got "voided" - what a progress of technology!). Also, they collected my SSN and DL numbers (over an online form!), but Docusign uses the name, birth date and current address for verification from public records, no SSN or DL needed. The Privacy Policy quotes "computer safeguards and secured files and buildings" as security (so much for the 21st century web!). I couldn't find any function encrypting data from the form before posting when looking through the page source, just passing data over SSL is not enough (DISCLAIMER - may be I missed it, but I looked kind of hard). Neither does the Privacy Policy say if sensitive data is saved as encrypted. I initially trusted the good reviews but now keep imagining sensitive data sitting around in some logs, even after being removed from the database... The site installs cookies but the Privacy Policy fails to mention it. The application form doesn't work in Chrome. And also the games played with Docusign and using the name I didn't give to them are kind of creepy. May be they are fine as a brick and mortar bank, but sound grossly incompetent as an online business. read more

I've been using smallbusinessbank.com for the last few months. They do have very rigid security questions, which tripped me up a few times, but I was able to log in eventually. One nice thing, for a free online bank, is you can call and talk to an actual person if you have any trouble, or have special needs (I'm printing a book in China so needed to do an international wire transfer, which they don't do, but they helped me transfer the money to a bank where I could do the transfer from). I have not experienced any fees with this bank. I researched all the banks in Colorado where I live, and they all charged several different fees for business accounts. So far I would recommend smallbusinessbank.com to any small business owner who needs a simple account(I just got a debit card, but I think they offer credit cards too). They have been great for me. erik yosemitebigwall.com read more

I've had an excellent experience with Gardner Bank's "Small Business Bank" checking. I opened my account in April of 2013 because it offered FREE business checking, had an actual brick-and-mortar presence, and checked out online (FDIC insured, etc.). The application process asked some pretty standard identity questions to which you SHOULD know the answers - not that tricky. As I recall, the online application process required one actual telephone conversation with a friendly, professional, and helpful person in their Lenexa office, and then I was good to go. Their online mobile deposit software is super-easy to use. Checks deposited have an automatic 3-business-day hold, then the funds are available to use. As advertised, the account has been totally fee-free! read more