Novo Review

Novo is a free checking login that bills you for speed. The monthly fee is not the decision, because the cost is a balance that does not earn, a priced same-day transfer, and a wire that two Novo pages describe differently.

Toolradar data: in September 2026 the finance directory we maintain held 1,040 tools, and this page isolates the checking product that publishes a zero yield.

Put Novo next to the business bank account roundup, then the Bluevine review if the cash should earn, and the Mercury review if a domestic wire should leave for nothing.

How we compared: Novo, Mercury, Bluevine, Relay, and Rho, priced in US dollars on 24 September 2026.

No one paid for inclusion, we did not submit an application, and rate moves land in the Finpresso brief.

Novo Platform Inc. sells the software, and Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC, holds the checking deposits.

Novo's help center, updated 13 September 2026, says the cash is FDIC insured through that bank up to $250,000, so coverage quoted here stops at that cap.

The debit card is issued by Middlesex under a Mastercard license, so Novo is not the card issuer.

The fee schedule shows no yield on checking, and Novo does not offer a savings account or a certificate of deposit.

Reserves are labels inside the same checking balance, so parking tax money there does not create a second charter or a second rate.

The product page says Novo integrates with more than 40 tools, including Stripe, QuickBooks, Shopify, Square, and Xero, and that invoicing, bookkeeping, and reserves come at no extra Novo charge.

Novo's directory page is the product record beside this review.

The business credit card and the business loan are issued by Continental Bank, as separate credit decisions, so a checking approval is not an approval to borrow.

You apply online at 18 or older, living in the US, with the business registered in the US.

Every owner needs a Social Security number, a US address, and a US cell phone, and a sole prop also needs an EIN, so a freelancer without one cannot finish.

Checking does not pull a credit score, while a soft pull, which Novo says is not a hard inquiry, can happen only for Funding, the credit card, or the loan.

A startup that has not made a sale can still apply.

Standard ACH and mailed checks have no Novo fee. A push usually takes one to three business days, and a pull can take up to five, sometimes with an extra two-day hold, so payroll that cannot slip should not use the free rail.

Express ACH can land the same day and is not instant, and domestic wires sent by 3pm Eastern on a business day go out that day.

Outgoing international wires go through Wise inside the Novo app, and Wise shows its own fee before you confirm, so the cross-border cost is Wise's quote rather than a Novo line.

Incoming foreign wires have no Novo fee on the schedule, and the cross-border product is covered in the Wise review.

Reserves let you split the same balance into as many as 20 buckets and route a percentage of incoming funds by rule.

They are not separate accounts, so a vendor still sees one account number.

A firm that needs a distinct number per cash bucket is looking at Relay, not a Novo label.

You cannot deposit cash, and the workaround Novo describes is a money order, then mobile deposit, with MoneyGram money orders not supported, so a cash-heavy shop needs another bank.

Novo does not charge an ATM fee and reimburses third-party ATM fees up to $7 per customer each month, and withdrawals past that reimbursement are on you.

Novo does not charge per person, so a solo consultant and a ten-person shop pay the same sticker, which is nothing, until someone chooses speed. The bill is how often that month needs a same-day transfer or a wire.

A $400 express transfer costs $6 once the published rate is rounded down to the cent, and ten of them cost $60.

That month of express fees is what you set against a rival sticker before calling Novo free. The published cap stops the percentage from scaling on a large transfer.

Budget the schedule's ceiling until the dashboard shows less, and do not average the two wire pages.

One wire at that ceiling costs more than a month of Mercury Plus.

Express check deposit is a percentage of the check, with the same small floor as express ACH, so a large rush deposit is the costly path.

Ordinary mobile deposit has no Novo fee when the funds can wait.

Novo Boost is free, moves eligible Stripe payouts up to two business days earlier, and stops at $5,000 early at a time, and it is not a loan.

The marketing page says there are no transaction limits, while the help center says ACH, check, ATM, and debit limits vary by account, so use the limits in the app.

Mercury sends domestic ACH and domestic wires free, which is the gap if you wire every week.

Plus is $29.90 per month and Pro is $299 per month, and its FAQ still opens paid plans at $35 per month, waived through 31 December 2026.

Treasury starts after $250,000 across Mercury accounts, and that sleeve is securities, not checking yield.

Bluevine Standard can pay 1.3% APY through the published cap in a qualifying month, which Novo checking never does.

The middle plan pays 1.75% on that cap, and Premier is $95 per month at 3.0% on the full balance, and either fee can be waived.

A quiet month on the free plan pays no checking yield, so the headline rate is not automatic.

As of 17 September 2026, Relay savings yields are 1.19%, 1.87%, and 3.21%, and the top plan is listed at $120 and shown at $90, so that yield sits on savings rather than operating cash.

Rho has no subscription and no per-person charge, marks same-day ACH and wires free of a Rho fee, then charges a percentage to convert currency and $15 if you add SWIFT.

Novo fits a US sole prop, LLC, or corporation that wants one free checking account, can wait for standard ACH, and will not miss yield on the operating balance.

A freelancer who syncs Stripe or Square and labels tax money in a reserve gets no second rate.

Move to the Bluevine review when the cash should earn, because Novo will not pay you to hold the balance.

Move to the Mercury review when vendors get a domestic wire every week, because that fee eats the free sticker.

Move when taxes and payroll each need a real account number, because a Novo reserve is a label on one balance.

Skip it if an owner lives outside the US, if the business is not registered in the US, or if a sole prop has no EIN, because the application will not finish.

Novo also declines a published list of activities, including cannabis, cryptocurrency dealers and exchanges, money service businesses, gas stations, and lending.

A business that is not on the list can still be declined, so the list shows who is out, not who will be approved.

Cards and payables are a different purchase, so see the corporate cards guide, the Ramp review, and the BILL review when the question is spend.

The payment rails are the B2B payment guide, and Subscribe free if you want the next fee note.