Azlo – Fee-free small business banking | Hacker News Reader

Azlo – Fee-free small business banking

azlo.com

45 pointsmichaelrkn27 comments

We were recommended Azlo by Stripe Atlas. I would not recommend them... it's a pain to switch to anything else, their support can't do anything except tell you to open a new account to change anything at all, and they have no method of editing anything or viewing docs or sending information. They're supposed to integrate perfectly with Stripe but they don't; not only can I not change the information in Stripe, but I have no way of changing the default user or address. It also has no international support which is a major pain as we frequently travel to different countries for long periods of time. I thought Natwest and UK banks were terrible with allowing international users to move money, but Azlo straight up doesn't support it.

According to their support the only way to change basically anything is to open an entirely new account. So we're currently tracking down and collecting documents all over again, except this time we have to spend a bunch on legal fees since we had Atlas to help us through the first time.

I don't know if I'd recommend them. We had a really hard time trying to switch to them. We were with Seed which closed down and they offered a "seamless" migration to Azlo. We kept getting automated emails from them about docs that we already sent to them and no manual response from any one in customer support.

Eventually, they just rejected our application and off we went to SVB. It was frustrating, especially since we really were hoping to support another startup.

Ok, I have had more or less a similar experience.

Couldn’t verify my identity(?) > Upload a photo of ID.

Couldn’t verify street address(?) > Upload a utility bill.

Couldn’t verify business street address(?) > Upload a utility bill.

Couldn’t verify my EIN(?) > Upload IRS EIN document.

The list goes on.. process took over a week. Eventually I was approved, just an insanely tedious process.

From their FAQ:

> If you don't charge fees, how do you make money?

> We earn revenue from the interest on deposits in Azlo accounts. We also earn a small sum every time someone makes a purchase with an Azlo card—the merchant pays to process the card transaction, and we get part of that payment.

Is this sustainable? From what I’ve seen businesses do not use debit cards, they prefer credit cards so Azlo wouldn’t be making much from the (already limited) debit fees.

The interest on deposits is a hell of gamble as well. Assuming they get about 2%, how much would the average account actually have on hand? Anybody with more than a couple $K to pay their rolling bills is better served with their own dedicated business savings account to get the 2% for themselves. That’d leave small accounts that are going earn next to nothing for Azlo.

Sustainable? This is how banks primarily made money in the past. And those were banks with brick and mortar branches. If they are making home loans, they would make around 4-5% plus origination fees (that's where the money is at). For other loans like vehicle or commercial, they could make 6-8% or more.

I'm sure there are also overdraft fees and negative account balance fees, wiring fees, etc. These type of fees are how modern banks make their money.

if everyone had $2k in their Azlo checking accounts, that's a huge amount of money across -- say -- millions of accounts. So you can accumulate interest or do what retail banks normally do -- invest it.

edit: invest it, on margin.

Last time I tried to switch to Azlo, we ran into the limitation that each account can only have one user. So, only one person can log in. Only one person can have a debit card. This was a deal-breaker for us.

Has this been addressed yet?

hey, engineer at Azlo here - I can give you the current status on multi-user. We’re beta-testing with a few customers now, and we’re planning to launch the first phase (which will allow multiple business partners to share an account) within a few months. If you’re interested in joining the beta-test, you can send an email to info@azlo.com and we’ll get you on the list.

It has not, but they say that it's on their near-term roadmap.

Which bank do you like best?

I haven't found a business bank that I like.

I'm on SVB right now, and the mobile app + website show different balances, and neither reflects money that Stripe shows as having just been deposited that day. Call me old-school, but I think their #1 job is to keep track of my balance correctly.

I just switched accountants, and the new one recommends Bank of America. I might take a look at them.

BoA is one of the biggest banks, but IMO they are one of the scummiest (on par with Chase). In a former line of work, I met many business owners who had been conned by BoA into a First Data Global Lease at some pittance rate, and if their processing volume ever decreased BoA would hike that lease rate up from $6 a month per terminal to $90+. Quite scummy.

Nope-

Another Seed refugee here. Haven't heard the best things about Azlo, so still looking for options. Has anyone tried https://banknovo.com/ ?

You can only have one user with Alzo which makes it tough if you have accountants/ tax people or other people in co that need access. They def need to solve this- they've said it was on the way but I've heard nothing.

hey there, please send an email to info@azlo.com and we’ll get you on the beta list.

Azlo doesn't support IBAN, which is my main issue with them. Other than that I've had a good experience overall but they really need to do something about supporting other currencies and IBAN.

My experience with Azlo is pretty subpar. Their Stripe/Square/PayPal integration is pretty ridiculous. As a Fintech startup, I expected free invoicing with ACH instead of just providing a buggy interface and subpar integration with existing services. Also, they violated a bunch of regulations opening my business account, which means, they may have done it with others, which can wipe them out of business pretty soon.

People are unaware, but Capital One actually offers free business checking.

I think Capital One Spark was shut down.

You're right. Existing customers like me are unaffected though.

I’ve been using them with a Stripe Atlas account. It’s a very simple LLC, but it does have two owners and Azlo doesn’t support multiple user accounts! They say it’s coming soon, but I’ve been waiting a while. If this business was more complex, we would have run from Azlo a while ago.

I’ve also had issues sending payments and their support was no help.

I've been using them since launching an LLC last summer. Before that I use Capital One Spark business accounts, (which is no longer signing up new accounts) so Azlo has been "fine". Good app.

I don't understand how any product can be aimed at "small business" without credit card and/or LOC offerings.

Out of curiosity, who do you bank with?

Chase. Of the nationals, and local credit unions, they offer the best SMB products, and seem to have the most access/knowledge of navigating available SBA programs to help us.

I believe Stripe’s Atlas uses this as well.

Yup but only for LLCs.

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