Find a Branch

Small Business Checking at Exchange Bank: Main Street Accounts Built for Sonoma County Operators

Exchange Bank structures small business checking in four tiers — Simple Small Business Checking, Business Plus Checking, Analysis Business Checking and Non-Profit Checking. Each tier is designed for a specific operating profile, from the single-truck landscaper in Sebastopol to the 40-employee hospitality group in Healdsburg that runs six-figure daily balances through treasury services.

Remote deposit capture, ACH origination, same-day wire transfers and optional positive pay cheque fraud screening are available on every tier. Accounts are opened in-branch or through the business banker line at 707-524-3000 extension 1100, with deposits insured by the FDIC to the statutory limit per ownership category.

Open a Business Account Compare Credit Options
Exchange Bank small business checking dashboard showing tiered accounts, ACH origination, remote deposit capture and balance summary for a Sonoma County operator

Treasury Brief: Four-Tier Small Business Checking Structure

One account family with four entry points, priced to match operating volume and complexity rather than forcing every company into a single product.

Simple Small Business Checking

The entry tier at Exchange Bank is Simple Small Business Checking — no monthly maintenance fee when combined transaction volume stays under 100 items per statement cycle. Sole proprietors, single-member LLCs, independent contractors, Etsy sellers and boutique retail operators in Petaluma, Cotati and Rohnert Park are the usual customers. Free online banking, bill pay, a free Visa business debit card, unlimited in-branch deposits and statements delivered by mail or paperless are all standard. Over-threshold items are billed at 35 cents each, so a shop that occasionally exceeds 100 in a heavy month is not pushed into a pricier tier.

Business Plus Checking

Business Plus suits operators writing 100 to 250 items per cycle — independent restaurants, professional-services firms, construction subs and retail shops with multi-person payroll. The $15 monthly fee is waived with a $10,000 average daily collected balance. Once the collected balance passes $25,000 the account earns tiered interest, which small-dollar commercial deposits at larger national chains rarely match without switching to a separate money-market product. Business Plus is the tier most Wine Country operating companies land on once a second employee is hired.

Analysis Business Checking

Analysis Business Checking is the high-volume tier for companies running hundreds of transactions and using the full treasury-services stack. Rather than a flat monthly fee, Analysis uses earnings credit rate accounting: the bank applies a credit to the account's investable balance, which offsets per-item charges, ACH origination, wire fees, positive pay and lockbox. For a $400,000 average collected balance, earnings credit frequently covers the full fee column in a month. Analysis is the right tier for hospitality groups, wineries with multiple entities and construction contractors with progress-payment billing cycles.

Non-Profit Checking

Non-Profit Checking is fee-waived for 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) organisations presenting an IRS determination letter. Churches, chambers of commerce, arts councils, educational foundations and Sonoma County community-service organisations are the target customers. Dual-control ACH origination is included, which means two authorised signers must approve each batch before release — a governance control mandated by many non-profit boards and by the Federal Reserve's operational-risk guidance for volunteer-directed institutions. Free online banking, paperless statements, board-authorised signer cards and quarterly reconciliation support round out the tier.

Small Business Checking Tiers at a Glance

A side-by-side comparison of the four Exchange Bank small business checking tiers, with the operating profile each one is built for.

TierIncluded ItemsMonthly FeeEarnings CreditBest For
Simple Small Business CheckingUp to 100 items/month$0NoneSole proprietors, LLCs, freelancers and boutique retail under $500K revenue
Business Plus CheckingUp to 250 items/month$15 (waived at $10K average balance)None (tiered interest above $25K collected)Main Street operators, independent restaurants, professional services, construction subs
Analysis Business CheckingUnlimited (priced per item)$22 base plus per-itemYes — ECR offsets fees on investable balanceHospitality groups, wineries, mid-market companies using ACH, wires, positive pay and lockbox
Non-Profit CheckingUp to 300 items/month$0 with 501(c)(3)/(4)/(6) documentationOptional earnings credit on qualifying balancesChurches, foundations, chambers, community non-profits and educational organisations
Sole Proprietor TransitionFirst 150 items fee-free$0 for first 12 monthsNoneNewly-formed entities transitioning from personal to business banking

Built-In Operating Tools on Every Tier

Core functionality that ships with each small business checking account, regardless of tier.

RDCRemote Deposit Capture
ACHOrigination for Payroll & Vendors
PPPositive Pay Fraud Screening
MFAMulti-Factor Sign-In Standard

How Operating Tools Work Across the Tiers

The feature set scales with operating volume, not with a separate upsell.

Remote Deposit Capture & ACH Origination

Remote deposit capture lets an operator scan cheques at the counter or through the business mobile app and deposit into the account the same business day. ACH origination lets the same account push payroll, vendor payments and tax deposits electronically on a Nacha-compliant schedule. A Petaluma dairy with 18 employees uses ACH origination every other Thursday for payroll and monthly for feed suppliers. A Healdsburg tasting room uses mobile remote deposit for guest-book cheques at close of business nightly. Both flows are Reg E-governed for consumer-related items and commercial-code-governed for purely commercial items.

Per Federal Reserve payment-system data, ACH origination processes a majority of U.S. small-business non-cash payroll. Shifting from paper cheques to ACH typically cuts per-payment cost by more than half.

Remote deposit capture scanner and ACH origination workflow shown on a Business Plus Checking dashboard with pending batch queue
Positive pay cheque and payee verification screen with exception queue and approver dual-control flow

Positive Pay & Payee Verification

Positive pay is an opt-in cheque-fraud screening service. An issue file of cheques written (number, amount, payee) is uploaded to Exchange Bank before cheques hit the clearing stream. Any cheque presented that does not match the issue file is held in an exception queue for the account owner to decision. Payee-verification positive pay adds the payee name to the match criteria, catching altered payees — a common fraud vector on stolen mail cheques. Positive pay is optional on Simple Small Business Checking and Business Plus, and included at no incremental charge on Analysis for companies whose earnings credit covers the fee.

Cheque fraud reported under FinCEN Suspicious Activity Report filings has grown sharply year-over-year in U.S. community banking. Positive pay is the single most effective control.

Signer Authority & Dual Control

Account opening at Exchange Bank captures signer authority through a banking resolution filed in-branch. Single-signer accounts are common for sole proprietorships. Dual-control setups — where two authorised signers must approve wires, ACH batches or loan advances — are recommended for entities with four or more employees and standard for non-profits. Banking resolutions can be updated at any branch by presenting an amended board resolution. The business banker team in Santa Rosa assists with entity-type changes (sole prop converting to LLC, partnership to S-corp) so the account history stays continuous even when the EIN changes.

Signer-authority best practice under Reg B (equal credit opportunity) ensures spouses and co-owners with true signature authority are captured, rather than relying on one person for all approvals.

Banking resolution signer-authority setup with dual-control approver roles and audit-trail log for small business checking

Which Tier Fits Your Operation?

Three realistic customer profiles to anchor the decision.

Single-Operator Consultant

Sebastopol-based consulting sole proprietor, 30-40 client invoices per month, no payroll. Simple Small Business Checking is the right tier. Zero monthly fee. Item count stays well under 100. ACH origination not needed. Mobile deposit handles client cheques. Annual cost: $0.

Healdsburg Restaurant

Independent restaurant, 15 employees, biweekly payroll via ACH, supplier cheques, daily cash deposits. Business Plus Checking fits. Transaction count averages 180-220. $10K average balance waives the $15 fee. Mobile RDC handles cheque deposits nightly. Annual cost: $0 with balance waiver.

Wine Country Hospitality Group

Three-entity hospitality group (winery, tasting room, event venue), $600K average combined balance, positive pay on all entities, lockbox for trade accounts. Analysis Business Checking across each entity. Earnings credit absorbs the full fee column most months. Treasury support included.

Ready to Move Your Operating Account?

A business banker at Exchange Bank can match your transaction profile to the right tier in a 20-minute meeting. Schedule through any Sonoma County branch or call 707-524-3000 extension 1100 for the commercial team. Switch kits, recurring-payment transfer support and direct-deposit rerouting are included.

Find Your Branch

People Also Ask

Which Exchange Bank small business checking tier fits a sole proprietor?
Simple Small Business Checking is built for sole proprietors, LLCs and contractors under 100 items per month. No monthly fee, free online banking, free debit card.
What is the item-count threshold on Business Plus Checking?
Business Plus allows 250 combined items per cycle. Over-threshold items bill at 35 cents. Interest accrues above $25,000 collected balance.
How does the earnings credit rate work on Analysis Business Checking?
The ECR applies to investable balance and offsets per-item, wire, ACH and positive pay charges. Excess credit does not convert to cash.
Can a 501(c)(3) non-profit open Non-Profit Checking?
Yes — fee-waived with an IRS determination letter. Dual-control ACH origination included.
Is remote deposit capture included on every tier?
Optional on Simple and Business Plus, included on Analysis and Non-Profit. Desktop scanner or mobile app flow.

Related Small Business Services

Small Business Savings

Business money market, CDs and sweep accounts for idle operating capital.

Commercial Credit

Term loans, lines of credit and equipment finance up to $1.5M.

Treasury Services

ACH origination, wires, lockbox, ZBA and positive pay.

Merchant Processing

Card acceptance with Toast, Clover and QuickBooks integration.

Personal Checking

Companion personal accounts for owner-operators and key staff.

Digital Banking

Business-tier online and mobile banking with biometric sign-in.

California Community Banking — Topic Cluster