Top 5 Silicon Valley Bank competitors in 2025

Silicon Valley Bank established itself as the go-to business banking platform for startups, but its fee structure and lack of expense management tools can make alternatives a better option for many businesses.

It’s costly to maintain an account

Silicon Valley Bank offers three banking plans, each intended for different-sized businesses. The cost of each is determined by the business banking fees you pay; after the introductory period, you'll pay $50 a month to maintain your account, regardless of your plan. Need to send money via a wire transfer? That'll cost your business $12 for each transfer. And if your business receives a transfer, you'll pay a $10 fee.

If you want to add bill pay capabilities to your account, that'll cost you extra, too. The highest bill pay level, which includes 100 transactions per month, costs $250 per month. And if you want to sync with NetSuite, you'll pay up to $100 per month, and that's after you pay the $1,000 NetSuite implementation fee.

Savings insurance is inadequate

Silicon Valley Bank only insures its customers’ savings up to $250,000, which may be only a fraction of a startup's latest funding round. After Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023, customers saw firsthand the implications of not having their savings fully insured and the uncertainty that came with the collapse. Other banking options offer significantly more FDIC protection.

You get limited expense management functionality

Although Silicon Valley Bank does offer customers some control over spend, it may be inadequate for many startups. With Silicon Valley Bank, businesses can issue cards with custom spend policies and expense reconciliation, but the platform lacks the automations and additional controls more comprehensive solutions offer. As a result, the Silicon Valley Bank expense management software can require more time-consuming manual inputs compared to alternatives.

Silicon Valley Bank also offers a travel and expense management function within its platform, but for businesses with employees traveling frequently, it may be insufficient. While businesses can book travel within the platform, expense policies can only be set at the card level. If your business wants to apply your travel policies (restricted airlines, cabin classes, hotel rates, etc.) within your expense management platform, you'll need to look for an alternative.

Basic accounts payable process

For businesses that need a bill payment platform, Silicon Valley Bank does offer Bill Pay Plus. Bill Pay Plus gives businesses the ability to process and pay bills, but similar to its other expense management features, limited automations and basic functionality can make alternatives more attractive.

Silicon Valley Bank doesn’t offer a streamlined option for adding vendors, so businesses using Bill Pay Plus need to manually add vendors to the platform. Although Bill Pay Plus does automatically digitize invoices, it can’t automatically suggest a matching purchase order and start drafting a payment. With Bill Pay Plus, invoices need more manual oversight compared to competitors, which can be time-consuming and can introduce errors.

For businesses looking for a comprehensive banking solution that seamlessly integrates expense management, Brex is the best alternative to Silicon Valley Bank. With the Brex business banking account, businesses can manage their cash in the same place they pay bills, book travel, and control employee spend.

Along with its AI-powered expense management software, Brex offers businesses an all-in-one banking solution that scales with you, making it startups’ preferred alternative to Silicon Valley Bank.

Key features

The Brex platform allows businesses to consolidate their financial stack and stand out among competitors.

Straightforward pricing plan

Brex doesn't charge extra for wire transfers, ACH payments, or ERP integration, allowing businesses to budget and plan with confidence. Brex offers businesses three clearly defined plans (Essentials, Premium, and Enterprise) and each is designed to meet the needs of different companies with transparent costs. Plus, every Brex plan includes 24/7 customer support whenever businesses need assistance.

Brex allows companies to focus on growth without worrying about hidden banking fees or costs escalating as they scale. Brex and its unified banking platform scale with you, giving your business the predictability it needs to grow.

Complete banking solution

With Brex, businesses can access a checking, treasury, and vault account, giving startups to enterprises the ability to take every dollar further.

The checking account allows businesses to send wires in over 100 currencies while automating spend controls and bill payments. With the treasury account, businesses can earn a high yield with same-hour liquidity starting the day you open an account. And for the peace of mind that CFOs and controllers need, deposits stored in the vault account get up to $6 million in FDIC insurance.

With Brex, your business doesn’t need to look for separate accounts to manage money, bill pay, and cash flow. The Brex business account gives your business a complete banking solution that scales with you.

Integrated expense management

Brex gives businesses a complete solution to their financial stack with a full-featured banking solution that is integrated seamlessly with AI-powered spend management software. By combining the two, businesses get a complete view of their financials from one platform, eliminating the need to switch between interfaces for cash flow management.

Whether it’s banking, corporate cards, bill pay, accounting automation, or travel, Brex helps you take control of your core financial processes. For Superhuman, a software company transforming business email, using Brex and taking advantage of the all-in-one platform has allowed the company to spend smarter and move faster.

“We're able to focus on maximizing our runway and being cost-efficient,” Andrew Maher, Head of Finance at Superhuman, said. “Brex is our critical finance tech stack and allows us to do more with the resources we have. We can make better decisions about where we should be spending and steer the company in the right direction.”

Automated accounts payable process

From onboarding vendors to payment approvals, Brex bill pay empowers businesses to streamline accounts payable. Brex automates the accounts payable process through Brex AI which expedites bill payment by automatically extracting itemized invoice data, reconciling it to the right purchase order, and drafting a payment. Brex then sends the invoice through custom-made expense approval flows so that the right people sign off on the payment.

While Silicon Valley Bank does offer banks the ability to manage invoices and pay vendors with some automation, the process is slowed down by manual oversight and input. Not only is the accounts payable process automated through Brex, but it also seamlessly integrates with Brex’s powerful corporate card and business accounts, giving your company unparalleled control over spend.

Why people prefer Brex over Silicon Valley Bank

Businesses prefer Brex over Silicon Valley Bank because it offers a complete modern banking solution. While Silicon Valley Bank does give businesses a place for storing cash and paying bills, its basic expense management platform means that businesses may need to look elsewhere to control and automate their spend.

With Brex, businesses get unified expense management software that integrates with their banking solution on one platform to manage all of their finances. After adding Brex, Pangea could focus its energy on growth because Brex took much of the financial work off its co-founder’s plate.

“For us, we focus on consolidating as opposed to introducing new tools. So we brought all of our checking and money market accounts over to a Brex business account. It's a lot easier for me to keep everything in one place,” Pangea co-founder Adam Alpert said. “The entire Brex platform brings us so much value, and it’s easier to manage the day-to-day. Brex helps me stay in founder mode, so we can continue to build without constantly worrying about our finances.”

Pricing

Brex doesn't charge extra for wire transfers, ACH payments, or ERP integration, allowing businesses to budget and plan with confidence. Brex offers businesses three clearly defined plans (Essentials, Premium, and Enterprise) and each is designed to meet the needs of different companies with transparent costs. Plus, every Brex plan includes 24/7 customer support whenever businesses need assistance.

Larger companies with global operations can take advantage of the Enterprise plan to manage unlimited U.S. or foreign entities, issue cards in local currencies, and get fully customizable implementation. Regardless of the plan, you’ll have access to Brex’s implementation services and 24/7 customer support.

Novo is an online banking platform tailored to the needs of small businesses and self-employed individuals. Novo doesn’t charge customers monthly fees, which can make it a good option for entrepreneurs just launching their business. Novo also includes basic bookkeeping and invoicing capabilities, but companies looking to scale may need a more comprehensive banking solution.

Key features

• Insure deposits up to $250,000
• Integrates with several payment processing platforms
• Offers fraud monitoring
• Manage expenses with bookkeeping functionality

Why people prefer Novo over Silicon Valley Bank

Unlike Silicon Valley Bank, which typically caters to larger startups and venture-backed companies with complex needs, Novo offers a more accessible entry point for small businesses and self-employed individuals without minimum balance requirements or maintenance fees. Novo’s straightforward digital interface makes day-to-day banking operations simple to navigate, and the platform's integration with payment processors meets the basic needs of early-stage businesses. Nonetheless, for scaling or large businesses, there are more complete banking solutions than Novo.

Pricing

Novo customers don’t pay monthly fees, ACH fees, or fees for incoming domestic wires. Nonetheless, customers do pay for express ACH payment delivery, express check deposits, and outgoing domestic wires.

Chase Business Banking, the small business division of JPMorgan Chase, is a traditional banking option that serves both small and enterprise-sized businesses. Chase Business Banking offers a reliable and established banking option with checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and other financing options. Though customers can earn high yields on certificates of deposit, Chase falls short with its limited expense management features, often requiring businesses to implement third-party services to fill these gaps.

Key features

• Earn high yields on certificates of deposit
• Pay bills with Online Bill Pay
• Integrate point-of-sale solutions into a bank account
• Offers fraud protection

Why people prefer Chase Business Banking over Silicon Valley Bank

Businesses often favor Chase Business Banking over Silicon Valley Bank for its financial security and nationwide infrastructure. Chase also offers businesses options to waive monthly maintenance fees on business accounts, while Silicon Valley Bank offers waived fees for limited periods.

Pricing

Chase charges separate monthly service fees for both checking and savings accounts. Depending on the account type, Chase also charges businesses for incoming or outgoing wire transfers, ACH payments, and other banking services.

Bluevine offers business checking accounts along with debit cards, credit cards, and other financing options. Bluevine makes its basic checking account available for free and allows businesses to access high yields on deposits for a monthly fee. Bluevine's limited AP features and additional fees may lead companies to consider Bluevine competitors for more comprehensive services.

Key features

• Insure up to $3 million in deposits
• Get a basic checking account for free
• Send standard ACH payments for free
• Apply for loans within the same platform

Why people prefer Bluevine over Silicon Valley Bank

Businesses prefer to do their banking with Bluevine rather than Silicon Valley Bank for its simple fee structure and higher FDIC insurance, which is 12x higher than what Silicon Valley Bank offers its customers.

Pricing

Bluevine offers customers three checking accounts, ranging from free to $95 per month. The paid checking account offerings from Bluevine allow businesses to access higher yields and lower payment fees.

Mercury is an online banking platform designed for startups looking to manage finances digitally. The platform offers checking and savings accounts that help new businesses establish their banking presence as well as credit cards for startup expenses. Startups might find themselves outgrowing Mercury's expense management tools when they need tighter control over their spending, making Mercury competitors a better option.

Key features

• Insure up to $5 million in deposits
• Pay no fees for domestic and international wires
• Issue physical and virtual cards
• Track invoices

Why people prefer Mercury over Silicon Valley Bank

Startups choose Mercury over Silicon Valley Bank for its spend management tools, insurance, and lack of fees. While both institutions cater to the startup ecosystem, Mercury stands out by offering $5 million in FDIC insurance protection, which is significantly more than Silicon Valley Bank. Mercury also has a cost structure with fewer fees for routine transactions.

Pricing

Mercury offers three plans, ranging from free to $350 per month. These plans give businesses access to banking accounts, bill pay, invoicing, and other features.

For businesses looking for a modern banking solution that helps control over all of your spend, Brex is the best online business banking option. Although Silicon Valley Bank can give businesses access to business banking accounts, its lack of other functionality can require other software to control spend and manage costs. With Brex, get banking, bill pay, accounting automation, travel and expense management in one global, AI-powered platform.

With Brex business banking, businesses get access to accounts for all of their money. With the checking account, businesses have the ability to send and receive funds without fees, globally. The Brex treasury account allows businesses to earn high yields on deposits while maintaining 100% liquidity, and the vault account, with up to $6 million in FDIC insurance, can give businesses complete confidence in their savings.

Businesses that utilize Brex business accounts can get access to 40x higher credit limits on their Brex cards, ensuring that access to credit isn't an issue for your company. And the Brex global corporate card allows businesses to control all employee spend no matter where they are. Embed custom expense policies into each card, and set spend policies based on amount, merchant, employee, department, or anything else. Once an employee makes a purchase, Brex AI automates the expense review process and only flags unusual expenses for review.

Dude Wipes is one of many companies that drives growth through Brex’s integrated financial stack and high credit limits. “As our spending needs increased, it became difficult to stay organized and access the higher credit limits we needed to drive further expansion,” Lindsay Bodeman, VP of Finance and Accounting at Dude Wipes, said. “Brex gave us the higher limits we needed, a high-yield business account to manage our operating cash, and even out-of-home marketing expertise to amplify our brand.”

Sign up for Brex today to streamline your financial stack and get back to driving growth.

* Brex is a financial technology company, not a bank. Checking accounts and banking services provided by Column N.A., Member FDIC.