Novo Review 2023
Checking Accounts for Small Businesses
Novo is a fintech company for small businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers. If you're self-employed and want a bank account that is easy to use with almost no fees, you'll want to check out Novo. Read more to find out the details of how Novo works and whether or not an account makes sense for you.
Novo
Commissions & Fees - 10
Customer Service - 9
Ease of Use - 8.5
Locations - 0
Savings Options - 0
Traditional Banking Features - 7
8
Novo is a fintech company ideal for small business owners, entrepreneurs and freelancers. This fintech company charges nearly no fees and makes it very easy to handle typical online banking transactions. You can't get a regular chequebook, send wire transfers or deposit cash. But if you're looking for a self-service bank and don't need those three features, it can be a great choice.
What Is Novo?
Novo is a fintech company based in New York. You can manage your account through online banking on your laptop or desktop computer or through the Android or iPhone mobile apps.
This fintech company is built for business owners who are comfortable managing their money online on the Novo website or mobile apps. While it doesn't have every feature of a traditional checking account, Novo offers plenty of features for most modern entrepreneurs and cashless businesses.
Behind the scenes, Novo uses Middlesex Federal Savings to manage accounts and debit cards. Everything will look and feel like Novo, but accounts are held in FDIC-insured accounts at Middlesex Federal Savings.
Novo has no branch locations. The fintech companyis relatively new, founded in 2016. But it offers far better terms than most old-school, traditional banks.
Novo Features
| Accounts | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs |
| Access | Web Based, iPhone App, Android App, Blackberry App |
| Amount of Branches | 0 |
| ATM Reimbursement | |
| Online Deposits | |
| FDIC Insurance | |
| Customer Service | Email, Phone |
- Online and mobile banking: Novo is online only. You can easily manage your money with the Novo online banking website and mobile apps.
- No fees for typical activity:– There are no recurring fees. The only fees charged are for insufficient funds when sending a check or when a deposited check is returned for insufficient funds. Incoming wires, domestic ACH transfers, ATMs and paper statements are all free.
- Send checks from your phone: You don't get a paper checkbook with Novo. However, you can still send paper checks. Using a feature that works similarly to bill pay at other banks, you can send a paper check from the Novo mobile apps. Novo also lets you deposit checks instantly.
- Send Invoices: Send unlimited, personalized invoices and accept online payments for your business.
- Digital integrations: Novo integrates with popular online tools used by tech-forward businesses. It works seamlessly with Xero accounting, Stripe, Shopify, and Quickbooks. It also triggers notifications on Slack, and allows international transfers through Wise.
- Business perks: As a bonus, Novo customers get access to discounts with Google Cloud, Zendesk, HubSpot, Stripe, Salesforce, and other providers.
How Does Novo's Business Checking Account Work?
Novo offers only one type of account. The small business checking account handles the most important features for online business owners and other businesses that don't use cash.
- You can deposit to the account via ACH, international or domestic wire transfer, or with a mobile check deposit on your smartphone.
- You can withdraw and send money via ACH or send a paper check by mail with the mobile app.
- All transfers in and out of the account are fee-free.
A few traditional banking features are missing:
- There is no conventional checkbook.
- You can't send wire transfers.
- As with all online banks, you can't deposit cash.
- There is no interest paid on account balances, so you probably won't want to hoard too much cash there.
Sending Invoices With Novo
One of the main selling points of Novo's business checking account is that you can send unlimited, personalilzed invoices without paying fees. It also integrates with Stripe, Square, and PayPal to help you accept online payments and also works with ACH and check payments if you want to avoid transaction fees.
And with Novo Reserves, you can automatically move money aside to cover taxes, payroll, and other business expenses. You can create up to five reserves as well, so it's easy to create different budgets for your business.
You can also use 15+ integrations with Novo, like Shopify and Etsy, which is useful if you run an ecommerce business. Novo also integrates with Slack for easy team communication and numerous payment processors as mentioned.
Novo Competitors
The closest competitors to Novo are NorthOne and LendingClub Bank.
- NorthOne is a bank for freelancers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. With NorthOne you get unlimited banking without hidden fees or minimum balances for just $10 per month. And you can create unlimited envelopes to easily manage your finances with different categories, like taxes and vacation. Plus as an Investor Junkie reader, you can get three months free when you sign up.
- LendingClub Bank has a number of products, with a checking account specifically geared towards small businesses. With this account, you can get 1% cash back with your LendingClub debit card and get 0.10% APY on balances of $5,000.
Here's a quick comparison between the three:
| Highlights |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 8/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Accounts | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs | Savings, Checking, Money Market, CDs |
| Online Deposits | |||
| Physical Branches | |||
| FDIC Insurance | |||
| ATM Reimbursement | |||
Novo Fees
Novo charges almost no fees. You'll need $50 to open a new account, but after that, there are no minimum balance requirements or recurring fees of any kind.
The fee schedule shows no charges for everything, except for an “Insufficient Funds Charge” and an “Uncollected Funds Returned Fee.” Both fees are $27. So, as long as you don't send bad checks or deposit bad checks, you won't pay for anything.
If you use your debit card abroad, you may incur foreign transaction fees from the card networks, but Novo doesn't add a fee of its own. And there are no outgoing wire transfer fees because you can't send wire transfers.
Novo Accounts
Novo offers just one type of business checking account with a debit card. There is no current option for a savings account, credit card or other loans. But the Novo website says it does intend to offer lending products and other new features in the future.
How to Contact Novo Customer Service
You can contact Novo by emailing support@novo.co for assistance. The website also has an in-depth FAQ section with helpful articles.
Note that Novo currently has a 3.6 star rating on Trustpilot. Customers seem to like its ease-of-use and invoice features but customer service is the main complain. You can't call Novo which is a downside if you want phone customer support, and support seems slow in generaly judging by reviews.
Pros & Cons
pros
cons
Summary
Novo is a good banking choice for nearly anyone who runs a solo, online business. Tech startups and small businesses that don't use cash will most likely find all of their needs met. And there are almost no fees.
A few features common at traditional banks are missing, including the ability to send a wire transfer or get a checkbook. But for modern banking features, Novo has most people's needs covered.
Novo Disclosure - Novo is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services provided by Middlesex Federal Savings F.A.; Member FDIC.
Stay away from this bank, they have a high score of F at BBB with over 30 complaints, only been in business 5 years. During my short interaction I had to deal with possible direct bank fraud, lack in support, delays in processing and now cannot close my account…. What they do at the end is remorseful. They will literally create duplicate charges from your past transactions to bottom out what you have left after they tell you to 0 out the balance so they can close the account. This may result in NSF and more delays. This bank is Hotel California, you can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave. ANY OTHER BANK IS BETTER!!!!!! DO NOT USE NOVO.
Novo Bank is a scam – they’re not even a real bank, just a front to harvest and probably resell personal information. Good luck getting in touch with a human there, too – the whole place appears to be staffed by bots.
OMG! DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM! YOU WILL BE SORRY!
Three fraudulent Uber charges were made on my Novo business credit card. Novo immediately notified me via the app of the fraud. I verified that the charges were fraudulent and froze the credit card awaiting the issuance of a new card. All good right! After this initial contact I thought that Novo would refund the fraudulent charges as any other “Real Bank” would do. There is no way to contact Novo customer service with exception of the message portal in the app. It took days for them to respond and they said that I needed to contact Uber for the charges to be reversed. There is no way to contact Uber customer service either especially if you don’t have an Uber account. (try it!) I’m out $203.61 with no means to recover it.
I’ve since moved to another bank but before doing so I made sure that I could contact their customer support hotline and talk to a real person. Additionally, I verified their policy of refunding fraudulent charges immediately. Don’t settle for the new kid in town with the cheapest services, opt for a reputable “Real Bank” and not an online only type bank that is not FDIC insured even though they say their “partner” bank Middlesex is. This is not correct! (check it out for yourself!)
I’ve reported Novo to the FTC and Consumer Federal Protection Bureau to try to get my money back.
Update: In response to the below “Hi there. We’re very sorry to hear this and would like to look into this further. Please reach out to the support team via the support tab so we can investigate this issue. ” I have reached out 6 times via email and 6 times via the Mobile app since July 21 2021. Novo’s final response was this:
“On Wed, Aug 4, 2021 at 11:37 AM Novo Support support at banknovo.com wrote:
Hello XXXX,
We are reaching out to you today regarding your recent disputed transaction(s) that you reported to our team.
Our team has worked with our partner bank, Middlesex Federal Savings, to investigate your recent disputed transactions. We regret to inform you that our partner bank concluded their investigation and determined that no error(s) occurred. Unfortunately, we will be unable to provide you with a credit and this investigation is final.
We understand how frustrating this can be and we thank you for your patience during this investigation.
This notice is in regards to the following transaction(s):
Account Number: Ending in (XXXX)
Disputed Amount: $61.32, $76.19 and $66.10
Description: Dispute denied due to merchant has represented chargeback
Sincerely,
Novo Accounts Team”
I also have realized that Novo has no Support feature in the Web App. Therefore it’s nearly impossible to forward evidence to third parties such as the FTC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I’ve contacted these agencies to assist with the run around that Novo is giving.
I also tried searched for a contact support phone number and here is what I found:
“..Our support hours are Monday – Friday 9 am – 6 pm EST.
Right now, because of increased demand for Novo accounts, we’re unable to support phone calls for non-Novo users. If you have any questions, please email us at support at banknovo.com and our team will follow up as soon as possible. ”
Save yourself the hassle and look elsewhere. These guys are terrible!
UPDATE: OMG the saga continues! I have $0 in my account and someone is trying to make fraudulent charges on the account causing insufficient fund fees of $27 that Novo is now trying to charge me for! The only way to contact them is through the help tickets system in the mobile app. I asked to them to close the account months ago and they keep sending me warning messages like “Your account has $0 balance and will be closed in 30 days.” This was over 90days ago! I wish it would be closed. What a joke!
See my review on Trustpilot.
Do not bank with Novo!
I am sad to say that I have been forced to report Novo to the Federal Reserve. I had 2 fraudulent charges to my account in April. I reported them and heard nothing for months. When I contacted the bank, they told me they have 120 days to investigate and there was nothing they could do until that time passed. Over 120 days went by and still I heard nothing. I contacted the bank again and was told they would check with the dispute department and get back to me. Another week went by and still nothing. I sent more messages asking for an update and a phone number where I could speak with a person. Another week went by with me writing every few days and calling the number on the back of my debit card. At this point, I decided to report the bank as they were not returning my calls or messages. They did finally send me a message saying they got my calls and it’s better to reach them through the app than by phone. I replied that I’ve been trying to reach them through the app and no one is responding. At that point, the rep who sent the message about writing instead of calling closed that conversation and responded to the conversation with the other rep who had been ignoring my messages saying he would forward my message to the dispute department. I have opened another account with a different bank and plan to close this account as soon as the Federal Reserve finishes their investigation and I hopefully get my money back. I will never again use an online bank. At least if there are actual branches, I have the option to go in and demand a manager’s assistance.
Dear Investor Junkie,
How much were you paid to leave this review? Do you bank at Novo? I would bet not.
Banking with Novo has been the worst business decision I have ever made. They are fraudulent, there is NO access to real customer service, and it feels as though their goal is to make you completely insane so that you give up and stop contacting them when you have an issue. I have been trying for 2 weeks for someone to actually listen to me re: a fraudulent charge and I have gotten nowhere. This is the 3rd time we have had fraudulent charges on our business account and we get ZERO help from Novo. All I get is generic bot-style cut and pasted replies. I have filed complaints with the BBB and Federal Reserve and am prepared to take legal action against Novo.
PLEASE stay away from this bank. It is not a bank, it is a scam.
STAY AWAY.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT bank with Novo.
After a frustrating situation where my debit card was lost and subsequently stolen Novo has been horrible to deal with in terms of the fraudulent investigations. I have gotten the run around, confusing information and HORRIBLE customer service on the phone.
After I called and basically begged for Novo to help talk to the merchants for me to try and get these charges reversed, I was told that “that is not their policy, and why would they do something special for me that they wouldn’t do for other customers.”
So in short, Novo does not care about you, your business or your finances. Please bank somewhere else.
Everything went well with Novo for several months–as long as I didn’t need any help. Sure the process to get a debit card was slow, and trying to get a second card for my business partner was a way-too-difficult experience. But it was when I tried to reach customer service that the wheels really fell off the bus. There is no phone number nor any live chat. Best you can do is message them. Then, it doesn’t matter if you work at your desk for your job, their replies to your requests are only accessible in the mobile app itself, not the website. But the kicker for me was when my ending balance one month did not match the beginning balance the next month. I asked them why, and going on two weeks later and repeated follow-up, they still have no answer for me. When I can’t trust a bank to safely take care of my money, no other features and benefits are worth risking my hard-earned funds.
Don’t EVER expect to talk to a person live. I can’t get away from NOVO fast enough. It’s been a pain from the beginning. They can’t even successfully connect to QuickBooks. I’ve been trying to close my account for days and they aren’t responding! I have sent many requests. They are horrible and the day that my account is finally closed will be a breath of fresh air. HORRIBLE bank. There are much better banks out there… that will actually support their customers.
What a HUGE WASTE OF TIME! They might be a good fit for some. Not only did I have to wait forever for my debit card after opening the account. One thing I never checked was if the debit card had tap to pay. It doesn’t. Not only that, I almost threw it away thinking it was junk mail. I need batteries for my postal scale so I can’t compare weight but it feels extremely cheap. If you plan on using the debit card much I doubt it will last very long. Not only that, even though I gave them my company name and EIN. They put my name down twice on the card and account and linked it to my SS#! Azlo initially asked for a DBA certificate when I started with them. After explaining that it’s not a legal requirement for my State/County they were happy to open my account after giving them a copy of my federal EIN. Not Novo. After waiting days to hear back from support and getting a cookie cutter answer. I explained things like I did with Azlo and instead of understanding, Novo says they can’t do anything without something I don’t need anywhere else. I have accounts with several real banks. They don’t require this because they don’t need to where I’m located and in possibly can’t legally. If there were no other options I’d look into legal recourse against Novo for false advertising and wasting my time. Instead, I’ll give them the rating they deserve in my opinion and hopefully save some other’s some time and frustration.
Terrible Bank. If you are starting a business , which is tough enough, you don’t want to be dealing with issues at your bank. We have had several issues getting our money out to pay expenses. We have had to use our personal accounts to pay and then reimburse ourselves. It makes book-keeping a mess. The customer support staff is horrible. They are mean natured and negligent . Most of the time we don’t get resolution and have to work around them . We are currently moving to a big bank , where at least we know what we are in for.
Have to echo the complaints against Novo. I also had some problems getting the account started. But the real kicker came today as I opened my account to find someone had charge $450 on my debit card at a location I NEVER shop. Novo not only failed to flag this obviously fraudulent transaction, but they told me I had to collect information from this merchant and then that it would take them 4 MONTHS!!! to resolve my claim and that they would not offer credit during that time. So, at the holiday season, I am now out $450 until, I guess, until April. Not only poor customer service but actively hostile customer service and rather negligent behavior in monitoring for fraud. Do NOT open an account with these people or their parent corp Middlesex Federal Saving.
I couldn’t agree more, I just had 3 fraudulent charges, I called them up to fix it. They asked me to sort it out with the merchant that I DO NOT KNOW nor am I familiar with. stay away from NOVO at all costs. open a business checking account with an actual bank not a middleman who’s clueless and doesn’t help you when you need then the most. CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT WITH NOVO NOW!
This bank is down right awful. I’ve had nothing but problems
With this bank. I will only keep it open and leave my tax money in there for the state to collect other than that it’s not worth it. I did a transfer that my bank hasn’t received over 2 weeks now and they keep telling me it’s out of their hands. I’m wondering if this “bank” is a scam.
This bank is horrible. They have been stringing us along for 2 Weeks saying they are updating their user form and can’t add users to an account….it’s been WEEKS. If they can’t manage a simple user add form how can they manage money. This seems more and more like a scam and regulators are involved and that’s why it’s taking so long. Don’t walk, run from this bank.
You need to review banks on their actual experiences and services they provide, not what they say on paper. Look at the comments here, look at trust pilot, this bank is s sham and possibly a SCAM. Violating the FCRA right out of the gate. Shame on you for recommending them.
Worst bank. Call them and you’ll hear back after a month. No Zelle integration. ACH pull of $250. Basically good for kids selling lemonades. Definitely avoid
I don’t recommend this bank we opened it for a business account. First to reach them it’s only through message and sometimes you have to send more then one to get a response. They are not organized at all so I imagine how they are with money. I had to fill out a form four times to add my business partner and they still didn’t add her they kept sending me the same form saying it needs to be completed like I said they have no idea what they are doing. Don’t put your money in this bank. I give them 1 star review.
Same experience here. Impossible to reach a human at Novo. Stay far away from them.
Bank Novo sucks. That’s it.
Opening an account takes more than two weeks. All the staff members are incompetent and have lack of knowledge. For a simple question, they respond with very blended generic answers not for specific answers that I wanted. It should have been a simple yea or no but always came up with text book style generic answer which indicates they don’t know nothing. Such a poor staff and management. I will never recommend this incompetent bank to anyone. Go for Radius Bank. Much Much Better! Novo must go out of business. DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM!
My experience with this bank has been awful.
1. When opening the account I was told someone would reach out to me by a certain date. That date came and went, and poof 2 days after I was sent a welcome email.
2. I tried to add a DBA to my account so when customers send me a check made out to my business name I can deposit them. And this may be my fault for opening the account with my SSN, part of the paperwork needed to add a DBA is an EIN, when I provided that, i was then informed I had to close the account on open a new one with the EIN not my SSN.
3. After going back and forth with what seems like 1 person via email, I decided to close my account and move on. I have submitted 2 tickets now and still have an account. I must say, I have been getting more communication now that i want to close then I did before, so they have a great retention team.
I would not recommend this bank to anyone. While the features of the account are very nice the lack of communication is mind blowing. I didn’t get the warm fuzzy that they have the stuff together enough to handle issues and that is NOT what a small business owner needs to worry about.
Customer support is awful! They don’t respond in their 1-2 days they promise and then reply wish incomplete answers or often times drop tickets entirely and never reply.