Apr. 05, 2023

2 min read

Grasshopper Summary

Headquartered in New York City and founded in 2019, Grasshopper is a digital banking solution for small businesses, startups, and venture capital & private equity firms. Checking accounts for start-ups and SMBs can be opened in less than 10 minutes, and there is no monthly maintenance fee or minimum balance required after funding. Account holders get access to a free Visa debit card, and the accounting software Autobooks.

Pros

No overdraft fees or monthly maintenance fees
Unlimited free transactions
Unlimited 1% cash back on everyday debit card purchases

Cons

No reviews on Trustpilot or other third-party sites
No 24/7 customer support

Grasshopper at a glance

9.2

Editorial score

Fees?

No fees

10.0

Security

FDIC insured, supports multi factor authentication

6.0

Customer service

24/7 live chat available

10.0

Online experience

Excellent website with full banking capabilities

10.0

Mobile experience

Excellent mobile app with mobile check deposit feature

10.0

Grasshopper Visit Grasshopper

Advantages Over Traditional Banks

Unlike traditional banks which typically require an in-person appointment to set up a business banking account, Grasshopper allows you to set up a bank account online in as little as 5 minutes. Once you fund your account, you can take advantage of free unlimited transitions with no minimum balance requirements, no monthly maintenance fees, and no overdraft fees.

You can also earn unlimited 1% cashback with Grasshopper, and you can earn up to 2.25% APY on your account which is 33X the national average interest rate on balances from $25,000 up to $250,000.

Cutting-Edge Banking Services

All banking functions can be completed via desktop or Grasshopper’s mobile app. Grasshopper offers easy bill pay, as you can make and schedule payments from any device. This can be done via check or ACH.

Grasshopper customers also receive a free membership to Autobooks, an accounting software geared toward small businesses. Autobooks allows you to send personalized invoices, generate reports, reconcile transactions, and manage cash flow. Streamlined reporting is also available, which can help you better manage your cash flow.

You can also seamlessly integrate Grasshopper into Quickbooks if this is your preferred accounting software. Grasshopper also offers remote check deposits. Deposit a check in seconds by simply taking a photo.

API banking, which allows you to scale your business efficiently, is also available through Grasshopper.

Traditional Banking Services

While Grasshopper is a cutting-edge online banking solution, it still offers many traditional banking services. In addition to business banking, Grasshopper also offers SBA lending, CRE lending, and venture capital and private equity lending.

A free Visa debit card is included with your account, allowing you to earn unlimited 1% cash back on everyday debit card purchases. Fee-free ATM withdrawals are also available at 37,000+ MoneyPass and 8,500+ SUM ATMs nationwide.

It offers commercial API banking platforms, SBA lending, fintech-focused Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) real estate lending, and commercial yacht financing.

Interest Rates and Fees

When opening a Grasshopper account, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of $100. Once you’ve made this deposit, there are no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements.

Grasshopper does not charge overdraft fees either, and it offers unlimited transactions and transfers.

	Innovator Business Checking for small businesses and start-ups
Minimum deposit to open account	$100
Monthly maintenance fee	$0
Incoming and outgoing ACH transfers	Free
Incoming wire transfers	Free
Overdraft fee	$0
ATM fee	Free ATM withdrawals at MoneyPass and SUM ATMs. Otherwise, rates vary depending on the ATM
$0.01 - $24,999.99	1.51% APY
$25,000.00 - $250,000.00	2.25% APY

Customer Service and Online Experience

Live chat support is available through Grasshopper’s website 24/7. Customers can also call or text the bank Monday through Friday from 9AM to 11PM EST, excluding federal holidays. The Grasshopper website also offers a robust FAQ page, help center, and blog. Email support is also available

Mobile App

Grasshopper has a full suite mobile app available.

Security

Grasshopper bank is a member of FDIC, which means your deposits are insured for up to $250,000. Enhanced security features include dual control and multi-factor authentication, fraud monitoring, and bank-level encryption. Grasshopper has also recently partnered with FiVerity, a fintech company that aggregates fraud signals its customer banks use without compromising customer privacy.

You can also customize levels of access for each user on your Grasshopper account. As the owner of the account, you can grant permissions, create approval workflows, and set limits for account users.

On top of this, Grasshopper enables you to customize your security alerts so you can stay on top of your accounts, transactions, and user activity.

Summary

Grasshopper is a digital banking platform that enables you to seamlessly manage your business’s banking needs. Grasshopper offers many fee-free services, including no overdraft fees and no monthly maintenance fees once you’ve made the minimum $100 deposit to your account.

When you sign up for online banking through Grasshopper, you also get free access to Autobooks, which allows you to generate reports, create invoices, manage cash flows, and more.

Grasshopper offers robust customer support via email, phone, and live chat. Including digital check deposit.

Methodology

Information for this review was gathered using the Grasshopper company website.

Grasshopper Visit Grasshopper

Written by

Danielle Greving

Danielle is a tech and finance writer with experience in personal finance, cryptocurrency and numerous SaaS companies. Her bylines can be found on MoneyTips, CoinMarketCap, GraniteShares and Top10.com. An avid traveler and former ESL teacher, Danielle's writing blends a wealth of technical and financial knowledge with simple and straightforward explanations for everyday readers.

Trustpilot reviews

See what some costumers are saying about Grasshopper

Average

•

Reviews 29

Excellent

41%

Great

Average

Poor

Bad

50%

pheobe

a month ago

Easy to Use!

I've been impressed with how easy Grasshopper is to use. The onboarding process was quick and the online portal is very user-friendly. Definitely recommend to other business owners!

muthu arumugam

a day ago

Grasshopper Bank closed my startup…

Grasshopper Bank closed my startup business checking account for no reason after 3 weeks into it! I don't like these online banks.

tim boe

8 days ago

Closed account and wouldn’t return…

Closed account and wouldn’t return funds. No explaination on why they closed it 2 months after opened and using. Horrible. What a waste of time and resources.

elizabeth addonizio

11 days ago

The website will not allow me to add a…

The website will not allow me to add a payee. This was a problem over a year ago that was fixed, and it has become a problem again. I called customer support, and they could not help. It remains a problem, and I cannot make payments from my account.

mikenkarie d

17 days ago

Nice people, Bad Bank for so many reasons

Time to find a REAL Bank and chalk this up to "Bought The FINTECH T-Shirt" and threw it away after realizing it does NOT fit... Nice people, but the company is not great. Scary Bad reviews, stolen money never refunded and the Application process is broken. No matter what you do, no one can figure out how to get you through the application process once one little thing goes wrong, just like once you get an account, if your Phone or Address changes, or you fail to create a secondary account like us... account closed... If in the mailing address you type in is one tiny character or space bar different (like a Period at the end of INC) where ever their system pulls randomly your denied forever with no hopes of correcting the situation. Just not worth your time. We live in a different State than the business is operating since we are on the state line, but no one knows what's wrong with the application, such as "may be" pulling our internet IP and geo location to match with the business... etc. We spent hours and hours on the phone trying to get another account created and I wish I had seen a review like this one, pulling our other account and Setting Sail... Oh well....

chris

20 days ago

They closed my account!!

They closed my account because, like any small business does, I had payments made into the account from a client (Paying an invoice) and then I subsequently transferred money out to pay staff. This was considered suspicious by Grasshopper. Extremely poor, outsourced service for a bank that apparently doesn't understand how small businesses operate.

grasshopper eater

a month ago

Not for me but may be for you

I opened an account for my small business. After seeing the negative reviews, I immediately contacted a customer service rep. She was difficult to get a hold of as I wanted reassurance of no delays for my funds. The bank’s rep gave sketchy responses and the trustworthiness of the bank was not satisfactory or convincing. It’s hard to trust a bank with detailed financial mishandling reviews. Due to its reputation I cut my losses and parted ways with this institution. I didn’t give the institution a solid try so this bank could be a good fit for you. Just be cautious. They are quite forceful with ensuring that no bad reviews of them are online to little avail. They can report or “request more information”. You do not have to give them your PII.

cade cothren

a month ago

Stay far, far, far, FAR away

I read good things about Grasshopper on several sites - clearly those reviews are fake. After submitting my business information and being approved for an account, I set my ACH deposits to be sent to my new account. Less than 24 hours later, I received a notification from Grasshopper that my account was locked pending review. They asked for additional identifying information, which I submitted. They said they would contact me within 3 days with an update. After 3 days passed, I called them to inquire about where things were. The agent on the phone told me my account HAD BEEN CLOSED. They refused to tell me any information as to WHY and never sent me a notification telling me it was being closed. Absolutely pathetic bank - there's no way this is a legitimate company after reading other similar reviews. Stay far, FAR away.

greg

a month ago

Disorganized and unprofessional

After going back and forth with Grasshopper for more than a week, they rejected my application for a checking account, citing 'security reasons' and refusing to provide additional information. Throughout the process, the company was extremely disorganized and unprofessional. I am concerned that I have entrusted this company with personal and financial information and hope that I don't suffer any consequences for it. I highly recommend that you do not do business with this company.

desiree guyton

a month ago

I was kicked out for a mistake in the…

I was kicked out for a mistake in the enrollment process. They should have given me a chance to correct the information. I wasted a lot of time and received my sensitive information. Customer service should have given me a warning and an opportunity to correct the mistake.

carl giordano

a month ago

The speed of banking and the customer…

The speed of banking and the customer service need work. I've had a chat going with customer support since yesterday with one reply. I've also made large transfers into my account to fund my business, but it takes a very long time to complete any transaction. For example, I initiated a wire transfer in person from my personal checking over a week ago and it doesn't even show as a hold, no update, and trying to get information from customer support is impossible. I also tried to purchase a new POS system for our store and the transaction was stopped by Grasshopper. The thing that has slowed our progress the most so far has been banking with Grasshopper, unfortunately.

a month ago

Account closed with no warning

My account was closed with no warning or notification to me whatsoever. Couldn't log in (said the account didn't exist), and other banks said my deposits to the Grasshopper account wouldn't go through. Thank god I hadn't put any serious funds into the account yet. They continued to send me generic emails about their service and how great it was, though... Terrible experience. Would not recommend.

juan vazquez

2 months ago

Deposits were taking too long

Deposits were taking too long, you could see the “partial credit” but it was not reflected to your account, and as a start up business owner it was harder for me to actually spend or invest my profits

toni r.

2 months ago

Quick and trouble-free online banking

Quick and trouble-free online banking! Glad to be a customer!

henry n

2 months ago

Open and closed account in 2 days

We opened our account and Grasshopper closed it two days later without an explanation. No details, no calls no emails, nothing. It's ok, we've moved on, but the entire ordeal was subpar. To be honest, it was expected when dealing with a non traditional bank, even if the initial process was easy. Overall, i couldn't recommend Grasshopper to anyone with a pulse, as their lack of customer service overshadows their product. UPDATE: 4/24/23: Thank you for your reply. It would have been nice to get a hold of someone when I needed to months ago, whatever that security reason may be, but nobody returned my emails. But, as i stated in my original review, the lack of customer service overshadowed your product.

jason

2 months ago

Don't bother with this bank if you own a business.

Their several-day bank holds on deposits prevent business operations from running efficiently. They put 5-day holds on deposited checks, even when they are from the company's owner. I've never experienced this at any other bank, which made me end my business account with Grasshopper Bank very quickly.

paul savage

2 months ago

A Happy Customer for over a year

Sign up was easy, just fill in a few details, share your ID and you should be good to go. In my case it took a bit longer, as my business was new, so I had to provide some more documentation. But compare with going into a branch, it was a breeze. Pros: I love the feature that you can easily give your accountant view access to your account in just a few clicks. It's a lot easier than any other bank I've worked with for that feature alone. It connects easily with QuickBooks too, my old bank wanted to charge for access! They offered interest on balances a lot sooner than other banks, many banks in 2023 have started doing this so it may be less of an important factor now. Wires / ACH's all work seamlessly, and a lot easier than than some other US banks I've used. Cons: Small peeve, weekend bank transfers can be created / scheduled, but they actually don't go through. I've left some feedback for the support team to see if they can disable the weekend feature.

k. g.

2 months ago

Communication breakdown

It's very difficult to get ahold of customer service. I simply asked for the status of my pending account opening, and why my $100 transfer wasn't posted yet, and got very cryptic answers. (4 day hold, which hasn't been released yet, although the debit card is supposed to be on the way now). All I know about my account is that it is "un-locked," so that's good it's not "locked." I'm trying to find who you partner with for further financial offerings, but I haven't discovered a list yet on your website. Grasshopper has quite a ways to go when it comes to ease of, and clarity in, communication. This is ongoing, to this very day, hence the date below under "Date of experience," I chose, on the dropdown selection, today's date, having been further confused by your website again this very morning. I actually don't know if I can use my account for banking yet.

bernadette mentor

2 months ago

Grasshopper provides excellent customer…

Grasshopper provides excellent customer service.

xuesheng xu

2 months ago

Had an Issue with the Bank, but It Was then Resolved Efficiently

My account was closed and my $100 initial deposit was never refunded. I will be bring up this issue with the Federal Reserve. Update (4/20/2023): Grasshopper Bank reached out to me, and corrected the issue by assisting me getting my $100 refunded. I was actually quite surprised, and updated my review. I have to say a Thank You to Brana from Grasshopper Bank for resolving my issue.

roderick

2 months ago

Personal banking

Banking with Grasshopper feels like personal banking.

paul asenjo

2 months ago

Great experience

Great experience. Easy bank to work with.

fernando corona

2 months ago

Love the dual approval for wires

I am very impressed by how user-friendly this is. I love the dual approval for wires as well as the user management. Also, there are no limits on online wires. Superb! Keep it up! I'll definitely recommend this bank to families and friends!

laura

2 months ago

They have been helpful and the online…

They have been helpful and the online portal is super easy to use.

kyle buckett

2 months ago

Carey Henry rocks!

Grasshopper is a wonderful bank to work with for SBA Loans. I cannot recommend enough. I would especially like to bring attention to Carey Henry, Senior SBA Loan Closer. She has been nothing short of remarkable. Has truly gone above and beyond and a shining example of caring for the customer (us). Our seller has been somewhat frustrating during this process, and the deal has changed, dealing with the lease, but Carey has been instrumental to ensure this process was done in an efficient and timely manner. She even went above and beyond to ensure our seller was communicated with through the process. Cannot recommend Grasshopper and Carey enough!

roger

4 months ago

Disappointing and slow

My experience with Grasshopper was disappointing. They advertise that I could open an account in 5 minutes. That is not accurate. You can fill out their form in 5 minutes but it took them 4 days to actually open the account even with my 830 credit score. After 1 day they stated that my credit was frozen. That took me 5 minutes for me to fix. Three days later, after many phone calls and setting up a checking account with another institution (that took 10 minutes to activate my account) they decided to approve me. Sorry, that is not 5 minutes, so I told them not to activate the account.

jason

4 months ago

An easy online platform…

An easy online platform for small business owners to use who want an all digital experience and no messing with the big scam banks. The initial sign up was easy and request for specific verification documents was easy enough!