M&T Bank Business Account Review 2023

M&T is an East Coast bank that offers both personal and business banking. It has quite a few different business bank accounts in addition to other business products and services―plus it offers personalized banking solutions. But with the high fees on its more basic accounts, a small ATM network, and branches in just 10 states, M&T is far from being one of our preferred banks.

In this M&T Bank review, we’ll explain more about all that so you can make up your mind about M&T.

As we already mentioned, M&T has quite a few business bank account options, including both checking accounts and savings accounts.

Unlike many traditional banks, M&T lets you apply for many of these accounts through its website. Yes, some of its deposit accounts (the more expensive ones) do require you to go into a branch to open them. But if you want to open a business checking account online, you can just stick to the lower-tier accounts.

We’ll focus on business checking accounts first. M&T gives you six business checking account options, with some accounts being more specialized than others.

Its most basic account is the aptly named M&T Simple Checking for Business. This checking account has a fairly low monthly maintenance fee, which you can waive by maintaining an account balance of $2,500. Note that you get some free transactions with this account―but if you go over, you’ll pay a surprisingly high transaction fee. So if you plan on making lots of transactions, this may not be your cheapest option.

You might look instead at M&T Tailored Business Checking. It comes with more free transactions and cash deposits. Plus, it can get you a better rate on a Commercial Savings account (which we’ll talk about soon). Of course, you do pay a higher monthly fee to get all that. (But you get three free months when you sign up.) You can waive the monthly maintenance fee in a few ways:

• Maintain a $10,000 balance
• $2,000 in monthly spending on your M&T business credit card
• Merchant services account that deposits into your Tailored Business account

For even more free deposits and transactions, you can pick M&T BizFlex Checking. This checking account has the highest monthly maintenance fee (by far), and you need $50,000 in M&T business checking accounts to waive that fee. So make sure you do the math before committing to this potentially expensive account.

Then there’s M&T’s interest checking account, Interest Checking. It doesn’t come with any free transactions or deposits, and you can’t waive the monthly fee. Instead, you can get earnings credits that offset account fees. Those earnings credits are based on your account balance, so this interest-bearing account make the most sense for businesses with lots of money on hand.

(If you prefer an interest-bearing account with a high interest rate on all balances, we suggest looking at Bluevine business banking instead.)

Non-Profit Checking (as you can guess) is designed for nonprofits. It comes with a few free transactions and lots of free cash deposits. This account has the lowest monthly fee of M&T’s checking options, and you can waive the fee with a low $500 balance.

Also, if you happen to be an attorney, Pennsylvania court, real estate agent, or title company, you should know that M&T also has free IOLA, IOLTA, MAHT, and IOTA accounts. (If you’re not one of those things, you won’t need one of these accounts.)

M&T Bank also offers three business savings accounts. It has both standard savings account and money market account options, so you can pick what works best for you.

If you prefer a money market account, you can go with M&T’s Commercial Money Market Savings Account. You can waive the monthly fee on this account by keeping a $10,000 daily balance (and note that you need a balance of at least $500 to earn interest). This account uses a tiered interest rate, so you’ll earn more interest on larger account balances.

M&T’s Commercial Savings Account, on the other hand, has a flat interest rate for all account balances (and you only need to keep a $100 balance to earn interest). This account has the lowest monthly fee of M&T’s business savings options, and you can waive that fee with a $300 daily account balance.

Finally, there’s M&T Market Advantage for Business Savings. Like the Commercial Money Market Savings Account, this one has tiered interest (meaning bigger balances earn more). You need to keep at least $1,000 in your account to earn interest, and keep at least $10,000 if you want to waive the monthly maintenance fee.

You may have noticed we haven’t mentioned interest rates. That’s because, again, M&T doesn’t publish its interest rates―usually a sign of low, not very competitive rates. (If you want super competitive rates, Small Business Bank offers a great APY on its savings accounts.)

Of course, M&T isn’t the only bank out there. How does it compare to its banking competition?

Well, M&T Bank definitely isn’t the most widely available bank (which we’ll talk about more in a second). National and even some other regional banks have more reach than M&T. And then there’s online banks, which operate in all states.

Cost-wise, though, M&T Bank is (mostly) pretty middle-of-the-road. While it’s monthly fees are definitely more expensive than online banks (which tend to offer fee-free checking), it’s on par with many traditional banks and cheaper than some.

That said, we do have to say that M&T has surprisingly high transaction fees on some of its accounts. While extra transactions at, say, TD Bank max out at $0.75 per transaction, M&T will hit you with transaction fees of up to $1. That can add up fast. (And again, both banks are more expensive than online banks that don’t charge transaction fees.)

These comparisons bring us to some of the biggest drawbacks about M&T Bank.

We’ve mentioned some things we like about M&T Bank―like its bespoke touch. But  M&T Bank isn’t right for all businesses―mostly because of its super limited availability.

See, to use M&T for your business banking, you’ll need to be in DC or one of ten states:

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• New Jersey
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia

(Not doing business in any of those states? No worries―we can help you find the best bank for business in your state.)

And even if you're in one of those states, you’re looking at a very small ATM network when you bank with M&T. It has less than 2,000 in-network ATMs, which could lead to a lot more ATM charges for your business. (For comparison, Flagstar Bank operates in just five states and gets you in-network access to 55,000 ATMs.)

We do also need to point out, though, that M&T charges ridiculously high fees on some accounts. The $1.00 fee for extra transactions on its Simple Checking account, for example? One of the highest transaction fees we’ve seen from all the banks we’ve reviewed. If you’re not careful with the account you pick and how you bank, M&T could end up costing you a lot.

Still, those drawbacks may not matter that much to you if you’re in M&T’s business area and plan to get one of its mid- or top-tier accounts. And in that case, you might want to know more about the other things M&T can do for you.

As we said, M&T bank can help you pick more than just bank accounts―it can help you find the right business products and services too. 

So let’s talk more about exactly what products and services M&T has to offer your business.

Like many a traditional bank, M&T doubles as a lender. 

It has a few different business credit products, including lines of credit, term loans, real estate loans, and more.

M&T Bank doesn’t publish its borrower requirements for any of these loans, but we can make some educated guesses. Since it’s a traditional lender, we expect M&T wants applicants to have a good credit score (in the high 600s at least), a healthy amount of revenue (probably over $200,000), and an established business (at least two years old).

(If that sounds too strict, you can look at alternative business loans from online lenders instead. Online lenders tend to have much lower borrower requirements.)

M&T also offers a couple business credit cards. They’re both Visa credit cards with no annual fees (a nice touch). If you prefer a lower APR (after that first year), you’ll want to stick with the M&T Business Credit Card. It doesn’t earn rewards, but it has a lower interest rate.

But if you prefer to earn while you spend, you’ll like the M&T Business Rewards Credit Card. It comes with a higher interest rate, but you earn cash back on your purchases (2% cash back the first year, then 1.5% after that).

Finally, M&T offers a few more business services:

• Cash management
• Merchant services
• Business investment services
• Employee benefits

And now you’ve seen what M&T Bank can do for your business. But before you turn your money over to M&T, let’s check in with existing customers to see what they have to say about M&T banking.

M&T has fairly average reviews for a traditional bank.

It earns a 3.3 (out of 5) on Bank Branch Locator and a 1.06 (out of 5) on the Better Business Bureau (BBB). (Businesses get judged much more harshly on the BBB, so that score isn’t particularly low for a bank.)

So what do M&T customers think?

Well, on the positive side, we saw lots of M&T Bank reviews praise specific branches and employees. Quite a few people like the customer service and overall experience at their local M&T location.

On the negative side, we saw some negative branch reviews, some complaints about poor customer service, and gripes about long phone hold time. Mostly, though, the negative reviews came from mortgage account holders who were annoyed that M&T bought their mortgages.

In other words, we didn’t see anything too concerning. Could M&T improve its customer service and hold times? Probably. But there’s a good chance you’ll like your local M&T branch―at least for business banking.

As we showed you in this review, M&T Bank offers plenty of business bank accounts, business credit products, and other business services. Plus, it offers personalized help in deciding exactly which of those accounts, products, and services your business needs.

That makes M&T appealing―but some businesses won’t like M&T’s small service area, limited number of ATMs, or simply average customer reviews. You also need to be careful with the account you choose, as excess transactions on some accounts come with startlingly high fees.

So while M&T Bank doesn’t top our list of the best banks for business, it may be a good bank for your specific company. And whether it is or not, we hope this review helped you decide.

Don’t think M&T Bank is the financial institution you’re looking for? Find some alternative checking account options on our rankings of the best banks for small-business checking.

We looked at M&T’s website, tried to contact it directly, read customer reviews, and did even more research prior to starting this review. To get M&T’s overall score, we evaluated its availability, accounting choices and pricing, customer service options, and more.

Small Business Bank offers our favorite business bank accounts, but the right bank for you depends on your business and its needs. See our take on Small Business Bank and other banks on our list of the best banks for small business.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.