NBKC Bank Review: Online Banking for You and Your Business

NBKC is a relatively small bank with just five physical locations (all in the Kansas City metro area) but nationwide online banking. On paper, NBKC seems to have a lot going for it, like no-fee accounts and high interest rates. But unlike many of the big banks, NBKC is niche enough that you probably can’t just ask your friends for their experience with NBKC.

So how do you know if NBKC will work for your business banking? Ask us instead. We'll tell you all about NBKC―who it works best for, what makes it stand out, and what customers think about it.

Since this is Business.org, we tend to focus on the services that banks can offer your business rather than you personally. But we know that many people like to do their business and personal banking at the same place.

And if you go with a big, traditional bank, like Bank of America, that’s easy. But what if you prefer the convenience and affordability of online banking?

Then you’ll probably like NBKC bank. It’s one of the few online banks we’ve reviewed that offers both personal and business banking services (most offer only business banking). And luckily for you, NBKC has pretty great products for both you and your business.

You and your business can both get no-fee checking, for example. You can also get great rates on savings accounts.

But NBKC offers more than just the basics. It has all the business banking products you need (including credit cards and treasury management) and a full suite of personal banking products too (like home loans and personal loans).

So while NBKC isn’t our favorite online bank for business, it’s still a very good choice―especially if you’re also looking for personal banking.

Let’s find out if NBKC’s business (and personal) banking will work for you by exploring its specific offerings.

NBKC doesn’t have a huge range of business bank accounts, but you can get both checking and savings accounts.

Like several other online banks, NBKC offers just one type of checking account. Fortunately, it’s a no-fee checking account, which makes it a good value for many kinds of businesses.

The account has a tiny opening deposit, and after that, you don’t have to keep any kind of minimum account balance. And as we said, it’s a no-fee account, so you won’t have to pay most of the usual fees. NBKC doesn’t charge transaction fees, ATM fees, or even overdraft and NSF (non-sufficient funds) fees.
In fact, for most businesses, you’ll only ever have to worry about outgoing wire fees.

You can also pay some extra money (“a few bucks more”) to get some extra features for your bank account.

The ACH credits and debits add-on lets you make and receive regular ACH transfers. For example, if you want to pay employees through direct deposit or collect rent from your tenants, you’ll want this account add-on.

The desktop deposit add-on gives you scanning equipment to let you easily make deposits from your businesses. While you can deposit checks through NBKC’s mobile app for free, this add-on offers a lot more convenience if you routinely have to deposit checks.

And if you want to set some money aside, you can also add a savings account.

You can choose from two types of business savings accounts: a money market account or a certificate of deposit.

If you choose the money market account, you’ll have some access to your funds. You’ll be limited to six transactions per month, but you can add and withdraw funds from your savings account.

Note that your money market account will have a variable interest rate―it can change over time. So while NBKC currently offers a competitive rate, it could go down (or up!) at any time.

To lock in an interest rate, you’ll want to choose the Business CD (certificate of deposit) instead. You won’t be able to touch any money in your CD for the length of your term―at least not without getting hit by an early withdrawal penalty―but you’ll have a guaranteed interest rate for that entire term.

You’ll need to have quite a bit more money upfront to get an NBKC Business CD, as it requires a minimum opening deposit of at least $1,000.

Wondering what the difference is? We have a guide that can help.

We’ve shown you NBKC’s business bank accounts, but let’s pause for a moment to talk about what NBKC offers to individuals.

As we mentioned earlier, NBKC has a full suite of personal banking products. For example, it offers a no-fee interest-bearing personal checking account that lets you earn 0.8% on your account balance. But you can get more than just that:

• Money market savings account
• Certificate of deposit
• VA home loans
• Auto loan
• Home equity loan
• Other personal loans

Now, some of those loans are restricted to people in the Kansas City metro area. But no matter where you live, you can get NBKC’s great personal accounts and its home loans.

That’s pretty good for an online bank. You see, some online banks for business (like Small Business Bank) don’t offer any personal banking. At all. (In contrast, the vast majority of traditional banks offer both personal and business banking.) And while some other online banks do offer personal banking (like TIAA Bank), they don’t tend to have great reviews.

That makes NBKC the rare online bank that has plenty of personal banking services and solid customer reviews for those services (we’ll cover those more in a minute).

So if you prefer online banking and you’d like to keep your personal and business accounts in the same place, NBKC might be the perfect bank for you.

At this point, you know about NBKC’s business accounts and its personal accounts―but we’ve still got a few more business banking products to talk about.

If you’re one of the two million(ish) people in the Kansas City metro area, you can apply for business loans from NBKC. (If you’re not in the Kansas City metro area, you can find a lender on our rankings of the best small-business loans.)

NBKC has a few different types of funding:

• Business lines of credit
• Inventory loans
• Equipment loans
• Commercial real estate loans
• Construction loans
• SBA loans

Unfortunately, NBKC doesn’t advertise anything about the loans themselves. We have no idea what amounts you can get, what kind of interest rates to expect, or how long the terms go. Usually, though, banks offer better rates and terms than online lenders do. So we expect NBKC to have competitive loans.

You’ll have to talk with a NBKC rep to see if you qualify though. NBKC says that borrower qualifications vary depending on the type of financing you want, but it doesn’t provide any other details.

NBKC Bank also offers business credit cards, which are available nationwide.

If you want the lowest APR (annual percentage rate), you can go with the Visa Business Card. It has the lowest APR range, and it offers discounted rates for your first year.

And if you want rewards? You’ve got several choices. The Visa Business Real Rewards Card offers a basic rewards card that gets you points on purchases, while the Visa Business Cash Card gets you cashback (with extra cashback on many business-related expenses).

For power credit card users, NBKC also offers the Visa Business Rewards PLUS Card. It’s the only credit card that has an annual fee ($99 starting your second year), but lets you earn the most reward points.

Finally, NBKC has a few more options for businesses that want full-service banking:

• Cash management
• Fraud management
• Disbursement systems
• Collections

Now that you know everything that NBKC offers, let’s talk about what customers think.

To be honest, our usual sources for bank reviews don’t have a lot about NBKC. It has a 3.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot from just 29 reviews and a 2.4 out of 5 on Bank Branch Locator from only seven reviews.^1,2

As you can see from the numbers, those reviews skew pretty negative. People complain that NBKC has a difficult signup process (especially for a business account) and say that NBKC doesn’t communicate well.

But when we looked NBKC’s Better Business Bureau profile, we found almost all five-star reviews³―rare for a bank. Pretty much all of those reviews come from people who either got a new mortgage or refinanced a loan through NBKC. And those people have lots of praise for customer service reps, interest rates, and NBKC as a whole.

So will you, as a business owner, like NBKC bank? It’s hard to say. It looks like most NBKC customers like the bank quite a bit, but they’re not getting business accounts. The reviews from actual business owners weren’t great.

At the very least, NBKC hasn’t been accused of fraudulently charging customers or anything (unlike lots of big banks). So worst case, you can try NBKC. And if you don’t like it, you can choose a different bank―and you’ll only be out some time.

NBKC has great bank accounts for both personal and business needs. NBKC’s no-fee accounts make it highly affordable, while its competitive interest rates make it worthwhile.

Some of NBKC’s products―including loans for both businesses and individuals―have geographic limitations that make NBKC less appealing.

But for essential business and personal banking, NBKC can help no matter where you live and work.

Not ready to commit to NBKC just yet? Check out your other business banking options 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.