Small Business Squeeze: Bank of America's Escalating Fees Are Crushing Entrepreneurs

Linda Okoro has operated a Nigerian restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina, for nine years. Her Bank of America Business Advantage checking account served her well enough until 2024, when she began noticing a steady accumulation of fees she hadn't planned for. Monthly maintenance fees had risen from $12 to $16. Cash deposit charges — critical for a restaurant that processes significant daily cash — were eating into her margins at $0.30 per $100 above the $7,500 monthly threshold. And excess transaction fees of $0.45 each had started appearing as her business grew. By the end of 2025, Okoro was paying over $380 per month in bank fees alone. "That's a part-time employee's wages," she told OPV.

Death by a Thousand Fees

Bank of America's small business fee structure operates on a layered model that starts modestly but compounds rapidly for active businesses. The Business Advantage Fundamentals account — the bank's most common small business product — includes 200 free transactions per statement cycle. For a busy restaurant processing 30 to 50 transactions per day, that limit is exhausted within a week. Every subsequent transaction costs $0.45. Cash deposits above $7,500 per month incur a $0.30-per-$100 charge. Wire transfers, stop payments, returned items, and cashier's checks each carry their own separate fees. The cumulative effect is a fee burden that scales with business activity — precisely the wrong incentive structure for a growing enterprise.

An OPV review of Bank of America's published business account fee schedules from 2022 through 2026 shows an average increase of 35 percent across core fees. The monthly maintenance fee rose from $12 to $16. The minimum balance required to waive it climbed from $3,000 to $5,000. Transaction allowances have not increased. Meanwhile, the bank has reduced business banking support at branches, with multiple business owners reporting that dedicated business bankers have been replaced by general-purpose personal bankers with limited knowledge of business account structures.

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The Competitive Landscape Has Changed

The irony is that the small business banking market has never been more competitive. Digital-first banks like Bluevine, Mercury, and Novo offer business checking with no monthly fees, unlimited transactions, and no cash deposit charges. Even traditional competitors like Chase and U.S. Bank have introduced more generous small business products. Bank of America's declining value proposition is reflected in its SBA lending statistics: despite holding the second-largest share of U.S. deposits, BofA now ranks last among the four largest banks in SBA loan volume relative to its deposit base, suggesting a broader retreat from small business engagement.

What Small Business Owners Should Do

Business owners currently banking with BofA should conduct a quarterly fee audit, comparing total fees paid against what competitors charge for equivalent services. The switching cost for business accounts — updating payment processing, payroll, vendor payments — is real but often recoverable within two to three months of fee savings. For businesses that must stay with BofA, negotiating directly with a business banking specialist can sometimes yield fee waivers or reduced rates, particularly for accounts with high average balances. Documenting excessive fees and filing CFPB complaints, even for business accounts, creates a regulatory record that supports future enforcement actions.