TL;DR: Azlo was a BBVA USA-backed digital business bank that closed in March 2021 following PNC's acquisition of BBVA USA. It offered zero fees, envelope-style budgeting, invoicing, and integrations with tools like PayPal, Stripe, and QuickBooks, making it a favourite for freelancers and small business owners. The best Azlo alternatives in 2025 are Novo (FDIC-insured via Middlesex Federal Savings, free reserves for envelope budgeting, Stripe and Xero integrations, no monthly fee), Mercury (FDIC-insured, zero fees, API access, virtual cards, strong startup and tech company orientation), Relay (zero-fee banking with 20 sub-accounts and permission-based team access), and Bluevine (2.0% APY on balances, business line of credit up to $250,000). No single alternative perfectly replicates Azlo's feature set, but Novo comes closest for freelancers and Relay for small teams.
What Was Azlo and Why Did It Close?
Azlo was a digital business banking platform launched in February 2018 under BBVA's New Digital Businesses division in the United States. It targeted freelancers, independent contractors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners who wanted fee-free digital banking with built-in tools for financial management. Its business checking account carried no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirements, unlimited free transactions, free ACH transfers, free direct deposits, and zero overdraft fees. The Envelopes feature allowed customers to allocate money into named sub-account buckets for tax savings, project budgets, and expense categories within the same checking account. Azlo also offered invoicing directly from the platform and integrations with PayPal, Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks, and other business applications. In January 2021, Azlo announced its closure, finalised in March 2021. The closure followed PNC Financial Services Group's acquisition of BBVA USA, after which PNC chose not to continue operating the Azlo brand. Azlo's founder Cameron Peake publicly stated his regret at the closure, attributing the decision entirely to the strategic choices of the parent entity following the acquisition rather than any failure of the Azlo product itself.
What Made Azlo Worth Replacing: Core Features
Azlo built a loyal customer base by combining several features that were genuinely uncommon in the business banking market at the time of its launch. Zero fees of any kind including zero monthly fees, zero overdraft fees, zero ACH fees, and zero wire receipt fees removed the friction of unexpected banking costs from business cash flow management. The Envelopes feature, a form of envelope budgeting adapted for business finances, enabled entrepreneurs using the Profit First methodology or similar frameworks to segment cash reserves for taxes, operating expenses, and growth investment within a single account. Invoicing built into the banking platform eliminated the need for a separate invoicing tool for businesses with straightforward invoicing needs. The breadth of app integrations meant that Azlo worked within existing tech stacks rather than requiring workflow changes. Founding Azlo customers described the platform as treating small business owners and freelancers as valued customers rather than as cost centres for large-bank fee generation, which resonated strongly with the freelance community it served.
Novo: Best Overall Azlo Alternative for Freelancers
Novo is the most frequently recommended Azlo alternative by former Azlo users and independent analysts. It is a fintech company offering business checking accounts through Middlesex Federal Savings, Member FDIC, providing FDIC insurance on customer deposits. The Novo Business Checking account carries no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, no ACH fees, no incoming wire fees, and no transaction limits. Novo's Reserves feature is its equivalent of Azlo's Envelopes: up to 10 named reserve sub-accounts can be created within the checking balance, allowing businesses to mentally and visually segment funds for taxes, project budgets, payroll, and other purposes. Funds in reserves show separately in the interface but are instantly releasable to the spendable balance at any time. Novo offers free invoicing directly within the platform and integrations with Stripe (through Stripe's Partner Program membership, a unique differentiator among Azlo alternatives), Shopify, Amazon, Xero, QuickBooks, Gusto, and others. Novo has no specific foreign wire sending capability, making it less suitable for businesses with regular international payments. Novo received strong endorsement from Azlo itself when it included Novo on its officially recommended list of alternatives published at closure, and accelerated the launch of its Reserves and Invoicing features specifically to serve former Azlo customers migrating to new platforms.
Mercury: Best for Tech Startups and Teams
Mercury is a fintech company offering business banking through Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank and Trust, both FDIC members. It targets primarily technology startups, venture-backed companies, and digital-first businesses that need sophisticated banking infrastructure alongside everyday business checking. Mercury offers zero monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, free domestic wire transfers, free ACH transfers, and free international wire receipts. Its virtual card generation feature allows businesses to create multiple virtual cards for specific vendors or spending categories, a capability particularly valued by companies managing subscriptions and vendor payments at scale. Mercury's API access enables developer-led teams to automate payment workflows directly. Team banking allows multiple team members to hold Mercury accounts with role-based access controls at the company level. Mercury does not offer invoicing within the platform. For former Azlo users who were freelancers or solo entrepreneurs, Mercury's team-focused feature set may provide more sophistication than necessary. For small teams and startups that outgrew the simplicity of Azlo and need more robust access controls and automation, Mercury is the strongest alternative.
Relay: Best for Multi-Account Business Budgeting
Relay is a fintech business banking platform operated through Thread Bank, Member FDIC. Its defining feature relative to other Azlo alternatives is the ability to create up to 20 individual checking accounts and 50 physical or virtual Visa debit cards within a single Relay business banking account, all with no monthly fees. This multi-account structure goes significantly beyond the sub-account or reserve approach of Novo or Azlo's Envelopes: each sub-account in Relay is a separate checking account with its own balance, its own assigned cards, and its own transaction history, rather than a visual segmentation of a single account balance. This architecture is particularly well-suited to the Profit First methodology, which prescribes specific named accounts for different cash allocation purposes. Relay also supports permission-based team member access, allowing the account owner to grant bookkeepers, accountants, or team members access to specific accounts or features without sharing full administrative control. Relay integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, and Gusto. International wire capabilities are available. For small businesses and entrepreneurs using structured cash management frameworks who need more than a single reserve system, Relay's multi-account architecture is its most compelling differentiator.
Bluevine: Best for Interest-Earning Business Checking
Bluevine is a fintech company offering business checking through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, with FDIC coverage up to $3 million per depositor through its extended deposit insurance program. Its Standard business checking account has no monthly fees on the base tier and offers approximately 2.0% APY on balances, which is a distinctive feature among Azlo alternatives since most free business checking accounts earn no interest. Bluevine's Plus tier at $30 per month and Premier tier at $95 per month offer higher APY and additional features. Beyond checking, Bluevine offers a business line of credit of up to $250,000 for qualifying businesses, providing access to working capital that pure neobanks cannot offer. For Azlo users who prioritised zero fees and had no need for business lending, the base Bluevine account with its interest-earning feature and CNBC Select partner promotion provides solid value. For growing businesses that anticipate needing a credit facility alongside their business banking, Bluevine's combined checking and credit line offering represents a more complete financial relationship than pure neobank alternatives.
Found: Best for Self-Employed Tax Management
Found is an all-in-one financial platform specifically designed for self-employed individuals, freelancers, and sole proprietors, provided through Piermont Bank, Member FDIC. Its distinguishing feature is the integration of banking with automated tax calculation and estimated tax withholding. Found automatically tracks income and deductible business expenses, calculates estimated quarterly tax liabilities, and allows users to set aside a designated tax reserve percentage from each incoming payment. For solo entrepreneurs who found Azlo's Envelopes most useful for tax savings and expense tracking, Found's automated approach to the same problem eliminates the manual allocation step. Found also generates simplified Schedule C tax summaries, invoicing, and accepts payments through multiple channels including Venmo and PayPal links. Found is free at the basic tier with a Found Plus subscription at $19.99 per month unlocking additional tax and bookkeeping features. It is primarily suited to self-employed individuals and sole proprietors rather than incorporated businesses with multiple employees.
How to Choose the Right Azlo Alternative
The optimal Azlo replacement depends on which specific features drove your loyalty to Azlo. For the zero-fee experience with envelope-style budgeting and invoicing, Novo is the closest match overall. For multi-account cash management with team access controls, Relay offers the most sophisticated structure. For tech startups with developer needs and team banking, Mercury provides the deepest technical capability. For a business that also needs a credit line, Bluevine's combination of interest-bearing checking and lending access is the most complete. For self-employed individuals whose primary need is tax management integration with their banking, Found addresses this directly. No single alternative replicates every Azlo feature perfectly, but the combination of Novo's reserves and integrations plus a Wise Business account for international payment needs comes closest to the complete Azlo experience for most former customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Azlo bank close?
Azlo closed in March 2021 because its parent company, BBVA USA, was acquired by PNC Financial Services Group. Following the acquisition, PNC made the strategic decision to close both Azlo and Simple, another digital banking brand operated by BBVA USA, rather than integrating them into PNC's banking infrastructure. Existing Azlo account holders were transitioned to BBVA USA accounts, which subsequently became PNC accounts. The closure was unrelated to Azlo's operational performance and reflected PNC's strategic priorities as it absorbed a large bank acquisition.
What is the best free business checking account like Azlo?
Novo is the most widely recommended free business checking alternative to Azlo, offering no monthly fees, no ACH fees, no incoming wire fees, a Reserves feature equivalent to Azlo's Envelopes, free invoicing, and integrations with Stripe, QuickBooks, Xero, and other business tools. Relay is a strong alternative for businesses that need more structured multi-account cash management. Both are fintech companies providing banking through FDIC-insured partner banks. Mercury is the best alternative for tech-oriented teams that need API access and virtual card management.
Does Novo have an envelope budgeting feature like Azlo?
Yes. Novo's Reserves feature allows business checking account holders to create up to 10 named reserve sub-accounts within their checking account balance. Each reserve is named and funded by manual or automatic allocation, and funds in reserves show separately from the main spendable balance. Money can be released from reserves to the spendable balance instantly at any time. This directly mirrors Azlo's Envelopes feature and was specifically accelerated by Novo at launch to serve former Azlo customers. Relay provides an even more sophisticated version through fully separate checking accounts rather than visual sub-accounts within a single balance.
Can I open a business bank account online without visiting a branch?
Yes. All of the Azlo alternatives discussed in this guide offer fully online account opening without requiring a branch visit. Novo, Mercury, Relay, Bluevine, and Found all allow businesses to apply online, upload identity and business documents digitally, and begin banking within one to a few business days of approval. This digital-first account opening was one of Azlo's original points of differentiation from traditional banks, and all its successors have maintained this feature as a baseline expectation for the neobank business banking market.
What happened to Azlo customers when it closed?
When Azlo closed in March 2021, existing account balances were transferred to BBVA USA, the parent bank whose deposit insurance backed Azlo accounts. BBVA USA accounts were subsequently transitioned to PNC accounts following PNC's acquisition of BBVA USA. No customer funds were lost during the closure process as all Azlo balances were FDIC-insured through BBVA USA. Most active Azlo users chose to move their accounts to alternative providers rather than remain with PNC, whose traditional bank fee structure and product orientation differed significantly from what Azlo had offered.
Sources
CNBC Select: Banking Options After Azlo: https://www.cnbc.com/select/banking-options-for-freelancers-small-business-owners/
Business.org: Best Banks for Small Business Checking 2026: https://www.business.org/finance/banking/best-banks-for-small-business-checking/
Mercury Official Website: https://mercury.com
Relay Official Website: https://relayfi.com
