Pillar Financial is an upcoming Neobank (online bank) offering Business Accounts for small businesses, self-employed individuals, freelancers and entrepreneurs. As someone who operates a business (Neonbuild.com), this new Fintech caught my attention.
Co-founded by Elena Litani who also worked at Koho, Pillar seeks to make banking simple for businesses. With no physical branches, no credit checks, no hidden fees, and a robust mobile app, is Pillar the right choice for your business?
How to sign up
Pillar claims that a business account can be opened in 5 minutes. There’s no need to book an appointment or go to a physical location.Â
Once approved, you’ll gain access to a physical and virtual Mastercard. There is no minimum balance required or credit checks during the application.
Pillar account features
- Easily lock and unlock MasterCard. (Card activation is online.)
- Invoices can be sent to clients directly from the app. You can use the provided templates or personalize your invoices.
- Web and mobile app.
- Import monthly transactions to the accounting software of choice.
- Unlimited transactions.
- No minimum balance.
- Expense tracking features.
Benefits of a business account
If you’re a small business owner, there’s a good chance you already have a business account. But if you don’t, you might be missing out on some key benefits.
A business account can help you save time and money, allowing you to see all of your finances in one place. It also makes it easy to pay bills and track expenses when they’re all in one place.
Here are some ways a business account will help:
- Bill payments
- Better customer service
- Incentive programs
- Proof of business
- Payroll
- Money management
Pillar financial price structure
As of this writing, there are three monthly plans to choose from. A basic plan, a Growth plan and a Founders plan.Â
- Basic plan. There is no monthly fee for this price tier. However, you will only receive 3 invoices and 3 included transfers per month ($1.50 after).
- Growth plan. Costs $9.99 per month with 50 invoices and 5 transfers per month ($1.50 after).
Other features include; Phone and text message support, exclusive access to early features and priority customer service.
- Founders plan. Includes all features of the Basic and Growth plan, plus a dedicated account manager, a free replacement card, unlimited invoices and 20 transfers per month ($1.50 after). This plan costs $24.99.
Refer to the table below for a detailed comparison.
What is considered a transfer?
A quote from Pillar. Click this link to read more.
All customers benefit from 3 free transfers per month, depending on their plan, after which they must pay $1.50 per transfer. For the beta stage only e-Transfers are considered as chargeable transfers. Everything else is free. After the beta stage transfers will include the following: Interac send e-Transfers, Interac request e-transfers, Direct Deposits, Visa Debit loads Merchant Payouts.
How do Pillar business accounts compare with other Banks?
Looking at the free plan, Pillar is more affordable than the other banks, with only BMO matching the 0$ price tag. For comparison, TD charges $5, CIBC $6, ScotiaBank $6 and RBC $5 per month. Check out the table below for a detailed comparison.
Are there any other associated fees?
Refer to this link for updated fees.
Is Pillar Financial safe?
Pillar is backed by Luge Capital and Diagram. Deposits are stored by The Peoples Trust Company, which is a member of the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). However, I could not find anywhere on the site clearly stating that the money deposited through Pillar is CDIC-insured. I will update that information when it becomes available. To learn more about terms and conditions, refer to their Cardholder Agreement.
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