Quick comparison
| Factor | First Citizens | Truist |
|---|---|---|
| Entry account | Business Banking | Simple Business Checking |
| Published monthly fee | $0 with paperless statements | $0 |
| Primary fit | Growing businesses that want a branch-led bank with published operating allowances and a clear path from basic checking into treasury-management services. | Startups and smaller operators that can live within Simple’s 50-transaction allowance, plus growing branch-using businesses that can justify Dynamic’s much larger operating allowances or meet its relationship-balance waiver. |
Checking economics
First Citizens
| Account | Monthly fee | Waiver / condition | Published allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Banking | $0 with paperless statements | Paperless statements | 100 transactions; $5,000 monthly cash processing at no charge |
| Business Banking I | $25 or $0 | Merchant services, eligible business credit card, or $25,000 average daily ledger balance | 250 transactions; $10,000 cash processing; one discounted treasury product |
| Business Banking II | $50 or $0 | Merchant services, eligible business credit card, or $50,000 average daily ledger balance | 500 transactions; $15,000 cash processing; two discounted treasury products |
Truist
| Account | Monthly fee | Waiver / condition | Published allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Business Checking | $0 | No waiver needed | 50 combined monthly transactions; $2,000 monthly cash deposits at no charge |
| Dynamic Business Checking | $25 or $0 | $5,000 average relationship ledger balance | 500 combined monthly transactions; $25,000 monthly cash deposits at no charge |
| Community Checking | $0 | Designed for qualifying nonprofit/community organizations | 225 combined monthly transactions; $25,000 monthly cash deposits at no charge |
Decision points
Entry-level economics
First Citizens: Business Banking — $0 with paperless statements. Truist: Simple Business Checking — $0. Compare the waiver mechanics with balances and activity you already maintain rather than moving money solely to avoid a fee.
Operating capacity
The published transaction and cash allowances differ by tier. A low headline fee can become less important than overage charges if your business regularly exceeds the included activity.
Relationship depth
First Citizens is described in our verified review as best suited to Growing businesses that want a branch-led bank with published operating allowances and a clear path from basic checking into treasury-management services. Truist is described as best suited to Startups and smaller operators that can live within Simple’s 50-transaction allowance, plus growing branch-using businesses that can justify Dynamic’s much larger operating allowances or meet its relationship-balance waiver.
Treasury and payments
For ACH, wires, merchant services, fraud controls and cash-management tools, compare service-specific pricing separately from checking fees. Treasury economics often matter more once payment volume grows.
Operating fit
First Citizens
First Citizens is particularly relevant to businesses that expect their operating account to grow with them. The bank makes the progression easy to model because every tier publishes a transaction allowance, a cash-processing allowance and a clear relationship threshold for waiving the monthly fee.
Truist
Truist fits businesses in its Southeast and Mid-Atlantic footprint that want branch access, a genuinely no-monthly-fee entry account and a path into a relationship account as activity grows. The key decision is less about brand size and more about whether monthly transaction and cash-deposit volume fits one of the published allowance bands.
Verified reviews
- First Citizens Business Banking Review
- Truist Business Banking Review
- BusinessBanks.us comparison methodology
- Source standards
Match the account to your real transaction, cash and relationship profile rather than choosing by brand size alone.
First Citizens and Truist can both work for established businesses, but their entry pricing, waiver mechanics and operating allowances create different cost curves. Model a normal month before deciding.