Relay Business Banking Pricing 2026: 3% APY Scale Tier

Quick Answer

Relay pricing 2026: Starter $0/mo (1.11% APY, 1% CC), Grow $30/mo (1.75% APY, 1.25% CC), Scale $120/mo $90 promo (3.00% APY, 1.5% CC). 20-50 checking accounts per plan. ACH free across all plans. No minimum balance, no overdraft fees. Save up to 50% over competitors on wire and same-day ACH fees.

Last verified: Sep 16, 2026.

At a glance

• Starter: $0/mo, 1.11% APY, 1% CC cashback, 20 checking accounts
• Grow: $30/mo, 1.75% APY, 1.25% CC cashback
• Scale: $120/mo $90 promo, 3.00% APY, 1.5% CC cashback, 50 checking accounts, no fee for same-day ACH
• ACH: Free across all plans
• Card payment: 2.9% + $0.30
• International card ISA: 1-2% (Visa-set, not Relay)
• Overdraft fees: None

How the three Relay tiers compare

Relay is subscription-based, with three plans aimed at different stages of business growth.

Starter Plan at $0/month is the entry tier for new Relay accounts. It includes 1.11% APY on savings accounts, 1% credit card cashback, 20 checking accounts per business, built-in spend controls, and receipt upload reminders. Starter is the right plan for solopreneurs and very small teams.

Grow Plan at $30/month adds multi-step approval rules, customizable automation, batch payments, recurring invoices, surcharging, and bookkeeping automations. Savings APY rises to 1.75% and credit card cashback to 1.25%. Grow is the right plan for small to medium-sized teams with growing cash flow complexities.

Scale Plan at $120/month regular price (currently discounted to $90/month for a limited time) is for larger teams that want to scale faster. Scale includes 3.00% APY on savings accounts, 1.5% credit card cashback, 50 checking accounts per business, no fee for same-day ACH, and bill payment automation. Scale is the right plan for businesses with significant AP volume, treasury management needs, and growth-stage complexity (Relay pricing page, 2026).

What fees does Relay charge on top of subscription?

Standard ACH is free across all Relay plans. Domestic wires are discounted for Relay subscribers versus competitors — Relay claims up to 50% savings on wire and same-day ACH fees relative to legacy banks. The main on-top fee is the Visa International Service Assessment (ISA) fee of 1-2% on international debit card transactions where the merchant is outside the United States or processes in a non-USD currency. Visa applies this fee automatically — it is not a Relay-set charge (Relay pricing page, 2026).

There are no overdraft fees and no minimum balance requirements. Relay is one of the few US business-banking fintechs with no overdraft fees — most competitors (Bluevine, Mercury Plus/Pro, Chase) charge overdraft fees on the free or lower tiers. For businesses operating with thin cash reserves, the no-overdraft-fee structure is meaningful.

How many checking accounts can you have?

Relay Starter and Grow each include 20 checking accounts per business; Scale includes 50. Each checking account supports up to 50 virtual and plastic debit cards per cardholder, and up to 5 virtual and plastic credit cards per cardholder per credit account. Multiple checking accounts are useful for separating funds by purpose (payroll, taxes, operating expenses, project-specific reserves) without the complexity of multiple bank accounts (Relay pricing page, 2026).

For a company with a 20-account structure (1 operating, 5 project-specific reserves, 4 tax reserve accounts, 5 payroll accounts, 5 vendor payment accounts), Starter and Grow are sufficient. For a company with a 40+ account structure (adding escrow, contractor holdback, multi-entity, regional operating accounts), Scale is the right tier.

The savings APY math

The savings APY scale matters for any company holding idle cash. On a $500,000 idle cash balance over 12 months:

The Scale plan's 3.00% APY generates $15,000/year on $500K of idle cash — versus $5,550/year on Starter. The $120/mo Scale subscription ($1,440/year) is paid for by the APY alone on a balance above roughly $50K. For companies with $500K+ in idle cash, Scale is the right tier on math alone (Relay pricing page, May 2026).

How does Relay compare to Bluevine?

Relay and Bluevine are both subscription-based business-banking fintechs with $0 base tiers and similar feature ladders.

Bluevine edges Relay on cashback percentages but caps the categories (restaurants, fuel with caps, hotels capped at $20/transaction); Relay's cashback is uncapped. Bluevine Plus edges Relay Grow on savings APY (3.0% vs 1.75%) at the same monthly fee. Bluevine is the right choice for companies prioritizing yield; Relay is the right choice for companies prioritizing uncapped cashback and bill-pay features (Relay pricing page, 2026).

Bill pay features in detail

Relay's bill pay and AP features are layered by tier.

Starter includes bill creation and management, receipt collection and storage, payment request links, invoice creation and tracking, and automated follow-ups. For a freelancer or one-person business, Starter covers the basic AP needs.

Grow adds multi-step bill approval (the right tier for any team with more than one approver), customizable automation, batch payments (the right tier for any team with 50+ payments a month), recurring invoices, and surcharging (the ability to pass card processing fees to customers). Grow is the right tier for most SMBs.

Scale adds bill payment automation (the key feature — automate the AP workflow from invoice receipt to payment), 10 free same-day ACH payments per month, and faster customer support. Scale is the right tier for companies with significant AP volume and AP automation depth needs (The Digital Merchant, June 2026).

What enterprise buyers should do next

Three actions for organizations evaluating Relay in 2026.

1. Model the savings APY against your idle cash balance. For companies with $50K+ in idle cash, the APY difference between Starter (1.11%) and Scale (3.00%) is roughly $950/year per $50K. The Scale subscription pays for itself quickly.
2. Choose the right tier for your AP workflow depth. Starter for receipt scanning and invoice creation. Grow for approval workflows and batch payments. Scale for full AP automation and same-day ACH.
3. Pressure-test the wire fee economics. Relay claims 50% savings on wire and same-day ACH fees versus competitors. For companies making 10+ wire payments a month, verify the per-wire fee structure.

What to watch next

Three near-term datapoints. First, the savings APY trajectory — Relay's APY tracks the broader rate environment and was affected by the Fed's September 16, 2026 hike (25bp to 3.75-4.00%). Second, the Scale plan promotional pricing — currently $90/mo, the regular $120/mo price will return at some point. Third, expansion of the bill pay automation feature set — Scale currently includes bill pay automation; if Relay expands this to Grow, the tier boundary shifts and Starter becomes more attractive for SMBs with moderate AP volume.