Modern Financial Management with Shopify Balance for Plus Plans

Your business just had a record week of sales. Congrats! Now, would you rather wait seven days to access your money—or get it the next business day? Time is money, so waiting around for payouts could mean delaying paying bills or putting off key investments to keep growing your revenue. Getting paid ASAP is ideal, but it’s not the norm with traditional banks, which can take up to a full week to process deposits.

Likewise, managing your money with traditional banks can be a pain—especially if your money is spread across several different bank accounts. It’s not uncommon for business owners to log in to one account to check sales, another account to manage cash flow, and yet another account to contribute to savings. That’s enough toggling between tabs to give anyone whiplash.

Businesses using Shopify don’t have to settle for delayed deposits or disconnected financial accounts. Shopify Balance is now available to eligible businesses on Shopify’s Plus plan. Shopify Balance is a free alternative to traditional banks, and it’s available directly within the Shopify platform, helping you manage your money right where you make it. 

For businesses on Shopify Plus, Shopify Balance can disburse funds the next business day by default,¹ so you can get your money when you need it. Businesses can also use Balance to earn a competitive 3.96% APY reward² on savings to fuel even more growth. Shopify Balance modernizes financial management, so businesses can get even more from their money.

In this blog, you’ll learn how Shopify Balance empowers you to manage and grow your money your way.

What is Shopify Balance? 

Shopify Balance is a free business financial account³ with benefits tailored to businesses on Shopify’s Plus plan. Balance is built into your existing Shopify store, and it integrates directly with other Shopify products, including Shopify Payments. Shopify Balance can be a convenient addition to your finance stack because you can manage, spend, and grow your business’s money in a familiar place.

Shopify Balance also offers several additional features exclusively available to businesses using the Plus plan, including next-business-day payouts,¹ higher transfer limits,⁴ and a reward in the form of high annual percentage yield (APY).²

5 benefits of a Shopify Balance account

1. Manage, spend, and save your money
2. Grow your money with a 3.96% APY reward
3. Get fast next-business-day payouts
4. Do more with high transfer limits
5. Skip the fees and keep the money you earn

1. Manage, spend, and save your money

With Shopify Balance, you can streamline money management for your business and gain more control over your finances. 

Here’s how Shopify Balance can help you keep your money in order:

• Manage your money: Shopify Balance gives you a clear, holistic view of exactly how much money is flowing in and out of your business. Ensure you always understand your finances by collecting and managing your money within Shopify Balance. Get insight into your business’s solvency and cash flow at glance with dashboards, filters, and reports that help illustrate your Shopify store’s financial health. Shopify Balance can also make tax season easier by automatically setting aside estimated sales tax from your payouts and syncing transactions with your preferred accounting software. 

• Spend your money: Use your money how you want with a Shopify Balance Visa^® spending card. The Balance card allows you to withdraw cash and make payments based on the amount of deposits you hold in your Balance account.⁵ Your business will get a physical and virtual card to make business purchases, so you can make the right investments to continue growing your business your way. You can use your card to pay bills, make purchases, buy inventory, and more. As an added reward, you can earn up to $2,000 cashback on everyday spending each year, too.⁵

• Save, protect, and grow your money: Save your money in a Shopify Balance account and earn a reward in the form of a high yield on money that would otherwise be sitting idle. Shopify Balance users on the Plus plan will earn a 3.96% APY reward across their main Balance account and additional accounts.² Shopify Balance also helps you keep your money secure with eligibility for FDIC pass-through insurance on up to $250,000.⁶

Shopify Balance allows you to organize your financial management with one main account and five built-in additional accounts. Shopify Balance adds value to your finance stack and streamlines your financial management.

2. Grow your money with a 3.96% APY reward

Shopify Balance can be your financial account with a high yield. That’s because Shopify Plus users can earn an exclusive, competitive 3.96% APY reward on money held in a Balance account.² The reward accrues daily, compounds monthly, and is credited directly in the form of a statement credit to the Balance account.

With Shopify Balance, there’s no limit on earnings, no limited time to earn, and no minimum balance required. There are also no certificate of deposit (CD) or term requirements to receive this APY rate. 

The 3.96% APY reward paid by Shopify is on par with rates that traditional banks offer, and it’s only available to businesses on the Plus plan. 

To better understand Shopify’s APY reward rate* for Plus users, let’s look at a few business financial accounts** for comparison: 

• First Internet Bank offers 5.48% APY
• Live Oak Bank offers 3.90% APY
• Prime Alliance Bank offers 4.25% APY
• nbkc bank offers 2.75% APY

^{*The Shopify Balance APY reward is not interest and is not offered by a financial institution. It is a reward provided by Shopify and is subject to change without notice.} 

^{**APY rates as of October 2024, sourced from Investopedia.}

For further comparison, 0.57% APY is the national average yield for savings accounts in the US.

Curious to see what you could earn with a 3.96% APY reward? Try our Shopify Balance calculator to see how your money can grow. 

3. Get fast next-business-day payouts

Access your hard-won sales revenue when you need it. Shopify Balance can deliver payouts the next business day by default,¹ so you’re not waiting in limbo for the next deposit to drop. Shopify Balance enables fast deposits in part because it’s integrated with Shopify Payments, and both services are offered in partnership with Stripe.

Alternatively, traditional banks can take up to seven days to process payouts. Time frames vary by financial institution, but generally, the longer you have to wait, the more you risk slowing down your business and missing out on investment opportunities. With Shopify Balance, you get your money when you need it, so you can make the most of growth opportunities whenever they arise. 

4. Do more with a high transfer limit

Take your business growth to new levels with high daily transfer limits, so you can move your money as you please. Unlike traditional banks, businesses using Shopify Balance don’t need to call in to request an increased transfer limit. Shopify Balance for Plus plans have high transfer limits tailored to your business needs, up to $1,000,000,⁴ so your transfer limit can grow alongside your business. 

5. Skip the fees and keep the money you earn 

Shopify Balance charges zero fees—so your business can avoid monthly and transfer fees³ that a traditional bank would typically charge. With Shopify Balance’s fee-free financial account, you keep more of the money you make, so your financial goals get one step closer to becoming reality. 

How a Shopify Balance account works

Determine your eligibility for a Shopify Balance account 

To use Shopify Balance, your business must meet eligibility requirements, starting with these basics: 

• Your business must be on any Shopify plan, including Plus
• Your store must be based in the United States or Puerto Rico
• Your store must be using Shopify Payments

Get full details on Shopify Balance eligibility here. 

Although businesses on any Shopify plan can use Shopify Balance, some benefits are only available to brands using Shopify’s Plus plan. Benefits exclusive to the Plus plan are a 3.96% APY reward,² next-business-day payouts,¹ and higher transfer limits up to $1,000,000.⁴

Shopify Balance benefits exclusive to the Plus plan are a 3.96% APY reward, next-business-day payouts, and high transfer limits up to $1,000,000.

Set up your Shopify Balance account

If you’re already a Shopify user, you can set up your Shopify Balance account with these steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Finances > Balance.
2. Click Open account.
3. Review your Shopify Payments information, and then click Confirm.
4. Enter your SSN and mobile number, then click Confirm.
5. Confirm that you agree with the Shopify Balance Account Agreement and the Shopify Balance Card Agreement and then click Open account.

After your account is created, your future Shopify Payments payouts will be deposited into your Balance account. You can also deposit money from an external bank by connecting it to Balance.

After you finish setting up your Shopify Balance account, you can start managing your business finances and earning APY and cashback rewards.

3 examples of how to use your Shopify Balance account 

1. Streamline your finances for easier management

Shopify Balance was built to give you a complete view of your business’s finances, so you can understand business-critical data at a glance and stay focused on continued growth. 

Shopify Balance provides reports, dashboards, and financial insights based on your business, helping you make more informed business decisions about potential financial bottlenecks, forecasting, and more. Many brands use Shopify Balance to stay on top of finances. 

Natural hair care brand FreeTheRoots needed an easy-to-use account to streamline their finances as the company grew. But bank vendors with cumbersome software made it difficult and time-consuming to understand the business's financial health. So, founder Josh Thompson looked beyond traditional banks and found Shopify Balance. With a Shopify Balance account, FreeTheRoots simplified bookkeeping and saved significant time.

“Shopify Balance made it much easier to keep our accounts organized and find transactions in a heartbeat,” Josh says. “When our accountant gives me a list of transactions that need to be categorized, it no longer takes me hours to complete the task. I think our accountant is very happy about that.” 

Josh adds that Shopify Balance is “easier to use than any bank we’ve ever worked with.”

Shopify Balance made it much easier to keep our accounts organized and find transactions in a heartbeat.

2. Take control of your cash flow with fast access to your funds 

With Shopify Balance, you get access to your sales revenue faster. Instead of waiting for banks and payment processors to transfer funds, Shopify Balance offers next-business-day access to revenues from sales,¹ improving cash flow management. You can withdraw cash when you need it, seize opportunities, and ensure bills are paid on time every time. 

Improving cash flow was critical for Pupsentials, a customized embroidered goods company specializing in pet portraits. The business experienced rapid growth, generating $5 million in revenue in less than three years. To keep growing, the company needed to understand exactly how much money was flowing in and out of the business. So, Pupsentials founders Kyndall and Jake Hunt Chambers opened a Shopify Balance account. 

“We saw results quickly with Shopify Balance, and it was a big difference maker,” says Jake. “It helped us avoid the cash crunches we kept running into, which meant we could keep our operations flowing. It was also much easier to keep tabs on our cash than in the past when we were juggling multiple different accounts.”

[Shopify Balance] helped us avoid the cash crunches we kept running into, which meant we could keep our operations flowing.

3. Earn more money on your money with high APY

Put your money to work with Shopify Balance. Businesses on Shopify’s Plus plan can benefit from a high APY reward of 3.96%.² With this APY perk, Shopify Balance is a competitive option for growing businesses that want to improve cash flow, solvency, and overall financial health. 

FreeTheRoots founder Josh sees Shopify Balance’s APY reward as “a nice cherry on top,” noting that “any additional money in our account is always good.” And APY is one of many ways Shopify Balance helps growing businesses thrive.

Make the most of your financial account with Shopify Balance

Your money should work harder for you—not the other way around. With Shopify Balance, financial management can be more rewarding than ever. Shopify Balance for Plus plans is designed to help businesses streamline financial management and get more money to keep growing. 

 

Shopify partners with Stripe Payments Company for money transmission services and account services with funds held at Evolve Bank & Trust and Fifth Third Bank, Members FDIC. Shopify Balance Visa® Commercial Credit cards are powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

¹ Shopify Plus merchants receive payouts the next business day by default upon opening a Balance account. Payout speed may be subject to change without notice. 

² Shopify provides a reward in the form of an annual percentage yield (APY) on the money you hold in Shopify Balance and it is not interest. The rate is variable and subject to change without notice. The reward accrues daily, and is compounded and paid monthly in the form of a credit to your Balance account. 

³ Shopify Balance has no monthly or transfer fees. Shopify doesn’t charge any ATM withdrawal fees, but you may be charged by an ATM provider.

⁴ Transfer limits are subject to change without notice.

⁵ The Shopify Balance card is a pay-in-full business charge card. Earn up to $2,000 USD cashback on eligible purchases per calendar year. Learn more.

⁶ Shopify Balance accounts are eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000 USD per depositor through Evolve Bank & Trust and Fifth Third Bank, Members FDIC. Stripe Treasury Accounts are eligible for FDIC pass-through deposit insurance if they meet certain requirements. The accounts are eligible only to the extent pass-through insurance is permitted by the rules and regulations of the FDIC, and if the requirements for pass-through insurance are satisfied. The FDIC insurance applies up to 250,000 USD per depositor, per financial institution, for deposits held in the same type of account (business versus personal, and so on). Neither Stripe nor Shopify are an FDIC insured institution and the FDIC’s deposit insurance coverage only protects against the failure of an FDIC insured depository institution.