How did you actually choose a business bank? Every comparison list says the same thing

Same shape of business, one year in, so I'll take the deposit part first because that's the real question.

Yes, the separate savings is a real thing, and for deposit-heavy work it's the whole ballgame. Every retainer that lands, I move the portion that's for work I haven't done yet straight out of checking the same day. There's no system, I just do it when the notification arrives. The first year I didn't, and by February I had a bank balance that looked great and four shoots already paid for.

I went local credit union, mostly because when a $9,000 camera purchase got flagged I could call a person who knew my name.

The question I ask clients is: do you ever need to deposit cash, and do you need someone to fix things for you in person? Those two answers pick your bank faster than any comparison page.

For you, weddings paid by card and transfer with one contractor, online-only would probably be fine and the bookkeeping integration matters more than the branch. For my retail and food clients the answer flips entirely, because a bank with a bad cash deposit policy is a monthly tax on the business.

On the second shooter: if you're paying a contractor, collect their tax form before the first payment instead of chasing it in January. That's the part that actually bites photographers.

Reading this for my own notes since I'm not even registered yet, but one thing I found while shopping around: ask what happens when a deposit gets held.

Someone I know in delivery had his first big customer payment held nine days by an online-only bank for review, with no branch and no phone number that got him anywhere. On a wedding deposit schedule you'd probably survive that. In a week when you owe a crew, you don't. Worth asking both the credit union and the online one what their hold policy actually is before you commit.