Relay is a strong business banking option for companies that already exist, especially for operators who use the Profit First method to organize cash flow. looch takes a broader approach for founders who still need to form a company or want accounts, payments, accounting, and tax filing in one place. That distinction matters. Relay is often the better fit for cash flow discipline, while looch covers more of the work before and after the account is open.
Both looch and Relay are financial technology companies, not banks. looch is operated by Simplicity Fintech Inc. Account services are provided in partnership with Stripe, and funds are held at Fifth Third Bank N.A., Member FDIC. looch Smartcards are Visa Commercial Cards powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank (source: looch.money). Relay is also a fintech company, not a bank. Its banking services are provided by its partner bank, Thread Bank, Member FDIC (source: relayfi.com).
What Relay is (and what it isn’t)
Where Relay is strong
Relay is a strong fit for business owners who want to organize cash across dedicated accounts, rather than keep everything in one place.
Its no-fee checking accounts are the core draw. Each account has its own name, account number, and routing number, with no monthly maintenance fee, no minimum balance, and no overdraft fee on the base plan (source: relayfi.com). For an owner separating income, profit, taxes, and operating expenses, that structure is practical and clear.
Relay is the official banking platform for Profit First (source: relayfi.com). Its automated transfers can allocate income between accounts by dollar amount or percentage on a schedule, which removes a repetitive manual task (source: relayfi.com). If you run your business using Profit First, this is a purpose-built advantage that looch doesn’t match feature for feature today.
Relay also handles delegated banking access well. Owners can set role-based permissions for employees, accountants, and bookkeepers, allowing people to complete specific tasks without giving them full access to every account (source: relayfi.com). That is useful for a growing team with defined responsibilities.
Its card program is another strength for card-heavy teams. Relay supports a large number of debit and credit cards, with merchant and spend controls for each (source: relayfi.com).
For higher balances, Relay states up to $3,000,000¹ in FDIC insurance coverage when Thread Bank places deposits at program banks in its deposit sweep program, with coverage up to $250,000¹ per program bank (source: relayfi.com). That matters once you’re holding meaningful cash.
Where Relay has gaps
Relay doesn’t offer company formation. Your business must already be legally formed before you can open an account, and you must provide existing formation documents and an IRS EIN confirmation letter (source: relayfi.com support). You still need to handle the registered agent, state filing, and EIN through separate providers before you bank.
Relay also doesn’t provide in-person card acceptance. It supports invoices and payment requests that customers can pay online by card, ACH, or wire, with card payments processed through a third-party processor (source: relayfi.com support). It doesn’t offer tap to pay or card-present checkout for selling in person.
Relay doesn’t include a built-in accounting ledger. It provides expense and receipt tools and syncs with QuickBooks Online and Xero, but the books remain in the accounting software, not in Relay (source: relayfi.com). It also doesn’t file 1099s. Relay is a banking and bill pay platform, not a tax filing tool.
The gap Relay doesn’t fill: Formation to banking in one flow
Relay can help once your company and EIN exist. looch is built for the step before that, when you need to create the company and get it financially operational.
Formation, an EIN, accounts, cards, payments, and books are often split across several providers. looch brings them together in one app.
What looch Start includes
looch Start forms your entity and hands you a financially operational company. Entity options are Delaware C corp, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, and Florida LLC. The all-in price is $249, which includes state filing fees (source: looch.money/start).
looch Start also gets your EIN, including if you don’t have an SSN or ITIN. That means international founders can move from an idea to an incorporated US business without first piecing together a formation service and a separate banking provider. Relay can open an account after the entity and EIN are in place, but it doesn’t form the company for you.
What opens up after formation
Once your entity is formed, your looch financial accounts are ready. These are no-fee business accounts with account and routing numbers, with funds held at Fifth Third Bank N.A., Member FDIC, and FDIC pass-through deposit insurance up to $250,000¹ per depositor where eligibility conditions are met (source: looch.money). looch and its technology partners are not FDIC-insured institutions.
Smartcards are Visa Commercial Cards powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank. Issue them in the app with daily and monthly spending limits, merchant-category and GL-category restrictions, weekend and auto-cancel settings, foreign and manually keyed transaction alerts, and mobile wallet controls. See looch Smartcards for the complete card controls.
Payment acceptance covers cards online and in person through tap to pay, plus instant pay by bank. Your customer approves the payment from their own bank, and the money is pushed to you, final on arrival. looch charges 1% for instant pay by bank on inbound invoices, with a $1 minimum and a $10 maximum (source: looch.money/pricing).
Card acceptance is 3.3% for online card payments and 3% for in-person tap to pay (source: looch.money/pricing).
Real-time accounting runs in the background with automatic transaction tagging, while looch Pay ties payment acceptance to your books. looch AI scans transactions and payment methods to determine what belongs in AI-powered 1099 calculation and filing. Instant 1099 filing costs $2 per filing (source: looch.money/pricing).
Payroll is coming soon, not yet live (source: looch.money/payroll). Don’t count on payroll as an available feature until it launches.
looch vs Relay: A side-by-side comparison
| Feature | looch | Relay |
|---|---|---|
| Company formation | Yes, included at $249 (DE C corp, DE LLC, WY LLC, FL LLC) | Not offered |
| EIN without SSN/ITIN | Yes, gets your EIN even without SSN/ITIN (approximately 4 days) | Not offered. You must already have an entity and EIN before opening an account |
| Monthly account fee | $0 primary business account | $0 Starter plan; Grow $30/month, Scale $90/month |
| Multiple no-fee checking accounts | Yes, multiple no-fee business accounts with account and routing numbers | Yes, up to 20 (up to 50 on Scale), each with its own account and routing number |
| Profit First style auto-allocation | Not a built-in feature today | Yes, official Profit First platform with automated transfers by amount or percentage |
| Role-based team permissions | Team members get cards from the app with per-card spend controls; looch doesn’t document a granular role-based access model | Yes, granular role-based access for staff, accountants, and bookkeepers |
| Smartcards with spend controls | Yes: per-card daily and monthly limits, merchant and GL category restrictions, weekend and auto-cancel controls, manually keyed and foreign transaction alerts, mobile wallets | Yes: up to 50 debit cards per cardholder per checking account (plus up to 5 credit cards per credit account) with merchant and spend controls |
| Instant pay by bank | Yes, through looch Pay | Not offered. Customers can pay invoices and payment requests by card, ACH, or wire |
| In-person card acceptance | Yes, tap to pay | Not offered (online invoices and payment requests only) |
| Real-time accounting built in | Yes, real-time accounting with automatic tagging | Integrations only (QuickBooks Online, Xero); no built-in ledger |
| 1099 filing | Yes, AI-powered, $2 per filing | Not offered |
| Cash deposits | Not a stated feature | Yes, supports cash and processor payouts into accounts |
| FDIC coverage | Pass-through up to $250,000 per depositor at Fifth Third Bank N.A. (eligibility conditions apply) | Up to $3,000,000 via Thread Bank’s program bank sweep network |
Relay has real advantages in this comparison: Multiple no-fee checking accounts, Profit First auto-allocation, role-based permissions, and a higher FDIC sweep ceiling. The table reflects those strengths plainly.
Who should use Relay
Relay is a strong fit if:
- You already have a formed US entity with an EIN and need business banking, not formation.
- You use the Profit First method and want automated allocations across named checking accounts.
- You want multiple no-fee checking accounts to separate income, profit, taxes, and expenses.
- You need role-based permissions for teammates and bookkeepers.
- You hold a larger balance and want the higher FDIC coverage available through a sweep network.
- Your priorities are checking, bill pay, wires, and organized cash flow, rather than in-person payments or built-in accounting and tax filing.
If your business is already incorporated and disciplined cash flow management is the priority, Relay is an excellent, legitimate product. This post isn’t arguing otherwise.
Who should use looch
looch fits founders who need to build the company and its financial operations together, rather than assemble separate tools.
- You haven’t incorporated yet and want to move from idea to an operating business in one app, without coordinating a registered agent, formation service, and separate bank application.
- You’re a foreign founder who needs an EIN without an SSN or ITIN, while setting up the entity and financial accounts at the same time.
- You sell in person and need tap to pay card acceptance, not only online invoicing.
- You want real-time accounting and AI 1099 filing built in, instead of exporting records to a separate accounting tool at tax time.
- You need to accept instant pay by bank alongside card payments. See how instant pay by bank works for small businesses.
- You want formation, accounts, cards, payments, accounting, and tax filing under one login.
The difference is scope: Relay is a banking and cash flow product. looch is a formation-to-banking platform. If you need to form the company and set up its financial stack at the same time, looch covers more of that path in one place.
The honest decision framework
Ask these questions to make the choice clearer.
Do you already have a formed US entity and an EIN? No: Form your company with looch and open your accounts in the same flow. Yes: Evaluate each platform on the workflows you need next.
Do you need to form a company and get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN? looch forms the entity and gets your EIN even without an SSN or ITIN, then opens your accounts in the same flow. Relay doesn’t form companies and requires an existing entity and EIN.
Do you run Profit First or need several separate no-fee checking accounts? This is Relay’s strength. It’s the official Profit First platform, with automated allocation across multiple named checking accounts. If that’s your core workflow, Relay is likely the better fit today.
Do you sell in person, or want accounting and 1099 filing built in? looch offers tap to pay for in-person card acceptance, real-time accounting, and AI 1099 filing. Relay doesn’t offer in-person card acceptance, a built-in ledger, or 1099 filing.
5. Do you need FDIC coverage above $250K¹ on a large balance? Relay states up to $3,000,000 through Thread Bank’s program bank sweep network, which is higher than the $250,000¹ pass-through coverage on a looch account at Fifth Third Bank N.A. Eligibility conditions apply. If you’re holding a large balance, this favors Relay today.
Bottom line
Relay is a strong banking and cash flow product for startups that are already operating, especially for businesses built around Profit First. looch fits founders who need to form the company and set up the financial stack together, particularly those outside the US or those who need in-person payments, accounting, and tax filing in one place.
Ready to go from zero to financially operational? looch Start forms your entity and opens your accounts in one app for $249 all-in, including state filing fees. Or explore looch’s full financial stack if you’re already incorporated and evaluating your options.
