What Is A Bank Letter & How To Get One?
Daniel Flynn
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A bank letter is an official document from your bank that provides important information about your business’ official bank account.
After all, you can’t operate your business by sending money directly to a personal account. In order to open & maintain a merchant account, you’ll need a dedicated business checking account that’ll receive all your batch deposits.
Merchant services providers require that you offer a bank letter or voided check in order to approve a merchant account. But a voided check can sometimes incur a small fee from the bank. For this reason, many business owners opt to submit a bank letter instead.
What Is In A Bank Letter?
The main component of a bank letter is written confirmation from a bank representative that you have an operating business account with an accredited bank.
A lot of the time, a bank letter begins with the following verbiage:
“To whom it may concern,
The following business (your business) has an operating bank account with “our bank” (whichever it may be).”
Other than providing verification that your organization has an operating account, a bank letter also includes the following information about your business, all of which are required in order for a merchant account to function as intended:
- Bank letterhead
- Account number
- Routing number
- Business name
The letter often includes any blocks or filters on your account that may result in the denial of your request to open a merchant account.
How To Request/Obtain A Bank Letter
In-person: The quickest way to obtain a bank letter is to request one in-person. By doing so, you’ll be able to ensure that everything you need is on the letter & be able to make changes if necessary.
By phone: Another convenient way to obtain a bank letter is to call your bank’s support line. More often than not, they’ll be able to email you a bank letter in PDF format that you can then send to your merchant services provider.
Below, you’ll find a list of contact information for popular banks in the USA:
- Wells Fargo: 1 (800) 869-3557
- Chase Bank: 1 (800) 432-3117
- Bank of America: 1 (800) 432-1000
- Citibank: 1 (800) 374-9700
- BMO Harris: 1 (888) 340-2265
- PNC Financial Services: 1 (888) 762-2265
- U.S. Bank: 1 (800) 872-2657
- Capital One: 1 (877) 383-4802
Once on the phone with a bank representative, just explain that “you need a bank letter for your business account” so that you can “open a merchant account”.
By email: Depending on your bank, you may be able to request a bank letter via email. However, it is best practice to request via phone call or in-person so that you get a verbal acknowledgment of your request.
Going straight to the source is usually the best option. However, if visiting your bank in-person is inconvenient, requesting a bank letter via phone call or email is a great alternative.
Bank Letter Example
Below, you’ll see an example of a bank letter.
Although the format of a bank letter will vary depending on your bank, all must have the components outlined in previous sections. As you can see, the bank letter example above has all of the required components (date, name of bank, account name, account number, routing number).
Submitting A Bank Letter For Merchant Account Approval
Once you have received your bank letter, you’ll need to submit it to your assigned representative so that we can start the approval process for your merchant account.
With your bank letter on file, we should have everything we need. However, there are some circumstances in which we may need more information.
Voided Check: An Alternative To Bank Letters
In the case that you have a checkbook that is tied to your business account, you can submit a voided check. All you have to do is take a blank check, write ‘VOID’ across the front of it, and send us a picture of the marked check.
The check must have your:
- Business name
- Account number
- Routing number
To expedite the approval process, feel free to contact us directly to make sure that everything is in order. Our business specialists are standing by to help you with all your payments & marketing needs!
Don’t have a merchant account with us? Open one through our online portal. The sign-up process is free & only takes a matter of minutes.
Next Step?
The worst action is inaction! Our team is ready to find your next big move. Over 20 years of experience means we have the tools to get it done in your local market.
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