Novo, Relay, or Slash: Which is Best for Small Businesses in 2026?
Modern business owners are beginning to look past traditional banks, instead seeking financial technology platforms that offer more flexible features and automated tools. Two online business banking solutions that fit this bill are Novo and Relay Financial. While both of these companies are built to help growing businesses manage their money, there are clear differences in their benefits and drawbacks.
Novo is designed primarily for independent founders and small business owners, offering fast transfers, deep integrations, and a robust mobile app. Relay's platform, which comes with up to 50 corporate cards and 20 checking accounts, caters more towards mid-sized companies.
This guide will offer a comparison of Novo and Relay across features like business cards, integrations, multi-account structures, and use cases. We’ll also evaluate Slash, a business banking platform that provides high-level visibility and spend control on a unified dashboard.¹ No matter the size of your business, the Slash platform can support the broader financial operations that surround how you collect, move, and manage money,
What is Novo?
Novo is a banking solution targeted towards freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. At its core, it’s a platform designed to help users easily manage their funds with more freedom and flexibility than traditional banking options offer.
Accessibility and speed are two of the factors that set Novo apart – the journey from application to approval to account setup can take less than 24 hours. Transfers and payouts are also particularly quick with Novo. With a fee-free feature called Novo Boost, Stripe payments can be deposited in your account in hours instead of days. The platform also offers same-day ACH processing through Express ACH.
Novo also connects with more than 15 different merchants and accounting solutions, including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Square, Paypal, and more. This means a business’s entire set of revenue streams can be visible and manageable from one location. That location can even be your phone, as Novo emphasizes a mobile-first approach and offers a wide array of features on its app.
Some other notable features Novo offers include:
- Built-in invoicing and expense management tools
- Merchant cash advances of up to $75,000 through Novo Funding
- Automatic refunding of ATM fees
- AI-powered bookkeeping tools with automated P&L reports
- Budgeting tool called Novo Reserves that allows up to 20 custom categories
Novo only offers one free business checking account, which falls short of other competitors, including Relay. This means its ideal customer is a first-time founder or small business owner seeking a simple, accessible online banking solution.
What is Relay?
Relay is a small business banking solution that was built to simplify financial management for small-to-mid-sized businesses and give them more control over their cash flow. Its banking services are provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. Unlike Novo, this platform is geared towards collaboration and shared responsibility in a team setting.
With Relay, you can open up to 20 different checking accounts that allow companies to allocate funds across different places for specific purposes. Multiple additional users can be added to a Relay account, and the main business owner can assign permission levels from “Administrator” to “Read-only”. In turn, the platform allows up to 50 physical and virtual debit cards to be assigned to employees, each coming with customizable spending rules and limits.
Savings accounts are also an important part of Relay’s toolbelt. Users can open two business savings accounts, which connect to partner banks in Thread Bank's sweep network and provide FDIC insurance of up to $3 million. APY rates increase at different levels of account balances, starting at 1% when under $50,000 and reaching 3% if you hold $1 million.
Here are some other benefits that come with the Relay platform:
- Fee-free cash deposits at Allpoint ATMs
- Same-day ACH transfers, wires, and checks without hidden fees
- Fraud protection with customizable account permissions and freezable cards
- Automated invoice reminders
- Real-time syncing with QuickBooks Online and Xero
While Relay offers plenty of robust tools, it doesn’t come with built-in lending or cash advance capabilities like Novo and Slash. Given its capacity for 20+ checking accounts and debit cards, Relay’s platform is ideal for small businesses with multiple individuals in charge of spending and finances.
How Do Novo, Relay, and Slash Compare? Key Differences
Novo and Relay are both fintech companies that aim to streamline modern banking, but they approach this goal with different features and intended user bases. Slash is an alternative that can offer more powerful, cutting-edge tools than those found among other online banking options. Let’s take a look at these three solutions and see how they stack up:
Account Structure and Savings
When it comes to checking and savings accounts, Relay has an edge over Novo. While Novo allows you to hold 20 reserve accounts, you’re only able to open one business checking account. Relay gives users more room to work with on both fronts, offering up to 20 checking accounts and two savings accounts that connect to partner banks in Thread Bank's sweep network.
Slash allows users to open unlimited subaccounts underneath their main business account, enabling finance professionals to sort their banking any way they see fit. For businesses that want to earn as they save, the platform also offers high-yield treasury accounts backed by Morgan Stanley and Blackrock. These accounts earn up to 3.84% annualized yield, beating Relay’s APY at its highest rate.⁶
Winner: Slash
Expense Management and Visibility
Relay and Novo both offer helpful tools for managing and organizing monthly expenses. Novo’s platform includes an AI-powered expense categorization solution that feeds information into their native bookkeeping system. Relay's workflow is a bit more helpful, supporting photograph-based receipt capture and upload that then syncs with accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online.
Slash's capabilities are similar to Relay's, but with an added level of visibility and access. After any business expense is made with the Slash Visa® Platinum Card, transaction details are uploaded in real-time and can be connected with QuickBooks Online. After expenses are automatically categorized, they're made accessible on an all-in-one dashboard. Business expenses, international transfers, crypto payments, and more are visible in real-time on the Slash platform.⁴
Winner: Slash
Software Integrations and Merchant Services
Slash, Relay, and Novo can connect to a number of third party software. Software integrations are accounting and finance tools that plug in directly to a banking platform, while merchant services are storefronts that process transactions through specialized channels.
These three companies each have a similar lineup of accounting and payment integrations, but Novo pulls a bit ahead with merchant services like Etsy and Ebay.
Winner: Novo
Team Access and Permissions
Slash, Relay, and Novo all let business owners add additional users to their account. Novo, however, gives any and all users full access to their banking tools, which isn’t always something you want to enable. Slash and Relay allow different levels of permissions for connected users, which unlocks easier collaboration with an added layer of security.
Small business leaders will often want to give employees the power to make business expenses. Novo only gives out one business card per user, so this isn’t possible on their platform. Relay enables owners to issue up to 50 physical and virtual cards. Slash takes it one step further: physical cards and unlimited virtual Slash cards are available for every employee, entity, subaccount, and owner who needs them. This means Slash gets the edge.
Winner: Slash
Business Cards
Let’s take a look at the cards themselves. Novo’s business credit card comes with up to 2% cash back, plus extra discounts with certain brands. As referenced earlier, though, users only receive one card per account, so this is where Novo's perks end.
The Relay Visa® Credit Card is a solid option that unlocks extra spend visibility and expense management capabilities for teams with multiple levels of spending. With Relay, you can customize spend policies, set approved vendors, and freeze employee cards right away if you spot a suspicious transaction. Cash back rewards with the Relay Visa® card, however, are only 1% on their free payment tier and 1.5% on their $120 Scale tier.
Slash offers the Slash Visa® Platinum Card, which is a charge card that comes with all of the powerful controls Relay’s card carries – and a few more. Slash’s card brings up to 2% cash back on all business expenses, which matches Novo and surpasses Relay. The Slash business banking dashboard powers granular controls and real-time visibility into all employee transactions. With Slash, you don’t have to keep an eye out for unusual employee spending, because the system flags suspicious activity for you.
Winner: Slash
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How to Choose the Right Business Banking Platform
Selecting a business banking partner is a decision that involves more than perks and numbers. Small business owners need to ask themselves what they’re looking to use their bank accounts for, how their team will grow, how much they’re saving vs spending, and what the future of their company looks like. Your choice will come down to how each platform’s strengths align with your priorities.
To help, we’ve arranged a comparison chart that includes Slash, Novo, and Relay’s comparable features at a glance:
Explore Smarter Spend Management With Slash
For a growing business, the right banking solution may center around scalability. Novo works best with solo proprietors and tight teams, while Relay fits small to mid-sized businesses who want basic expense management and spend tracking tools. Slash is the solution that matches early-stage startups just as perfectly as large companies.
Slash is a unified business banking platform built to simplify how your company manages its finances. Corporate cards, payments, and expense tracking are all centralized on a single dashboard, reducing overhead and improving visibility. Every purchase made with the Slash Visa® Platinum Card earns up to 2% cash back and is automatically categorized for easy monthly reconciliation.
With Slash, you also can benefit from:
- Slash Visa Platinum Card: Earn up to 2% cash back on business expenses, set customizable spending controls and limits, and issue unlimited virtual cards for your team members, vendor payments, and subscriptions.
- Efficient cross-border payments: Send funds through the rails that best fit your needs, whether global ACH, international wire transfers to 180+ countries. These options come with low wire fees and give you more control over settlement speed and payment cost.
- Native crypto support: Hold, send, and receive stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and USDSL across eight supported blockchains. You can also convert company funds into stablecoins using our built-in on/off ramps.
- Working capital financing: Slash provides a flexible line of credit that can be drawn on whenever your business needs short-term liquidity.⁵ While many credit cards only offer fixed 30-day card billing cycles, Slash Working Capital lets you choose 30, 60, or 90-day repayment terms.
Strong cash back, faster payment rails, and high-yield treasury accounts make a difference whether you’re a team of 10 or 1,000. Slash is built to support your business at every stage—so the platform you start with is the one you can scale with.
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Frequently asked questions
What are Allpoint ATMs?
Allpoint ATMs are part of a massive, surcharge-free network of over 55,000 ATMs worldwide, allowing users from participating banks, credit unions, and prepaid card providers to withdraw cash without incurring ATM fees. Relay supports cash deposits at these ATMs, while Novo and Slash do not.
Are Relay, Slash, and Novo insured banks?
These three solutions are fintech platforms, not banks. However, each of them do offer FDIC-insured bank accounts through their respective banking partners.²
FDIC Insurance Guide: Limits, Protection Strategies, and How to Elevate Your Coverage
Do Relay, Slash, and Novo offer deposit insurance?
Yes, each of these three offer FDIC-insured deposits. Novo’s banking partner, Middlesex Federal Savings, insures balances up to $250,000. Relay and Slash both provide elevated protection through their banking partners’ sweep networks, which automatically spread funds across several interconnected banks to elevate FDIC coverage into the millions for a single account.
What is a Sweep Network and How Does it Work?
