Do you *NEED* a business bank account?

[SmileAllDay]

Hey all,

I've had a BoA business account for a couple of years now. It does the job but I don't like keeping my money with one of the huge banks that give you nothing back in interest. Anyways...

As an S-Corp, do you legally need to have a bank account that uses your EIN, etc, or can you just designate a specific account (using one of the multiple CapOne360 accounts, for example)?

Ideally, I'd love to close the BoA account completely and move to a totally online bank.

Thoughts or advice much appreciated!

[MoseyingAlong]

There are two big bits of info missing.
What state are you in? There may be a state requirement.
What type of business? Some places have strict requirements for holding tenant's deposits or trust accounts for legal fees.

[CareCPA]

I am not a lawyer.
Now that I got that out of the way, my understanding is if you ever get sued, proper separation of business and personal is very important. If you use your SSN, and the business account is in the same login as the personal account, are you really maintaining separate finances? A good lawyer will argue that you aren't, and how much are you willing to spend to defend yourself?
Make it easy on yourself, keep it separate. Your business account shouldn't be swimming in cash, so losing a couple dollars a year in interest should not be the driving factor here.

[ElleFiji]

I live in Canada and I'm a sole prop. So officially I don't. But I do, because it keeps things separate, will be wildly useful if I decide to change to an LLC or incorporate, and makes taxes easier (HST, and income). I got it when I had to get an HST number.

Mine is with a credit union so it's not super expensive. And if I wanted to incorporate then I could have investments for the business.

When you deal with b2b suppliers a business cheque or credit card often helps with rate negotiations (percieved likelihood that I'll grow seems to be the big one)

[SmileAllDay]

Thanks for all the replies! :)

@CareCPA , I definitely intend to keep business and personal finances completely separate, as I do now. My main question is if I would be okay with an account designated by me—although not an official "BUSINESS ACCOUNT" through a bank— for my business.

My goal is to have my banking 100% online, business and all. When I figure it out, I'll update.

[BlueHouse]

I think as an S-Corp you need to. 
I know I need one to do business with government entities.  I also needed one to get a business credit card, but I've since dropped that and just use a personal credit card but only for business.