Amazon Seller Central pays you by ACH into a bank account that must be registered in your seller entity's legal name. Get that one detail wrong and the disbursement sits on hold. The right business bank account handles the settlement cycle cleanly, keeps sales tax separate from operating cash, and reconciles Amazon's settlement reports against Shopify, eBay, or whatever else you sell on.

Novo is a strong business checking option for online-only Amazon sellers because it has a $0 monthly fee, no minimum balance, unlimited ACH transfers, QuickBooks and Xero integrations, and Reserves for tax buckets. The tradeoff: Novo does not accept cash deposits, so hybrid sellers who also take in-person cash will need another option for that side of the business.

What bank account do I need for Amazon Seller Central?

Amazon Seller Central disburses payouts via ACH on a recurring settlement schedule (commonly every 14 days) to a bank account registered in the seller's legal entity name. Some sellers are on daily or weekly cadences depending on account status, but the mechanics are the same: at the end of each settlement period, Amazon nets your sales against fees, FBA charges, refunds, and ad spend, then sends the balance to your bank by ACH.

A few requirements matter more than the rest:

• The account name must match your Amazon seller entity exactly. If you registered on Amazon as an LLC, the bank account has to be in the LLC's legal name. Sole proprietors can use an account in their personal legal name, but the name still has to match. A name mismatch can cause Amazon to hold payouts.
• The account has to accept ACH deposits.

Most U.S. business checking accounts accept ACH deposits; prepaid cards and payment app accounts may not meet Amazon's deposit requirements.

• Money moves out as fast as it moves in. FBA fees, storage charges, refunds, and PPC ad spend keep debiting between settlements. You need to see pending activity before the next disbursement lands, not after.
• Multi-channel is the norm. Most sellers run Amazon plus Shopify, eBay, or Walmart. Clean transaction data and bookkeeping integrations matter as soon as you add a second channel.
• Keep it separate from personal spending. A dedicated business account is the simplest way to meet the IRS recordkeeping bar and to keep your Schedule C or Form 1120 defensible if you're ever audited.

Is Novo a good fit for Amazon sellers?

Novo charges $0 monthly fees, has no minimum balance, supports unlimited ACH transfers, and connects to QuickBooks and Xero for ecommerce bookkeeping. Here is what matters for a seller account:

No monthly fees, no minimum balance, no transaction caps. Novo charges no monthly fees and requires no minimum balance. Your balance can sit at $40 the day before an Amazon payout without triggering a charge, and there's no cap on how many ACH transactions you run in a month, which matters when refunds and ad charges pile up.

Direct bookkeeping and ecommerce integrations. Novo integrates directly with Shopify, Stripe, QuickBooks, and Xero, and offers free incoming wires. Amazon settlement data flows into QuickBooks or Xero alongside your Shopify and Stripe activity, which can reduce manual CSV work at reconciliation time.

Free incoming wires, unlimited ACH. Paying suppliers in Shenzhen or a freight forwarder in Long Beach? Outgoing wires are supported, and incoming wires from 3PLs, aggregators, or buyers are free.

Novo Reserves for sales tax and estimated taxes. Novo Reserves let sellers automatically set aside a percentage of each Amazon payout for sales tax and quarterly estimated taxes. Set a rule once, say 8% of every incoming Amazon deposit, and Novo earmarks that share inside your checking account as a Reserve. When the state notice arrives or April 15 comes around, the money is already sitting there.

International marketplace payouts. Novo accounts are USD-only and do not hold foreign currency balances; sellers using Amazon UK, Canada, or EU marketplaces receive payouts converted to USD via Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers and deposited by ACH. To Novo, an Amazon.co.uk payout looks like any other domestic ACH credit.

The honest tradeoff: no cash deposits. Novo does not accept cash deposits, which makes it a fit for online-only Amazon sellers but not for hybrid sellers who also take in-person cash. If your business is Amazon plus Shopify plus eBay, this is a non-issue. If you also run a weekend booth at a flea market and want that cash in the same account, Novo won't work for the cash side.

How do I connect Novo to Amazon Seller Central?

The setup takes about ten minutes once your Novo account is open.

1. Grab your Novo routing and account numbers. They're on the main dashboard under account details.
2. In Seller Central, go to Settings → Account Info → Deposit Methods. Add the Novo account for each marketplace you sell in (US, Canada, Mexico, UK, EU each have their own deposit method).
3. Confirm the name match. The legal business name on Novo must match the name on your Amazon seller account exactly. LLC vs. Inc., DBA vs. legal name, punctuation: Amazon's system is literal. A name mismatch can cause Amazon to hold payouts.
4. Plan for one full settlement cycle before the first disbursement clears. Amazon typically waits until the next scheduled payout, so if you're on a 14-day cycle you may wait up to two weeks for the first deposit to land in Novo.
5. Set up your Reserve the same day. Open a Novo Reserve for sales tax and set the auto-transfer percentage, so the first payout is already split when it arrives.

What to look for when comparing banks as an Amazon seller

If you're comparing Novo with traditional business checking at a large bank, compare these six details first:

Monthly fees, minimums, and transaction caps. Amazon sellers routinely run 100+ monthly transactions across payouts, refunds, ad charges, and supplier ACH. Traditional business checking accounts often cap free transactions in the low hundreds and charge per-item after that, plus a monthly fee that only waives above a minimum balance.

ACH and wire pricing. How much for an outgoing domestic wire to your customs broker? A SWIFT wire to a supplier in Vietnam? Are incoming wires free or is there a fee per deposit? Many legacy banks charge separate fees for domestic wires, international wires, incoming wires, monthly maintenance, and excess transactions, so pull the fee schedule before opening.

FDIC insurance. Confirm your deposits are held at an FDIC-member bank and you understand the coverage limits.

Novo deposits are held at Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC.

Bookkeeping integrations. QuickBooks and Xero connections that reconcile Amazon settlement reports without manual CSV uploads. If your bank forces you to export a statement and import it into QuickBooks by hand every month, you'll spend an evening per month you didn't need to.

Sub-accounts or reserves. If you're running Profit First or just trying to keep sales tax, inventory restock cash, and quarterly estimates from getting spent, you need buckets. Novo Reserves give you that bucketing inside your checking account without opening a stack of separate accounts to manage.

Support hours. Amazon disbursement issues often surface on weekends when settlement cycles run. Check whether your bank has weekend support or whether you'll wait until Monday morning to find out why a payout bounced.

What tax and recordkeeping rules should Amazon sellers know?

These are the ground rules every Amazon seller should know. See the Information Disclaimer below and talk to a CPA who works with ecommerce sellers for advice specific to your business.

Separate business records.

A dedicated business bank account is the simplest way to meet that bar. Every Amazon payout, every FBA fee, every supplier payment flows through one account, and your Schedule C or Form 1120 lines up cleanly against the statements.

Form 1099-K.

What shows up on your 1099-K needs to reconcile with the gross receipts you report.

Sales tax and marketplace facilitator states.

Some states still require sellers to file a $0 return acknowledging the marketplace collected on their behalf. Check your state revenue department's rules, not just Amazon's seller help pages.

Recordkeeping window. Hold onto Amazon settlement reports and bank statements for at least three years to line up with the standard IRS recordkeeping window. Longer if you claimed a loss or have complex depreciation on inventory or equipment.

EIN. Sole proprietors and other business owners can apply for an Employer Identification Number directly and free of charge from the IRS.

LLCs and corporations should have their EIN ready before applying for a business account, and getting an EIN takes about ten minutes on the IRS website, which also keeps your SSN off supplier paperwork.

Business structure. Choosing a business structure such as an LLC or sole proprietorship affects how the IRS taxes the business and which forms it files.

Amazon does not require sellers to form an LLC; sole proprietors can register and receive payouts in their legal name. If you do form one, business checking for LLC owners has its own document checklist. Form one when the liability protection or tax treatment justifies the annual filing cost.

How can Amazon sellers set up a sales tax reserve?

If you sell in states where Amazon collects and remits, your sales tax exposure is smaller than it used to be, but income tax on Amazon profit is still on you. Here's a simple rule sellers use as a starting point:

Novo Reserve setup — Amazon seller starter

Reserve 1: Federal + state income tax
  Auto-transfer: 25% of every incoming Amazon Seller Central deposit
  Purpose: Quarterly estimated taxes (Form 1040-ES)

Reserve 2: Sales tax (non-marketplace states + direct Shopify sales)
  Auto-transfer: 8% of every incoming Shopify deposit
  Purpose: State sales tax remittance

Reserve 3: Inventory restock
  Auto-transfer: 20% of every incoming Amazon Seller Central deposit
  Purpose: Next PO to supplier

Operating balance:
  Remaining ~47% stays in main account for ads, FBA fees, refunds, and owner draws

Use the percentages to build a simple spreadsheet with columns for payout date, gross deposit, reserve percentage, reserve amount, and running balance. Adjust the percentages once your CPA has looked at your actual margins. Reserves are a budgeting feature inside your Novo checking account, so funds earmarked to a Reserve stay in the same FDIC-insured account.

What questions do Amazon sellers ask about business banking?

Can I use a personal account for Amazon seller payouts?

Technically Amazon will send payouts to a personal account if the name on the account matches your registered seller name (which for a sole proprietor is your legal name). Practically, don't. The IRS expects separate, complete records of business income and expenses, and commingling personal and business activity in one account makes that impossible without hours of forensic bookkeeping at tax time. A business account with a $0 monthly fee separates those records from the first payout.

Do I need an LLC to sell on Amazon?

No. Amazon lets you register as a sole proprietor using your legal name and SSN or EIN. Forming an LLC has real benefits, including liability separation, cleaner tax treatment in some cases, and more credibility with suppliers. Make that decision with a CPA or attorney based on your revenue, risk, and state filing costs, not because Amazon requires it.

How long do Amazon payouts take to hit a business bank account?

After Amazon initiates the ACH, posting time depends on ACH processing and the receiving bank. Plan for up to 1–3 business days unless your bank has confirmed a faster timeline for your account. The bigger delay is Amazon's own settlement cycle, commonly 14 days between payouts, not the bank.

If I sell on Amazon UK or Amazon Canada, can Novo receive those payouts?

Yes. Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers converts GBP, CAD, or EUR to USD and sends the funds by ACH to your US bank account. Novo receives that ACH like any domestic deposit. You will pay Amazon's currency conversion fee on the way in, which is separate from anything Novo charges.

What happens if my business name on Novo doesn't match Seller Central?

Amazon holds the disbursement. You'll see a notice in Seller Central and payouts stop until you either correct the bank information or update the legal entity on your seller account. The fix is usually to open the Novo account under the exact legal name registered with Amazon: LLC name including "LLC," corporation name including "Inc.," or your legal personal name if you're a sole proprietor.

Does Novo accept cash deposits?

No. Novo does not accept cash deposits. For Amazon-only or online-only sellers, this is a non-issue because every dollar coming in is already an ACH or card payment. If you also take cash at trade show booths, pop-ups, or wholesale pickups, you'll need a separate way to deposit that cash.

Is my money safe at Novo?

Deposits are insured for up to $250,000 through our partner bank, Middlesex Federal Savings, Member FDIC.