Best Business Bank Accounts
Compare the 12 best business bank accounts offered by high street banks and online specialists
Our free business bank recommendations:
Account Fee
Free
UK Transfer Fees
3 free then £0.30 each
Customer support
24/7 on lost & stolen
The best business bank accounts now go far beyond offering a secure way of depositing, withdrawing and transferring money – they offer genuinely useful tools and services to help you work more efficiently and manage your finances as you grow.
The arrival of new challenger banks – like Revolut, Tide and Starling – has brought increased competition in the market. Now both online alternatives and long-standing high street banks are fighting for your custom, offering additional benefits and reduced fees as a result.
What’s more, Switchers – businesses who have been trading for over 12 months and are looking to take their business account from one bank to another – will also find some great offers available today.
However, despite the growing number of banks to choose from, 80% of small businesses in the UK still use either Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays or HSBC according to the Competition and Markets Authority, and only 4% of SMEs switch bank accounts each year.
As a savvy business owner, where you choose to bank should be a strategic decision. Consider this article your essential guide to getting the best deal for your business bank account.
We’ve done all the research for you and made it easy to compare 12 of the best business bank accounts available.
You can also view our bank accounts for specific business types:
- Hold, receive and exchange more than 24 currencies with no foreign exchange fees – this is a major plus versus traditional high street banks, who charge 2-3% for this service.
- Customers can also spend worldwide and pay no currency commissions.
- Revolut supports automatic syndication with major accountancy software providers, such as Xero.
- Virtual cards are available – to create a disposable credit card number for online transactions – and customers can give prepaid corporate cards to employees, tracking their expenses in the Revolut dashboard.
- Fully open API, allowing the number-lovers among us to connect to online services programmatically.
- However, there is no support for cash and cheque deposits.
Free Banking Period: Free plan available for smaller businesses.
Fee Thereafter: Free plan available, then various plans from £25 p/month to £1000 p/month.
Cash Transaction Limit: Daily withdrawal limit of £3000 a day and £100,000 a month.
Eligibility: Currently available for companies and sole traders registered in and with a physical presence within the UK, European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, US and AU.
Summary:
Revolut is ideal for multinational businesses and accounts with a low number for monthly transactions will have no monthly fees. Accounts which exceed a certain level of local and international payments per month will be placed in ‘Grow’, ‘Scale’ or ‘Enterprise’ pricing tiers which all have monthly fees.
Revolut’s main appeal is its fast international payments and well-featured mobile application. If your business runs internationally, Revolut could save you significant charges. There’s also some interesting additional features, like simple expense cards for employees. However, offline businesses would be better served by a bank with a high street presence for cash and cheque deposits.
- No monthly fees
- Overdrafts offered
- Offers cash deposits via Post Office branches.
- No fees for Faster Payments, Direct Debits, and Standing Orders.
- Powerful application with the ability to fully manage your account from your phone.
- Access to Starling Marketplace, which integrates with many online applications like Xero, Quickbooks and Freeagent .
- Winner of Best British Bank, Best Current Account Provider & Best Business Banking Provider 2019 and 2020.
Free Banking Period: Free always (there are paid add-ons/integrations available such as accountancy software integrations and their newly launched Toolkit).
Fee Thereafter: Free, depending on your needs.
Cash Transaction Limit: None but £3 charged per deposit of up to £1000 at the post office. For amounts over £1000 there’s a fee of 0.3% of the amount deposited and you can deposit up to £20,000. There is and a 50p charge per withdrawal.
Eligibility: Sole traders and limited companies can open a business current account. Limited companies must be registered in the UK at Companies House. All Persons of Significant Control must be UK residents and people (not other companies, trusts etc.)
Starling is one of the few alternative banks where all eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. Customers also get free electronic payments and domestic transfers, with no monthly account fees.
All customers benefit from no monthly fees, accounts can be opened in minutes and direct integration with accountancy tools like Xero and FreeAgent.
- Free for the first three months.
- Instant setup from the mobile app.
- Digital admin assistant features, which chases outstanding invoices, reminds you about taxation and more.
- Advanced application with real-time payment notifications.
Free Banking Period: 6 months from this link.
Fee Thereafter: Limited company pricing varies with turnover, from £4.90 to £24.90 per month. If you’re a sole trader, the monthly fee is £5 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: ATM limit of £300 per day.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old and in the UK.
ANNA is one of the more unusual offerings in this review. ANNA stands for’ Absolutely No Nonsense Admin’ and the bank’s goal is to offer a service which does your admin for you, automating things like issuing invoices, chasing payments and tax reminders.
For now, this seems like a novelty, with ANNA feeling more like a digital admin assistant than a banking option. However, if you are a freelancer or very small business, this might be enough.
- No monthly or annual fees.
- Supports automatic syndication with major accountancy software providers, such as Xero.
- Transparent charges on transfers, cash withdrawals and cash deposits.
- Fully managed through an app.
- Cash deposits via Post Offices or PayPoint.
Free Banking Period: Free.
Fee Thereafter: Free.
Cash Transaction Limit: All Tide accounts are subject to transaction limits, but these can be increased on request.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old, running a limited company registered in the UK.
Tide has over 100,000 business owners using this ‘non-bank’ for their business banking needs. As Tide proudly claim on its homepage “we’re not a bank we’re better” but do provide a full range of business banking services for a competitive fee-free. However, there are charges on most transactions, including transfers, cash transactions, direct debits and other payment types like CHAPS. For example, there’s a £1 charge on cash deposits through the Post Office – or 3% if done via PayPoint – and all ATM cash withdrawals are charged at £1.
There’s little information regarding transaction limits on the Tide website, but rest assured the ATM cash limit of £500 a day is quite standard – and you can request to increase your limits through the app.
At the time of writing, Tide is launching a Tide Plus account. This includes 20 free transactions each month, including inbound and outbound Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACs and Direct Debits, but does not include international payments. It also includes access to a legal helpline for impartial and confidential advice from Irwin Mitchell LLP – a unique benefit.
- HSBC’s SME bank accounts are available for businesses with up to £2m in turnover.
- The ‘Start Up’ account offers new enterprises free business banking for the first 18 months, at a cost of £6.50 per month thereafter. There’s a good deal for Switchers, too, who get a year’s worth of free banking.
- Generous cash limit of £3000 per month.
- Best Tariff Promise: HSBC will review your account every 12 months, to ensure you are paying the lowest possible charges.
- Charges can vary depending upon how your business works. Cash focused businesses might prefer the Small Business Tariff, which decreases cash charges, or the Electronic Banking Tariff, which decreases card charges.
- Free 12 months British Cycling Fan Membership.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for startups or 12 months for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 per month (for the 12 months following your free banking period).
Cash Transaction Limit: Up to £3,000 cash per month, then 0.50% fee of value deposited above £3,000.
Eligibility: Your business turnover must not exceed £2M annually.
Founded in the 19th century, HSBC is a banking heavyweight known around the world. So is the 7th largest bank in the world the best choice for your growing business?
Truth be told: HSBC’s business banking offering is nothing revolutionary. For customers new to business banking, HSBC offer a now-standard 18 months free banking period. Whereas customers switching from another business current account get 12 months. For both new businesses and Switchers, this free banking period is followed by a reduced monthly fee for a further 12 months. However, you should pay attention to the fees applied during these 12 months, which apply to virtually all transactions on the account.
In terms of additional benefits, HSBC also gives access to a knowledge centre and business planning tools as an add-on to its online banking. Nevertheless, this business planning tool is little more than a template.
We were also concerned with HSBC’s online reviews on TrustPilo
- Impressively, Santander has been awarded Best Business Current Account Provider for the last 17 years by Moneyfacts.
- If your business is within its first year of trading, Santander’s Business Current Account offers free business banking for the first 18 months, followed by a £7.50 per month fee, which includes day-to-day banking charges, such as cheques, direct debits, bill payments and debit card payments.
- Santander also offer a 1|2|3 Business Current Account, good for businesses with a high turnover. You’ll pay £5 per month in fees and receive cashback on turnover (£100 for turnover of less than £200,000, £200 for turnover of £200,000+ and £300 for £300,000+).
- Business owners can easily add colleagues to the account to let them manage finances and payments.
- There’s no charge for deposits up to £1000 per month (then £0.70 per £100 thereafter)
- Lastly, it’s 0.10% gross/AER (variable) monthly interest on credit balances. Plus an arranged overdraft is available: representative 5.75% EAR (variable) with an annual fee of 1%.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for startups. Note: Santander does not offer free banking for Switchers, but instead gives a reduced £5.00 monthly fee for 12 months.
Fee Thereafter: £7.50 a month.
Cash Transaction Limit: No limits within the first 18 months.
Eligibility: New businesses need to have been trading for less than 12 months. Both young firms and Switcher customers need to meet the following criteria: up to 2 directors, owners (shareholders) or partners – all of whom are to be UK residents.
Summary:
Santander is a new name on the British high street but has grown quickly in recent years through its acquisitions of Abbey National, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance and Leicester.
However – despite its award-winning status – Santander has struggled with its customer service record. From 2007 to 2011, Santander was ranked as one of the worst banks in the UK for customer service, according to the J. D. Power UK Retail Banking Satisfaction Study.
However, there are signs of improvement. In a 2019 Which? Money customer survey, Santander scored 72%, ranking 7th in a survey of 25 banks.
All in all, Santander’s business banking offering is similar to other options on the high street. For new businesses, there’s the standard 18 months free banking period, followed by £7.50 per month – so long as your business is in the first year of trading and you have no more than two directors, owners or partners. For Switchers, you’ll get a reduced £5.00 monthly fee for 12 months.
Founders looking for extra resources can turn to Santander’s Breakthrough programme, which educates business leaders on cyber security, exit strategies, brand building and more, through a series of workshops, masterclasses and events. Handy, if you need the additional support.
- NatWest has two different products for new versus established SMEs.
- Its ‘Start up’ product offers 18 months of free day-to-day banking for business in the first year of trading with a predicted turnover of under £1 million.
- … and if you’re a Switcher with turnover less than £2 million, you can use its ‘Business bank account’.
- Both products include a free NatWest Business Credit Card for 12 months (usually £30 per card issued).
- You’ll also have free access to FreeAgent Accounting Software – a cloud-based accounting software that we recommend. This usually costs from £20 per month and includes features like self-assessment filing, dividend vouchers and corporation tax forecasting.
- The free credit card and accounting software are arguably the most important additional benefits to this bank account, but there are more on offer (see below).
Free Banking Period: 18 months for new businesses, no free banking period for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: Minimum monthly charge of £5.
Cash Transaction Limit: The ‘Start Up’ account offers no limits or charges for the first 18 months, but then reverts to the standard tariff: cash payments (in or out) cost £0.70 per £100.
Eligibility: New firm to be trading for fewer than 12 months with turnover less than £1m. Switchers need to have a turnover of less than £2m to be eligible.
NatWest is one of the best-known banks in the UK, with centuries of history. Acquired by RBS in March 2000, it is part of one of the world’s largest banking groups.
At first glance, Natwest’s offering seems similar to others on test, with the standard 18 months of free banking for new businesses, but there are some key differences.
Firstly, this monthly charge is not a fixed fee. Instead, there’s a minimum charge of £5 per month. For example, if you made a purchase outside the UK of £250, you would incur a £6.87 fee, so the account charge would be waived. As a result, we’d recommend businesses carefully review the NatWest account charges to see if they will save versus a fixed banking fee.
Secondly, NatWest has a very competitive suite of banking benefits. For one, it includes free access to FreeAgent, a top-rated accountancy software package which focuses on small business accounting. Importantly, this connects directly to your NatWest account via a bank feed, which can be accessed by your accountant and is fully compliant with the new ‘Making Tax Digital’ initiatives, keeping you on track with HMRC. With a FreeAgent plan starting from £20 per month, this is an exceptional free benefit.
In addition, NatWest’s business banking also includes an international shipping discount of 60% off the standard DHL tariff for 12 months. Plus free receipt and expense management app for iPhone and Android, helping you keep a record of outgoings.
- 18 months of free business banking for new businesses, which includes electronic payments, cheques and cash withdrawals/deposits with charges payable on other transaction types. Switchers get 6 months of free business banking.
- Dedicated business management support team based in the UK, available via phone.
- Inclusive access to ‘Business Knowledgebox’, a collection of resources and guides for SMEs.
- Lloyds has committed to supporting SMEs via its group’s SME Charter including commitments to help 100,000 businesses get off the ground and to grow net lending to SMEs by £1 billion.
- Ranked 4th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 61% of SMEs likely to recommend Lloyds as a business current account provider to other SMEs.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for new businesses, 6 months for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: £1 per £100 for the first £1500 each month, and 80p per £100 for amounts over that amount.
Eligibility: Turnover expected to be less than £3m.
Lloyds Bank was founded in 1765 and has over 30 million customers. Its business banking arm is one of the most popular in the UK, with over 26,000 corporate customers and over 1 million SME customers.
The business banking on offer here is similar to other high street banks, with the standard 18 months of free business banking for new businesses. If you are switching from another account, you’ll get a 6 months free banking period. This includes electronic payments, cheques and cash withdrawals/deposits, with transparent and competitive fees for other transaction types.
So what helps set them apart? Lloyds Bank’s business banking app is one of the best we’ve tried, with biometric login via fingerprint or face ID and a full set of features to help you manage your business on the go.
Lloyds also has one of the more comprehensive offerings in this review if you require additional banking services, offering business loans, insurance, overdrafts and charge cards.
- Yorkshire Bank has 2 business current account options – the Business Current Account, which offers new businesses a 25 month free banking period, and the Business Choice Account, which offers interest linked to the Bank of England base rate.
- As standard, eligibility requires that new businesses need to have been trading fewer than 12 months and both new and existing SMEs need to have a turnover less than £2m.
- Yorkshire Bank was ranked 5th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 60% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
- It offers access to a dedicated business banking support team, available via telephone (but there’s little in terms of digital banking available just yet).
Free Banking Period: 25 months for new businesses and Switchers
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 a month.
Cash Transaction Limit: £250,000 per annum limit and fees of 65p per £100 once the free banking period has ended.
Eligibility: Turnover less than £2m
Established in 1849, Yorkshire Bank has had a varied history of ownership, being acquired by the National Australia Bank in 1990 then by CYBG in 2018. Yorkshire Bank is currently undergoing rebranding and will relaunch as Virgin Money later this year.
Yorkshire Bank’s free banking period is one of the most generous available, with 25 months of free banking available to businesses trading for fewer than 12 months. However, not all charges are included in this offer – there are fees for additional services or borrowing charges (as outlined in the business banking tariff).
Digitally-speaking, Yorkshire Bank is somewhat lacking – it doesn’t offer a business banking app, for either iPhone or Android. However, you can manage your account through an online portal. At the time of writing, though, the previous BusinessOnline portal is currently being replaced which means certain features are currently unavailable online such as a salary runs, CHAPS and international payments.
- Metro Bank takes a different approach to fee structuring: if your account balance stays above £5,000, you’ll enjoy no monthly account fee and no charge for your first 50 transactions.
- In a recent survey, 69% of SMEs were likely to recommend this business current account provider to other SMEs – ranking Metro Bank 2nd in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers.
- Metro Bank’s branches are open 7 days a week with dedicated business managers available in branches across the UK.
- Access to a unique AI-driven Business Insights tool, which includes end-of-month cash flow analysis, notifications of when the payments to service providers are different than usual, as well as notifications of upcoming scheduled payments.
Free Banking Period: No free banking period, even for new businesses.
Fee Thereafter: Free if account balance stays above £5,000 at the close of each working day.
Cash Transaction Limit: If balance remains above £5000 you’ll get 50 free transactions per month then £0.30 each. Cash paid in or out subject to 0.50% fee, regardless of bank balance.
Eligibility: Turnover of less than £2m and at least 50% of the business owners or directors (representing more than 25% of the shares) should be UK residents, and at least 50% of shares should be held by UK residents.
Metro Bank is a new name on the High Street, founded in 2010, making them the first new bank to open in the UK in over 150 years.
Self-described as a ‘revolutionary’ bank, Metro has focused on combining the benefits of online banking with face-to-face customer service. The result is one of the best business banking offerings we’ve reviewed.
Firstly, Metro’s monthly fee is one of the lowest on the high street, being waived if your balance remains above £5,000 throughout the month. Secondly, small or new businesses with low transaction volume will love Metro Bank’s zero-fee approach on your first 50 transactions each month. Finally, Metro’s focus on in-person banking with branches open seven days a week from 8am-8pm is a real benefit to cash focused businesses.
Metro’s business banking app is fully featured, with support for payments, transfers and card management built into the application. It also includes a graphical Business Insights tool, which shows the performance of your business and alerts you when larger than usual transactions occur.
- The most generous free banking period in this review at 30 months.
- This ‘Tariff’ structure allows you to tweak your business banking charges to match your business, and Co-operative Bank’s Business Current Account Cash Tariff offers the lowest cash deposit fees in this review.
- The Business Current Account Standard has no transaction limits.
- Ranked 11th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 48% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
Free Banking Period: 30 months for new customers and Switchers (subject to some further criteria).
Fee Thereafter: £5 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: No charges for all automated credits and cash withdrawals. Deposit £2,000 in cash and 100 cheques per month for free.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old and in the UK.
The Co-operative Bank is the only ethical bank in this review. This means it follows an ethical code and screens customers against an ethical policy, refusing to do business with arms manufacturers, oppressive regimes or businesses with an overtly negative ecological impact. Co-op also regularly conducts customer polls and changes policies based upon customer opinion.
This free banking period is the most generous in this review at 30 months, followed by one of the lowest fees at £5 per month – but this offer is subject to some additional requirements. If you check the tariff sheet, you’ll see that the free banking offer is based on businesses maintaining a credit balance of £1000 or more. If a balance drops below £1000, then the £5 monthly fee applies. What’s more: cash above £2000 paid in a month is subject to a fee of 75p per £100.
Despite this small print, Co-op has received awards for customer service in 2017 and 2018, being awarded “Best Service from a Business Bank” by Business Moneyfacts.
- Handelsbanken has a traditional banking model, with account fees and products tailored to each customer – this makes it difficult to compare with other options, which is why you won’t have spotted it in our comparison table up top.
- Yet, it must be good. It’s been ranked 1st in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 85% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
- Handelsbanken focuses on local branch service and has no telephone banking, but online banking is available.
Free Banking Period: Tailored to the business.
Fee Thereafter: Bespoke fee.
Cash Transaction Limit: Bespoke limits.
Eligibility: Registered company or sole trader based in the UK.
Handelsbanken is Sweden’s largest bank and the 3rd largest in the Nordic area. It was established in 1871 and is one of the most sustainably financed banks in Europe, relying upon building long term and individual relationships with its customers.
The bank has 128 branches in the UK, opening 27 of those branches within the last 12 months to meet customer demand.
The fees and benefits of your Handelsbanken Business Bank will be tailored by your advisor to meet your individual business needs. If your business would incur high charges with other providers for unusual or cash-heavy transactions, consider speaking to Handelsbanken to build a bespoke business account for your requirements.
FAQs
Poor credit will limit the choice of lenders that will accept you, but there are still options available. You may be able to secure invoice financing or a cash advance, as these present a lower risk for lenders. Some specialist online lenders will consider you even with bad credit, especially if your business is consistently delivering positive financial results.
In short, yes. Just as lenders will look at both your business and personal credit history when assessing a new loan, that loan also has the possibility of affecting your personal credit score down the road. This is particularly true for sole traders whose business and personal finances are essentially the same. If your business runs into financial difficulty with you as an owner or director, this will have a bearing on your credit score when it comes to borrowing more money in the future.
Each lender will have their own criteria, with banks often having the strictest rules. Lenders will look at a host of factors, including the type of company you operate, the number of years you have been running, your annual turnover, your profitability, and your personal financial history as an owner or director.
These and other factors will impact who you can borrow money from, how much you can borrow, the rate of interest, and the repayment terms. The lower the financial risk you present to lenders, the more flexible they will be with their loan offerings.
The best business bank accounts now go far beyond offering a secure way of depositing, withdrawing and transferring money – they offer genuinely useful tools and services to help you work more efficiently and manage your finances as you grow.
The arrival of new challenger banks – like Revolut, Tide and Starling – has brought increased competition in the market. Now both online alternatives and long-standing high street banks are fighting for your custom, offering additional benefits and reduced fees as a result.
What’s more, Switchers – businesses who have been trading for over 12 months and are looking to take their business account from one bank to another – will also find some great offers available today.
However, despite the growing number of banks to choose from, 80% of small businesses in the UK still use either Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays or HSBC according to the Competition and Markets Authority, and only 4% of SMEs switch bank accounts each year.
As a savvy business owner, where you choose to bank should be a strategic decision. Consider this article your essential guide to getting the best deal for your business bank account.
We’ve done all the research for you and made it easy to compare 12 of the best business bank accounts available.
You can also view our bank accounts for specific business types:
- Hold, receive and exchange more than 24 currencies with no foreign exchange fees – this is a major plus versus traditional high street banks, who charge 2-3% for this service.
- Customers can also spend worldwide and pay no currency commissions.
- Revolut supports automatic syndication with major accountancy software providers, such as Xero.
- Virtual cards are available – to create a disposable credit card number for online transactions – and customers can give prepaid corporate cards to employees, tracking their expenses in the Revolut dashboard.
- Fully open API, allowing the number-lovers among us to connect to online services programmatically.
- However, there is no support for cash and cheque deposits.
Free Banking Period: Free plan available for smaller businesses.
Fee Thereafter: Free plan available, then various plans from £25 p/month to £1000 p/month.
Cash Transaction Limit: Daily withdrawal limit of £3000 a day and £100,000 a month.
Eligibility: Currently available for companies and sole traders registered in and with a physical presence within the UK, European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, US and AU.
Summary:
Revolut is ideal for multinational businesses and accounts with a low number for monthly transactions will have no monthly fees. Accounts which exceed a certain level of local and international payments per month will be placed in ‘Grow’, ‘Scale’ or ‘Enterprise’ pricing tiers which all have monthly fees.
Revolut’s main appeal is its fast international payments and well-featured mobile application. If your business runs internationally, Revolut could save you significant charges. There’s also some interesting additional features, like simple expense cards for employees. However, offline businesses would be better served by a bank with a high street presence for cash and cheque deposits.
- No monthly fees
- Overdrafts offered
- Offers cash deposits via Post Office branches.
- No fees for Faster Payments, Direct Debits, and Standing Orders.
- Powerful application with the ability to fully manage your account from your phone.
- Access to Starling Marketplace, which integrates with many online applications like Xero, Quickbooks and Freeagent .
- Winner of Best British Bank, Best Current Account Provider & Best Business Banking Provider 2019 and 2020.
Free Banking Period: Free always (there are paid add-ons/integrations available such as accountancy software integrations and their newly launched Toolkit).
Fee Thereafter: Free, depending on your needs.
Cash Transaction Limit: None but £3 charged per deposit of up to £1000 at the post office. For amounts over £1000 there’s a fee of 0.3% of the amount deposited and you can deposit up to £20,000. There is and a 50p charge per withdrawal.
Eligibility: Sole traders and limited companies can open a business current account. Limited companies must be registered in the UK at Companies House. All Persons of Significant Control must be UK residents and people (not other companies, trusts etc.)
Starling is one of the few alternative banks where all eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. Customers also get free electronic payments and domestic transfers, with no monthly account fees.
All customers benefit from no monthly fees, accounts can be opened in minutes and direct integration with accountancy tools like Xero and FreeAgent.
- Free for the first three months.
- Instant setup from the mobile app.
- Digital admin assistant features, which chases outstanding invoices, reminds you about taxation and more.
- Advanced application with real-time payment notifications.
Free Banking Period: 6 months from this link.
Fee Thereafter: Limited company pricing varies with turnover, from £4.90 to £24.90 per month. If you’re a sole trader, the monthly fee is £5 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: ATM limit of £300 per day.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old and in the UK.
ANNA is one of the more unusual offerings in this review. ANNA stands for’ Absolutely No Nonsense Admin’ and the bank’s goal is to offer a service which does your admin for you, automating things like issuing invoices, chasing payments and tax reminders.
For now, this seems like a novelty, with ANNA feeling more like a digital admin assistant than a banking option. However, if you are a freelancer or very small business, this might be enough.
- No monthly or annual fees.
- Supports automatic syndication with major accountancy software providers, such as Xero.
- Transparent charges on transfers, cash withdrawals and cash deposits.
- Fully managed through an app.
- Cash deposits via Post Offices or PayPoint.
Free Banking Period: Free.
Fee Thereafter: Free.
Cash Transaction Limit: All Tide accounts are subject to transaction limits, but these can be increased on request.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old, running a limited company registered in the UK.
Tide has over 100,000 business owners using this ‘non-bank’ for their business banking needs. As Tide proudly claim on its homepage “we’re not a bank we’re better” but do provide a full range of business banking services for a competitive fee-free. However, there are charges on most transactions, including transfers, cash transactions, direct debits and other payment types like CHAPS. For example, there’s a £1 charge on cash deposits through the Post Office – or 3% if done via PayPoint – and all ATM cash withdrawals are charged at £1.
There’s little information regarding transaction limits on the Tide website, but rest assured the ATM cash limit of £500 a day is quite standard – and you can request to increase your limits through the app.
At the time of writing, Tide is launching a Tide Plus account. This includes 20 free transactions each month, including inbound and outbound Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACs and Direct Debits, but does not include international payments. It also includes access to a legal helpline for impartial and confidential advice from Irwin Mitchell LLP – a unique benefit.
- HSBC’s SME bank accounts are available for businesses with up to £2m in turnover.
- The ‘Start Up’ account offers new enterprises free business banking for the first 18 months, at a cost of £6.50 per month thereafter. There’s a good deal for Switchers, too, who get a year’s worth of free banking.
- Generous cash limit of £3000 per month.
- Best Tariff Promise: HSBC will review your account every 12 months, to ensure you are paying the lowest possible charges.
- Charges can vary depending upon how your business works. Cash focused businesses might prefer the Small Business Tariff, which decreases cash charges, or the Electronic Banking Tariff, which decreases card charges.
- Free 12 months British Cycling Fan Membership.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for startups or 12 months for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 per month (for the 12 months following your free banking period).
Cash Transaction Limit: Up to £3,000 cash per month, then 0.50% fee of value deposited above £3,000.
Eligibility: Your business turnover must not exceed £2M annually.
Founded in the 19th century, HSBC is a banking heavyweight known around the world. So is the 7th largest bank in the world the best choice for your growing business?
Truth be told: HSBC’s business banking offering is nothing revolutionary. For customers new to business banking, HSBC offer a now-standard 18 months free banking period. Whereas customers switching from another business current account get 12 months. For both new businesses and Switchers, this free banking period is followed by a reduced monthly fee for a further 12 months. However, you should pay attention to the fees applied during these 12 months, which apply to virtually all transactions on the account.
In terms of additional benefits, HSBC also gives access to a knowledge centre and business planning tools as an add-on to its online banking. Nevertheless, this business planning tool is little more than a template.
We were also concerned with HSBC’s online reviews on TrustPilo
- Impressively, Santander has been awarded Best Business Current Account Provider for the last 17 years by Moneyfacts.
- If your business is within its first year of trading, Santander’s Business Current Account offers free business banking for the first 18 months, followed by a £7.50 per month fee, which includes day-to-day banking charges, such as cheques, direct debits, bill payments and debit card payments.
- Santander also offer a 1|2|3 Business Current Account, good for businesses with a high turnover. You’ll pay £5 per month in fees and receive cashback on turnover (£100 for turnover of less than £200,000, £200 for turnover of £200,000+ and £300 for £300,000+).
- Business owners can easily add colleagues to the account to let them manage finances and payments.
- There’s no charge for deposits up to £1000 per month (then £0.70 per £100 thereafter)
- Lastly, it’s 0.10% gross/AER (variable) monthly interest on credit balances. Plus an arranged overdraft is available: representative 5.75% EAR (variable) with an annual fee of 1%.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for startups. Note: Santander does not offer free banking for Switchers, but instead gives a reduced £5.00 monthly fee for 12 months.
Fee Thereafter: £7.50 a month.
Cash Transaction Limit: No limits within the first 18 months.
Eligibility: New businesses need to have been trading for less than 12 months. Both young firms and Switcher customers need to meet the following criteria: up to 2 directors, owners (shareholders) or partners – all of whom are to be UK residents.
Summary:
Santander is a new name on the British high street but has grown quickly in recent years through its acquisitions of Abbey National, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance and Leicester.
However – despite its award-winning status – Santander has struggled with its customer service record. From 2007 to 2011, Santander was ranked as one of the worst banks in the UK for customer service, according to the J. D. Power UK Retail Banking Satisfaction Study.
However, there are signs of improvement. In a 2019 Which? Money customer survey, Santander scored 72%, ranking 7th in a survey of 25 banks.
All in all, Santander’s business banking offering is similar to other options on the high street. For new businesses, there’s the standard 18 months free banking period, followed by £7.50 per month – so long as your business is in the first year of trading and you have no more than two directors, owners or partners. For Switchers, you’ll get a reduced £5.00 monthly fee for 12 months.
Founders looking for extra resources can turn to Santander’s Breakthrough programme, which educates business leaders on cyber security, exit strategies, brand building and more, through a series of workshops, masterclasses and events. Handy, if you need the additional support.
- NatWest has two different products for new versus established SMEs.
- Its ‘Start up’ product offers 18 months of free day-to-day banking for business in the first year of trading with a predicted turnover of under £1 million.
- … and if you’re a Switcher with turnover less than £2 million, you can use its ‘Business bank account’.
- Both products include a free NatWest Business Credit Card for 12 months (usually £30 per card issued).
- You’ll also have free access to FreeAgent Accounting Software – a cloud-based accounting software that we recommend. This usually costs from £20 per month and includes features like self-assessment filing, dividend vouchers and corporation tax forecasting.
- The free credit card and accounting software are arguably the most important additional benefits to this bank account, but there are more on offer (see below).
Free Banking Period: 18 months for new businesses, no free banking period for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: Minimum monthly charge of £5.
Cash Transaction Limit: The ‘Start Up’ account offers no limits or charges for the first 18 months, but then reverts to the standard tariff: cash payments (in or out) cost £0.70 per £100.
Eligibility: New firm to be trading for fewer than 12 months with turnover less than £1m. Switchers need to have a turnover of less than £2m to be eligible.
NatWest is one of the best-known banks in the UK, with centuries of history. Acquired by RBS in March 2000, it is part of one of the world’s largest banking groups.
At first glance, Natwest’s offering seems similar to others on test, with the standard 18 months of free banking for new businesses, but there are some key differences.
Firstly, this monthly charge is not a fixed fee. Instead, there’s a minimum charge of £5 per month. For example, if you made a purchase outside the UK of £250, you would incur a £6.87 fee, so the account charge would be waived. As a result, we’d recommend businesses carefully review the NatWest account charges to see if they will save versus a fixed banking fee.
Secondly, NatWest has a very competitive suite of banking benefits. For one, it includes free access to FreeAgent, a top-rated accountancy software package which focuses on small business accounting. Importantly, this connects directly to your NatWest account via a bank feed, which can be accessed by your accountant and is fully compliant with the new ‘Making Tax Digital’ initiatives, keeping you on track with HMRC. With a FreeAgent plan starting from £20 per month, this is an exceptional free benefit.
In addition, NatWest’s business banking also includes an international shipping discount of 60% off the standard DHL tariff for 12 months. Plus free receipt and expense management app for iPhone and Android, helping you keep a record of outgoings.
- 18 months of free business banking for new businesses, which includes electronic payments, cheques and cash withdrawals/deposits with charges payable on other transaction types. Switchers get 6 months of free business banking.
- Dedicated business management support team based in the UK, available via phone.
- Inclusive access to ‘Business Knowledgebox’, a collection of resources and guides for SMEs.
- Lloyds has committed to supporting SMEs via its group’s SME Charter including commitments to help 100,000 businesses get off the ground and to grow net lending to SMEs by £1 billion.
- Ranked 4th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 61% of SMEs likely to recommend Lloyds as a business current account provider to other SMEs.
Free Banking Period: 18 months for new businesses, 6 months for Switchers.
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: £1 per £100 for the first £1500 each month, and 80p per £100 for amounts over that amount.
Eligibility: Turnover expected to be less than £3m.
Lloyds Bank was founded in 1765 and has over 30 million customers. Its business banking arm is one of the most popular in the UK, with over 26,000 corporate customers and over 1 million SME customers.
The business banking on offer here is similar to other high street banks, with the standard 18 months of free business banking for new businesses. If you are switching from another account, you’ll get a 6 months free banking period. This includes electronic payments, cheques and cash withdrawals/deposits, with transparent and competitive fees for other transaction types.
So what helps set them apart? Lloyds Bank’s business banking app is one of the best we’ve tried, with biometric login via fingerprint or face ID and a full set of features to help you manage your business on the go.
Lloyds also has one of the more comprehensive offerings in this review if you require additional banking services, offering business loans, insurance, overdrafts and charge cards.
- Yorkshire Bank has 2 business current account options – the Business Current Account, which offers new businesses a 25 month free banking period, and the Business Choice Account, which offers interest linked to the Bank of England base rate.
- As standard, eligibility requires that new businesses need to have been trading fewer than 12 months and both new and existing SMEs need to have a turnover less than £2m.
- Yorkshire Bank was ranked 5th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 60% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
- It offers access to a dedicated business banking support team, available via telephone (but there’s little in terms of digital banking available just yet).
Free Banking Period: 25 months for new businesses and Switchers
Fee Thereafter: £6.50 a month.
Cash Transaction Limit: £250,000 per annum limit and fees of 65p per £100 once the free banking period has ended.
Eligibility: Turnover less than £2m
Established in 1849, Yorkshire Bank has had a varied history of ownership, being acquired by the National Australia Bank in 1990 then by CYBG in 2018. Yorkshire Bank is currently undergoing rebranding and will relaunch as Virgin Money later this year.
Yorkshire Bank’s free banking period is one of the most generous available, with 25 months of free banking available to businesses trading for fewer than 12 months. However, not all charges are included in this offer – there are fees for additional services or borrowing charges (as outlined in the business banking tariff).
Digitally-speaking, Yorkshire Bank is somewhat lacking – it doesn’t offer a business banking app, for either iPhone or Android. However, you can manage your account through an online portal. At the time of writing, though, the previous BusinessOnline portal is currently being replaced which means certain features are currently unavailable online such as a salary runs, CHAPS and international payments.
- Metro Bank takes a different approach to fee structuring: if your account balance stays above £5,000, you’ll enjoy no monthly account fee and no charge for your first 50 transactions.
- In a recent survey, 69% of SMEs were likely to recommend this business current account provider to other SMEs – ranking Metro Bank 2nd in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers.
- Metro Bank’s branches are open 7 days a week with dedicated business managers available in branches across the UK.
- Access to a unique AI-driven Business Insights tool, which includes end-of-month cash flow analysis, notifications of when the payments to service providers are different than usual, as well as notifications of upcoming scheduled payments.
Free Banking Period: No free banking period, even for new businesses.
Fee Thereafter: Free if account balance stays above £5,000 at the close of each working day.
Cash Transaction Limit: If balance remains above £5000 you’ll get 50 free transactions per month then £0.30 each. Cash paid in or out subject to 0.50% fee, regardless of bank balance.
Eligibility: Turnover of less than £2m and at least 50% of the business owners or directors (representing more than 25% of the shares) should be UK residents, and at least 50% of shares should be held by UK residents.
Metro Bank is a new name on the High Street, founded in 2010, making them the first new bank to open in the UK in over 150 years.
Self-described as a ‘revolutionary’ bank, Metro has focused on combining the benefits of online banking with face-to-face customer service. The result is one of the best business banking offerings we’ve reviewed.
Firstly, Metro’s monthly fee is one of the lowest on the high street, being waived if your balance remains above £5,000 throughout the month. Secondly, small or new businesses with low transaction volume will love Metro Bank’s zero-fee approach on your first 50 transactions each month. Finally, Metro’s focus on in-person banking with branches open seven days a week from 8am-8pm is a real benefit to cash focused businesses.
Metro’s business banking app is fully featured, with support for payments, transfers and card management built into the application. It also includes a graphical Business Insights tool, which shows the performance of your business and alerts you when larger than usual transactions occur.
- The most generous free banking period in this review at 30 months.
- This ‘Tariff’ structure allows you to tweak your business banking charges to match your business, and Co-operative Bank’s Business Current Account Cash Tariff offers the lowest cash deposit fees in this review.
- The Business Current Account Standard has no transaction limits.
- Ranked 11th in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 48% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
Free Banking Period: 30 months for new customers and Switchers (subject to some further criteria).
Fee Thereafter: £5 per month.
Cash Transaction Limit: No charges for all automated credits and cash withdrawals. Deposit £2,000 in cash and 100 cheques per month for free.
Eligibility: Business owners must be over 18 years old and in the UK.
The Co-operative Bank is the only ethical bank in this review. This means it follows an ethical code and screens customers against an ethical policy, refusing to do business with arms manufacturers, oppressive regimes or businesses with an overtly negative ecological impact. Co-op also regularly conducts customer polls and changes policies based upon customer opinion.
This free banking period is the most generous in this review at 30 months, followed by one of the lowest fees at £5 per month – but this offer is subject to some additional requirements. If you check the tariff sheet, you’ll see that the free banking offer is based on businesses maintaining a credit balance of £1000 or more. If a balance drops below £1000, then the £5 monthly fee applies. What’s more: cash above £2000 paid in a month is subject to a fee of 75p per £100.
Despite this small print, Co-op has received awards for customer service in 2017 and 2018, being awarded “Best Service from a Business Bank” by Business Moneyfacts.
- Handelsbanken has a traditional banking model, with account fees and products tailored to each customer – this makes it difficult to compare with other options, which is why you won’t have spotted it in our comparison table up top.
- Yet, it must be good. It’s been ranked 1st in an independent CMA survey of business banking providers, with 85% of SMEs likely to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
- Handelsbanken focuses on local branch service and has no telephone banking, but online banking is available.
Free Banking Period: Tailored to the business.
Fee Thereafter: Bespoke fee.
Cash Transaction Limit: Bespoke limits.
Eligibility: Registered company or sole trader based in the UK.
Handelsbanken is Sweden’s largest bank and the 3rd largest in the Nordic area. It was established in 1871 and is one of the most sustainably financed banks in Europe, relying upon building long term and individual relationships with its customers.
The bank has 128 branches in the UK, opening 27 of those branches within the last 12 months to meet customer demand.
The fees and benefits of your Handelsbanken Business Bank will be tailored by your advisor to meet your individual business needs. If your business would incur high charges with other providers for unusual or cash-heavy transactions, consider speaking to Handelsbanken to build a bespoke business account for your requirements.
FAQs
Poor credit will limit the choice of lenders that will accept you, but there are still options available. You may be able to secure invoice financing or a cash advance, as these present a lower risk for lenders. Some specialist online lenders will consider you even with bad credit, especially if your business is consistently delivering positive financial results.
In short, yes. Just as lenders will look at both your business and personal credit history when assessing a new loan, that loan also has the possibility of affecting your personal credit score down the road. This is particularly true for sole traders whose business and personal finances are essentially the same. If your business runs into financial difficulty with you as an owner or director, this will have a bearing on your credit score when it comes to borrowing more money in the future.
Each lender will have their own criteria, with banks often having the strictest rules. Lenders will look at a host of factors, including the type of company you operate, the number of years you have been running, your annual turnover, your profitability, and your personal financial history as an owner or director.
These and other factors will impact who you can borrow money from, how much you can borrow, the rate of interest, and the repayment terms. The lower the financial risk you present to lenders, the more flexible they will be with their loan offerings.
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