• There are several different types of business bank account you can open. Consider which account best suits your individual circumstances before signing up.
• Nearly all business bank accounts will come with fees – both a monthly standard charge as well as additional costs for things like depositing cheques or cash.
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Provider | Account fee | Interest rate | Features | Learn more |
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£69 Annual |
EAR – N/A AER – 0.00% |
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No monthly fee |
0% |
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£12.50 per month | 0% |
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Pro – £5 per month Premium – £9 per month |
0% |
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From £0-£19.90 per month | 0% |
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No monthly or annual fee | 0% |
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Essential – £6 per month Pro – £10 per month |
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Business - £9.99 per month SuperGreen - £19.99 per month |
0.27% |
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Featured provider |
Account name |
Account fee |
Start-up Incentive |
Switching incentive |
Opening incentive |
The Co-operative Bank |
Business Directplus – Credit balance £1k or more |
£7.00 per month |
No |
No |
Yes |
TSB |
Business Plus |
£5.00 per month |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Clydesdale Bank/Yorkshire Bank |
Business Current Account – Business Tariff |
£6.50 per month |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Royal Bank of Scotland |
Business Current Account - Standard Tariff | None | Yes | No | No |
The list of featured providers on this page is a selection of services available and gives you an idea of the kind of options available. You can find out more about the individual products by visiting any of the providers listed. Moneyfacts.co.uk will receive a small payment if you use their services after you click through to their site. All information is subject to change without notice. Please check all terms before making any decisions.
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A business bank account allows you to keep your personal and business finances and transactions separate. They are available to all types of businesses, including limited companies, partnerships and for people who are self-employed. They are available to business start-ups, through to more mature businesses.
They are like personal bank accounts, providing debit cards for purchases, allowing you to pay money in and make withdrawals. You can also apply for a business overdraft if you need short-term help with your cashflow.
However, their main difference is in their charging structure. Traditionally, business bank accounts came with a set of monthly and transactional fees, for example every time you paid in cash, issued a cheque or made a bank transfer a fee would be applied. However, in recent times, new competition has entered the market with more online business bank accounts now available. Many of these offer no or lower monthly fees and lower costs to operate your account. And, unlike many traditional business bank accounts, they also require no credit check, making them almost universally available and quick to open – albeit there will be no overdraft facility with these.
Your choice of business bank account will depend on the accounts your business is eligible for (usually based on your business type), what you need the account to do and how much it will cost your business. You will also need to decide if you want to open an account from a high street bank or from an online provider of business bank accounts.
Make sure the account does what you need – review the key features and services
Business bank accounts have a range of services available:
A business bank account typically consists of a series of monthly and transaction fees, overdraft interest rates and credit interest rates.
Monthly fees or standing charges range from £0 to £30, with a market average fee of high street banks at £6 per month.
Transaction fees for bank accounts are often charged for:
The charging structure of business bank accounts can also include tiered rates based on the level of income your deposit into the account each month and the number of payment cards you need for employees.
You can compare the cost of overdrafts by looking at the Equivalent Annual Rate (EAR). This is the percentage interest rate cost applied to any borrowing on your business overdraft.
Business bank accounts may offer different accounts to different business types:
You can usually access your funds, make payments and transfers through internet banking, apps, by phone or in branch. Some of the accounts that are from online providers only will restrict you to accessing your account online only.
New online challengers have entered the business bank account market offering exclusively online banking services only for businesses, often through apps. They are responding to the needs of smaller businesses looking for easier and lower-cost ways to manage their business banking. The choice between a high street bank or an online business bank account will depend on the costs of their services, the importance of accessing a physical branch, the range of services you need, whether access to an overdraft is required and the importance of integrating with accountancy apps. How the two types of provider are regulated is also different, and this is also an important consideration when making your choice between the two.
There are two different types of providers offering business banking apps: those that offer a prepaid business card and those offering broader services more like a traditional business bank account. The former is useful for helping to manage the day-to-day expenses of your business and often integrate with accountancy apps for business, making your invoicing and bookkeeping easier.
It’s also important to know that these types of online providers are regulated in a different way to the high street banks. For example, money held with these providers is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Traditional banks will have this cover for most non-financial businesses. We explain more in our guide FSCS for businesses and charities. Those providers offering payment services such as direct debits and standing orders are required by UK regulation to keep all the monies of their accounts in a safeguarded account separate to the provider’s accounts. This means the money should be safe if the firm goes bust. These organisations may also not be based in the UK, but usually they will then have some form of agreement to operate in the UK using the registered status in their home nation. You may also find that if you have a complaint about the provider, you can not escalate this to the Financial Services Ombudsman.
To open a business bank account, you will need to check the account is available to your type of business, prove your identity as a director or business owners and give some basic information about your business, such as Companies House registration details and turnover. In summary:
Our comparison table above shows which accounts can be opened online. Most of the information can be completed online if the business bank account provider has its application forms integrated with Companies House and use credit reference agencies to check identities. However, you may also be asked for copies of ID and documents to prove the addresses of directors or business owners and copies of company contracts or website links if your business is a start-up.
Even established businesses that have used the same bank account for years can benefit from switching their bank account and reducing their overall banking costs. Some banks also sweeten the deal with switching invectives.
Small businesses, charities and trusts can switch their business bank account in seven days; thanks to the Current Account Switch Guarantee service. Just make sure the bank you are opening an account with is a member of the scheme.
The length of time it can take to open an account will vary by provider and can range from same day to several weeks – many banks publish service quality data that can give an indication of timescales.
Businesses can keep the process as swift as possible by preparing all the required documentation for when they start the account opening process.
A lot of banks will offer new business bank account customers free banking for a set period. This could significantly reduce your costs if you are a new start-up. However, while these offers may undoubtedly be cheaper in the near-term, take care when the introductory period ends. Although these introductory offers are ‘nice to have’, when selecting your account, you should be thinking of more mundane things, such as the costs and charges after the introductory period ends, as well as the level of customer service
While a limited company or partnership is a legal entity in its own right, if their directors have a poor credit history, then the ability to open a business bank account with a high street bank could be limited. A guaranteed business bank account means you will be accepted no matter what your previous credit history. You will still need to meet their identity requirements and won’t be able to obtain a line of credit from the provider.
Read more in our guide to opening a business account with bad credit.
Business bank accounts can be managed in branch, by phone, online or by app. You can compare these choices on our best buy chart above or by searching our full table.
Many business bank accounts have a maximum balance in your account and, if this is exceeded, then you may be charged a fee.
Some business accounts allow international payments, but you will need to check the product features for this. You may find that using this increases your monthly account fee or there are additional transactional charges. You may find a specialist international money exchange company can offer better rates if you need to make payments abroad frequently.
Your account will need an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) to make international payments.
Read our guide to the best way to send international money transfers for your business.
Every year, the impartial experts at Moneyfacts assess the flexibility, features and benefits of business bank accounts available from high street banks to identify the very best available in the market.
Find out who got the top business bank account ratings.
Most banks will include a condition in their personal account terms and conditions that the account is only for personal use and not for businesses. If you want to be 100% certain that you will not breach these conditions, then you should open a business bank account.
It is not a requirement of HMRC that businesses should have a separate business bank account, but they do require business owners to separate business and personal transactions.
Read our guide to find out why you should keep your business and personal bank accounts separate.
A business bank account overdraft will need to be agreed with your bank first and will be for a set time period. You can compare the cost of overdrafts by looking at their interest rates, these are shown as Equivalent Annual Rate. There are usually differing rates for arranged and unarranged overdrafts.
Credit interest rates do apply on some business bank accounts, but rates are usually not as good as a business savings account.
Don’t exceed your overdraft limit or use an overdraft without this being arranged. If you do, you will find you are charged higher fees as a result. You can also look to minimise unnecessary transactions and to reduce your number of transactions.
Some banks will give businesses and start-ups free business banking.
Yes there are no rules against having multiple business bank accounts.
We can help you compare the best savings accounts and the best fixed rate bonds for businesses, as well as charity and club savings accounts and client accounts.
Find out how to send money abroad for your business easily, securely and quickly using an international money transfer specialist. Our guide explains how it works and the costs involved.
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