<aside> 🌟 Opening a bank account for your business is not a legal requirement but is recommended you do as soon as possible after registering your business. There are many free or low cost options out there.

</aside>

Jump to a section in this guide:

Why a business bank account is important

  1. Financial reporting: having your business income and expenses all in one place make it much easier to keep track of business finances
  2. Eligibility for bank loans and certain government grants: having a bank account for x number of years is sometimes an eligibility requirement for bank loans or certain grants
  3. Receiving loans, grants and donations: if you're a limited company especially, funders will not be comfortable giving you money to a personal account and typically require you have a business account.

Opening a modern business bank account

Modern business bank accounts are more likely to be free and are quick to open. Everything is done via an app and online, which makes it great for being an on-the-go entrepreneur. They also usually have some neat features like financial tools that can help you manage your finances as well. They are accredited and real banks, so no need to worry!

The downside of modern business bank accounts they rarely have a branch that you can visit in person (if that's important to you) and they are not connected to big traditional lending banks, so you would not become eligible for a bank loan and would not get some of the extra features bigger banks have. However, if you're looking to save money, open the account quickly and easily, and have a flexible service, this is the way to go!

Modern business bank account options

Here are our recommended modern bank account options (click on the arrows to show more about each):

Opening a traditional business bank account

Sometimes you might want to have your business bank account be with a well-known and traditional bank like Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, etc. These are the kinds of banks that you can visit in person and could offer certain benefits and loans once you've been with them for a while, but will take a bit more paperwork to get started and might cost some money to get set up or have a minimum balance requirement. Beware of hidden fees.

Traditional business bank account options

Here are some good traditional business bank account options (click on the arrows to show more about each):

Below is a guide for how to open a traditional bank account and what to expect:

Opening a Business Bank account.pdf

Bank Account Comparison Tool