The UK best small business bank accounts for 2022 covering loans, international payments, team expense cards, customer support, and fees.
Every successful business has mastered the art of financial management, so startups pay close attention to help you find the right bank account for their business needs.
Whether you make lots of international payments or want to better control your outgoings, there’s a wealth of the UK’s best small business bank accounts to choose from, each with its own specialisms.
A Starling Bank business account give you the option to send and receive money from 39 countries and in 21 currencies, with no hidden costs. This is made possible through Starling’s use of IBANs (international bank account numbers), allowing you to send and receive international payments with ease.
Businesses have the option to send a low-cost payment or a SWIFT payment (at a higher cost) and Starling charge a 0.4% transfer fee—one of the best rates on the market. Competitors such as Monzo and Mettle don’t offer their business customers any international payments, and in this aspect, Starling stands out from the crowd.
If you’re making regular international payments each month, Starling is the best option for you thanks to their transparent costs and low fees. Even better, Starling uses the actual market rate when exchanging your funds!
Businesses with a bigger team should consider expense cards. For one, it makes life easier for employees who won’t have to fork out from their own pocket and then claim back expenses later.
Tide makes handling business expenses easy. Their Tide Expense Card can have up to 35 people per account. You’ll also have the option to set different spending limits for each card. Tide Expense Cards are not only flexible but secure too. Business owners have the option to freeze cards, manage pins, and order replacements all through Tide’s easy-to-use app.
Also, your accountant will find it much easier to track receipts and transactions. Tide integrates with accountancy software to help with this including the main platforms below:
Monzo topped the charts in terms of customer support and satisfaction. According to a survey published by Gov.UK, Monzo came out on top for overall service quality. According to the survey, 86 per cent of Monzo customers would recommend the bank to a friend, but how does this fare for business account customer support?
All business account holders are offered 24/7 customer support via in-app messaging, email, and over the phone. What’s more, Monzo customer reviews on TrustPilot are exceptional, with 4.5 out of 5 stars, collectively overtaking competitors Starling and Tide. For the best small business bank account for customer service, Monzo takes the lead.
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Times are tough for small businesses, and we can see this all too clearly in the lack of loans or overdrafts on offer. Online banks Monzo, Tide, and Revolut don’t currently offer any form of loan for their business customers. Fortunately Mettle—the Natwest business account aimed at startups—has partnered with Funding Xchange to offer their business customers lots of options when it comes to loans.
But first, who is Xchange?
Funding Xchange is a lending marketplace that gives you borrowing options from 45 lenders, including unsecured and secured loans. Through Xchange, Mettle can offer its customers a range of loan providers through the easy-to-navigate Mettle app.
Funding Xchange (via Mettle) offers businesses lots of different loans, including debt and equity investments. These include:
Banks normally charge business customers a monthly or annual fee, or even per transaction, but many of the banks we’ve already covered have free business account options. For example, Monzo has a ‘Business Lite’ version of their bank account, which is free, and similarly, Starling also has no monthly fee. However, the right business account for you depends on what your business does.
For UK businesses that don’t trade internationally, Monzo is a fantastically cheap option. Its easy-to-use banking app has everything a small business could want, including the ability to make savings pots and ways to budget and categorise spending.
Their paid option, Monzo Pro, is just £5 a month—one of the cheapest options on the market. Unfortunately, there are downsides. Monzo doesn’t currently offer business accounts with any international inbound and outbound payments.
Starling is the best small business bank account for international businesses, offering free bank transfers and full FSCS protection. Even better, there’s no monthly account fee, meaning that Starling is free to use! This bank also offers transfers to 36 countries, making it an excellent option for businesses that trade internationally.
Choosing the best small business bank account can feel like a minefield, and with so many different options to choose from it’s hard to find your bank of choice. Before making any decisions, have a clear idea of what you need from your business bank account:
These are the all important questions you should know the answer to before choosing your account.
Doing this will help you narrow down your options and zoom in on the account that’s right for your business.
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