Best new business account

sunluvva

Hi I've just started up a new business. I've registered it as a limited company so have to have a business bank account. Can anyone offer any advice on which might be the best one for a small company.
Many thanks

eskbanker

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/small-business#acc lists Santander, NatWest and TSB as banks with offers for startups - the article hasn't been updated for a while but I just followed the links and Santander and NatWest are still valid, the TSB site wasn't available for some reason....

I use the Santander one myself and am happy with them, for what that's worth!

someone

Not used them yet but plan to move to Tide Business Banking when my free banking ends. https://www.tide.co/

Fees are

- No account or card fees
- 20p per bank transfer
- £1 per ATM withdrawal

In regard to FSCS protection Tide says

Is my money safe? Will I have FSCS protection?
Tide FAQs Support

Yes. Tide’s banking services are provided by PrePay Solutions, who are regulated by the FCA via an e-money license.

Our members’ funds are kept in a protected Safeguarding account, meaning that they can never be loaned out to other customers and, as such, are not exposed to risk. As your funds will never be reinvested, they do not require FSCS protection (which is only required where banks reinvest and take risks with your money).

Even in the unlikely event of Tide’s insolvency, our members’ funds cannot be used against any liabilities – so your money will be restored to you and is absolutely safe.

https://www.tide.co/community/t/is-my-money-safe-will-i-have-fscs-protection/3813

eskbanker

So the answer to "Is my money safe? Will I have FSCS protection?" shouldn't really start with "Yes" when it's two separate questions, one of which is definitely "No"!

They obviously try to reassure potential customers as to why it's a 'no' but the cynic would observe that they would say that, wouldn't they....

Zanderman

someone wrote: »

Not used them yet but plan to move to Tide Business Banking when my free banking ends. https://www.tide.co/

Fees are

- No account or card fees
- 20p per bank transfer
- £1 per ATM withdrawal

In regard to FSCS protection Tide says

Don't think Tide are much good if you need to pay in a cheque or indeed cash!? Their faqs say "We're not able to accept cheques, but you'll be pleased to hear that we're working to enable cash deposits in the near future!" Not really helpful unless you do absolutely everything electronically!

And, at the moment, they don't have IBAN etc so you can't receive payments from abroad or indeed from Amazon so if you sell via Amazon or merely take Amazon Pay, you can't use Tide.

Tide are, basically, not a full bank account in the normal sense. Cheap yes, convenient, maybe, but definitely inconvenient for some fairly basic needs.

I use Yorkshire Bank (currently offering 25 months free banking) for business banking. I have a Tide account but have never used it (as I need to be able to use Amazon Pay - and the occasional cheque and cash).