Do you need to have both a business and personal account with Starling

IAMIAM

If you want to have just a sole trader business account with them?
Seems confusing....although it might help as I can then transfer the Starling personal account to HSBC for £125. 
Is this allowed?
Will this potentially lead to 3 credit searches? One for each account?

colsten

I don't have a business account with Starling but I believe to get any account with Starling, you first need to get a personal account. You can choose not to use the personal account but I doubt you can close it / switch it out whilst you still have other accounts, such as a sole trader account.

Regarding searches: there are mixed reports whether open a Starling account results in a hard search. It didn't for me but that was some time ago, and I didn't apply for an OD. HSBC will definitely carry out a hard search. Hard searches only potentially (not definitely) matter if you are planning on applying for major credit (mortgage, substantial loan, overdraft, credit card), or apply for a job in the finance industry,  in the next 6-12 months. Otherwise you can ignore them.

colsten

NB. Starling are probably one of the worst choices for a quick donor account as they have a policy not to let you apply again for 12 months following a switch out.

Metro or Monzo or even TSB might be a better choice.

IAMIAM

To be honest, I would rather keep the business account and transfer out the personal account

fenwick458

I only have a starling business. I did briefly have a personal as a donor, probably 18 months ago, a year before I got the business