Payment link bank accounts

26letters

I wonder if you can help...
What options are there to look at for a payment link bank account?

I could be using the wrong term, hence why I've been unable to find much so far - I mean an account where I can send links for people to pay me instead sending an account number & sort code.

The 2 options I'm aware of so far are:
Paypal.me links with a Paypal account
Monzo account

For context: this is just for starting out selling a product I'm designing and will be personally selling hopefully on an Etsy store or similar. So ideally something that is low cost as it's very early days!

TIA. Happy to share any research once I've looked into them!

noh

Starling bank do offer this feature.
They call it "settle up"

colsten

26letters said:

For context: this is just for starting out selling a product I'm designing and will be personally selling hopefully on an Etsy store or similar. So ideally something that is low cost as it's very early days!

Sounds like a business, so you would need a business account. If you chance it with a personal account, you could find yourself with a closed account before long.

Starling Bank definitely do offer what you are after on their personal account, and it's a slick feature. Whether they also do it on their fee-free Sole Trader account I don't know for sure as I don't have a business account with them. I think they do, but you'd need to confirm with them.

26letters

Thanks, I shall check out Starling bank.
I understand from MSE that it isn't necessary as a sole trader/freelance designer to get a business bank account (I'm unable to link to the article). Of course that's not to say banks won't want me to, but until there is any sort of business, there is nothing to pay from .

colsten

It's your decision whether you want to breach the T&Cs of personal current accounts, which all clearly state that these accounts are for personal use only. Remember, MSE won't help you if / when your account gets closed, and banks don't give you any leeway because you read an article somewhere on the internet.

Ballard

If you intend to publicise a mobile phone number you could link that to your account and ask people to pay via PayM. A possible problem would be that I’m not sure that many people use this service so it could add confusion.

I’d echo the above comments about the business account. Make sure that you’re upfront with your bank. Even if they allow you to use a personal account they do legally need to know what you intend to use it for. 

Zanderman

26letters said:

I wonder if you can help...
What options are there to look at for a payment link bank account?

I could be using the wrong term, hence why I've been unable to find much so far - I mean an account where I can send links for people to pay me instead sending an account number & sort code.

The 2 options I'm aware of so far are:
Paypal.me links with a Paypal account
Monzo account

For context: this is just for starting out selling a product I'm designing and will be personally selling hopefully on an Etsy store or similar. So ideally something that is low cost as it's very early days!

TIA. Happy to share any research once I've looked into them!

Why not just use a paypal account?  Easy, understood by (virtually) all, and you don't need to give any account details.

Chino

Ballard said:

I’d echo the above comments about the business account. Make sure that you’re upfront with your bank. Even if they allow you to use a personal account they do legally need to know what you intend to use it for. 

I doubt that any bank is going to notice/care about someone occasionally receiving a payment to their account for selling a few odd items of tat.

colsten

Chino said:

Ballard said:

I’d echo the above comments about the business account. Make sure that you’re upfront with your bank. Even if they allow you to use a personal account they do legally need to know what you intend to use it for. 

I doubt that any bank is going to notice/care about someone occasionally receiving a payment to their account for selling a few odd items of tat.

Regularly receiving payments from a variety of people into a personal current account is exactly what would be spotted by the banks' AML algorithms.

I completely fail to understand the opposition against using a business account for business purposes, especially if you can get such accounts at no charge. For starters, every half-serious business person would want to keep their business and their personal finances separate. And no half-serious business person would take the risk to have their business (and possibly also their personal) account closed for knowingly flouting the account T&Cs.

Zanderman said:

Why not just use a paypal account?  Easy, understood by (virtually) all, and you don't need to give any account details.

Paypal also have personal and business accounts, and they charge for business accounts. I am not totally sure but I think they also charge a fee for sending/receiving money into personal accounts if the payment comes from outside the UK, even on personal accounts. 

Ballard

Chino said:

Ballard said:

I’d echo the above comments about the business account. Make sure that you’re upfront with your bank. Even if they allow you to use a personal account they do legally need to know what you intend to use it for. 

I doubt that any bank is going to notice/care about someone occasionally receiving a payment to their account for selling a few odd items of tat.

They may neither notice nor care about it but they do need to know. One form of layering is to have many small amounts of funds trickling into an account. It seems as though the OP isn't expecting these sums to add up to anything significant but banks should be on the lookout for it and if it is noticed and their KYC doesn't show it as being normal then they may decide to offboard them. 

colsten

In case people don't know what layering is: https://complyadvantage.com/knowledgebase/money-laundering-layering/