Which is the easiest company to open the business account with?

Mishomeister

My Mrs is opening a start-up LTD company. Knowing here, which includes her health conditions, she will want to start and do it it all at her on phase which is likely to be really slow.

The plan is to open the company, then bank account and then look for the clients. We are looking at the copywriting business here, so no office etc. Just working from home. One requirement is for that to be an account with no monthly etc fees, so not interested in high street banks business accounts.

Are there any that would in your experience opent a bank account havign only proofs of ID/address and the business basic info such as registration number etc.

I was a contractor recently myself and when openning an account with Starling they requested a copy of my business contract. As my Mrs is likely to take time to get her first contract (or might even fail to get it) she doesn't need a bank that is likely to put such requests.

jlfrs01

MSE has a guide for business accounts here:

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/business-finance/business-current-accounts-explained/

Beward the "free" business accounts which won't charge a monthly fee but still charge if it's used which kind of defeats the object. Revolut is a prime example.

martindow

Have you discussed the setting up of your business with an accountant - particularly whether a limited company is the best arrangement as opposed to operating as a sole trader?  Getting advice at this stage is likely to be very valuable and they may well be able to help regarding bank accounts.

Murphy_The_Cat

Mettle https://www.mettle.co.uk/   A division of NatWest were a doddle to open an account with and have operated seamlessly since then. I've not needed any "additional" functions, so it's free business banking for me.

Before even considering Cashplus (who are very easy to open an account with), read the reviews of businesses that have used them.  From my recent experiences, they are by a country mile the worst financial organisation that I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.

DullGreyGuy

Never found any bank to be difficult to open a business account with as long as you have all the docs/ID etc for the company and any significant shareholders. 

I'd be cautious of any bank without a standing monthly fee, firstly their other charges tend to be higher than those with a fee and secondly in time the product may well be changed to introduce a fee. Were with HSBC's Internet Only account for several years which had no standing fee, no fee for online transactions but much higher fees for any counter services etc. Then one day a 90 day notice that they were withdrawing the product and would be migrated to their standard SME product with a £6/month fee. 

penners324

Starling or Monzo. Tide is also easy and will even set up the Ltd company for you.

Elliott.T123

I use Starling and can highly recommend it if you are running a small Ltd Co. It totally depends if you are likely to need any chargeable services but if all you want is a standard account then Starling is free and easy to use.

SensibleSarah

I didn't have any issues opening a Starling account as a sole trader in 2021 (freelance content services, so sounds similar to what your OH plans to do) and certainly didn't have to show any contracts/proof of work - or even a company number etc as that doesn't apply when a sole trader. I opened it before I started working and didn't have any clients at that stage. I can't speak on the ltd company stuff as I'm not one, sole trader was the better (simplest and with least admin) route for me.