Looking for online bank for sole trader

busybee_1000

Hi I am going to start a new IT business as a sole trader.  But I don't want to trade under my own name.  I have a different name in mind.  However the banks that I have approached (Tide and Starling) insist that the bank details will be in my name.  So if a company pays me they will see my name and not the company name.  This doesn't look professional.  Is there a way around this? Is there a bank which is more flexible? Thanks.

DullGreyGuy

busybee_1000 said:

Hi I am going to start a new IT business as a sole trader.  But I don't want to trade under my own name.  I have a different name in mind.  However the banks that I have approached (Tide and Starling) insist that the bank details will be in my name.  So if a company pays me they will see my name and not the company name.  This doesn't look professional.  Is there a way around this? Is there a bank which is more flexible? Thanks.

If you are a sole trader then your name has to be on all formal documents like contracts, invoices, websites etc as you are required to identify the legal entity involved which for a sole trader is yourself. The bank account will be the same so has to be in your name.

Any business, sole trader or incorporated, are able to use a trading style so for example these days Direct Line (the red telephone insurance company) is the trading style of UK Insurance Ltd, all through the website and the branding you'll see Direct Line but look at the footer and/or their terms and it will state UK Insurance t/a Direct Line. 

Preopen banking you could add a trading style to a business account and accept cheques made out to that name. Things have moved on with OpenBanking though and now the account holders name is checked and as you say Starling only allow that to be the official legal name; I dont know if other banks vary but I'd suspect its part of the regs and therefore all are the same. 

The only way not to use your personal name is to not be a sole trader but incorporate and so the bank account is then in the name of the company rather than you but there is much more to consider with incorporation than just names on accounts. 

tacpot12

I would have a think again about how professional it will look with you as a Sole Trader. While many Sole Traders operate through their personal bank accounts, they shouldn't be doing this. They will usually be breaking the terms & conditions of the account. They should have a Business Bank account in their sole name The type of account (Personal vs. Business) is normally checked when using Confirmation of Payee (CoP), so any firm employing you should be confident that you are a legitmate trader if you have a bsuiness account in your sole name.

SVaz

I’m a sole trader and use Mettle, which is free and also gives me freeagent accounting software for no cost. 

My account is definitely in my business/ trading name and customers pay me via bank transfer to my business name.   When I transfer money out or pay my Wife her wages, it come from my business name. 

   So that story above is cobblers. 

My invoices only state my business name too - the only place that shows my actual name is my email which is ‘myname’ at XX ( my initials) Gas.co .uk