Our Partnership Bank Account Picks
Eligibility is the minimum bar here, and every provider below clears it. The labels pick out what separates them once you’re past that bar: cost, whether the two-to-sign control actually bites, and how fast all partners get through onboarding. We verified all seven in May 2026.
Best Overall
Revolut is the account most partnerships should open first. It lists general partnership as an eligible structure outright, and since March 2026 it holds a full UK banking licence, so FSCS protection up to £120,000 applies to the partnership account.
The catch is dual authorisation. On Basic (£10/month), any one partner can move money out alone. Two-to-sign only unlocks on the paid Grow tier, from £35/month: a control Revolut charges you to switch on. Check the tier before you open (full pricing below).
Revolut requires a copy of the partnership agreement uploaded during onboarding, and that applies on all plans. If you send regular payments to international suppliers, interbank FX rates on the Grow plan cut most of the transfer cost.
Open Revolut as a partnershipBest Free Account
Zempler accepts general partnerships with no monthly fee and FSCS protection to £120,000. If your partnership runs mostly UK transactions at low volume, there’s no cheaper option on this page.
The ceiling: Zempler Go includes 3 free outgoing payments a month. After that it’s £0.35 a go. A partnership sending 20 payments a month is out of pocket by £5.95, or about £71 a year. Small money. But the free account stops being free at payment four.
Get a free Zempler partnershipBest Traditional Bank
NatWest accepts general partnerships, supports formal dual authorisation, and bundles FreeAgent free. New businesses with turnover under £1 million get 24 months of free banking before standard transaction charges apply.
Barclays is the pick if bank-enforced two-to-sign is non-negotiable. One partner creates the payment; the second must log in and approve it as a separate step before it clears. That is a bank-level hold, not an in-app setting a partner can work around.
If your partnership agreement mandates two-to-sign for all outgoing payments, Barclays is the most reliable option on this list.
Partnership Accounts Compared
Individual verdicts for the seven providers we’ve confirmed as accepting general partnerships. Each card covers the fit, the misfit, and the limitations that matter when more than one person owns and runs the business.
What Partnership Bank Accounts Really Cost
Monthly fees tell you roughly a third of the cost. When you pay a supplier or receive a large client payment, transfer charges and inbound fees can match or exceed the subscription fee. We pulled live pricing from every provider in May 2026.
The free accounts: Zempler Go: no monthly fee, 3 free outgoing payments, then £0.35 each. ANNA PAYG: no monthly fee, unlimited free outgoing, but 0.95% on every inbound payment. A partnership taking £20,000 a month hands ANNA £190 before it sends a penny out. Over a year, £2,280.
Revolut’s two prices: Basic is £10/month with 10 free local transfers, then £0.20 each. Grow adds 100 free transfers and unlocks dual authorisation, at £35/month billed monthly (£30/month if paid annually).
£30 is the number Revolut puts in the shop window. Pay month to month, as most partnerships do, and you’re £60 a year out of pocket against the advertised price. We re-checked both figures on Revolut’s own pricing page in July 2026.
NatWest, Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds all offer 12–24 months of free banking for new businesses before standard charges apply. If you’re managing cash flow carefully in year one, that free period often closes the cost gap with digital alternatives entirely.
Opening a Partnership Business Bank Account
Opening a partnership account takes between a few hours and two weeks, depending on whether you go digital or traditional. Digital providers need ID for every partner but no prior trading history. Traditional banks have online pathways but typically take 3–10 working days.
What you’ll need: there’s no Companies House number for a general partnership, so banks verify the partners directly. Across all seven providers, expect to supply, for every partner and not just the lead applicant:
- Proof of identity: a passport or driving licence
- Proof of address: a recent utility bill or bank statement
- The written partnership agreement (Revolut and ANNA require it; the traditional banks usually do too)
- A short description of your business activity (traditional banks in particular)
If you don’t have a formal partnership agreement yet, draft one before you apply. Applications stall without it.
How long it takes: ANNA and Zempler are the fastest, and accounts can open within hours for most straightforward partnerships. Revolut typically approves within 24 hours. None of the three require a minimum trading history or prior HMRC registration to begin the application.
NatWest, Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds take 3–10 working days. All four have online or digital verification pathways, so a branch visit is not universally required, though a complex partner structure may trigger a business manager call.
If you formed the partnership this week and need to invoice by Monday, a digital provider is the only realistic option.
Unlimited liability and account terms: general partnerships carry unlimited joint and several liability. Each partner is personally liable for the full debts of the business, not just their share. When you apply, traditional banks run credit checks on every partner, not only the lead applicant.
For current accounts, this rarely blocks an application. Where it matters is credit products. If you later apply for an overdraft or business loan, the bank assesses every partner’s personal credit history, and one poor score can sink the application for the whole business.
Partnership Bank Account Features
For a general partnership, three features matter more than they do for a limited company: bank-enforced two-to-sign controls, FSCS protection on the account balance, and accounting integrations suited to self-assessment rather than corporation tax.
Check every provider on all three before you open. Switching later means re-verifying every partner from scratch.
| Provider | Enforced dual authorisation | FSCS protection |
|---|---|---|
| Barclays | Yes, bank-level hold | Yes, to £120,000 |
| NatWest | Yes, formal | Yes, to £120,000 |
| HSBC | Yes, formal | Yes, to £120,000 |
| Revolut | Paid tiers only (Grow and up) | Yes, to £120,000 |
| Zempler | Shared access, not enforced | Yes, to £120,000 |
| ANNA | Not offered | No, e-money safeguarding |
| Lloyds | Not confirmed | Yes, to £120,000 |
Multi-signatory and mandate structure: the table above shows who enforces two-to-sign. The distinction that matters day to day is this: a bank-level hold releases a payment only once a second partner signs in, while an app permission can be reconfigured by whoever holds admin rights.
Barclays is the most explicit. One partner creates the payment; the second approves it as a separate login step, and it doesn’t release until they do. No free-tier account here enforces that, so if two-to-sign is a hard control, budget for a paid tier or a bank.
Revolut sits in between. Its paid tiers let you set partners as approvers above a threshold, which holds a payment just as firmly in practice. The gap from a true bank mandate only bites if you need the bank itself to enforce it.
FSCS protection for partnership deposits: the limit rose to £120,000 per authorised banking licence on 1 December 2025. A general partnership counts as a single eligible entity, so that limit applies to the partnership account as a whole, not per partner.
Partners’ personal accounts at the same bank each get their own separate £120,000, so they don’t share the business limit. The table above shows who is covered, and the one gap is ANNA.
If your partnership sits on real money between client payments, say £60,000 waiting to go to a subcontractor at month end, that gap matters. ANNA’s e-money safeguarding ringfences the cash in a segregated account, but it doesn’t mean anyone will make you whole.
We confirmed ANNA’s safeguarding status on the FCA register in May 2026.
Accounting integrations: the three accounts that stand out for partnership bookkeeping each take a different route.
- Revolut: direct feeds to Xero and QuickBooks
- NatWest: FreeAgent bundled free for as long as you hold the account
- ANNA: built-in invoicing and tax estimates, with no third-party platform needed
If your accountant already files your VAT returns through FreeAgent, NatWest’s bundled subscription removes a recurring cost and the feed is automatic. If they use Xero, Revolut’s the closest fit here; Starling would be the natural choice, but it doesn’t accept general partnerships.
How to Choose the Right Partnership Account
Four questions shape the right choice: does your partnership agreement require bank-enforced two-to-sign, how many UK payments do you send each month, do you transact internationally, and how much do you typically hold between invoice payments?
If dual auth is required: Barclays is the safest choice, because it’s bank-enforced, not configurable. NatWest is a close second. Revolut Grow (£35/month, or £30/month paid annually) works for partnerships comfortable with a digital account.
No digital provider offers enforced dual auth at the free tier. If two-to-sign is in your agreement, it’s a paid feature, whoever you bank with.
For low-volume partnerships without a dual-auth requirement, Zempler is the simplest option, and it stays at zero under 3 outgoing payments a month.
ANNA competes at higher outgoing volume. But if you receive large client payments regularly, 0.95% on inbound is a levy on every one of them, and it grows with your success.
Balance size matters for a separate reason. Revolut, Zempler, and all four traditional banks are FSCS-protected to £120,000. ANNA isn’t, and that gap matters when partnership income sits in the account for weeks waiting on a client payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do general partnerships need a separate business bank account?
Not legally required, but practically essential. HMRC expects partnership income and expenses to be clearly separated from partners’ personal finances. Using personal accounts for partnership transactions causes complications at tax time, and most accountants won’t prepare accounts from mixed records. Open a dedicated account before you start trading.
Can all partners access and use the account?
Yes, across all seven providers on this page. The key distinction is enforced dual authorisation, where two partners must approve outgoing payments at bank level before they clear. Barclays, NatWest, and HSBC support this formally. Revolut offers it on paid tiers. ANNA and Zempler support shared access but not enforced two-to-sign.
What happens to partnership funds if the bank fails?
Revolut (UK banking licence since March 2026), Zempler, HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, and Lloyds are all FSCS-protected up to £120,000 per banking licence. The limit covers the partnership account as a whole and is not multiplied by the number of partners. ANNA uses e-money safeguarding and sits outside the FSCS scheme. For balances above £120,000, spread across two FSCS-covered providers.
What if a partner leaves or joins the partnership?
Update the mandate with the bank. Traditional banks treat this as a formal mandate change, and all current partners typically sign a new agreement. Digital banks let you add or remove authorised users in-app, but the formal process varies. Confirm the procedure with your provider before a partner change happens, not after.
Does unlimited liability affect which banking products we can access?
For current accounts, no. The accounts on this page don’t require a personal credit check to open. It matters for credit products. If you apply for a business overdraft or loan, the bank assesses every partner’s personal credit history. One poor score can sink the credit application for the whole business.
How We Reviewed
Ranking criteria. We rank partnership accounts on eligibility (explicitly verified as accepting general partnerships), total cost at typical UK payment volumes, FSCS protection status, dual authorisation capability, and onboarding speed. App quality and approval speed are the tie-break.
Data sources. We checked every provider’s eligibility, pricing, and features against their published documentation in May 2026. We confirmed Mettle does not accept general partnerships (sole traders and limited companies only).
We verified FSCS status against the FCA register, including Revolut’s full UK banking licence from March 2026, and re-checked Revolut’s tier pricing against its own pricing page in July 2026.
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