Business Bank Account Fees at a Glance
A business account can cost nothing a month and still be expensive, because the monthly charge is only one of the places a bank takes money. The others are each payment you send or receive, each time you bank cash, each payment abroad, the overdraft, and a run of smaller charges for extra cards, disputes and same-day transfers. An account sold as free usually charges somewhere on that list, and if it charges on the line your business uses most, it isn’t free to you. That is why we checked every one of those lines for each provider we compared, not just the monthly fee.
None of the providers we compared charges you nothing on the monthly fee, transactions, cash deposits and international payments all at once. Starling and Monzo come closest, with no monthly fee and no charge per UK payment; what separates them is what you pay to bank cash and to send money abroad. We checked every figure here against the provider’s own pricing in October 2026.
| Provider | Monthly fee | UK transactions | Cash deposits | International | FSCS | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starling | £0 | Free, unlimited | 0.7% at Post Office (£3 min) | 0.4% conversion fee | Yes | View Deal → |
| Zempler Go | £0 | 3 free, then £0.35 | £4 minimum or 0.55% at Post Office | Up to £22 inbound; 2.99% on card spend abroad | Yes | View Deal → |
| Monzo Lite | £0 | Free, unlimited | £1 a deposit (monthly cap) | Fixed fee + variable fee (new fees from 1 Nov 2026) | Yes | View Deal → |
| ANNA Free | £0 | Free outgoing; 0.95% on inbound above £1k | Not published | 1% conversion fee | No | View Deal → |
| Tide (free) | £0 | 20p per transfer | 3% at PayPoint; Post Office £2.50 to £500, then 0.99% | £10 + 1.5% (SWIFT) | Via ClearBank | View Deal → |
| Revolut Basic | £10 | 10 free, then 20p | Not available | Interbank to £1k/month, then 0.6%; £5 a transfer | Yes | View Deal → |
| Mettle | £0 | Free, unlimited | £2.75 a deposit (Post Office) | Inbound only: £4 + 1.5% FX | Via NatWest | |
| Barclays (yr 1) | £0 intro | Included | 60p per £100 (Post Office) | £15 online + FX margin | Yes | |
| NatWest (yr 1–2) | £0 intro | Included | 95p per £100 + 95p a deposit | £15 online + FX margin | Yes |
Business Bank Account Monthly Fees
You can hold a business account for £0 a month at Starling, Mettle, Zempler Go, Monzo Lite, and on ANNA’s Free plan. The monthly line is the easiest one for a provider to zero out. It’s also the easiest one for you to mistake for the whole price.
Revolut Business asks £10/month for Basic, which buys you 10 free local transfers, and £35/month for Grow (£30/month if billed annually), which buys 100 free transfers, dual authorisation and multi-currency. Tide’s free account is genuinely free on the monthly line, then charges £0.20 per transfer.
Tide Smart at £12.49/month buys you 30 free transfers a month. Monzo Pro at £9/month adds the accounting integrations the free Lite plan leaves out.
If your accountant works in Xero or QuickBooks and you bank with Monzo, the £9 Pro fee isn’t really optional, so we count it as part of what a Monzo account costs you each month, not as an extra.
Open with a high-street bank and the monthly line changes over time: you get a free banking period first and a tariff afterwards, so the fee you see on the day you open is not the one you will pay once the period ends.
Business Bank Account Transaction Fees
Every time you send or receive a UK payment, some providers take a slice and some take nothing. At 50 payments a month, that choice is the difference between £0 a year at Starling and £197.40 at Zempler Go, for identical banking.
Free, unlimited: Starling and Mettle charge you nothing per domestic transfer, in or out, on their standard accounts. Send 200 payments a month and it costs exactly what sending two costs.
Per-payment charges: Tide charges you £0.20 every time you move money on the free account, after the first five transfers each month.
On transfer fees alone, Tide Smart never undercuts the free plan: it charges the same 20p above its 30-transfer allowance, so its £12.49 fee never pays for itself. Pay 50 suppliers on the free tier and it runs to around £9.
Threshold models: Zempler Go gives you 3 free payments a month, then charges £0.35 each. Revolut Basic gives you 10 free local transfers, then £0.20.
If you clear those thresholds most months, these aren’t free accounts. They are cheap accounts with a meter running, which is why our 12-month cost table charges every payment past the allowance.
Inbound percentage fees: ANNA’s Free plan takes 0.95% of incoming payments above the first £1,000 each month. That’s a charge for getting paid rather than for spending, so it grows with your sales: the busier your month, the more of it ANNA keeps.
A client pays you £10,000 in a month and £85.50 of it never reaches you, once the first £1,000 free allowance is used. At £20,000 inbound a month, ANNA takes £2,166 a year, and not a penny of it shows up on the monthly-fee line that comparison tables print.
Business Bank Account Cash Deposit Fees
If you take cash, your bank can charge you for the privilege of handing it back to them, and the market trader pays most of all.
A percentage fee on cash is a fee on your turnover. The better your Saturday, the more it costs you to bank it on Monday. We rate it the least defensible charge in business banking.
Starling: you pay 0.7% of the amount to deposit cash at the Post Office, with a £3 minimum. We confirmed that against Starling’s published terms in October 2026.
Mettle: you pay a flat £2.75 a deposit at the Post Office, whatever the amount. That undercuts Starling’s £3 minimum on every deposit, and on £1,000 it is £2.75 against Starling’s £7.
Tide: you pay 3% of the deposit at PayPoint, or £2.50 at the Post Office for deposits up to £500. Above about £83, the Post Office fee costs less. Above £500, the Post Office takes 0.99% on the free plan and 0.5% on paid plans.
Traditional banks: Barclays takes 60p per £100 at the Post Office or a self-service machine, and £1.20 per £100 at the counter. NatWest charges 95p per £100 at a branch or Post Office counter, plus 95p on each deposit. Bank £2,000 of takings at the Post Office and you’re stung £12 at Barclays and £19.95 at NatWest, and the charge comes round again every time you bank a similar sum.
Monzo: £1 a deposit at PayPoint or the Post Office, but capped at £3,000 a month for sole traders, £10,000 for limited companies. Fine for the odd bag of notes; too tight for a shop, a stall, or a taxi taking cash daily.
ANNA: ANNA’s pricing page lists no way to deposit cash, so we cannot put a figure on it.
International Payment Fees for Business Bank Accounts
You get charged twice on an international payment: once by the flat sending fee, once by the FX margin buried in the exchange rate you’re quoted.
On a sizeable payment the margin usually costs you more than the fee, because it grows with the size of the transfer and never shows up as a line item on your statement. That is why we would compare the exchange rate you are offered before worrying about the transfer fee.
Traditional banks charge £15–£25 per international transfer, plus an exchange-rate margin they do not publish as a percentage. At a 2% margin, a £5,000 monthly payment to a European supplier costs about £115 in margin and fee, close to £1,400 a year, on one supplier.
Starling sends international transfers through an intermediary bank and charges a 0.4% conversion fee on top of its outbound exchange rate. Of the conversion fees the accounts we compared publish, only Revolut’s interbank allowance comes in lower for regular foreign-currency outgoings, and only while you stay inside it.
Revolut converts at the interbank rate up to a monthly allowance: £1,000 on Basic and £15,000 on Grow. Above that you pay 0.6%, or 1% when the currency markets are closed. Basic charges £5 for each international transfer; Grow includes five a month.
Tide charges £10 plus a 1.5% FX fee for a SWIFT payment on its free plan.
Business Bank Account Overdraft Fees
Only a bank authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) can give you an overdraft. An e-money account can’t, whatever else it offers, so if your cash flow lurches around and you need a buffer under it, the type of account rules providers out before their fees come into it. It is the clearest practical difference between a bank and an e-money account, and it is the line we would check first if you expect ever to borrow.
Starling offers an arranged overdraft on its limited company account, subject to its eligibility checks and under a separate agreement. Its sole trader account has no arranged overdraft. Starling’s tariff prints no rate: the interest rate you are offered appears in the app.
Monzo offers sole traders an arranged overdraft of up to £3,000 at 29% or 39% Equivalent Annual Rate (EAR), and says most customers are offered 39%. It charges no fee for using it. A limited company director checks eligibility in the Monzo app.
Barclays and NatWest will arrange an overdraft for you at a rate that varies with your business profile. Neither printed an arrangement fee on the pages we read on 23 October 2026.
You can’t get a traditional overdraft from ANNA or Tide. Zempler is the exception among the app-first accounts: it offers one up to £10,000, though a limited company can apply as it opens the account while a sole trader only qualifies after three months.
Revolut does offer a revenue-based advance on some plans, but that’s a separate product on separate terms. It isn’t a buffer you can dip into when the month turns awkward.
Other Business Bank Account Fees Worth Checking
None of these fees will decide your account on its own, but they tend to reach you only after you have signed up, when moving again is a chore. Several of them sit in tariff documents and help pages rather than on the headline pricing page, which is why we went to the tariff documents and help pages as well as the pricing pages.
Card Fees
You get one free debit card, and after that you pay: additional cards and replacements cost £5–£10 each. Revolut includes multiple employee cards on its paid plans. Tide charges for additional team cards.
Inactivity Fees
Some e-money accounts charge you a monthly fee for not using them. That’s a fee for doing nothing at all, and it’s hard to read as anything other than a penalty for a quiet quarter.
If your trade goes quiet for a season, this is the charge that finds you: the landscaper billing nothing in January, the seaside trader shut until Easter. Prepaid-style business accounts are the usual culprits, so confirm the inactivity policy before you open one, not after.
Chargeback and Dispute Fees
Dispute a transaction at a traditional bank and you may be charged £10–£15 for the investigation. Digital banks typically handle disputes without a charge. If you take card payments, the charge can land twice: once from the bank investigating the disputed payment, and once from your card terminal provider, which sets its own dispute fee. The two are separate contracts and neither waives the other.
CHAPS and Same-Day Transfer Fees
Unless your account charges per transfer past an allowance, as Tide’s free plan, Zempler Go and Revolut Basic do, you won’t pay for a Faster Payment: the system (FPS) covers most UK transfers up to £1 million and is free at most providers.
CHAPS is the one that will cost you. It settles the same day, which is what a property completion needs, and traditional banks charge £15–£30 for it, less online than in a branch. Starling charges £20 for it, and Tide £15 on its free plan.
Business Bank Account Free Banking Periods
The free banking periods at NatWest, Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds are real: you pay no monthly fee and most transaction charges are waived. What matters more is the tariff you’re moved onto the day it ends, because that is the price you pay for as long as you stay.
How Long They Last
NatWest: you get 24 months free as a new business turning over under £1 million, or as an established business turning over up to £2 million that switches in through the full Current Account Switch Service. After month 24 the standard Business Current Account tariff applies: no fixed monthly fee, but £0.35 per automated payment in or out, and 95p per £100 of cash plus 95p a deposit. We verified that against NatWest’s terms in October 2026.
Barclays: 12 months free, then the Barclays Business Account costs £8.50/month plus transaction charges.
HSBC: the Small Business Banking Account carries no monthly fee at all, so there is no free period to run out. The Business Banking Account, which HSBC aims at established businesses, gives 12 months of free banking on your main account, then charges in line with HSBC’s Business Price List. HSBC Kinetic is closed to new applications and no longer appears among HSBC’s business accounts.
Lloyds: 12 months free for a new business, then the Business Current Account charges you £10/month.
What Switches On After the Period
Nobody rings you when the free period ends. The monthly fee simply restarts, with no opt-in step, and cash deposit fees, international transfer charges and over-limit transaction fees all land at the standard tariff from day one.
If your year-end or VAT registration date falls near the end of the introductory period, put a reminder in the diary and look at the account before that date.
Bide your time and switch before the period runs out, and you never pay high-street fees on transactions a free digital account would have carried for nothing.
What Your Business Bank Account Actually Costs Over 12 Months
The same banking costs you £66 a year at Mettle, £168 at Starling and £460.80 at NatWest once its free period ends. We ran the same month through every tariff: at 50 payments a month, £2,000 of cash deposited, no international transfers, no overdraft, on figures verified in October 2026.
| Provider | Monthly fees (12 months) | Transactions (50/month) | Cash deposits (£2k/month) | 12-month total | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starling | £0 | £0 | £168 | £168 | View Deal → |
| Mettle | £0 | £0 | £66 | £66 | |
| Tide (free) | £0 | £108 | £237.60 | £345.60 | View Deal → |
| Zempler Go | £0 | £197.40 | £132 | £329.40 | View Deal → |
| Revolut Basic | £120 | £96 | n/a | £216+ | View Deal → |
| ANNA Free | £0 | 0.95% on inbound | Not published | Depends on inbound volume | View Deal → |
| Barclays (yr 2+) | £102 | Included | £144 | £246+ | |
| NatWest (yr 3+) | £0 | £210 | £250.80 | £460.80+ |
In this model Zempler’s 0.55% on each £1,000 deposit comes to £5.50, which clears its £4 minimum every time. At two deposits a month that is £11 a month and £132 over the year. Add its transaction fees and Zempler Go comes out £161.40 dearer than Starling for the same banking.
Revolut Basic won’t take your cash at all, so if you handle notes and coins you need a second account running alongside it. That’s £120 a year for an account that can’t do the one thing a cash business needs.
How to Choose a Business Bank Account Based on Fees
Cash, payment volume and foreign currency whittle the list down to the account that is cheapest for you. We put cash first, because it is the only one of the three that rules accounts out altogether rather than just making them dearer.
Cash handling: if you take cash regularly and need to bank it, your shortlist is Mettle, Monzo, Starling and Tide. Mettle charges a flat £2.75 a deposit and Monzo £1, though Monzo caps cash at £3,000 a month for sole traders. Starling charges 0.7% with a £3 minimum; Tide charges 3% at PayPoint, or £2.50 at the Post Office up to £500. Barclays charges 60p per £100 at the Post Office, a little under Starling; NatWest’s 95p per £100 plus 95p a deposit costs more than Starling on any deposit above about £216.
If your clients pay exclusively by bank transfer or card, cash deposit capability is irrelevant and the full range of accounts is open to you.
Monthly payment volume: below 10 payments a month, most accounts cover you inside their free allowance, Revolut Basic included. Between 10 and 50, the per-transaction pricing at Tide or Zempler starts to bite. Starling stays free at any volume.
If you pay 50 or more suppliers, staff or contractors each month, unlimited-transfer accounts (Starling, Mettle) are the cheapest option on transaction fees alone.
International payments: if you pay foreign suppliers, take payment in other currencies, or convert money regularly, the FX margin matters more than the monthly fee. A £10/month account on interbank rates costs you less than a free account with a 2.5% margin on £5,000 of monthly foreign payments.
Revolut on any paid plan, and Starling with its 0.4% conversion fee, are the cheapest routes for regular currency conversion. Traditional banks come out dearest, mostly because of the exchange-rate margin they don’t publish as a percentage rather than the transfer fee they do print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which UK business bank account has the lowest fees?
For a business that rarely banks cash, Starling: no monthly fee, no per-transaction charge for UK payments, and a 0.4% conversion fee abroad. Mettle (powered by NatWest) also charges nothing monthly or per UK payment, and its flat £2.75 Post Office deposit costs less than Starling’s 0.7% (£3 minimum) on every deposit, so it wins for a cash business. Both are FSCS-protected. The right choice between them usually comes down to whether you need FreeAgent (bundled with Mettle) or accounting integrations beyond FreeAgent.
Are traditional bank free banking periods worth it?
For the introductory period, yes, especially if you’re a new business building a banking relationship for future credit applications. The watch-out is what happens after: Barclays charges £8.50/month plus cash deposit fees from month 13. For businesses without credit needs, a free digital account like Starling is cheaper over three years even without any introductory period.
What is the cheapest business bank account for cash-based businesses?
Monzo, if your cash fits under its cap: £1 a deposit at PayPoint or the Post Office, with a limit of £3,000 a month for sole traders and £10,000 for limited companies. Above that, Mettle charges a flat £2.75 per Post Office deposit. Starling charges 0.7% of the amount, with a £3 minimum. Tide charges 3% at PayPoint, or £2.50 at the Post Office up to £500 and 0.99% above that on the free plan. NatWest charges 95p per £100 plus 95p a deposit, so £5,000 a month banked in one go costs £48.45 before you count a single transaction.
Does ANNA Money charge for business account transactions?
On the Free plan, ANNA charges 0.95% on incoming payments above the first £1,000 each month; it doesn’t publish a cash deposit charge. Outgoing payments are free. At high inbound volumes this becomes significant: £20,000 received per month costs £180.50 in inbound fees, £2,166 a year. ANNA also offers fixed monthly plans (£12.90/month + VAT for Grow, £22.90/month + VAT for Business, £59.90/month + VAT for Big Business) with monthly transfer allowances (15 on Grow, then 27p each; 60 on Business, then 20p; unlimited on Big Business). Its pricing page does not say whether they keep the 0.95% charge on incoming payments.
Are Faster Payments free for business bank accounts?
At most UK business banks, yes. Faster Payments (FPS) handles the vast majority of UK transfers up to £1 million. Starling, Mettle, Monzo, and ANNA include FPS at no charge. Some providers, including Tide on the free plan, charge per-transfer regardless of payment type. CHAPS, which settles the same day above the FPS limit, costs £15–£30 at traditional banks; Starling charges £20 for it, and Tide £15 on its free plan.
Do I pay more in fees as a sole trader vs a limited company?
The fee structures are the same. The practical difference is in FSCS aggregation: as a sole trader, your personal and business accounts at the same bank share a single £120,000 FSCS limit. That doesn’t affect transaction fees, but it may influence which bank you choose to hold reserves at. Limited companies get a separate £120,000 limit independent of director personal accounts.
How We Reviewed Business Bank Account Fees
Data sources. We verified every fee directly from each provider’s published pricing in October 2026. Where a tariff document rather than the main pricing page carried the fee, we used the tariff, and cross-checked ambiguous figures against the provider’s help centre.
Cost model assumptions. We modelled 50 outgoing UK transfers/month, £2,000 cash in 2 deposits/month, no international transfers and no overdraft, representative of a small service or retail business. If you send more payments, bank more cash or pay overseas suppliers, scale the per-payment and per-deposit charges in the sections above to your own volumes; the international lines are not in these totals at all.
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