Which Is Better for UK businesses choosing between multi-currency fintech banking and full high-street banking with branch access and lending?
HSBC is the practical choice for branch access, business lending, trade finance or the broader range of legal entities. We reached that view after reading both licences and tariffs, and our comparison found the simpler banking structure at HSBC: PRA authorisation, direct FSCS protection and access to HSBC Corporate.
If you need 25+ multi-currency wallets, team cards with per-employee spend controls, or API access for programmatic payments, choose Revolut Business. We rate Grow, at £35/month billed monthly (£30/month if paid annually), as the entry point for international invoicing.
When you run an established business with annual turnover over £2 million that needs commercial mortgages or asset finance, HSBC’s lending suite outweighs Revolut’s pure-banking offer.
If you trade as a UK sole trader, HSBC is the surer route, and it is certainty rather than features that decides it. HSBC banks sole traders and says so. Revolut cannot: its Help Centre lists sole traders under unsupported business types, while its Business Terms, effective 28 April 2026, include new sole traders. We read both and found no definitive answer, and the dates do not resolve the contradiction.
Revolut directs unincorporated individuals to Revolut Pro inside its personal app, and there is no subscription charge. It is not a business current account, however, so do not treat it as a like-for-like alternative to HSBC’s account.
Both providers accept partnerships and limited liability partnerships, but the application routes differ. HSBC can handle its identity and business checks through branch-based onboarding, while Revolut relies on an automated process. HSBC is also the safer choice for charities and Community Interest Companies (CICs) because it lists them explicitly.
A commercial mortgage rules Revolut out before the rest of the comparison matters. HSBC offers that lending route; Revolut does not.
Revolut vs HSBC Fees and Charges
Revolut Business Basic is £10/month, with up to 10 local transfers and one international transfer included. Grow is £35/month billed monthly, or £30/month if you pay annually, and includes five free international transfers.
HSBC’s Small Business Bank Account costs £0 a month permanently. There is no introductory period to expire and no scheduled review that moves you onto a paid account later.
Transaction charges then stack on top at HSBC, per the published tariff. Free digital banking covers simple electronic payments; cash, cheque, and counter services carry extra fees.
Cash deposits are the clear divide. There is no way to pay cash into Revolut Business, while HSBC takes it at any branch or paying-in machine. For a cash-heavy trade, that gap settles it.
ATM withdrawals work differently to how they first look. Revolut charges a flat 2% on every withdrawal, no fee-free allowance; the daily figures (£3,000 Basic, £5,000 Grow, £10,000 Scale) are withdrawal limits, not free amounts.
HSBC withdrawals are typically free at HSBC and most other UK cash machines, a genuine structural gap against Revolut’s flat 2%.
Card spending overseas: Revolut charges near-interbank FX within plan allowance, 0.6% above it, plus a 1% markup on weekend or out-of-market conversions. HSBC’s debit card carries non-sterling transaction fees per the published tariff.
For high-volume cross-border FX, pair either with Wise Business at mid-market rates from 0.33%. We rate Wise cheaper than either bank for sustained conversion, which is the volume at which neither bank is worth it.
| Cost | Revolut Basic | Revolut Grow | HSBC Small Business Bank Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | £10 | £35 billed monthly (£30 if paid annually) | £0, permanently |
| International transfers | 1 free, then £5 each | 5 free/month | SWIFT from £4/transfer |
| FX rate | Interbank within £1,000 allowance, 0.6% above, 1% extra on weekend/out-of-market conversions | Interbank within £15,000 allowance, same weekend/out-of-market markup | Standard HSBC non-sterling tariff |
| ATM withdrawal fee | 2% flat, every withdrawal | 2% flat, every withdrawal | Free at HSBC and most UK cash machines (UK) |
| Cash deposits | Not available | Not available | Any branch or paying-in machine |
| FSCS protection | Usually yes for new accounts¹ | Usually yes for new accounts¹ | Yes, direct |
| Fees verified from provider pricing pages and the shared provider record, May and July 2026. ¹Revolut Bank UK Ltd launched as a fully authorised UK bank on 11 March 2026, when the PRA lifted the mobilisation restrictions on the licence it had held since July 2024; some new signups may still be onboarded to the older e-money entity temporarily during the phased rollout. | |||
Revolut vs HSBC Features and Tools
Revolut has the deeper set of self-serve tools, but it gives up HSBC’s branches and lending. Its team cards include per-employee spending controls and expense capture, while crypto access is limited to Grow and Scale rather than Basic.
Revolut Business also supports invoice creation, recurring invoices, and automatic reminders on every plan, including Basic. Bank transfer payment needs no setup; taking card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Revolut Pay payment on an invoice needs a separate Merchant account first.
HSBC is the only realistic choice here if borrowing forms part of the banking relationship. It offers an overdraft, business loans, commercial mortgages, asset finance, invoice finance and trade finance; Revolut Business offers none of them.
When your bookkeeper handles a Friday batch of 30 supplier payments in Xero, both providers’ feeds land transactions inside Xero automatically via Open Banking PSD2. Integration depth is comparable.
If you need multi-currency wallets across 25+ currencies, Revolut wins. HSBC offers foreign currency accounts in major currencies but with less wallet-style depth and less native multi-currency integration.
HSBC is the only one of these two providers with branches. That gives you face-to-face support, sterling drafts and counter services that Revolut cannot provide.
Revolut publishes a developer API on Grow and Scale for supplier payments, batch processing and ledger synchronisation. HSBC also offers corporate banking APIs, but through HSBC Corporate rather than the same self-serve setup.
HSBC offers less invoicing functionality inside the account itself. Its API can support a custom build, but that requires more work than using Revolut’s built-in tools.
If you run payroll for five staff and need per-employee spend caps this month, Revolut’s team cards do that natively. HSBC has no equivalent self-serve tool at any tier.
| Feature | Revolut Business | HSBC Small Business Bank Account |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | Every plan (Merchant account needed for card payment) | Limited native; API supports custom builds |
| Multi-currency wallets | 25+ currencies | Foreign currency accounts, major currencies only |
| Team expense cards | Per-employee spend controls | Not offered as a self-serve tool |
| Developer API | Grow and Scale only | Corporate banking API via HSBC Corporate |
| Crypto access | Grow and Scale only | Not available |
| Business lending | Not available | Overdraft, loans, mortgages, asset finance, trade finance |
| Branch network | None | 327 UK branches |
| Features verified against provider websites and the shared provider record, May and July 2026. | ||
Revolut vs HSBC International Payments
If you invoice in foreign currency, Revolut Business wins outright on wallet depth. 25+ currencies at near-interbank within plan allowance beats HSBC’s SWIFT-based foreign-currency-account model.
HSBC handles international payments through SWIFT and foreign currency business accounts. It makes more sense when you need documentary trade finance or large-value transfers than when you simply want a cheaper way to convert routine payments.
When you convert £50,000 EUR a month, check the tier first. Revolut Grow’s included FX allowance is £15,000, so most of that volume sits above it at a 0.6% markup.
Scale’s £60,000 allowance comes much closer to covering it. At HSBC, international conversion follows the published debit card and SWIFT tariff regardless of volume.
The difference when customers pay you in foreign currency is breadth versus a traditional bank relationship. HSBC links foreign currency accounts in major currencies to the main business account, while Revolut gives you wallets across a broader range of currencies.
Deposit protection is more straightforward at HSBC because the account sits directly with HSBC UK Bank Plc, a directly FSCS-protected PRA bank. Revolut is still moving customers to its UK bank entity, so the entity holding the account remains relevant.
Revolut Bank UK Ltd launched as a fully authorised UK bank on 11 March 2026, when the PRA lifted the mobilisation restrictions on its licence; new applicants are usually onboarded directly to the FSCS-protected bank entity, but some new signups may still land on the older e-money entity temporarily.
On trade finance, HSBC offers letters of credit, documentary collections, and supply chain financing through HSBC Corporate. For import-export businesses, that’s a structural advantage Revolut can’t match.
| Plan | Included FX allowance | FX rate above allowance | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolut Basic | £1,000/month | 0.6% markup | View Deal → |
| Revolut Grow | £15,000/month | 0.6% markup | View Deal → |
| Revolut Scale | £60,000/month | 0.6% markup | View Deal → |
| HSBC | No plan-tiered allowance | Standard SWIFT and debit card tariff | View Deal → |
| FX allowances verified against revolut.com/business, May 2026, plus a 1% additional markup on weekend or out-of-market conversions at any tier. | |||
Revolut vs HSBC Customer Reviews and Reputation
The Trustpilot picture is closer than the old fintech-vs-legacy-bank stereotype suggests. Revolut Business serves 13+ million UK customers and sits around 4.5 stars.
HSBC’s Small Business Bank Account rates around 4.8 stars from 2,600+ reviews, the highest of the UK high-street banks, and edges out Revolut on this measure.
Revolut complaints cluster around compliance freezes during onboarding. A flagged transaction can hold an account for 24-72 hours while support catches up, which stings if payroll is due.
HSBC complaints centre on branch closures and slower account opening (2-6 weeks). The positive reviews lean heavily on the permanently free pricing and relationship management for established businesses.
When your bookkeeper urgently needs a supplier paid on Friday afternoon, both providers’ Faster Payments rails clear in seconds. Operational reliability is comparable; the compliance-hold risk is comparable.
Support model splits sharply. Revolut offers 24/7 in-app chat to business customers. HSBC provides relationship managers for established business customers, typically above a turnover threshold; smaller businesses default to the call centre.
Revolut vs HSBC for Multi-Currency Wallets and Team Cards vs Branch Network and Business Lending
For multi-currency fintech depth with FSCS protection, Revolut Business wins. Since its 11 March 2026 bank launch it is the only one of the two that puts 25+ currency wallets behind FSCS protection, with the rollout caveat that some new signups may still land on the e-money entity temporarily.
HSBC is the clear choice when the account also needs to provide branches, business lending or trade finance. Both hold a full PRA banking licence, but Revolut still has no equivalent to HSBC’s lending suite or branch network.
When you trade internationally and need both multi-currency wallets and trade finance, the practical answer is a dual setup: HSBC for the GBP and trade-finance leg, Revolut for the currency wallets.
If you process £500,000+ in monthly transactions and need enterprise pricing, both providers offer custom tiers. Above Revolut Grow’s £500k balance cap, plan for Scale or Enterprise. Not a hard ceiling, just a plan-upgrade trigger.
Downsides of Revolut and HSBC
- Revolut: no cash channel. No UK cash deposit option, no Post Office, no PayPoint. For a retail business with takings to bank, that rules it out on its own.
- Revolut: every withdrawal costs you. A flat 2% on cash machine withdrawals from the first one, on every plan, with no fee-free allowance. The daily figures are withdrawal caps, not free allowances.
- Revolut: no lending. No branch access, no business loans, no commercial mortgages, and no trade finance. For a credit-led or import-export business, that is a real limit.
- Revolut: transfer limits on Basic. Only one free international transfer a month; the £5-per-transfer charge adds up fast on a cross-border-heavy business.
- Revolut: balance caps. £500k on Grow, £1m on Scale, £2m on Enterprise. Hold more operating cash than that and you are into a multi-account setup.
- Revolut: flat ATM fee. 2% on every withdrawal, at any tier, with no fee-free allowance.
- HSBC: cash handling and integration drag. Cash handling charges apply on top of the free account, and digital tools and native accounting integrations lag behind fintech competitors.
- HSBC: slower to open. 2-6 weeks for new customers against 1-3 days at Revolut. The HSBC app also feels less polished, functional rather than fintech-grade.
Alternatives to Revolut and HSBC
No single alternative closes every gap left by Revolut and HSBC. In our comparison, the useful options each solve a narrower problem: free domestic banking, savings returns, cheaper currency conversion or a simpler app-led account.
- Starling Business offers free, PRA-licensed UK banking with FSCS protection but no branches. Among the free challengers we compared, it is our pick for businesses that want free, FSCS-protected banking.
- Allica Business Rewards, full FSCS-protected banking with up to 1.5% cashback and 4.08% AER for businesses holding £50k+ on deposit.
- Wise Business, mid-market FX from 0.33% on a one-off £50 setup, no monthly fee. The cheapest cross-border option here at meaningful FX volumes.
- Mettle, high-street-backed digital banking (owned by NatWest) without HSBC’s application friction, free and FSCS-protected, with FreeAgent included.
Final Verdict: Revolut or HSBC?
Choose Revolut Business if you need 25+ multi-currency wallets, team card programmes with spend controls, API access on Grow or Scale, or an account open within days rather than weeks.
We rate Grow, at £35/month billed monthly (£30/month if paid annually), as the value pick once you need any of that.
Choose HSBC if you need branches, business lending, commercial mortgages, asset finance or trade finance. Its Small Business Bank Account suits a growing business that wants those services under one provider, with no monthly fee or scheduled pricing review.
A dual setup makes more sense when your business needs both international invoicing and access to borrowing or branches. HSBC can handle the lending and in-person banking, while Revolut holds and moves the foreign currencies.
Pair either account with Wise Business if you trade cross-border at meaningful FX volumes. Wise beats both on mid-market FX cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Revolut Business FSCS-protected?
Usually, for new accounts, though not unconditionally. Revolut Bank UK Ltd launched as a fully authorised UK bank on 11 March 2026, when the PRA lifted the mobilisation restrictions on the licence it had held since July 2024. New applicants are usually onboarded directly to the FSCS-protected bank entity, with cover up to £120,000 per eligible depositor, but the rollout is staged, so some new signups may still land on the older Revolut Ltd e-money entity temporarily. Check which entity holds your account in your terms before assuming cover applies.
Is HSBC FSCS-protected?
Yes. HSBC UK Bank Plc is a full PRA-licensed UK bank with direct FSCS deposit protection to £120,000 per eligible depositor, across deposits at HSBC UK Bank Plc and first direct combined.
Which has more multi-currency support?
Revolut Business has 25+ multi-currency wallets at near-interbank rates within plan allowance. HSBC offers foreign currency business accounts in major currencies but with less wallet-style depth. For multi-currency invoicing, Revolut wins.
Does HSBC accept charities, partnerships, and LLPs?
Yes. HSBC’s Small Business Bank Account takes charities, partnerships, LLPs, limited companies, sole traders, and CICs. Revolut Business is narrower: limited companies, LLPs and partnerships. On sole traders its Help Centre and its Business Terms (effective 28 April 2026) contradict each other and Revolut has not reconciled them; Revolut Pro in the personal app is where it points unincorporated individuals.
How long does it take to open an HSBC business account?
HSBC business account opening typically takes 2-6 weeks for new customers. Revolut Business typically opens in 1-3 days. If you need an account fast, Revolut wins.
Does Revolut offer overdraft and business lending?
No. Revolut Business has no overdraft, no business loans, no commercial mortgages, and no trade finance. HSBC offers all of these through HSBC UK Bank Plc and HSBC Corporate.
Which is cheaper overall?
HSBC. Its Small Business Bank Account is permanently £0/month, with no introductory period that lapses. Revolut Business Basic costs £10/month (£120/year); Grow is £35/month billed monthly, or £30/month if paid annually. Revolut earns its cost back once you need multi-currency wallets, team cards, or international transfer volume HSBC can’t match at the same price.
Can I deposit cash with Revolut or HSBC?
HSBC accepts full branch and paying-in-machine cash deposits across its UK high-street network. Revolut Business doesn’t accept cash deposits in the UK. For retail businesses with cash takings, HSBC is the natural choice, or pair Revolut with a high-street account.
How we reviewed Revolut vs HSBC
Ranking criteria. We compared Revolut and HSBC on pricing, fees, feature set, eligibility, and contract terms. We also verified regulatory status and deposit protection where applicable.
Data sources. Each provider’s pricing page, terms, and product docs were checked directly in May 2026. FCA and PRA registers cross-checked for regulatory status.
Revolut pricing and FSCS wording, and HSBC’s current permanently-free pricing, were re-verified against the shared provider record on 12 July 2026.
Update cadence. We re-check provider pricing, eligibility and terms at least monthly, and whenever a material change is announced. Some links on this page are affiliate links; our editorial policy explains how we keep commercial relationships separate from the comparison.