Best Business Savings Accounts UK: Rates Compared
Allica Bank pays the most (4.08% AER) with a separate FSCS licence. Tide is the simplest if you already bank there — Wise is an investment fund, not a savings account.
- Tide Savings pays up to 3.74% AER with instant access and no withdrawal penalties.
- Opens instantly inside Tide if you already have a business current account.
- Keep savings ringfenced in a separate pot without losing access to your main funds.
Business Savings Account Providers Compared
All rates verified against provider websites in April 2026 (OakNorth December 2025). Affiliates are listed first — this is disclosed in our methodology. Within each group we’ve led with the highest rate where eligibility is open.
All Cards at a Glance
Compare key features side by side.
| Provider | Interest Rate | Access Type | FSCS Cover | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 3.74% AER | Instant access | FSCS protected (£120,000 via ClearBank) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 3.82% AER | Instant access | FSCS protected (£120,000 via ClearBank) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 4.08% AER | Instant access | FSCS protected (£120,000 — Allica Bank licence) | View Deal → |
 | 3.23% net (GBP) | Money market fund | Not a deposit account — capital at risk. FCA regulated (FSCS up to £85k on investment) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 4.16% AER (1 Year Fixed) | Easy access, notice, or fixed | FSCS protected (£120,000 — Shawbrook Bank licence) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 4.16% AER (1 Year Fixed) | Easy access, notice, or fixed | FSCS protected (£120,000 — Aldermore Bank licence) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 3.50% AER (notice accounts) | Easy access or notice (30/95 day) | FSCS protected (£120,000 — OakNorth Bank licence) | View Deal → |
 | Up to 4.99% AER (via platform) | Platform (250+ accounts) | FSCS £120,000 per partner bank — spread across 40+ institutions | View Deal → |
 | Indicative — contact provider | Instant access (Call Account), 95-day notice, or fixed term (1 month to 5 years) | FSCS protected — £120,000 under Hampden Bank’s own licence | View Deal → |
Rates verified against provider websites, April 2026 (OakNorth: December 2025). All rates variable unless marked fixed. Tide and Capital on Tap savings are both held by ClearBank — FSCS £120,000 applies across all ClearBank accounts combined, not per account. Wise Interest is a money market fund — capital at risk, not a deposit. Hampden & Co rates require direct confirmation.
Tide Instant Saver Account
Capital on Tap Business Savings Account
Allica Instant Access Business Savings Pot
Shawbrook Business Savings
Aldermore Business Savings
Flagstone Business Savings Platform
Hampden Bank Business Deposit Accounts
How Business Savings Accounts Work
A business savings account is a deposit account held by a UK-authorised bank in your company’s name. You move surplus cash from your current account into it, earn interest, and withdraw when you need to. This page covers all three common formats: instant access, notice, and fixed-term.
Instant Access vs Notice vs Fixed-Term Accounts
Instant access lets you withdraw same day, in app or via transfer, with no penalty. Tide, Capital on Tap, and Allica all sit here. Rates are variable and can change with little notice.
Notice accounts require you to give the bank a set number of days — 30, 60, 95, or 100 — before you can withdraw. Rates are usually higher than instant access as a result.
The catch is timing. If you move £100,000 to a 95-day notice account on a Tuesday and an unexpected supplier invoice lands the following week, you can’t use that cash for over three months without triggering a penalty.
Fixed-term bonds lock funds away for a set period — six months, one year, two years — in exchange for a higher rate. Shawbrook’s 1-year bond at 4.16% AER is the highest on this page.
The trade is access: breaking a fixed term early is generally not possible, and where it is, you lose the rate.
How Interest Is Calculated and Paid
AER is the annual equivalent rate. It includes the effect of compounding so you can compare accounts on a like-for-like basis — always use AER, not gross, when comparing.
Most accounts on this page pay interest monthly into the savings balance, where it then earns interest of its own. The variable bit is the rate: a 3.74% AER today is not guaranteed tomorrow, and providers can adjust with notice.
Wise Interest works differently. There is no AER — the figure quoted is a seven-day fund performance number after the 0.55% annual fee. Returns are added daily as the fund value moves.
On a bad day for the underlying gilts, the balance can fall. That makes it unsuitable as a cash reserve for anything time-sensitive.
FSCS Protection vs Safeguarding
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers eligible deposits up to £120,000 per person per authorised firm, effective from 1 December 2025. “Per firm” is the part that catches people out — it is the bank that holds your deposit, not the brand on the app.
We found this was the most commonly misunderstood aspect of these accounts when reviewing the market. We see it repeatedly: readers assume Tide and Capital on Tap each have separate limits.
ClearBank is the deposit-taking firm behind both Tide and Capital on Tap savings. If you hold £80,000 in Tide Savings and £50,000 in Capital on Tap Savings, your FSCS protection covers £120,000 of that £130,000 — not £240,000. The other £10,000 is unprotected.
Allica, Shawbrook, Aldermore, OakNorth, and Hampden each hold deposits under their own banking licences. Each gets its own £120,000 limit. Splitting cash across Allica and Tide protects up to £240,000.
If your combined Tide and Capital on Tap balance already exceeds £120,000, the excess sits outside FSCS coverage. Moving the overage to Allica or Shawbrook costs you one application form and gets it protected.
Wise is a different category altogether. Wise Assets UK Ltd is FCA-regulated (firm reference 839689) and your money sits in a money market fund. Client money safeguarding rules apply, and FSCS investment protection covers up to £85,000 if Wise itself fails.
But the standard deposit guarantee does not apply — if the fund value falls, your balance falls too. Not the same as FSCS.
Business Savings Account Rates and Returns
A limited company sitting on £50,000 in a current account earning 0% is leaving roughly £2,000 a year on the table compared with Allica at 4.08%. The rate gap is the whole point of opening one of these accounts, so it’s worth getting the comparison right.
AER, Gross Rate and Bonus Rates Explained
AER is the figure to compare. It expresses what you would earn over a year including compounding, and every account on this page can be compared on its AER except Wise.
Gross is what is actually paid into the account before tax. For monthly-pay accounts, gross will be slightly lower than AER because compounding bumps the effective rate up.
Capital on Tap’s headline 3.82% AER includes a promotional rate for the first 60 days after a new customer signs up. The ongoing rate after that promotion ends may be lower. Check the current ongoing rate at capitalontap.com before assuming the headline.
Wise quotes a 7-day fund return rather than AER. The 3.23% net GBP figure is after the 0.55% annual fee. Gross is around 3.78% but you never see that — the fee comes out of fund performance.
Minimum and Maximum Deposit Limits
The affiliate accounts have low or no minimums. Tide and Capital on Tap both open from £1. Allica does not publish a minimum on its product page — verify at allica.bank before applying.
The non-affiliates raise the bar quickly. Shawbrook requires £1,000 for easy access and £5,000 for notice or fixed. Aldermore requires £1,000. OakNorth has no stated minimum, but notice accounts pay 0% on balances under £100,000 — the practical entry point is £100,000.
Flagstone’s platform requires £100,000. Hampden & Co requires £250,000 to open direct. We verified these thresholds against provider websites in April 2026.
On the top end, Shawbrook caps easy access deposits at £500,000 and fixed bonds at £2,000,000. Capital on Tap applies the headline rate up to £1,000,000. Tide caps the free plan’s interest-earning balance at £75,000 — balances above earn nothing on the free plan.
How Rates Vary by Access Type
We found a counterintuitive pattern in the rate table. Allica’s instant-access pot at 4.08% AER beats every notice account on this page except Aldermore’s 95-day notice at 4.00%. The normal market pattern is fixed beats notice beats instant access. Allica breaks it — for now.
Where fixed wins, it wins clearly. Shawbrook and Aldermore both pay 4.16% AER on 1-year bonds. You give up access for 12 months in exchange for 8 basis points over Allica.
Easy access is the weakest category in the table. Shawbrook 3.40%, Aldermore 2.45%, OakNorth Savings Vault 2.35%. Easy access typically means free withdrawals but via bank transfer rather than in-app instant access. Don’t confuse the two.
If your VAT bill is your largest outgoing, we’d keep that amount in instant access. The rate premium on notice accounts doesn’t cover the cost of a late payment.
Eligibility for Business Savings Accounts
Eligibility is where the rate league table thins out fast. The headline rate doesn’t matter if you can’t open the account — and several of the highest-paying accounts on this page exclude sole traders, partnerships, or businesses below a turnover threshold.
Business Types That Can Apply
Tide and Capital on Tap accept limited companies, sole traders, and partnerships. Wise is open to almost any business structure including international and multi-entity arrangements.
Aldermore is confirmed limited companies only on its product page. No sole traders, no partnerships, no LLPs. OakNorth accepts Ltd, PLC, LLP, and overseas companies but requires £1m turnover or a £50,000 minimum deposit — which excludes most early-stage sole traders in practice.
If you’re a sole trader, your shortlist from this page is Tide, Capital on Tap, Wise, and Shawbrook (subject to confirmation). Cross off Aldermore before reading its rate.
Allica targets established SMEs and may not accept very early-stage businesses or sole traders. Check eligibility at allica.bank before applying. The signal in the product positioning is clear: this account is built for limited companies with some trading history.
Shawbrook accepts limited companies; sole-trader eligibility is not confirmed on the product page — verify directly before applying.
Minimum Deposit and Balance Requirements
If you have less than £1,000 to deposit, the only options on this page are the affiliate instant-access accounts (Tide, Capital on Tap) and Wise Interest. Allica’s minimum is not published — check before applying.
Between £1,000 and £100,000, the affiliates and Shawbrook/Aldermore are all in play. Above £100,000, OakNorth and Flagstone become available. Above £250,000, Hampden & Co opens for direct deposits.
A point worth being precise about: OakNorth’s notice accounts pay 0% on balances under £100,000. It is technically possible to open one with less, but the account earns nothing until the balance crosses that threshold.
Residency and Account Restrictions
All providers on this page require a UK-registered business. Most require UK-resident directors. Aldermore explicitly excludes US citizens and requires directors to be UK tax-resident.
Wise is the most permissive on international structures — it is designed for businesses operating across borders, with multi-currency holdings as a core feature rather than an exception.
Three accounts require an existing relationship: Tide Savings needs a Tide Business Account, Capital on Tap Savings needs a Capital on Tap account, and Allica requires an Allica Business Rewards Account (no monthly fee).
Shawbrook, Aldermore, OakNorth, Flagstone, and Hampden do not require an existing relationship — you can open them as standalone savings accounts.
How to Compare Business Savings Accounts
The fastest way to compare is to start with what you need from the account, not which rate is highest. Pick the access type first, then the protection structure, then the rate. Doing it in any other order usually means moving cash twice.
Choosing by Rate and Access
For instant access at the highest rate: Allica Bank at 4.08% AER if you can pass eligibility, or Tide and Capital on Tap if you already bank with them and would rather not open a new relationship.
For 30 to 95 days notice at the highest rate: Aldermore’s 95-day notice at 4.00% AER, or Shawbrook’s 100-day notice at 3.51%. OakNorth’s 30 and 95-day notice accounts both quote up to 3.50% but require £100,000 to start earning.
For 1-year fixed at the highest rate: Shawbrook or Aldermore at 4.16% AER. A 12-month lock-in is genuine — if your corporation tax or VAT bill falls inside that window, this cash is unavailable. Don’t lock it up without a cash-flow forecast.
Across all three: don’t move cash to a notice or fixed account if you might realistically need it in the lock-in window. The rate gain rarely covers the cost of a missed payment or a forced overdraft. Access first, rate second.
Choosing by Protection Type
Standard FSCS under the provider’s own banking licence: Allica, Shawbrook, Aldermore, OakNorth, and Hampden. Each gives a separate £120,000 protection pool — you can stack them.
FSCS via ClearBank: Tide and Capital on Tap. The £120,000 limit is shared across all your ClearBank accounts combined. If you hold both Tide Savings and Capital on Tap Savings, that combined balance is capped at £120,000 of protection — not £240,000.
Not standard FSCS deposit protection: Wise Interest. The product is FCA-regulated and FSCS investment protection covers up to £85,000 if Wise itself fails, but it does not cover a fall in the fund’s value. Capital is at risk.
A practical stacking example: you could hold £120,000 in Allica and £120,000 across Tide and Capital on Tap combined — that is £240,000 protected. If the Tide and Capital on Tap balance goes to £150,000, you lose protection on the £30,000 that exceeds the ClearBank pool.
Choosing by Platform and Account Management
If you already use Tide, Tide Savings opens directly inside the app. No separate application, no new login, no new sort code to remember. For a business that just wants to ringfence working capital, this is the lowest friction option in the market.
If you use the Capital on Tap credit card, CoT Savings sits alongside it. You can transfer from savings directly onto the card — useful if you time spending against inflows.
If you don’t use either, Allica Business Rewards is a clean standalone choice. The current account has no monthly fee and the savings pot lives in the same app.
If you’re depositing over £100,000 and want to spread it across multiple banks, Flagstone is the established platform for this. A single login accesses 250+ accounts from 40+ banks.
Flagstone deducts a share of interest — the exact percentage isn’t published, but net rates are shown on the platform before you commit.
Who Business Savings Accounts Are Best For
The right account depends less on the rate than on what kind of cash you’re moving and how soon you might need it back. These scenarios cover the common cases.
Best for Earning Interest on Surplus Cash
A limited company with £50,000 sitting in a current account earning 0% AER is losing roughly £2,000 a year compared to Allica at 4.08%. The decision usually isn’t whether to open a savings account — it’s when you finally get round to it.
For most businesses that can pass eligibility, Allica’s instant access at 4.08% AER is the answer: high rate, separate FSCS licence from the ClearBank pool, and you can withdraw the same day if you need to. It’s the clearest pick on this page.
If you already bank with Tide, weigh the friction cost of switching against the rate gap. A Tide free-plan user earning 2.27% on the first £75,000 is 1.8 percentage points behind Allica.
On £50,000 that’s about £900 a year. Worth the application form for most businesses — not worth it if you’re managing a few thousand pounds of working capital float.
Best for Businesses That Need Fast Access
If you might need same-day access for a supplier payment, tax bill, or payroll, stay with instant access only: Tide, Capital on Tap, or Allica. Don’t use notice or fixed accounts for cash that pays bills.
Tide and Capital on Tap are the fastest in practice because the savings sit in the same app as your current account — no bank-to-bank transfer lag, no new sort code to set up as a payee.
Allica is also same-day but is a separate institution, so the very first transfer involves the usual payee setup.
Wise Interest returns can be withdrawn at any time and additions land daily, but it is an investment fund. It is not the place to hold an emergency cash buffer — the value can fall in the same week you need it.
When a Different Cash Management Option May Be Better
If you’re depositing more than £500,000, Flagstone’s multi-bank platform keeps a much higher share of your cash inside FSCS protection. Opening multiple accounts one-by-one to spread deposits is possible but slower and more admin-intensive — and easy to forget when the next rate change lands.
If you’re tempted to use a fixed-term bond “because we don’t need the cash for a year,” pressure-test that assumption against your worst supplier-payment month and your typical tax bill.
Plenty of businesses commit to a 1-year bond and then face an unexpected invoice that turns the rate gain into a regret. Instant access or notice is safer unless you have genuinely ring-fenced reserves.
If your current account already pays interest, check what you’re currently earning before moving cash. Some business current accounts now pay 2–3% AER on credit balances. The rate gap to a savings account may be smaller than you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a sole trader open a business savings account?
Yes for most providers on this page — Tide, Capital on Tap, and Wise all accept sole traders, and Shawbrook accepts them subject to direct confirmation. Aldermore is confirmed to limited companies only. OakNorth requires £1m turnover or a £50,000 minimum deposit, which excludes most sole traders in practice. Allica targets established SMEs — sole traders may not qualify.
What is the FSCS limit for a business savings account?
The FSCS deposit protection limit is £120,000 per person per authorised firm, effective 1 December 2025. ClearBank, which holds deposits for both Tide and Capital on Tap, applies a single £120,000 limit across all your ClearBank accounts combined — not per account. If you hold £80,000 with Tide and £50,000 with Capital on Tap, only £120,000 of that £130,000 is protected. Allica, Shawbrook, Aldermore, and OakNorth each hold deposits under separate banking licences with their own £120,000 limits.
Is a money market fund the same as a business savings account?
No. A money market fund like Wise Interest is an investment product. Returns are not guaranteed and capital is at risk — the balance can fall if the underlying fund loses value. A savings account is a deposit product: your balance cannot fall below the amount you deposited, and FSCS covers it up to £120,000. The two products suit different purposes.
Do business savings accounts pay interest on the full balance?
Most do, within the stated caps. Tide applies its headline rate only up to plan-specific limits (the free plan caps interest at £75,000). Capital on Tap applies its rate up to £1,000,000. OakNorth notice accounts pay 0% on balances under £100,000. Shawbrook caps easy access deposits at £500,000. Verify the current terms before placing large sums.
Do I need to switch my current account to use a business savings account?
For Tide Savings, you need a Tide Business Account. Capital on Tap Savings requires a Capital on Tap account. Allica Bank requires an Allica Business Rewards Account (which includes a current account at no monthly fee). Wise Interest requires a Wise Business account. None require you to close your existing main bank — but each requires you to hold an account with that provider. Shawbrook, Aldermore, OakNorth, and Flagstone do not require an existing relationship.
How We Reviewed Business Savings Account Providers
We compiled this guide by researching the UK business savings market and checking current rates, fees, and terms from each provider’s primary website. We assessed each account on interest rate (AER), access type, FSCS protection structure, minimum deposit, eligibility restrictions, and fees.
Selection reflects a combination of pricing, features, accessibility, and overall value for typical UK business needs.
Rates were verified directly against provider websites in April 2026, with OakNorth’s rates last verified in December 2025. We recommend confirming current OakNorth rates before applying.
Where a provider does not publish a specific figure (for example Allica’s minimum deposit, or Hampden & Co’s headline rates), we have flagged that and pointed to the provider as the source of truth. We do not claim certainty on figures we have not been able to verify directly.
We scored providers on: rate, access flexibility, FSCS coverage structure, eligibility breadth, and account management experience. Affiliates are listed before non-affiliates within the table, which is disclosed below. Editorial judgements on fit and trade-offs are independent of commercial relationships.
Rates and product terms change. We re-verify this page on a quarterly cadence, with mid-cycle updates when a provider announces a material rate change. If you spot a figure that looks out of date, the provider’s own product page is the authoritative source.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up or purchase through one of these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This does not affect our editorial judgements or rankings. See our editorial policy for details.