How to choose the Business Bank Account that is perfect for you

A business bank account is a must! Most transactions of Amazon sellers happen online, and so you need to have a reliable bank partner that fulfills your needs and wants. In this blog post, we rundown the TOP 5 business bank accounts that FastTrack FBA members use and pinpoint the strengths of each.

National Westminster Bank, also known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom (UK). It was established in 1968 through a merger of two banks. In 2000, NatWest became a member of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

NatWest offers a variety of Business Bank types: Startup Account, Business Account, Community Account, and Commercial Account. The main difference among the four is the turnover or worth of your business. Of course, the startup account would be great for those who have less than a year of business experience and with annual worth of £1,000,000. Click here to read all the account types and see what fits you.

Both the Startup and Business accounts offer the following perks: Visa Debit Card, 24/7 Online Banking, Mobile Banking App, and Everyday Support. On top of that, NatWest pride themselves with easy cashflow management, discount on DHL express, receipt management, and free accounting software! You can also manage all your accounts, loans, and credit cards, among others through their Service Hub.

Top 5 - NatWest

Lastly, you can avail their business credit card once you’ve reached an annual turnover of £2,000,000. You get free annual card fee for the first year and 56 days interest-free credit period on purchases. Sounds good, right?

Top 4 - Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank is a British retail and commercial bank. It is considered to be one of the “Big Four” clearing banks in England and Wales. Lloyds Bank was founded in 1765.

Lloyds Bank offers three business account types with the following turnovers: 1) £0-3M, 2) £3M-5M, and 3) £25M+. What’s great about Lloyds Bank is that new account holders are entitled to 18 months free banking services. This includes no monthly account fee, electronic payments, and cheques and cash withdrawals/deposits.

After the 18-month period, clients need to pay corresponding fees for previously free services. But worry not, Lloyds Bank provides a simple pricing plan. You can even calculate or estimate your monthly expenses before opening an account with them to see if they could provide the best services for you. Click here to view the calculator.

On top of that, Lloyds Bank offers various commercial cards that tailor fit to your needs: debit, credit, charge, and cashpoint. They also have a Deposit Strategy Tool that helps you plan your savings for a brighter future.

Startling Bank is a favorite among sole traders and micro enterprises because of its flexibility and mobility. Starling Bank is an alternative banking solution because clients don’t need to go to physical banks for their transactions. Almost all transactions happen online! You just have to download their online banking app on Google Play Store or App Store, key in a few details, and wait for confirmation.

Among the features that they take the most pride in include: zero fees for small businesses, zero ATM banking fees, and zero UK transfer fees! But whenever you need to deposit, you just have to visit any of the 11,500 Post Office branches to do you transactions.

Starling Bank also offers categorized transactions on the app so that it would be easier for you to track your spending. More than that, they allow third-party integrations with Xero and FreeAgent which you can share with your accountant or your accounting software in real time. Click here to check how they measure up among their competitors, both alternative and major banks.

Top 3 - Starling Bank

Top 2 - Santander

Santander is a large UK retail and commercial bank and a subsidiary of a major global bank, Spanish Santander Group. It has branches in the USA as well.

Santander has won many awards in the banking and finance industry. In fact, it has been awarded as the Best Business Current Account Provider for the last 17 years!

It offers a simple pricing structure for both start-up and established businesses. Start-ups are also entitled to an 18-month free day-to-day banking. Apart from online and mobile banking, clients can also transact with participating Post Office Branches. They also provide contactless payments.

Santander offers other perks such as access to pre-arranged overdrafts and an online business account calculator to assess the cost of your accounts. Click here to check out Santander’s business account deals.

Barclays is the Top1 Business Bank account among our FastTrack FBA members. It is a British multinational investment bank and financial services company with headquarters in London.

Barclays offers four business account types for the following businesses: start-up, established, community, and payment service provider. What’s different with Barclays is their two flexible pricing plans: Mixed Payments Plan and e-Payments Plan.

The first is for businesses that use cash, cheques or a range of ways to make and receive payments. The second is for businesses that receive electronic payments and make payments mainly through Online Banking and debit cards.

This gives you more flexibility and freedom when planning out your finances and business ventures. Moreover, Barclays provides a Price Plan guarantee which means that they’re going to review your plan every year to check if you’re making the most out of your current plan. But the best perk of Barclays is their Loyalty Program which gives clients a proportion of their monthly charges back.

Top 1 - Barclays

The reward is calculated based on the length of time banking with them and the annual credit turnover. Head over to Barclays website to see their flexible plans and compare for yourself.

Our thoughts:

It seems that for clients who wish to save monthly and other fees and are comfortable with almost 100% online banking, Starling Bank is the best bet. Meanwhile, if clients wish to have the best of both worlds (online and over-the-counter banking) yet stay in control of their banking transactions and finances, Barclays could be the most suitable option.

There are other banks which few of our members considered and are worth noting:

HSBC
Clydesdale Bank
Tide
Revolut Business
Cashplus

In choosing the perfect bank for you, consider your NEEDS first, and not the perks of the banks. It may help to do more research and to contact other business owners who are in the same standing with you to discuss options.

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