ANZ business accounts: Types, fees and opening requirements

If you run your own business, you need a business account to keep your personal and company finances separate. In fact, as most experts advise that you need a business account as soon as you need to either send or receive a payment on behalf of your company, getting an account arranged might be one of the first things you do as a new business owner.

Australia and New Zealand bank has a range of business bank accounts for sole traders, owners of limited liability companies, and other entrepreneurs. You’ll be able to access products to meet your commercial banking needs, with a range of perks including mobile banking coming as standard.

While you’re researching business bank accounts it’s also a smart idea to look at modern alternatives, which can come with lower fees and more flexibility than traditional business bank accounts. We’ll talk a little about a great alternative option - Wise business - a little later, to get your research underway.

Types of ANZ business bank accounts

Depending on your business needs, you will be able to choose from a range of account products with ANZ. Different accounts are aimed at different types of business owners, so check out the monthly fees, features and benefits available to find the right one for you. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

ANZ Business Essentials

This is the most basic transaction account available for business owners and comes with no monthly fees. It’s aimed at sole traders or small businesses that don’t have that many transactions to do on a monthly basis. This account comes with a linked Visa debit card in your business name, and the option to sync with your accounting software for ease.

You get 20 free local electronic and ATM transactions per month in this package with fees per additional transaction over these. We’ll delve into the fees later on.¹

ANZ Business Advantage

This is the mid-range transaction account that costs $10 per month to maintain. While you need to already hold a personal ANZ bank account to have access to this, you’ll get unlimited free simple transactions such as deposits and withdrawals, although there are still fees for other services such as overseas payments and international ATM use, which we’ll cover later.

This account comes with a linked Visa debit card in your business name, and the option to sync with your accounting software for ease.¹

ANZ Business Extra

This is a slightly more advanced account compared to the Business Advantage product, and comes with a higher fee of $22 a month but gives you certain unlimited ANZ transactions. As well as the features of the Advantage account, you’ll also get access to optional linked overdraft.¹

ANZ Business Savings Accounts

As well as the transaction accounts aimed at business customers, ANZ offers a range of savings accounts. You can choose between the 2 saving account options:

• ANZ Business Online Saver account and the
• ANZ Business Notice Term Deposit

These interest bearing accounts come with varied conditions, from the easy access Online Saver option, to the fixed term account which requires you to lock away your money for a period of time to receive interest. You can find details about those accounts on ANZ’s dedicated page here.

ANZ Specialist Business Accounts

ANZ also has account products which are designed to meet the needs of specific business types. If you’re running a real estate business, or are a professional conveyancer or solicitor needing to hold client funds in trust, the ANZ Statutory Trust Account might be the right product for you.

If you are a primary producer such as a farmer, you may benefit from the ANZ Farm Management Deposit Account, which is designed to help manage uneven cash flow in a tax efficient way.

You can find details about those accounts on ANZ’s dedicated page here.

ANZ business (bank) account fees

Before you choose the right business account for you, you’ll want to review the costs for transactions you frequently make, as well as regular fees such as account maintenance charges.

Here are some of the most common fees and charges for ANZ’s 3 transaction business account in Australian Dollars. ¹ ²

Opening an ANZ business account

If you’re a Sole Trader, or the owner or director of an Australian registered business, you may be able to apply online or on your ANZ App. You’ll just need to enter personal and business details, and provide scanned copies of your ID documents to get started. The process takes around 10 Minutes.¹

In other cases, you will need to complete the paperwork needed online, and then wait for a call back from a member of the ANZ business banking team to discuss your account options and get further details. ANZ states, they will reach out to you within 24Hrs or the next business day.¹

Requirements to open a business bank account with ANZ

You’ll be able to open a business account with ANZ if you fulfil the following eligibility requirements¹:

• You’re aged 18 or older
• You’re a sole trader or an owner/director of an Australian registered business - including a company, trust, partnership or co-operative
• You have acceptable official ID documents such as a passport, birth certificate or driver licence
• You have the correct registration paperwork for your business, based on the entity structure - such as an ACN for business verification

The type of accounts you can apply for, and the process you need to follow to get set up will depend on your personal circumstances and the type of business you run. In some cases you can apply online, but you may need to visit your local ANZ branch to discuss your account and hand over the documents required if you run a partnership, trust, association or co-operative.

ANZ business banking support

ANZ has a specialist business banking team who can help you with your questions. You can use the tools available online to look up the nearest branch with business banking support staff.

You can also call the team on 1800 801 485 Mon-Fri 8:30am to 8pm (AEST).

More contact options for ANZ support can be found here.

Wise Business: Alternative for managing global business transactions

All of Australia’s biggest banks offer business accounts which are designed to suit different individual circumstances. If your business regularly deals with overseas suppliers or clients, the international transaction fees charged by traditional banks can eventually impact your bottom line.

Wise Business helps solve this by offering a straightforward way to manage money globally, allowing you to hold and exchange in multiple currencies at the mid-market rate.

Wise Business account fees

ANZ, like many regular banks, add an extra fee for international transactions, which may not suit you if you have to make regular overseas payments. If you work with suppliers based overseas, for example, you may find that the international payment costs eat into your profits.

Here is a sample of fees charged by Wise for the business account.

• One-time fee of 65 AUD to get local business account details in 8+ local currencies.
• Get the first Wise business card on the account for free and order multiple other cards for your team for $6 AUD each.
• Make 2 withdrawals of up to 350 AUD each month for free. After that, you pay a fee of $1.5 AUD per withdrawal. There’s a 1.75% fee on any amount you withdraw above 350 AUD.

There are no monthly maintenance fees to hold the account and you can connect it to your accounting software, order multiple business cards for your team, send batch payments and integrate into it via API among other features.

There’s no fee to open an account, no monthly charge, and no minimum balance. Check out the full list of pricing and coverage for the Wise account for business, and see if you could save time and money.

Get started with a Wise Business account

A Wise Business account allows users to can send, receive, and hold in multiple currencies. Experience hassle-free global transactions by transacting like a local business. Here's what you get with a Wise Business account:

• Free to register — Hold and convert between 40+ currencies. Send to 140+ countries
• Debit cards for you and your team, which you can use in 150+ countries
• Multi-user access for team members, with ways to control and manage permissions
• Pay up to 1,000 recipients at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions like Xero, QuickBooks, and more
• Get account details to receive in 8+ currencies for a one-time fee of 65 AUD
• Earn potential returns** on your everyday money through Wise Interest

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.
**Capital at risk, growth not guaranteed. Interest is the name of a custody and nominee service provided by Wise Australia Investments Pty Ltd in partnership with Franklin Templeton.

Sources:

1. ANZ transaction business accounts
2. ANZ business account fee schedule

Sources correct as of 30 September 2022