ANNA Business Account Review (UK - 2024)

ANNA offers business accounts and services for UK small business owners and sole traders¹. You can open your ANNA business account online or in the ANNA app, and pick from several different ANNA business account tiers depending on your specific needs, all of which offer varying features and fees.

But is ANNA worth it for your business? This ANNA business account review covers all you need to know - plus we’ll touch on Wise Business as another alternative you may consider, particularly if you trade internationally. Wise offers multi-currency accounts for businesses, freelancers and sole traders, which have no ongoing fees, and offer mid-market rate currency conversion. More on that later.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

What is the ANNA business account?

ANNA stands for Absolutely No Nonsense Admin², and offers business accounts and services for UK residents and business owners.

With an ANNA business account you can get physical and virtual debit cards for your team, with easy ways to pay contractors and suppliers, and get paid by customers with a payment link.

This review walks through some of the most important ANNA features, fees and things to think about if you’re considering ANNA for your business.

Is ANNA business account safe?

ANNA is not a bank - but it is a licensed e-money institution in the UK. This means that it’s regulated and overseen by the FCA, and has to stick within strict rules when it comes to keeping customers and their money safe. As well as safeguarding your funds in top tier institutions, ANNA also has digital security built in and complies with GDPR regulation to keep customer data safe³.

ANNA business account review

ANNA offers 3 different account plans for UK businesses and sole traders:

• ANNA Pay as you go
• ANNA Business
• ANNA Big Business

Each of the accounts comes with its own features and fees, so you can pick the one that will work best for your specific business needs.

As we’ve mentioned, ANNA isn’t a bank, but it is a trusted and regulated provider in the UK. On Trustpilot, ANNA Money gets 4.6 stars out of 5, from almost 3,000 reviews posted at the time of research⁴. You’ll be able to get the most up to date customer reviews by checking out Trustpilot online - and you can also read on for our full ANNA review on features, fees and customer service.

ANNA business account key features and products

Let’s get an overview of what UK entrepreneurs and business owners could get with ANNA business accounts:

• Different account tiers depending on your company needs
• Physical and virtual business debit cards which offer cash back on spending
• Payment linked to get paid by others conveniently
• Scheduled, recurring and one off GBP payments
• Ways to send⁵ and receive⁶ payments to and from select countries
• Expense management tools
• Ways to deposit cash into your account through many UK locations
• Create pots within your ANNA account to hold money for future payments
• Tax support for UK businesses⁷

Some of these features may have additional fees, or may have limited access depending on the account plan you select. We’ll look at ANNA business account fees a little later.

ANNA business account limits

There are a few ANNA business account limits which you’ll want to know about. ANNA may be able to offer some flexibility with limits if your company expands and needs to review how your account works. Here are the basic limits which apply to all ANNA business accounts:

ANNA business account fees

Next, let’s walk through the most important costs which are associated with an ANNA business account. As you’ll see the fees vary by account plan, so you can pick the one which suits your transaction volumes most closely:

ANNA business customer service

ANNA customers can get in touch with customer service most easily by launching an in-app chat. The other option is to email - with services covered 24/7. If you need to email ANNA you can get a full list of specific addresses based on the type of question or issue you have, on the ANNA website¹⁰.

Generally, online reviews of ANNA customer service are very positive. ANNA’s chat system gets praised in particular, with reviewers noting that staff are often happy to go above and beyond to solve customer issues.

ANNA business account - FAQs

Not sure if ANNA is right for you? Let’s work through a few common questions which may help you decide.

Who is eligible for ANNA business account?

You can open an ANNA account if you live in the UK, and are either a sole trader, or the owner of a UK registered limited company or partnership. Charities can not open ANNA accounts. In all cases you’ll need the following for verification when you open your account¹¹:

• Your passport or driving licence for ID
• Proof of address - such as a utility bill or bank statement from within the last 3 months

You may also be asked to provide some business registration information or documents depending on the specific entity type.

Does ANNA do credit checks?

ANNA does not conduct credit checks for business account opening. ANNA isn’t a bank and doesn’t offer credit themselves. Instead, when you open an account you’ll need to complete verification processes to prove your identity and address.

What is the difference between Wise and ANNA Money?

You may have also heard of Wise Business as a good option to manage your business finances across borders. ANNA and Wise have some similar features, but are quite different in focus.

While ANNA offers GBP only accounts, Wise lets you hold 40+ currencies, and get currency conversion with the mid-market exchange rate. You’ll also get ways to receive payments conveniently in foreign currencies. This can mean Wise is better suited to companies which have customers, contractors and suppliers overseas, as costs are kept low for international transactions.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

Is ANNA bank regulated?

ANNA is not a bank, it’s an e-money institution. This means it’s still regulated and licensed to operate in the UK, and is safe to use.

ANNA is overseen by the FCA and holds customer funds in top tier third party accounts - a process known as safeguarding^1². Customer money is not lent out or invested, which means it’s always available, and it’s held separately from ANNAs own operating capital to ensure it’s secure.

Is ANNA trustworthy?

ANNA is trustworthy and gets good reviews from existing customers. As well as safeguarding customer funds to comply with FCA regulations, ANNA also uses digital security measures like firewalls, encryption, endpoint protection, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, and data loss prevention.

ANNA Money alternative: discover Wise Business account

Before you sign up with ANNA Money, check out Wise Business, which can be a convenient, cheap and flexible option if you need to send, receive, spend, hold or exchange foreign currencies for your business.

Open a Wise business account from the UK - or from many other countries around the world - to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, and spend with physical and virtual business debit and expense cards. There’s no ongoing Wise fee to pay for your account - you’ll just pay a one time account opening charge to get full feature access.

Wise comes with local bank details for 8+ countries which makes it easy to get paid by customers in their preferred currency - and you can send payments globally to bank accounts in 160+ countries, for paying contractors and suppliers overseas without excessive fees.

As well as flexible money saving international features, Wise accounts offer multi-user access, batch payments, accounting integrations, access to the Wise API and more, which could mean you cut down on admin time.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

ANNA business accounts can be an interesting option for UK businesses which deal mainly in GBP. However, the international features you get with ANNA are somewhat limited, with quite high international transfer fees and exchange markups. Instead, why not use Wise to connect with customers, contractors and suppliers globally, with easy ways to pay and get paid, plus mid-market currency exchange rates and low, transparent fees.

Sources used in this article:

Sources last checked 17/06/2024