Guide to Business Bank Account Fees in the UK

Looking for a new business bank account in the UK? Cost is likely to be a crucial factor in which account you choose, as you won’t want to pay more than necessary for business banking services.

In this helpful guide, we’ll compare business bank account fees from all the most popular providers in the UK. This includes banks like HSBC and Barclays, and non-banks like Revolut and Tide.

We’ll also cover international solutions like Wise Business, a fantastic non-bank alternative which lets you manage your money in 40+ currencies with no monthly fees.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Business banking charges - pricing model

Most UK business bank account providers use a monthly pricing model. This means you’ll pay a monthly charge rather than any upfront fees.

Bear in mind though that there are likely to be usage fees on top of that - we’ll look at those next.

Business bank account fees

The most common usage fees you’re likely to come across are:

• International transfer fees - for both sending and receiving money across borders
• Currency conversion fees
• ATM withdrawal fees - both in the UK and overseas (this fee is often called a non-Sterling transaction fee, and applies to international card payments too)
• Overdraft fees/interest.

You might also encounter additional fees to pay cash into your account, or to use branch services for banking transactions.

One-time vs. monthly fee: comparison of providers

To make it easy to compare options, here’s a quick look at the fees charged by popular UK business bank account providers:

Provider	One-time fee	Monthly fee	Total annual cost
Wise Business	£60	None	£60 (only in the first year)
Barclays	None	- Free for first year - £8.50 after that¹	£102 (after first year)
HSBC	None	- Free for first year - £8 to £10²	£96 to £120 (after first year)
Santander	None	- £12.50 - £5 for the first 12-18 months for startups and switchers³	£150
Lloyds	None	- Free for first year⁵ - £8.50 after that⁶	£102 (after first year)
Mettle	None	None⁷	£0
Revolut Business	None	£0 to £79⁸	£0 to £948
Starling Bank	None	None¹⁰	£0
Tide	None	£0 to £49.99¹²	£0 to £599.88

Usage fees: comparison of providers

It’s not just the upfront or monthly fee you need to know about when choosing a new business account. You should also check the full pricing or fees list to find out about usage charges.

These are charges for everyday transactions, like sending money or withdrawing cash from an ATM. They can be particularly expensive if you use your debit card abroad.

To help you compare options, let’s run through the usage fees for all of our business bank account providers in detail.

Wise Business

Here’s how much it costs in day-to-day fees to use Wise Business:

Transaction type	Wise usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	- Free
Send and receive international payments	- Send from 0.33% - Receive for free in 8+
Currency conversion	- Mid-market exchange rate, with no mark-up - Convert currencies within your account from 0.33%
Local ATM withdrawal	- Free up to £200 a month (max. 2 withdrawals) - 1.75% + £0.50 per withdrawal after that
International ATM withdrawal	- Free up to £200 a month (max. 2 withdrawals) - 1.75% + £0.50 per withdrawal after that
Overdrafts	n/a

Barclays

Barclays fees for everyday business accounts are as follows:¹

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	Free
Send and receive international payments	- Send for £15 (£0.35 for SEPA) - Receive for £6, for payments of £100+
Currency conversion	Varies depending on currency
Local ATM withdrawal	Free
International ATM withdrawal	2.75%
Overdrafts	29.5% p.a. for unauthorised overdraft

HSBC

Here are HSBC’s business banking charges for both its Small Business Banking Account and Business Banking Account:²

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	Free
Send and receive international payments	- Send for £17 (£0.24 for SEPA) \ - Receive for £5
Currency conversion	Varies depending on currency
Local ATM withdrawal	£0.25 + 0.60%
International ATM withdrawal	2.75% non-Sterling charge + 1.50% withdrawal fee
Overdrafts	HSBC Business Standard Debit Interest Rate on unarranged overdrafts

Santander

Santander’s 1|2|3 Business Current Account comes with the following usage fees:³

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	Free
Send and receive international payments	- Send for £25 (free for SEPA) - Receive fee not stated
Currency conversion	Varies depending on currency
Local ATM withdrawal	Free
International ATM withdrawal	- Free at Santander ATMs in Spain - 2.95% for all other overseas ATM withdrawals
Overdrafts	- 1% to arrange overdraft (min.£50) - 10% EAR (variable) interest rate - No unarranged overdraft fees⁴

Lloyds

Here’s what Lloyds Bank charges for everyday business banking services:

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	- Send first 100 payments free, £0.20 after that - Receive for free⁵
Send and receive international payments	- Send for £15 (£5 for SEPA) + correspondent fees for some transactions - Receive for £2 to £7 depending on amount⁶
Currency conversion	Varies depending on currency
Local ATM withdrawal	Free⁶
International ATM withdrawal	2.75% for EUR 2.75% + 1.50% for non-EUR⁶
Overdrafts	£12 a month for authorised overdrafts 10.85%for unauthorised overdrafts⁶

Mettle

Mettle by NatWest is completely free for eligible businesses, having no upfront fees, monthly fees or usage charges.⁷

Revolut Business

Revolut Business charges a monthly fee of £0 to £79,⁸ offering limits and allowances on transactions depending on your plan.

But it also has some usage charges for going over your monthly allowance. Here are some of these, based on the free Basic plan:⁹

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	- Send 5 free payments a month, £0.20 after that - Receive for free
Send and receive international payments	Fees vary depending on currency
Currency conversion	- 0.6% above free allowance of £1,000 per month - + 1% when converting at weekends
Local ATM withdrawal	2%
International ATM withdrawal	2%
Overdrafts	Unavailable

Starling Bank

Here are the everyday usage fees you need to know about for the Starling Bank business account:¹⁰

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	Free
Send and receive international payments	Fees vary
Currency conversion	0.4% for conversions between Starling GBP and EUR accounts¹¹
Local ATM withdrawal	Free
International ATM withdrawal	Free
Overdrafts	Annual fee of 1.75% (min. £50) for arranged overdrafts No fees for unarranged overdrafts

Tide

Lastly, we have Tide. Here’s what it charges for everyday business banking services:¹²

Transaction type	Usage fees
Send and receive local payments (electronic)	£0 to £0.20 depending on plan
Send and receive international payments	£0 to £0.20 depending on plan (SEPA payments in EUR only)¹³
Currency conversion	0.5%¹³
Local ATM withdrawal	£1
International ATM withdrawal	1.75% (free for paid plans)
Overdrafts	Unavailable

Manage your business finances with Wise

Want to manage your business finances across multiple currencies, all in one place? Check out the Wise Business account. Wise isn’t a bank, but a multi-currency account that offers a great alternative for UK businesses that trade internationally.

When you open a Wise Business account, you’ll benefit from all of these useful features:

• Hold and exchange 40+ currencies
• Send payments to 160+ countries for low fees and the mid-market exchange rate - this is a fair exchange rate with no margins or mark-ups added to it.
• Get local account details to get paid in 8+ currencies like a local.
• No monthly fees or minimum balance requirements
• Debit and expense 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 people at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions, and use the Wise API for automation and streamlining workflow
• Use the Wise Interest feature to make your money work harder when you’re not using it.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

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After reading this, you should have all the info you need to compare business bank account fees and choose the most cost-effective solution for you.

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Sources used:

1. Barclays - Barclays Business Account tariff
2. HSBC Business - Business banking price list
3. Santander - Business Banking General Terms and Conditions and Important Information
4. Santander - 1|2|3 Business Current Account
5. Lloyds Bank- Business Accounts
6. Lloyds Bank - Business Banking Account Charges and Processing Times
7. Mettle FAQs - Is Mettle free?
8. Revolut - Business account plans
9. Revolut - Business Basic fees
10. Starling Bank - Business Account Rates, Fees and Charges
11. Starling Bank - Euro bank account
12. Tide - Terms of Use
13. Tide - International payments

Sources last checked on date: 27-Sep-2024