Choosing a business bank account for your new limited company: what actually matters in the first 30 days

You've just incorporated, or you're about to. Companies House has sent the certificate, you've got a company number, and now you need somewhere for the company's money to live.

Most articles ranking for this search will tell you to pick whichever account has the best cashback offer this month, then list ten options sorted by affiliate commission. We'll do something more useful: tell you which accounts will actually accept a brand new ltd, what the application asks for, why new directors get rejected more often than they're warned about, and what to do in the first month after the account opens.

We're not re-litigating whether you need a separate account — the answer is yes, and we've covered the legal side in Do you need a business bank account for a limited company?. This is the practical follow-up. (If you've landed here but you're actually a sole trader, the sole trader article is over here.)

The three categories of account, and which fits a new ltd

Every option you'll see falls into one of three buckets, and the differences matter more than the marketing suggests.

Full UK banks are FCA-authorised and PRA-regulated, with a banking licence and FSCS deposit protection. The FSCS limit rose to £120,000 per person per institution on 1 December 2025 (up from £85,000), which is a real safety net once you start building up tax money in the account. This category includes the high street (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest) and the bank-licensed challengers (Starling, Monzo, Mettle, Zempler).

E-money providers look like banks but aren't. Tide, Revolut Business, ANNA and Wise Business are FCA-regulated as electronic money institutions. Your money is safeguarded in segregated accounts at a regulated bank, but it isn't FSCS-protected. The exception worth flagging: Tide accounts are provided by ClearBank, which is FSCS-protected — Tide customers do get FSCS cover, just via a layer.

The practical difference: bank-licensed options give you statutory deposit protection. E-money options often give you faster onboarding and more lenient acceptance. Many directors open one of each: a fast e-money account on day one to start invoicing, then a proper bank account in parallel.

Which accounts actually fit a brand new ltd

Defining "brand new ltd" as: incorporated in the last 12 months, no trading history, single UK-resident director, simple ownership, expected turnover under £200,000, no significant cash, mostly digital invoicing.

Starling Business

Probably the strongest default. No monthly fee, free UK transfers, FSCS-protected, full UK banking licence. Eligibility is the catch: all PSCs and directors with account access must be UK residents, and corporate shareholders aren't accepted. Cash deposits at the Post Office cost 0.7% with a £3 minimum. Optional Business Toolkit at £7/month if you want invoicing built in. If your structure fits, this is the one most new ltd directors should look at first.

Mettle

Free, no transfer fees, FreeAgent included as long as you transact monthly. Backed by NatWest, FSCS-protected, but narrow eligibility: ltds with no more than two owners, all UK tax residents, only one director can have account access. No LLPs, partnerships, charities, CICs. Within those rails, arguably the best free option going. Outside them, look at Starling or NatWest itself.

Tide

Strong fit if you need a sort code and account number quickly. Application takes minutes, often without a credit check at the application stage, and accepts a wider range of company types than the bank-licensed challengers. The catches: 20p per outgoing transfer on the Free plan, cash deposit fees, and Tide isn't a bank itself (accounts at ClearBank, which is FSCS-protected — so cover applies, just via a layer). Useful as a fast-launch account or backup.

Monzo Business

Lite is free; Pro is £9 a month for accounting integrations; Team starts higher. FSCS-protected, clean app. Catches: doesn't accept partnerships, charities, or community interest companies. Cash deposits free up to £500/month then charged above that. Lite doesn't connect to Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage, which pushes most growing businesses toward Pro within a few months.

Zempler (formerly Cashplus)

Worth knowing about specifically because of one feature: no credit check at the application stage. If you've been rejected elsewhere, or you have CCJs, IVAs or a thin personal credit file, this is often the route in. Zempler rebranded from Cashplus in July 2024 — older articles still call it Cashplus. Full UK bank licence, FSCS-protected. Business Go is the free tier.

Revolut Business

Limited companies only — sole traders, charities, public sector and cooperatives aren't accepted. Strong if you'll have international clients or suppliers from day one. Less obvious for a UK-only ltd because Revolut Business sits with Revolut Ltd (the e-money entity), not Revolut Bank UK Ltd — so FSCS cover doesn't apply in the same way. Pricing varies by plan; check the current rates before applying.

High street banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest

All four offer free intro periods on their startup accounts, then revert to a monthly fee. NatWest Start-Up gives 24 months free, then standard tariff, with FreeAgent included for the lifetime of the account (as long as you keep at least one transaction a month). Barclays Start-Up is 12 months free, then from £8.50/month. Lloyds is 12 months free, then a monthly fee. HSBC Kinetic is the mobile-first option with no monthly fee for eligible customers; HSBC's standard business accounts have a 12-month free period.

The high street pitch is simple: longer free periods, branch access, lending relationships. The trade-offs are slower onboarding and an eventual monthly fee. If you expect to need an overdraft or growth loan within the first couple of years, getting that relationship started early is worth more than another year of free banking elsewhere.

Allica Bank — why it isn't an option yet

You'll see Allica in plenty of "best for limited companies" lists. It's a real UK bank with strong reviews, but it isn't built for a brand new ltd: their core business accounts are designed for established companies with trading history and meaningful balances. Worth knowing about for later — not now.

What you'll need to open the account

A typical application asks for: your Companies House registration number, certificate of incorporation, photo ID for each director, proof of personal address dated within the last three months, a brief description of what the company does, expected monthly turnover, and details of all PSCs.

One timing point that catches new directors out: some banks want you to wait 24–72 hours after Companies House registration before applying. The reason is mundane — Companies House data needs to propagate to credit reference agencies and other verification systems before the bank's checks can confirm your company exists. Apply too early and the application stalls. The sweet spot is usually two to three days after you receive the certificate.

Why new limited company applications get rejected — and what to do about it

This is where most comparison content goes quiet. The honest answer is that new ltd applications get rejected fairly often, for reasons that are mostly fixable if you know about them.

The wrong SIC code. Banks risk-profile by SIC code. Some sectors trigger enhanced due diligence almost automatically: cryptocurrency, gambling, money services, scrap metal, adult industries, and oddly the generic "other business activities not elsewhere classified" codes (74990 / 82990) which look evasive. Picking the wrong code is fixable via your next confirmation statement (CS01), but it's a delay you don't need.

Mismatched data. The director's name on ID doesn't match Companies House exactly. The personal address on the application doesn't match the credit file. The registered office fails verification. These small data hygiene issues are the single biggest cause of automated rejections. Get your Companies House details and your credit file aligned before you apply.

Non-resident directors. Starling, Mettle and Monzo Business all require UK-resident PSCs and directors. Revolut Business is more flexible but less generous than its marketing suggests. Practical routes for ltds with non-UK directors are usually Tide, Wise Business or ANNA, sometimes a high street bank with a slow application. Frankly, this is often the biggest problem for international founders — incorporating is easy; banking the company is the hard step.

Complex ownership. Corporate shareholders, non-UK PSCs, layered group structures. Most challengers reject these out of hand. High street banks will look at them but slowly.

Director credit history. A new ltd has no credit history of its own, so banks fall back on the director's personal file. CCJs, IVAs, recent defaults, or a very thin file (no electoral roll, no UK credit accounts) all show up. This is where Zempler's no-credit-check policy becomes genuinely useful.

Industry exclusions. Most providers publish a list of sectors they won't accept. Adult content, crypto, gambling, money services, payday lending and pawnbroking are widely refused even by challenger banks. Read the unsupported industries page before you apply.

What to do if rejected. Ask for a reason — banks often will give one. Fix the underlying issue if you can identify it. Try a different provider with looser checks (Zempler, Tide, ANNA). If a high street bank rejects you, you can usually appeal — check the bank's published process. If you can't identify the reason, wait three to six months before reapplying with the same provider — fresh applications too soon look like fishing.

Your first 30 days after the account opens

This is the practical bit most articles skip. The account itself is just the start.

Days 1–3. Apply, account opens, sort code and account number land in your inbox. Make sure both the company and your accountant (if you have one) have these. If you used a formation agent's registered office, double-check the address on the bank account matches Companies House.

Days 4–7. Tell HMRC the company is trading. You have three months from starting to trade to register for Corporation Tax — "starting to trade" means invoicing, advertising, buying stock, paying staff, or anything else that looks like business activity. Incorporating doesn't start the clock; trading does. Register online via your Government Gateway account.

Days 8–14. Connect accounting software. Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage all integrate with the major UK business accounts. NatWest and Mettle bundle FreeAgent free, which is a meaningful saving — FreeAgent costs around £10–£19 a month standalone depending on plan and business type.

Days 15–21. Set up Tax Pots. Move a percentage of every incoming payment into a separate pot for Corporation Tax. The current rates are 19% on profits up to £50,000, 25% on profits over £250,000, with marginal relief in between — so most new ltds should be putting aside roughly 20%. If you're approaching the VAT threshold (£90,000 of taxable turnover on a rolling 12-month basis), set up a second pot for VAT. This single discipline saves more new directors from January cash-flow panics than any other.

Days 22–30. Decide on PAYE timing. If you're paying yourself a salary, register as an employer and set up payroll. If you're taking dividends only at year-end, you don't need PAYE yet. A note on Making Tax Digital: MTD for ITSA becomes mandatory from April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, but it does not apply to limited companies. HMRC has confirmed it doesn't intend to introduce MTD for Corporation Tax. So if you're a director taking salary and dividends from your own ltd, MTD ITSA isn't your problem — unless you also have side property income or a sole trade. If you're VAT-registered, MTD for VAT applies, and your accounting software needs to handle it.

Throughout. Don't pay personal expenses from the company account, or vice versa. Mixing the two creates a directors' loan account tangle that's the most common bookkeeping mess for new ltds. Separate from day one.

What to look for, and what to ignore, in the marketing

Look for FSCS protection (full bank licence, not e-money safeguarding). No monthly fee, or a free intro period long enough to outlast your launch phase. Integration with whatever accounting software you'll actually use. Eligibility match for your structure. Fast onboarding if you need a sort code quickly.

Ignore cashback offers under £100 — marketing budget masquerading as value. Sign-up bonuses with tight conditions ("spend £1,000 on the card in 60 days") that nudge you into spending you wouldn't otherwise do. Headline AER on instant savings pots when you're not going to hold meaningful balances. The phrase "no hidden fees" — the fees are usually right there in the rate card if you look.

If you pick wrong, you can switch. The Current Account Switch Service handles most switches in seven working days, so this isn't a one-shot decision. Pick something that broadly fits, get on with running the company, and move later if you need to.

FAQ

Can I apply before Companies House registration is complete?

No. You need the company number and certificate of incorporation. Some banks ask you to wait 24–72 hours after registration so their verification systems pick up the new entity. Don't apply on the same day you incorporate.

Will the bank check my personal credit?

Often, yes — especially with a high street bank. The company has no credit history of its own, so they look at the director's. Zempler is the main exception: no credit check at the application stage.

What if I'm a non-UK resident director?

Starling, Mettle and Monzo Business all require UK-resident directors and PSCs. Revolut Business is more flexible. The practical routes are usually Tide, Wise Business or ANNA, sometimes a high street bank with a slower application.

How long does account opening take?

App-based providers (Tide, Mettle, Zempler, Starling) can open accounts in minutes to a few days. High street banks typically take one to four weeks.

Does Making Tax Digital apply to my new ltd?

MTD for ITSA, which starts in April 2026, applies to sole traders and landlords — not to limited companies. MTD for VAT applies if you're VAT-registered (turnover over £90,000). HMRC has confirmed it isn't planning to bring in MTD for Corporation Tax in the foreseeable future.

Can I switch later if I pick wrong?

Yes. The Current Account Switch Service handles most switches in seven working days. Pick something that broadly fits and move on; don't over-optimise.

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Sam Morris is the pen name of the founder of comparebusinessbanking.com.