Business Banking

You’re not legally required to have a separate business bank account as a sole trader - but it’s strongly recommended. Mixing personal and business transactions makes your bookkeeping significantly harder and your self assessment more time-consuming. The good news is that business banking has become much more accessible: several app-based accounts are free to open, and some come with genuinely useful features like tax pots, receipt capture and built-in invoicing.

What to look for

• Monthly fees - Starling, Monzo and Mettle all have free tiers. Tide is free at the basic level, with paid tiers from £12.49/month that add more features. Revolut Pro has no monthly fee but charges a processing fee on card payments instead. Wise charges a one-off £50 setup fee.

• International payments - if you invoice clients in other currencies, Wise Business is built for this and significantly cheaper than traditional banks for international transfers. Revolut Pro also supports 30+ currencies, though its core strength is accepting card payments rather than currency conversion.

• Built-in tools - Monzo Business includes free MTD filing on its Lite tier, plus Tax Pots and invoicing on the paid Pro tier; Starling includes receipt capture; Tide includes invoicing; Mettle includes free FreeAgent accounting software worth over £150/year; Revolut Pro includes free invoicing and payment links. Worth checking what's included before paying for separate tools.

• Integration with accounting software - Starling, Monzo, Tide and Wise all connect to Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent via bank feeds. Mettle takes a different approach, bundling free access to FreeAgent itself rather than a bank feed into other software. Revolut Pro is the exception - it has no accounting software integrations at all, so transactions need entering manually. Check your preferred accounting tool's integration list before choosing.

• FSCS protection - Starling, Monzo and Mettle are all fully licensed banks (or bank-backed, in Mettle's case) with FSCS protection up to £120,000. Wise is an e-money institution with more limited protection. Tide is also e-money-based, though newer accounts get FSCS protection via ClearBank - check your account type. Revolut Pro's protection depends on whether your account has migrated to Revolut's new banking licence, also worth checking in the app.

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Tide

Business bank account built specifically for sole traders and small businesses. Includes invoicing tools.

Best for: Sole traders wanting a dedicated business bank account with built-in tools

Pricing: Free basic / paid tiers from £12.49 per month

Free trial: N/A

MTD compatible: Yes

Mobile app: Yes

UK specific: Yes

Visit Tide

Revolut Pro

Business sub-account built into the personal Revolut app, for freelancers and sole traders. No monthly fee, but a processing fee applies to card payments.

Best for: Sole traders who want to accept card payments without separate hardware

Pricing: Free account / processing fees apply (1-2.8% + 20p per card payment)

Free trial: N/A

MTD compatible: No

Mobile app: Yes

UK specific: Yes

Visit Revolut Pro

For most UK sole traders, Starling or Monzo Business is the obvious starting point - both are free, quick to open and reliable. If you work with international clients, Wise Business is worth the setup fee. If you want invoicing and business tools bundled with your account, Tide is worth looking at. If you want free accounting software thrown in, Mettle is hard to beat. And if you mainly need to accept card payments without buying separate hardware, Revolut Pro is worth a look.

Last reviewed: September 2026

Directory

Tax Filing Software

Accounting & Bookkeeping

Business Banking

Invoicing

Expense & Mileage Tracking

Receipt Capture

MTD Software

Time Tracking

Spreadsheet & Planning Tools

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