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NGNo annual or monthly fee
December 2024
Need a new business bank account but worried about your bad credit history?
You can easily open a UK business bank account online with no credit check, in as little as 4 minutes. Compare your options below to find a business bank account that suits your needs.
For a personalised banking report, and access to tailored funding and savings opportunities for your business, simply register here.
Choose your business current account options
Use the checkbox beside each bank’s name to select and compare banks:
Account fee
Free
Opening time
1 day
Bank transfers
£0.20
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeNo annual or monthly fee
Account fee
Free
Opening time
10 mins
Bank transfers
Free
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeCalculates taxes & VAT for you automatically
Account fee
Free
Opening time
1 day
Bank transfers
£0.20
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeFree tools for accounting and invoicing
Account fee
Free
Opening time
Up to 5 days
Bank transfers
Free
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeIBAN accounts in GBP, USD and EUR
Account fee
Free
Opening time
10 mins
Bank transfers
£0.20
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeNew Limited company registration
Account fee
No monthly or annual fees, just an initial £9.95 card fee
Opening time
4 mins
Bank transfers
First 3 free each month and the £0.30 thereafter
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
doneIntegrated with all accounting packages
Account fee
£8
Opening time
15 Days
Bank transfers
Free
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeFree banking for 12 months
Account fee
£4.16 (£50/year)
Opening time
Your account can be opened on the same day you apply
Bank transfers
Free in 20 major currencies, 1.5% fee for other currencies
Invoicing
closeOverdrafts
closeManage business expenses easily with complete control & get great rates on international transfers. Free for charities & non-profits. No credit checks.
Account fee
Free for 12 months, then £6
Opening time
Within 3 weeks
Bank transfers
From £0.35
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
Subject to availability
12 months FREE banking
Account Fee
From £6
Opening time
Within 3 weeks
Bank transfers
From £0.35
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
Subject to availability
Multiple tariffs to suit your business
Account fee
FREE for first 3 months then £12.50 per month + an application fee of £55
Opening time
4 hours
Bank transfers
£0.30
Invoicing
closeOverdrafts
closeNo credit checks
Account fee
£25 per month
Opening time
1 day
Bank transfers
First 100 free then £0.20
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeEcommerce: accept payments on your checkout page and with platform plugins
Account fee
Free. £20 sign-up bonus. T&Cs apply
Opening time
A few minutes, if you have a Revolut account already
Bank transfers
£0 (though recipient banking fees may apply)
Invoicing
doneOverdrafts
closeRevolut Pro is the all-in-one account for freelancers, side-hustlers, and sole traders
Account fee
from £29
Opening time
Within 1 week
Bank transfers
From 1 EUR
Invoicing
closeOverdrafts
close* Swoop’s service features a selection of providers from whom we receive commission.
banks selected 
Register your business with Swoop and integrate your bank account for your personalised report
Don’t despair – it’s still possible to open a new business bank account with bad credit. Many small business owners in the UK are impacted by their bad credit history, but there’s no need to let bad credit prevent you from starting and running a prosperous business.
Negative credit scores can seriously affect your finances; it can make it difficult to apply for financing such as loans, mortgages or even bank accounts. But, even if your credit history includes bankruptcy or a County Court Judgement (CCJ), it is still possible to open a business bank account. Thankfully, there are several banks who don’t require a credit check in order for you to open an account with them.
In most cases, opening a business bank account is conditional to a credit check. This is the first hurdle you may fail at when looking to open a business bank account.
The bank will run a search on your credit history and establish your credit worthiness. However, there are a number of business bank accounts that do not run credit checks, therefore giving customers the ability to get up and running with a new account incredibly fast (in as little as 4 minutes, so almost instantly!). Anna, Tide, Cashplus, CardOneMoney, as well as Fair Everywhere all allow customers to set up business bank accounts without running a credit check. If you’re looking for ways to compare them, you can utilise our comparison table to decide which account is the right fit for you.
Business accounts that offer no credit checks often offer very similar services to regular business accounts. Notable differences are usually that they will not offer an overdraft. However, you should expect to still receive the following services:
Challenger banks have begun to revolutionise business banking similar to how we have seen Revolut and Monzo gather millions of personal banking customers. Challenger banks have risen since the financial crisis to offer an alternative, often to SMEs who are looking for more flexible and digital solutions to perform their day to day banking needs.
Challenger banks are more likely to offer innovative solutions and integrations into other services you might use as a business owner such as accounting software.
Another key aspect challenger banks have focused on for customers is speed to open an account. It is a lot quicker to open an account on average with a challenger bank over a traditional bank as the system tends to be streamlined and can be done in most cases without needing to interact with a human. This can be a huge win for business owners who are seriously time stretched and need to get accounts open quickly.
If you still want to bank with a traditional bank, then there are a number of ways that you can start to get your credit score moving in the right direction.
To get started, you may want to get a credit report and get to know your score. Read our in-depth business credit scores guide and get your free business credit health check.
Here are a number of ways you can affect it in a positive way:
At Swoop, we offer an independent business bank comparison table so you can easily compare which bad credit business current account will work for you. You can compare business accounts on Swoop across monthly fees, overdrafts, speed of opening, invoicing, mobile app, free banking, foreign exchange and more.
In August 2023 the BVA BDRC published the findings from its Business Banking Service Quality survey. Undertaken as part of a regulatory requirement and published at the request of the providers and the Competition and Markets Authority, the study surveyed 18,000 SME bank account customers between July 2022 and June 2023.
Each customer was asked how likely they would be to recommend to other SMEs –
The results show the proportion of customers of each provider, among those who took part in the survey, who said they were ‘extremely likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recommend each service. A detailed breakdown for each category can be seen in the table below.
Source: BVA BDRC
Written by
Rachel has been writing about finance and consumer affairs for over a decade, helping people to get to grips with their finances and cut through the jargon. She's written for a range of websites and national newspapers including MoneySuperMarket, Money to the Masses, Forbes UK, and Mail on Sunday. Rachel has covered almost every financial topic, from car insurance and credit cards, to business bank accounts and mortgages.
Swoop promise
At Swoop we want to make it easy for SMEs to understand the sometimes overwhelming world of business finance and insurance. Our goal is simple – to distill complex topics, unravel jargon, offer transparent and impartial information, and empower businesses to make smart financial decisions with confidence.
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