Most business bank accounts will do the job for a new company. It matters more to open one straight away and keep company money separate from your own. A limited company is a separate legal person and its money belongs to the company, and mixing the two in one account makes the bookkeeping much slower.

This post sets out the account we recommend to most founders, who can open it, and how deposit protection applies to money raised from investors.

What to compare between business accounts

For a startup, three things matter most in the first year:

  1. What it costs every month. Before you have revenue, a monthly fee comes straight out of your runway, whether or not you trade.
  2. Whether the deposits are protected, and by whom. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects eligible deposits up to £120,000 per eligible depositor per authorised firm, a limit that rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025. Some app-based providers are e-money institutions. They must safeguard customers' money, but that money is not covered by the FSCS if the provider fails.
  3. Whether it feeds your bookkeeping automatically. A connected bank feed brings transactions into your accounting software every day. Uploading statement files by hand leads to gaps and duplicates.

On these three points, the account we recommend to most founders is Mettle, provided by National Westminster Bank Plc.

No monthly fee

Mettle charges no monthly account fee. For a company with no revenue, that is one less recurring cost taken out of its runway.

Deposit protection

Mettle deposits sit with National Westminster Bank Plc, so eligible balances carry the full £120,000 FSCS protection. FSCS confirms that it generally protects companies' deposits regardless of the size of the company, so a limited company gets the same £120,000 as an individual.

Two points to note:

  • The limit applies per authorised firm. Mettle sits under the National Westminster Bank Plc licence, so a Mettle balance shares one £120,000 limit with any other NatWest-branded account you hold.
  • Sole traders and companies are treated differently. FSCS treats a sole trader's business and personal money at the same bank as one depositor, with a single £120,000 limit across both. A limited company is a separate depositor with its own £120,000 limit, separate from your personal accounts at the same bank. This is a small point in favour of incorporating.

FreeAgent included with the account

Mettle customers get FreeAgent at no cost, which Mettle values at up to £150 a year against the standalone subscription. Transactions flow from Mettle into FreeAgent automatically, without an open banking connection that has to be renewed every ninety days.

The monthly transaction condition. Mettle's terms require at least one transaction a month from your Mettle account to keep FreeAgent free. If you stop transacting, or close the Mettle account while continuing to use FreeAgent, standard FreeAgent fees apply. A pre-launch company that makes no payments for a few months can lose the free subscription, so set up one small recurring payment from the account, such as your domain renewal or your accountancy fee.

Our post on turning FreeAgent into a founder's dashboard covers what to read in it each week.

Worked example: first-year costs for a new company

Illustrative figures. A single-founder limited company incorporating in September 2026 and trading from day one.
  • Companies House digital incorporation fee: £100 (the fee from 1 February 2026, or £124 on paper)
  • Companies House digital confirmation statement, once a year: £50
  • Mettle business account, twelve months: £0
  • FreeAgent, twelve months via Mettle: £0 (normally £330 a year + VAT for a limited company)
  • Our accountancy fee: from £49 a month + VAT, set by turnover. The instant quote works out yours.
  • Year-one total: £150 of Companies House fees, plus your accountancy fee

The £100 incorporation fee is a capital cost, so it is added back when taxable profit is worked out, although the company can still reimburse you for it. Professional fees for setup advice are usually deductible. Our post on pre-trading expenses covers how each early cost is treated.

Deposit protection after a funding round

FSCS protection stops at £120,000 per authorised firm, so any money above that held at one bank is not protected.

Illustrative figures. A company raises £500,000 and holds all of it in one bank.
  • FSCS protection: £120,000
  • Unprotected if that bank fails: £380,000
  • Split evenly across three separate authorised firms: £120,000 × 3 = £360,000 protected, £140,000 still exposed
The £1.4 million temporary high balance protection does not apply. It lasts six months and covers only specified personal life events, such as the proceeds of a house sale, an inheritance, a redundancy payment, a divorce settlement or a personal injury award, and a funding round is not one of those events.

Spreading a funding round across several banks to stay within FSCS limits takes a lot of administration and still leaves part of the money unprotected. A funded company is better served by a written treasury policy, agreed by the board before the money arrives. It should set out how much stays in the operating account, how much is held in separate savings or Treasury bill accounts, who can move money, and how much is held with each bank. Our guide to runway and forecasting covers how much operating cash the account needs to hold.

Who cannot open a Mettle account

You cannot open a Mettle account if any of the following apply:

  • More than two people with significant control (PSCs). A limited company can have at most two, and they must be individuals. A company with three co-founders who each hold more than 25% of the shares cannot open one.
  • More than one person needs to use the account. Only one owner can access it, and there are no extra users or per-user spending controls.
  • You are a limited liability partnership (LLP) or a partnership. Both are excluded, as are public limited companies, charities, non-profits, trusts, community interest companies and unlimited companies.
  • The person opening the account is not both a director and a PSC. Both are required, and the company must have at least one PSC.
  • Balances above £1 million, or owners who are not UK tax resident. Certain sectors are excluded outright, including gambling, cryptocurrency, adult entertainment and money service businesses.

If any of these apply, you need a different account. A company with three founders who each need a card should choose an account built for several users, even though it charges a monthly fee.

What to do this week

  1. Check eligibility before you apply, against the PSC and access rules above.
  2. Open the account and move every business payment to it, including any you have been paying with a personal card since incorporation. Record what the company owes you and reimburse yourself.
  3. Connect the feed to FreeAgent and set rules for recurring costs such as hosting, software and rent, so they are categorised automatically.
  4. Set up one small recurring payment from the Mettle account so it always meets the one-transaction-a-month condition.
  5. If you hold more than £120,000, write down where the money above that limit is held and who can move it, and agree it at the next board meeting.

Get started, or read our business banking page for other accounts if Mettle's eligibility rules exclude you.