Who we serve
A sole trader business account, in your own name
Keep the business money separate from your own, in an account that carries your name. You are onboarded as an individual, so it is name, address and proof of address rather than a company file.
The problem, honestly
Sole traders get caught between two bad options. Providers quote you company-style onboarding you cannot satisfy, because there is no certificate of incorporation and no ownership structure to hand over. So the money keeps running through a personal current account whose own terms usually prohibit exactly that.
There is no legal requirement for a sole trader to hold business money separately, because you and the business are the same legal person. Separation is still worth having: it is what makes Self Assessment an afternoon instead of a week, and it is what stops a client payment landing next to your grocery shop.
What you get
An account in your own name
The IBAN carries your name, and it sits separate from your personal account. Clients pay the business rather than your current account, and the two never mix on a statement again.
Onboarded as an individual
Name, address and proof of address. No incorporation certificate and no ownership structure, because there is not one to evidence. The file is about you.
Quick, and that is the point
Accounts open in as little as 48 hours with a complete application. Your specialist tells you exactly what complete means before you start, so nothing stalls waiting on a document nobody mentioned.
Currencies if you need them
Hold 23 currencies in the same account. Useful the day a client abroad wants to pay you in their own currency, and invisible until then.
How matching works
Tell us your situation
Your model, markets, volumes and history. A specialist responds, typically within 24 hours.
Matched & underwritten
We match you to the right institution in the network; underwriting assesses your business on its merits.
Live in as little as 48 hours
Subject to all relevant documentation. Your specialist stays your contact after go-live.
Related: Business accounts & IBANs · Open your account · Pay by invoice
Sole traders: your questions
Legally, no. You and the business are the same legal person, so unlike a limited company there is no requirement to hold the money separately. Two things push the other way. Most personal account terms prohibit running a business through them, so you are relying on your bank not to notice. And separating the money is what turns Self Assessment into an afternoon rather than a week spent untangling a year of mixed transactions.
Yours. As a sole trader you are the business in law, so the account and its IBAN carry your name rather than a company name. What matters is that it is a separate account from your personal one, with its own IBAN, its own statements and only business money moving through it.
Your name, your address and proof of that address, plus a description of what you do and how money moves: who pays you, what for, and roughly how much. Because you are onboarded as an individual there is no company file to assemble, which is the main reason this is quick.
No, and the difference is worth understanding. It is an e-money account from an FCA-authorised electronic money institution. Your money is safeguarded under FCA rules, held separately from the institution’s own funds, rather than covered by the FSCS deposit guarantee. For day-to-day trading the two behave the same. Where they differ is credit: an e-money institution does not lend, so there is no overdraft.
Check if we can help
Tell us what you need. You’ll deal with one team, with the group’s licensed institutions behind it, and get a straight answer either way.