Start up businessFree business banking explained

Who is eligible for free business banking and for what period?

• 18 months free business banking for Business Banking start-ups with a projected turnover below £2m
• 6 months free business banking for Business Banking switchers with a turnover below £500,000
• Switchers with a turnover of £500,000 to £2m will benefit from a business banking package to meet their business needs. This is agreed with their Local Business Manager and might include a free banking period

In order to take advantage of any free banking that may apply, all we require is that you choose our Business Current Account - Small Business Tariff or Business Direct. The applicable account tariff comes into effect when your free business banking period (if any) ends.

What do we mean by free business banking?

Free business banking means that during the free business banking period we will not charge you for the provision of our standard account services set out in the table below.

• Rates and Charges

  Standard account services	Description	Free Banking
  Account maintenance fee	A monthly charge for the provision of a business current account	Free
  Automated credits	An electronic credit paid into your account	Free
  Bill Payment	A Bill Payment which is debited to your account via our telephone banking service and credited to a recipient. Does not include Bill Payments debited to your account via a branch or a postal instruction	Free
  Branch credits	Credits paid in over branch counter (containing cash and/or cheque activity)	Free
  Branch cash in	Additional charge for cash paid in at branch	Free
  Branch cheques collected	Additional charge for cheques paid in at branch	Free
  Branch counter withdrawal	Cash withdrawal over the counter (i.e. when cashing a cheque)	Free
  Branch cash out	Additional charge for cash withdrawal over branch counter	Free
  Cash machine withdrawal	Charge for debit associated with a cash withdrawal from a self-service machine (i.e. one debit per withdrawal)	Free1
  Cash machine cash out	Additional charge for cash amount withdrawn from self-service machine	Free1
  Cheques paid	Cheques written	Free
  Debit Card	A debit to your account following a Business Debit Card payment	Free
  Direct Debit paid/unpaid	A Direct Debit payment made from or returned to your account	Free
  Internal transfer	A sterling transfer from one of your accounts to another of your accounts in the same name	Free
  Internet Bill Payment	A Bill Payment made through Business Internet Banking	Free
  Business Internet Banking BACS Payment	Charge for each BACS Payment credited to a beneficiary made through Business Internet Banking	Free
  Other debits	Other types of debit applied to your account (excluding Faster Payments, Electronic Fund Transfers, Priority Payments and Worldpay payments)	Free
  Standing Order	A Standing Order payment made from your account	Free

  ¹ This is for UK transactions only. Some self-service machine operators may charge a levy.

Which business accounts does free business banking apply to?

• Free business banking may apply to Business Banking customers with either our Business Current Account – Small Business Tariff (turnover below £2 million) or Business Direct (turnover below £500,000).

Who is not eligible for free business banking?

• Free business banking periods are not available to Commercial Banking customers or to Business Banking switchers with a turnover of £500k to £2m as standard.
• Any free business banking period for Commercial Banking customers and for Business Banking switchers with a turnover of £500k to £2m may be agreed on an individual basis with their Local Business Manager or Relationship Manager.

What happens at the end of the free business banking period?

You will automatically move on to the tariff of your chosen account. However, you will also have the opportunity to select a different account, if your business banking needs have changed.