The Business Banking Expert
Who writes this
A site telling you to check who holds your money should be willing to say who writes it. Here is what we can tell you, what we cannot, and how to hold us to it.
The short version
This site is written by someone who spent ten years working in UK business banking, across both a large high-street bank and a digital challenger, in roles that involved seeing business account applications from the inside.
It is published under a pen name. That is a deliberate choice and it deserves an honest explanation rather than a shrug.
Why a pen name
Financial services is a small industry with long memories. Publishing candid assessments of named providers — including likely future employers, and including the firms we have worked for — under a real name would mean either self-censoring or accepting a career cost. We would rather write the honest version.
We also think you should be sceptical of that. Anonymity is exactly what a bad-faith affiliate site would choose. So instead of asking you to trust a name, we have tried to make the work checkable.
How to check us instead of trusting us
- Every fee is sourced. Provider pages state where a figure came from and when we checked it. Figures we have not verified against the provider’s own site are labelled unverified rather than quietly presented as fact.
- Service scores are not our opinion. They are built on the independent survey UK banks are legally required to publish under the CMA’s Retail Banking Order, surveyed by BVA BDRC (now part of Ipsos). We publish each provider’s actual position.
- The scoring is published in full. Seven criteria, weightings shown, and the formula for the interest calculation written out. You can disagree with our weightings — but you can see them.
- Commercial arrangements are disclosed on every page, including where we have none.
- We show our working. Where a conclusion depends on arithmetic, the arithmetic is on the page.
What we know, and what we do not
We know how business account applications are assessed, why they fail, what onboarding teams look for, and how tariffs are constructed to look cheaper than they are. That experience is the reason this site exists.
We do not have access to any current or former employer’s internal information, and nothing on this site draws on non-public material from any provider. Everything published here comes from public sources, published tariffs, regulatory filings and our own testing.
We are not accountants, lawyers or financial advisers, and nothing here is regulated financial advice.
What we get wrong
Fees change constantly and providers do not announce it. We have already had to correct published figures on this site — in one case a savings rate taken from a third-party review site that turned out to be more than double the provider’s actual rate.
That is why unverified figures are labelled, why every provider page carries a checked-on date, and why we would rather tell you a number is uncertain than present a confident average built partly on guesses.
If you find an error, tell us. We will correct it and say that we have.
For journalists
Logos, our colour palette, usage rules and what we can help with are on the brand and press page. Our underlying figures are published as free datasets under CC BY 4.0.
How this site is funded
Some links to providers earn a commission if you open an account. Those links are marked. Commission has no bearing on rankings, scores or what we are willing to say — several accounts at the top of our ranking pay us nothing. The full position is set out in our editorial policy.
Common questions
Who runs The Business Banking Expert?
A former UK business banker with ten years’ experience across a high-street bank and a digital challenger, writing under a pen name. The site publishes its methodology, sources and commercial arrangements so the work can be checked without relying on the author’s identity.
Why is the site anonymous?
Publishing candid assessments of named providers, including former employers, under a real name would carry a career cost in a small industry. We would rather publish the honest version and make the work verifiable instead.
Is this financial advice?
No. This site publishes journalism, not regulated financial advice, and does not take your circumstances into account. For advice on your business, speak to an accountant or an FCA-authorised adviser.
Do you use insider information?
No. Nothing on this site draws on non-public information from any current or former employer. Everything comes from public sources, published tariffs, regulatory data and our own testing.