Provider review
Monzo Business
Ranked first in the UK for business service quality in the independent CMA survey, wrapped around a genuinely free tier — provided you do not need accounting integrations, an overdraft, or to bank much cash.
Who holds your money
Monzo Bank Limited, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA. It holds a full UK banking licence in its own name.
Eligible deposits protected up to £120,000 per eligible depositor. The limit is shared across everything you hold with Monzo, including a personal account — two Monzo accounts do not give you two allowances.
Verify the firm reference number on the FCA Financial Services Register before relying on this.
Scorecard
Seven criteria, each weighted. Every score below says what drove it.
1st of 17 for overall service quality at 85%, and 1st for online and mobile banking at 90%.
Integrations, invoicing, Tax Pots, expense cards, MTD software on every tier, and it lends. The widest set here.
FSCS to £120,000 on a standalone licence, shared only with a Monzo personal account.
Free tier is genuinely free with no transaction allowance to breach. Paid tiers are priced against what they add.
1.30% on the free tier, 3.25% at the top — but reaching it costs £300 a year, so the net return on £25,000 is £512.
Cheques in-app to £500 and by post above. Cash at the Post Office and PayPoint on a flat £1 per deposit — cheaper than Starling or Tide at every deposit size, because it is a flat fee rather than a percentage. No branch, and in-app cheques take up to four days.
Open to day-one companies, but every director and person of significant control must be UK resident. One overseas director ends it.
Weighted total 4.3 / 5. Weightings published on how we rate.
Service quality evidence
| Overall service quality | 1st, 85% |
| Online and mobile banking | 1st, 90% |
| Relationship management | 4th, 73% |
Independent survey of around 1,200 SME customers a year per provider, conducted by BVA BDRC (now part of Ipsos) and published by the CMA in August 2026. All 17 surveyed providers are ranked; a provider shows as not ranked only where it does not offer the service or fewer than 100 of its customers gave an eligible score.
Interest on balances
Verified from provider site| Rate on the free tier | 1.30% |
| Best sustainable rate | 3.25% |
| Extra cost to reach it | £300/yr |
| Access | Instant access |
| Net on £25,000 | £512 |
The Instant Access Savings Pot pays 1.30% AER on Lite and Pro, and up to 3.25% AER on Team only. Team costs £25 a month, so reaching the higher rate costs £300 a year more than the free plan — it only pays for itself above roughly £15,400 of balance. Instant access, interest paid monthly, no minimum, FSCS-protected on Monzo's own licence. Verified against monzo.com, 4 August 2026.
Affiliate note
Where we hold a commercial arrangement with a provider, this box says so and every link on the page is marked. Commission never affects the score or the ranking.
Fees are checked against the provider’s published tariff. If a page has not been re-checked within 60 days, it says so at the top.
The verdict
Monzo Business is the account people recommend to friends, and the data backs them up: it ranks first among all 17 surveyed UK business account providers for overall service quality (85%) and first for online and mobile banking (90%) in the independent survey the CMA requires banks to publish.
Onboarding takes minutes rather than days, the app is the clearest in the category, and Making Tax Digital software is included on every tier — including the free one, which matters now that MTD for Income Tax has started catching sole traders above the £50,000 threshold.
The honest complication is that Lite is free in a narrower sense than Starling's free account. Accounting integrations, invoicing, virtual cards and tax pots all sit behind Pro at £9 a month. For a consultant who works with an accountant on Xero, Lite is not the account you will end up on — so the comparison to actually run is Monzo Pro at £108 a year against Starling at £0.
Cash is the other constraint. There is a flat fee per deposit through the Post Office and PayPoint network, which is fine for occasional takings and poor value if you are banking cash weekly.
Cheques, cash and borrowing are account features, not plan features. Every tier takes cheques — in-app up to £500 and by post above that, clearing in up to four days — accepts cash at the Post Office and PayPoint, and can apply for an overdraft or loan. What the plans actually differ on is accounting integrations, invoicing, Tax Pots, user numbers and the savings rate.
Monzo does lend, which is more than most app-based accounts manage. Sole traders can apply for an overdraft up to £3,000 and a loan from £200 to £25,000; limited companies can apply for an overdraft of £500 to £5,000 and a loan from £1,000. The pricing is not cheap — a representative 39.0% EAR on sole trader overdrafts and 30.6% APR on smaller loans — but it is credit available in-app in minutes, which a high-street application is not.
Who it suits
- Sole traders and landlords above the MTD threshold who use the cash basis, are not VAT registered and do their own books — the free tool covers them without a separate subscription.
- Small limited companies operating in sterling with all directors UK-resident.
- Businesses that may need a modest, fast credit line — overdrafts and loans are decided in-app rather than through a branch process.
- Anyone who values service and app quality — it is measurably the best in the market on both.
- Businesses holding above roughly £15,400, where the Team plan’s 3.25% covers its own £300 annual cost.
- Businesses that will pay for Pro anyway and would rather have the better product than save £108 a year.
Who should look elsewhere
- Cash-heavy businesses. A per-deposit fee with no percentage cap sounds cheap and is not, once you bank takings weekly.
- Anyone needing cheap credit. Monzo does lend, but a representative 39.0% EAR on sole trader overdrafts is expensive money. A high-street facility will usually cost far less if you qualify.
- Businesses with an overseas director. The eligibility rule is firm.
- Regular international payers. Outbound transfers route through a third party and incoming foreign currency carries a conversion fee.
Every tier, priced
What each plan includes, and what the step up actually costs over a year.
| Plan | Monthly | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Business LiteUK sort code and account number, Mastercard debit card, free domestic transfers, Savings Pots, and HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital software built on Sage technology. No accounting integrations or invoicing. | £0 | £0 |
| Business ProAdds Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage integrations, invoicing, Tax Pots, virtual cards and automatic exports, plus a free 6-month Xero subscription for new Xero customers. Savings stay at 1.30% AER — the higher rate is Team only. | £9 | £108 |
| Business TeamAdds multi-user access for up to 15 people, employee expense cards, bulk payments and payment approvals — and the only tier paying up to 3.25% AER on savings. Overdrafts and loans are assessed separately and are not tied to a plan. Team also gets a free 8-month Xero subscription rather than Pro’s 6 months. | £25 | £300 |
Pricing must be verified against the provider's own site before publication. Providers reprice without notice.
The fees that are not in the headline
The monthly fee is what gets advertised. These are the charges that decide what you actually pay.
| Charge | Cost | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Paying in cash (Post Office and PayPoint) | £1 per deposit | Anyone with counter takings. A flat fee means small, frequent deposits are disproportionately expensive. |
| Incoming foreign currency | 1% conversion, capped per transaction | Businesses invoicing overseas clients in their own currency. |
| Outbound international transfers | Third-party rates apply | Anyone paying overseas suppliers regularly. |
| Cheques | In-app up to £500, by post above that | Businesses paid by cheque. In-app deposits take up to four days to clear, so Starling’s imaging or a high-street counter is faster if you receive them often. |
| Overdraft — sole trader | Up to £3,000. Rep. EAR 39.0% variable | Short-term cash flow. Two rates exist, 29.0% and 39.0%, and Monzo says most customers get 39.0%. |
| Overdraft — limited company | £500–£5,000. Rep. EAR 35.9% variable, plus £20–£100 annual arrangement fee | Directors with admin access. A personal guarantee is required and the fee is charged again on each annual renewal. |
| Loan — sole trader | £200–£25,000. Rep. 30.6% APR to £10k, 19.9% above | Funding a purchase or smoothing cash flow. No early repayment or late fees. |
| Loan — limited company | £1,000–£25,000. Rep. 30.6% APR | Companies with the account open 30+ days. Personal guarantee required; declines are referred to iwoca, from which Monzo earns commission. |
Applying
Application is entirely in-app and typically completes the same day for a straightforward sole trader. Limited companies take longer where the Companies House record needs matching.
You will need photo ID, a selfie video, your business details as registered, and a clear description of what the business does and where its income comes from. That last part is not a formality — a vague answer is one of the most common reasons an application stalls in review.
Where applications fail
- Non-UK-resident directors or PSCs — a hard rule, not a risk assessment.
- Companies House mismatch — registered address, director names and SIC code must match what you enter.
- Higher-risk sectors — some SIC codes are outside appetite regardless of the business itself.
- Unclear income source — "consultancy" tells an onboarding team nothing. Say who pays you and for what.
Alternatives worth costing
- Starling Business — The direct comparison. Free, FSCS-protected, includes integrations without a paid tier, and offers an overdraft.
- Mettle — Free, FSCS-protected via NatWest, with FreeAgent included. No cheques or international payments.
- Tide — Stronger invoicing on the free tier, but check which entity holds your money.
- Barclays Business — If you need a branch, cash handling at volume, or a lending relationship.
Monzo questions
Is Monzo Business FSCS protected?
Yes. Monzo Bank Limited holds a full UK banking licence, so eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per eligible depositor. That limit is shared across all Monzo accounts you hold, personal and business.
Is Monzo Business Lite really free?
There is no monthly fee and domestic transfers cost nothing. But accounting integrations, invoicing and tax pots are not included, and paying in cash costs a flat fee per deposit. Whether it is free in practice depends entirely on whether you need what sits behind the paywall.
Does Monzo’s Making Tax Digital tool have limits?
Yes, and Monzo states them openly. The tool does not support accruals basis accounting, does not file VAT, and does not allow accountant collaboration. It is for sole traders and landlords, not limited companies. Pro and Team customers get around that with a free Xero subscription — six months on Pro, eight on Team, for new Xero customers until 31 May 2027 — and Xero has none of those limits. After the offer ends you pay Xero’s normal price.
Which Monzo tier pays 3.25% on savings?
Team only, at £25 a month. Lite and Pro both pay 1.30% AER. Because Team costs £300 a year more than the free plan, the higher rate only pays for itself above roughly £15,400 of balance — below that, stay on Lite or Pro.
Is Monzo the best business account for customer service?
On the only independent evidence available, yes. In the CMA-mandated survey published in August 2026, Monzo ranked first of 17 providers for overall business service quality at 85%, and first for online and mobile banking at 90%.
Can a limited company open a Monzo Business account?
Yes, provided all directors and persons of significant control are UK residents and the company is registered at Companies House. Charities, community interest companies and certain regulated sectors are treated separately.
Does Monzo Business offer an overdraft?
Yes. Sole traders can apply for up to £3,000 at a representative 39.0% EAR (variable), with no fees for using it. Limited companies can apply for £500 to £5,000 at a representative 35.9% EAR, plus an annual arrangement fee of £20 to £100 depending on the limit, and a personal guarantee from the applying director.
Does Monzo offer business loans?
Yes. Sole traders can borrow £200 to £25,000, with a representative 30.6% APR up to £10,000 and 19.9% above it. Limited companies can borrow £1,000 to £25,000 at a representative 30.6% APR, needing the account open at least 30 days and a personal guarantee. There are no early repayment or late fees.
Is Monzo business borrowing good value?
It is fast rather than cheap. A representative 39.0% EAR on a sole trader overdraft is well above what a high-street facility costs if you qualify for one. The trade-off is an in-app decision in minutes against a branch application over weeks — worth it for a short-term gap, expensive as a standing arrangement.
Can I pay cheques into Monzo Business?
Yes. Cheques up to £500 can be paid in through the app, and anything larger by post. In-app deposits take up to four days to show in your account, so Starling’s imaging or a high-street counter will be faster if you are paid by cheque often.