If you live in the UK, it’s relatively easy to open a UK business bank account for a limited company. The process of opening UK business bank accounts for non-UK residents is more complex, but it is possible. Below, we explain the different options available.
No legal requirement to open a business bank account
There is no legal requirement for a private limited company to set up and use a business bank account. That being said, it is better to set up a separate bank account that is used exclusively for company finances and transactions.
If you use a personal bank account for business purposes, it can make life unnecessarily complicated. You’ll have a harder time distinguishing between funds and transactions belonging to the company and those which belong to you personally. This is when mistakes happen.
- Set up a UK limited company using our Non-Residents Package
- How to take money out of a limited company
- A guide to selling products online
- Legalise your company documents with our Apostilled Document Service
Operating a business bank account, on the other hand, will provide an accurate and transparent record of business finances. This will enable you to keep track of business income and expenditure, trace particular transactions, spot suspicious activity, and complete your company tax returns and annual accounts with greater ease.
Non-UK residents can open a business bank account in the UK
Many UK banks are reluctant to provide business bank accounts for non-UK residents for a number of reasons; namely fraud prevention and the cost of administration. However, 1st Formations has partnered with WorldFirst, a UK business banking solution, which provides international business banking with worldwide coverage, allowing you to open 10+ local currency accounts for free and spend in over 40+ currencies.
Our Non-Residents Package includes a WorldFirst banking referral and is specifically designed to cater for non-UK residents.
UK companies do not require UK business bank accounts
Whilst it may make sense to open an account in the country in which your company is registered, it is possible to open one in your own country of residence. This requires legalising your company documents by having them ‘apostilled’.
Provided you reside in a country that is party to the 1961 Hague Convention, you have the option of applying for Apostille Certificates to legally authenticate your Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association for use abroad.
Both documents will need to be signed by a notary and legalised by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London.
When your documents have been authenticated, you will be issued with Apostille Certificates and you can apply for an account in your own country. This will certainly reduce the travel time required if you need to visit the bank!
1st Formations Apostilled Documents Service
1st Formations can provide assistance with the legalisation of your company formation documents. Our in-house notary will sign your Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association, forward them to the FCDO for authentication, and deliver the Apostille Certificates by courier to your preferred address.
Our Apostilled Document Service is available for £99.99 plus VAT per certificate, which includes the cost of postal charges in the UK.
Please contact us for further information about our Apostilled Documents Service or if you have any questions about business bank accounts for non-UK residents.
Join The Discussion
Comments (26)
Hello
I live in Iran.
To operate on Shopify and Amazon, I need to register a company and create a commercial bank account.
Due to my citizenship and place of residence in Iran, can I create a commercial bank account?
Thanks
Thank you for your comment, Ali. Each bank has its own set of criteria for the countries they provide services to, and the approval of account openings is at their discretion. In the event that you are unable to establish a bank account in the UK, you may consider opening an account in your country of residence.
Kind regards,
The 1st Formations Team
Dear Team,
could you please advise on the below:
We have a private limited company incorporated in the UK . The shareholder is a non UK resident .
Can we open a bank account. if so, what is the process.
Thanks for taking the time to message.
Yes, you can, and it’s actually something that we can assist with through our partnerships with Payoneer and Wise.
Simply take a look at the below links for more information.
– https://register.payoneer.com/en/partnership/1stformations/
– https://wise.prf.hn/l/6b1AoVD
Regards,
The 1st Formations Team
Hi,
My Company is in Pakistan but i want a UK Bank Account as well so can you let me know the Procedure, also I’m not in UK
Thank you for your kind enquiry, Hassan.
In general terms, it will be very difficult to obtain a UK bank account from many high street banks, due to residing in Pakistan. We would recommend considering Wise (formerly TransferWise) or Payoneer, who can provide you with a UK bank account which is optimised for foreign currency transactions.
Should you require further assistance, please contact a member of our team on live chat, or call +44 20 3897 2233 and we will be happy to assist you.
Regards,
The 1st Formations Team
I am the Uk director of a Swiss Company which does not have a UK registered company also. We wish to open a business bank account in the UK but without registering the company in the UK.
Do you know if that is possible?
Hi Orit,
I’m afraid I cannot say for sure if it is possible or not – we do not deal with overseas business banking. You may wish to contact HSBC and Barclays to see if they can help. They do have international banking facilities, though I am unsure of their range of options and criteria for acceptance. You should also speak to your current bank to see if they could offer any advice.
Best wishes,
Rachel
Hi,
I’ve followed the advice in this article and contacted Barclays for opening a business account for my LTD. Their operator told me a face to face meeting in the UK is mandatory.
Do you know any way around this, or have an alternative bank?
Thanks
Hi Petre,
I’m afraid we cannot offer any more advice regarding UK bank accounts other than the information provided in the blog.
You may wish to consider opening a business bank account in your country of residence – to do this, you will need to legalise your UK company documents to verify its existence for the bank. This is discussed at the end of the blog.
Best wishes,
Rachel Craig
I have couple of doubts.
1-) Okay company formations is very easy. But after formation to operate the company do we need some of the things like:
a-) For import/export do we required VAT registration?
b-) For Import/export do we require any Export/Import license or Code?
c-) Can we use offshore bank account for the company formed?
Dear Mehmet
Thank you for your message.
In terms of importing and exporting goods you would need to register under the Enterprise Operator Registration and Identification Scheme (EORI). There are 2 different forms to complete, one for importing and one for exporting goods. These forms and the associated guidance can be found on the Gov.UK website at the link attached https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eori-supporting-guidance
In terms of the bank account you can use – there is no restriction on the bank account which can be used so an offshore account would be acceptable.
Kind Regards
Hi, thanks for all the info. I haven’t quite decided whether this is for me. While the set-up process is quite easy and cheap, I am getting the impression that the devil is in the detail: complicated statutory accounts, high penalties, expensive accountants and last but not least: UK bank accounts. The fees that UK banks charge for the most simple operations are – to put it bluntly – ridiculous. No continental bank would survive 1 minute if they would charge 18 pounds for a single international transfer for instance (they are for FREE throughout the EURO zone). Since I will have to pay some freelancers via international transfer (mostly in Euros), I simply cannot afford to pay 18 pounds each time I pay them. So I definitely do not want to open a UK bank account if I can avoid it. You write that it is OK to open an account outside the UK. Can this be any account, e.g. also a private account (as long as it is exclusively used for the business)? This way I would not need apostilled documents and could take advantage of the better charges for private customers. All I do is international transfers. No checks. No cash. No withdrawals. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Dear Pete
Thank you for your message.
I would explain that you can open any bank account you want to, there is no restriction on UK companies in terms of where or the type of account which is used for business purposes.
Kind regards
Hello.
My grandfather has a registered company in the UK. How can he open a bank account for his company in the UK? He is not a UK resident, but is a EU resident.
Thank you
Dear Mike
Thank you for your message.
Opening a bank account for a non-resident is not straight-forward, and the only advice we can give is the information listed in this article. I would advise contacting HSBC directly to find out how best to proceed.
Kind Regards
I am a UK resident and the managing director of a newly registered UK Ltd.
Can I open a business account in the UK if the shareholders of the company are not UK residents or will I possibly be rejected by some or all of the Banks?
Hi Zalan
Thank you for your question.
In terms of opening a bank account it may be possible, and the advice and contact numbers we have found to be most useful are listed above on this page. Unfortunately, our banking relationships do not extend to being able to assist with your situation.
Kind Regards
1st Formations
Hello,
I work for a non-UK company (incorporated in California, United States) that is interested in doing business with the UK market. We are a network that delivers (short-term small dollar loan) leads to our third-party lenders. We’re essentially an online-marketing company, and are not a lender ourselves. We pass leads that we receive from our marketing partners through our algorithm and connect them with a lender in our network of lenders. We would like to expand into the UK market via the internet, to connect UK consumers who seek cash advances/payday loans, with our (future) network of UK lenders. We do not have a physical location in the UK.
Are we required to have a UK Business bank account, where we plan to conduct business with UK consumers and businesses, solely via the internet with no physical presence in the UK? If so, how would we go about doing so?
Thank you.
Dear CC
Thank you for your message.
Your company will not require to have a UK bank account to trade here unless there are any specific requirements for the type of business you are conducting but we are no able to advise on this.
We are not experts on bank accounts for non-UK residents however if you did require a UK bank account then I would advise that you discuss your requirements either directly with the bank in the UK which you would like to work with or it may be worthwhile speaking to your bankers in USA to find out if they could make any introductions for you in the UK.
Kind Regards
Is it possible a company based and registered in France and not registered in the UK, with no office in the UK, holds a bank account with a bank in the UK in GBP?
Hi Slawomir,
Thank you for your message.
I do not know if this will be possible as we only act for UK companies which aim to open bank accounts. I would expect it would be very difficult if there are no business connections and none of the officers live in the UK.
Kind Regards
Hi Team,
I am holding a Incorporation in UK ” GLS Service and Solutions Limited. I am among one of the board of Directors.
Could you please confirm what is the process for opening a Business Bank account in UK for non residents.
I am looking after Business Bank account and a Merchant. What is the cost for the same.
You can reach me on 919891340926
Dear Leena
Thank you for your question.
It is very difficult to open a bank account in the UK for non-residents and we are not able to offer any help ourselves at this time.
We do know that overseas residents have had success open business bank accounts for their UK limited companies with HSBC. This will involve the overseas residents visiting the UK and presenting ID at a meeting with the bank. I would also state there are no guarantees you will be offered a banking facility.
There is also the option to open a bank account for the company outside the UK with Apostille documents – please visit our apostilled document service page.
Kind Regards
Hi, I am a non UK resident (I will move to London in a few months) and would like to establish a UK non-for-profit company (limited by guarantee).
If the company’s bank account is non-UK (Greek) will it be eligible to receive funds from the UK ?
Hi Sophia,
You can use a non-UK bank account for a UK company if you wish. You should be eligible to receive funds from the UK, however you would have to verify this with your bank of choice and clarify the process for the conversion of currency. For this reason, it may be better for you to wait and open a UK account once you move to London.
Thanks,
Chris