How this page ranks business savings accounts
One formula for all 86 accounts from 26 providers: the balance you enter, at the rate the provider's own page publishes for that balance, over twelve months. Where the rate includes an introductory bonus, the bonus runs for its stated months and the ongoing rate takes over. Where the account depends on a paid plan, the plan fee comes off.
The result is an estimated year of interest in pounds, and the highest ranks first. An account you could not open, or one that ties the money up for longer than you said, is shown with its figure but ranked below the rest, so nothing disappears because of one answer.
Where to put it, by how long you can leave it
The rate a business can get is mostly a function of how long it can promise not to touch the money. Instant access pays least, notice accounts pay more for a promise of 45 to 180 days' warning, and fixed bonds pay most for locking the money away entirely. The table works each horizon at £50,000, counting only accounts that do not need a current account with the provider.
| If you might need the money | Best three at £50,000, and what a year earns |
|---|---|
| Any day Instant access accounts only | United Trust Bank Business Limited Access, 4.15% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £2,075 Tipton & Coseley BS Business Reward Saver, 3.99% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £1,995 Cynergy Bank Business Saver, 3.90% AER, instant access: £1,950 |
| With a month or two's warning Adds notice accounts up to 60 days | United Trust Bank Business Limited Access, 4.15% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £2,075 United Trust Bank Business 60 Day Notice, 4.00% AER, 60 days' notice: £2,000 Tipton & Coseley BS Business Reward Saver, 3.99% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £1,995 |
| Not for three or four months Adds 95 to 120 day notice accounts | United Trust Bank Business Limited Access, 4.15% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £2,075 Marsden BS Business Deposit Notice 95, 4.15% AER, 95 days' notice: £2,075 Earl Shilton BS Business 90 Day Notice Online, 4.10% AER, 90 days' notice: £2,050 |
| Not for six months Adds 180 day notice and six-month bonds | United Trust Bank Business Limited Access, 4.15% AER, 2 withdrawals a year: £2,075 Marsden BS Business Deposit Notice 95, 4.15% AER, 95 days' notice: £2,075 Earl Shilton BS Business 90 Day Notice Online, 4.10% AER, 90 days' notice: £2,050 |
| Not for a year Adds one-year bonds | Redwood Bank 1 Year Business Savings Bond, 4.80% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,400 Shawbrook 1 Year Fixed Rate Business Bond, 4.76% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,380 Union Bank of India (UK) 1 Year Business Fixed Deposit, 4.76% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,380 |
| Not for two years Every account, including two-year bonds | Redwood Bank 1 Year Business Savings Bond, 4.80% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,400 Shawbrook 1 Year Fixed Rate Business Bond, 4.76% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,380 Union Bank of India (UK) 1 Year Business Fixed Deposit, 4.76% AER, fixed for 12 months: £2,380 |
Accounts from Allica Bank, OakNorth Bank, Tide, Santander UK, Barclays, Metro Bank, Monzo are left out of the table because they need a business current account with that provider. They appear in the ranking above, and rank normally once you say you bank there.
A business rarely needs all its spare cash on the same day. The common split is a float in instant access for the next quarter's bills, a notice account for the reserve, and a bond for money with a known date, such as a tax bill due next year. The calculator ranks one balance at a time; run it once per pot.
Risk: what can go wrong with a deposit
A savings account is not an investment. The capital does not move. The risks are the provider failing, the rate falling, and not being able to get at the money when it is needed. Each is checked on the card.
- The FSCS limit is £120,000 per business per banking licence. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects deposits up to £120,000 if the bank fails. The limit is per licence, not per account, so two accounts at one bank share it. Above the limit the card says how much is uncovered and how much of the interest that money earns. If you ask for every pound covered, each provider is compared on the £120,000 it can hold inside cover, and the rest is shown as money to place with another provider on a different licence.
- Capital on Tap and Tide share one licence. Both hold deposits at ClearBank, so the £120,000 limit covers the two together, not each. The card says so on both.
- Variable rates can fall. Every instant access and notice account here is variable, and most move within weeks of a base rate change. If you say you want a rate you can plan on, variable accounts are flagged and only fixed bonds pass.
- Bonus rates drop. United Trust Bank Business Easy Access Tracker pays 3.90% for 12 months, then 3.00%; Capital on Tap Instant Savings pays 3.82% for 2 months, then 3.23%; Tide Instant Saver (Free plan) pays 3.75% for 4 months, then 1.50%; Tide Instant Saver (Max plan) pays 3.75% for 4 months, then 3.25%; Earl Shilton BS Business Bonus Saver Online pays 4.16% for 12 months, then 2.66%. The headline figure counts the bonus for its months and the ongoing rate after; the smaller figure under it is a full year at the ongoing rate.
- Some accounts sit on a paid plan. Tide Instant Saver (Max plan) needs a plan costing £70 a month; Monzo Business Instant Access Savings Pot (Pro plan) needs a plan costing £9 a month. The fee comes off the interest, which is the right comparison only if the plan is bought for the savings rate alone.
- Notice means notice. A 95-day account pays out 95 days after you ask, with no early access on most. A bond pays out at maturity and not before. Say when you might need the money and the calculator ranks anything slower below the line.
- Minimums and caps. Several challenger banks start at £20,000 and some close the account if the balance falls below it. Others cap the balance, and money above the cap earns nothing there. Both are on the card.
The criteria on each card
Every account is scored on the same rows for your answers, so the count on each card is out of the same number. A row an account fails is a flag, and flagged accounts rank below the rest whatever they pay.
| What we look at | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | Whether your balance meets the account's published minimum. Below it the account is shown with what your balance would earn at its rate, marked as once you qualify, and ranked last. |
| Access | Instant, a set number of withdrawals a year, a notice period in days, or a fixed term in months, against when you said you might need the money. |
| Eligible entities | The business types the provider's page names: limited companies, LLPs, partnerships, sole traders, charities. Where the page does not say, the row is left open rather than guessed. |
| Current account | Whether the provider only opens the savings account to its own business current account customers, against where you said you bank. |
| FSCS cover | Whether the money placed with this provider sits inside the £120,000 limit. If you asked for every pound covered, only that much is placed and the row passes; otherwise it fails above the limit and the card says how much is uncovered. |
| Fixed rate | Shown only if you said you want a rate you can plan on. Bonds pass, variable accounts fail. |
Every assumption
- Twelve months at the published AER. AER already allows for how often interest compounds, so monthly and annual payment are treated the same.
- Variable rates are held flat for the year. They will not be; the figure is the rate on the day the page was read.
- Bonds shorter than a year re-fix at the same rate at maturity, and bonds longer than a year are shown for their first twelve months.
- Tiered accounts use the rate the provider's page attaches to your balance: on some the band your whole balance sits in sets the rate for all of it, on others each band's rate applies only to the money inside it. The card says which.
- Bonus rates apply to the whole balance that earns interest, for their stated months, then the ongoing rate for the rest of the year.
- Plan fees are charged for the full year and taken off the interest, with nothing credited for what else the plan includes.
- Balances above a cap earn nothing in that account. Balances above the FSCS limit still earn interest; the card says how much of it sits on uncovered money.
- Eligibility is what the provider's page states, and nothing more. Providers assess more than they publish.
What the figures cover
Where a provider's page does not state a figure, the field is empty and the account's notes say so.
Business savings rates move far faster than card terms, often within days of a base rate decision, so the figure on the provider's page on the day you apply is the one that counts.
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Not advice. Accounts are opened directly with the provider. The method for the whole site is on the methodology page.