Fairer Finance, the independent consumer group and ratings provider, has launched new product ratings for business bank accounts, expanding its reach to include ratings for over 30 product types across insurance, banking, and credit products.The business bank account ratings aim to help small businesses navigate the complexities of choosing a bank account by highlighting products that offer good value. The ratings consider both the benefits and costs of each account, ensuring that business owners understand the value of what they’re signing up for, including fees incurred over the account’s lifetime that might not apply initially.Fairer Finance awards a 5-star rating to products that meet its rigorous criteria. To achieve this rating, a product must offer key features that meet the needs of most customers, be competitively priced compared to its peers, and have reasonable associated fees and charges. The bar is intentionally set high—at any given time, no more than 15% of products receive a 5-star rating, ensuring the ratings maintain their credibility and value.The Fairer Finance business bank account ratings are segmented by high-frequency cash accounts, low-frequency cash accounts, and cashless payment accounts. These are intended to model the typical account usage of, respectively, a business that makes a lot of cash transactions, a few cash transactions, and only electronic transactions.Table one – Business bank accounts that have been awarded a 5-star rating by Fairer FinanceHigh frequency cash account
Low frequency cash account
Payment (cashless) account
NatWest Start-up Account
The Co-operative Bank Business Directplus
The Co-operative Bank Business Current Account
Santander 123 Business Account
NatWest Start-up Account
Cynergy Business Current Account
Santander Business Account
Santander 123 Business Account
Monzo Business Lite
TSB Business Plus
TSB Business Plus
Santander 123 Business Account
Virgin Money M Account for Business
James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance said: “Small businesses are the backbone of economic growth, and it’s essential to reduce the friction they face when they’re starting up and scaling. Opening a business bank account is one of the first hurdles new entrepreneurs encounter, and it can often be a time-consuming and confusing process.“Our new product ratings are designed to provide a short-cut for entrepreneurs – helping them get a handle on which accounts will prove the best value. Firms will still need to do some extra work to understand which accounts meet all of their needs. But hopefully these ratings will make that process quicker and easier.“Our goal is to encourage better competition and transparency in this market, driving banks to innovate and to support small businesses to reach their potential and help drive economic growth.”Companies In This Post
