How to Open a Business Account with Barclays

A business account is one of those simplified and streamlined aspects of business accounting your business cannot really grow without. Banks with such great years behind them, such as Barclays, could be the right choice to open a business account while getting proven expertise in your area of business and fundamental tools to manage everyday financial operations.

Although this is not always a necessity for any form of business, there are some undeniable benefits derived from having a separate business account. Having your business transactions separate from your personal transactions means you will save much time when you have to sort your company’s expenses, calculate profit, calculate taxes, and perform other financial actions. In addition, you will get access to the knowledge of the business banking managers who will support the development of your business.

What You Need to Know About Barclays

In case you are searching for a bank with deep traditions, rich history, and a track record of endured economic, political, and other kinds of storms – this is probably it because the roots of Barclays bank reach 1690 when it was initiated as a goldsmith banking business. Nowadays it is a global universal bank, headquartered in London, offering an extensive selection of products and services.

It contains two big parts within the operating structure: Barclays UK and Barclays International, which are supported by a service company named Barclays Execution Services. It provides the rest of the company with technological and functional services. Barclays UK is involved in UK Personal Banking, UK Business Banking and Barclaycard Consumer UK businesses, while Barclays International includes Corporate and Investment Bank and Consumer, Cards and Payments subdivisions.

Types of Business Bank Accounts

The Barclays Start-up Business account offers the following benefits:

• Free banking for the first 12 months, for small businesses, and those setting up their first business bank account within the first 12 months of trading is available, and 8 GBP – approx. 9 EUR thereafter.
• Free invoicing and financial accounting software from FreshBooks, worth 228 GBP – approx 252 EUR per year.
• Online banking that’s secure and includes the facility for group payments and cash collection booking tool.
• UK based team of business managers are available to help in managing and growing your business by sharing advice on strategy, planning, and cash flow.
• Specialist consultation from Barclays’ international team of high-growth and entrepreneurial experts to help tailor solutions just for you.

Also, the Barclays team revises the payment plans yearly and calls their clients with the best deal that could save them money. In this way, you are guaranteed that when your circumstances change, you won’t be overcharged.

The Barclays Business Account for Turnover up to £400k and the Barclays Business Account for £400k-£6.5m Turnover are designed to provide everyday banking for established businesses that might also be looking to expand abroad.

Both types of accounts offer the following benefits:

• Business advice, such as assistance in creating a strategy for growth and managing your cashflow.
• A network of specialist support: the Barclays team can put you in touch with when your business requires different services in response to change or new opportunities.
• Free invoicing and accounting software from FreshBooks where you’ll be able to manage invoicing and other processes.
• Cashflow management.
• Access to lending: overdraft, lending and credit cards and more.
• International business growth is strongly supported: international payments and currency accounts, free insights into local markets, and exclusive discounts for cost-savings.
• Service provided: Barclaycard Payments-a suite of payment solutions to enable more sales.
• Initiatives and events where high-growth and entrepreneurship experts will share knowledge and insights to fuel the growth of your business.

The Barclays Community Organisations account is designed to support small non-profit organisations by offering the following range of benefits:

• Guide and support from business managers, including strategic growth plans.
• Free invoicing and accounting software from FreshBooks.
• Access to a network of specialists that can help you go through changes.
• Day-to-day banking customer support is available via your browser, over the phone, or at your local Barclays branch.
• Barclaycard Payment solutions to facilitate donations, offering a range of payment methods.
• Social Business Support-providing dedicated social business managers, funding, and access to business networking and mentoring to help encourage and sustain growth and create a bigger impact in the community.
• LifeSkills resources – activities, lesson plans and exercises, designed to help young people prepare for the workplace – downloaded by a non-profit organisation for use with its youth group.

You may also want to open a Foreign Currency Account in order to minimize the effect of fluctuating exchange rates. Other benefits are:

• Reduction of admin and other foreign-exchange costs.
• Funds do not have to be transferred to a sterling account.
• US and Canadian dollar and euro transactions are settled on the same day and other currencies in two working days.
• Access your account 24/7 through the browser, over the phone or via Barclays mobile application.

You can make international payments via the Barclays International Payments Services. Standard: With the standard payment method, Europe and North America will take 3-4 working days, and the rest of the world takes 8 working days, which is if sent by 4 pm UK time. In case of a priority payment method, the funds would arrive in Europe and North America within 1-3 working days and in the rest of the world within 7 working days if sent by 2 pm UK time. All payments made through the online medium are dealt with and considered as a priority payment.

Another option that Barclays clients can take advantage of is the availability of SEPA Credit Transfer. By availing of this, you will be able to experience lower transaction fees and quicker delivery if you are transferring your money to an EU country, provided you can supply the recipient’s International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and SWIFT Bank Identifier Code (BIC). Money is delivered to the recipients’ account the next working day if it is sent before 3 pm UK time.

Why Barclays

Throughout the long banking history, Barclays has amassed an extensive industry knowledge and international expertise that help clients accelerate their path to business success and mitigate the risk of avoidable mistakes. It also keeps in line with the age of innovation by offering state-of-the-art products for the most pressing business needs.

In this vein, Barclays can surely bring your business, no matter the location, nearer to a pool of experts from around the globe who can support cross-border support with your international business. You will anticipate world-class solutions, tailored business insight, and easily accessible support in most countries where your business may be operating.

How Barclays Supports Women in Business

Barclays will be supportive of women in business who have ideas and ambitions they want to realize by giving them the right expertise, skills, and loans. Also, knowledge about business will be provided through events, checklists such as the Female Founders Forum, and other resources. In addition, such support for female fintech founders is further extended through initiatives like the Female FinTech Collective: a Barclays founder-to-founder network led by females for females. It gives access to mentoring, dedicated programs, and events for female founders that help women grow their businesses.

Irrespective of gender, every entrepreneur can benefit from Eagle Lab events where topics such as AI, environmental impact, and ethics are covered. The range is wide, covering various aspects that can potentially help every ambitious entrepreneur to conquer the business world.

Barclaycard Payments – Payment Solutions for Every Business

With Barclays Payments, there are several ways to get paid by your clients, either electronically, over the phone, face to face, or many other options. Among them, Smartpay Touch is a fully integrated Point of Sale solution for taking all kinds of payments both in-store and anywhere else. Plus, it will allow you to track your stock levels, bookings, or even build your customer experience.

A few reasons you may want to trust Barclays Payments with your finances:

• Accessible customer service
• Industry-leading platform
• Network reliability
• Transparent, competitive, and flexible rates
• A dedicated data-security team engaging in fraud monitoring to ensure secure payments

Available payment methods:

The Barclaycard Flex card reader was created to take payments in-store, on the move, over the phone, or by mail order

Barclaycard Anywhere: a card reader that slips into your pocket, enabling one to take card payments on the move and manage those payments directly through your Barclays mobile application.

The Barclaycard payment gateway: makes it easy and secure for your customer to pay online.

A Virtual Terminal allows you to take customer payments by phone or post.

Requirements for Businesses

To set up a Barclays business account, you are required to fill out the following:

Basic details about your business – name, legal form, incorporation date, date of the start of the trading, address of business operations, business correspondence address, contact details

Where applicable, company registration number from Companies House

Where applicable, tax details include your tax identification number

Estimated turnover – state how much money your business is anticipating to come in through trading in the next 12 months

Previous banking details Names, dates of birth, residential addresses, National Insurance numbers and other personal details of company directors and partners

A description of your business activities – products and/or services

A breakdown of the number of employees and their employment status

Whether you trade with overseas customers or suppliers give a list of the countries and approximate share of business turnover or value per customer/ supplier

Give the amount of money you have invested or are likely to invest in your business

The Source of funds will also have to be shared

Anticipated money in estimation you will pay into your Barclays business account within the next 12 months

The following documents are usually required:

Proof of identity – passport, national ID, or UK driving licence

Proof of UK address – bank statement, council tax or other bills

Proof of address of business operations in the UK

Business documentation, e.g. incorporation documents

Proof of source of funds

The Process of Opening a Business Account With Barclays

How long it takes to apply depends on the account type one will choose. Recently, as a result of the high volume of applications received, it drags behind schedule considerably. For instance, an application for a new account for a non-profit organisation would normally take eight weeks. However, today and beyond, that could take as long as 12 weeks, which means one has to reset their expectations.

Following represents the key steps for opening a business account with Barclays:

• Highlight all the banking products and services you would want to attach to your new business account and probably consider the type of bank accounts you would want.
• Prepare all the documents you will need to get started – just in case you wish for some legal advice, allow our team to intervene to assist you.
• To do this you can apply online at Barclays, telephone, or visit the bank to make an appointment.
• IF YOU WANT TO CLOSE YOUR EXISTING ACCOUNT AT THE SAME TIME AS SWITCHING TO BARCLAYS, you may be able to use the Current Account Switch Service.
• To be eligible for this exemption, the company must have less than 50 employees and an annual turnover of less than 6.5 mill. GBP ≈ 7 mill. EUR.

During the processing of the application, the Barclays team performs credit and fraud checks on all the stakeholders and considered such aspects as personal and business credit. If the application is successful, information about the way the account is managed is shared by the Barclays team with credit reference agencies.

If you want to open a business bank account in Barclays, our staff here in Regulated United Europe will be glad to help. We have served clients for eight years in opening bank accounts with the most established banks in Europe. We draw upon our extensive network of valued partners in the European financial services industry to offer the best and most cost-effective solutions that enhance the operation of businesses we serve.