getting a business bank account while not in UK

[gardener]

Hi Contractors,

Looking for a good (free) business account. I have a contract in Brussels. My LTD is registered in UK. I won't be in UK any time soon though.
There are good options now like Tide and others but apparently I need a UK address and UK phone nr to register. Can't even download their app on android while abroad (proxy doesn't do the trick).
So what a girl to do?

Thanks

[BR14]

a UK Ltd without an address? WTF?

[gardener]

a UK Ltd without an address? WTF?

I won't be in UK any time soon though.

[WTFH]

Can your UK accountant help you?

[DeludedKitten]

Revolut for business?

Costs £25 a month but it might do exactly what you want it to do. 14 day free trial and it'll take about a week to set it up.

[gardener]

Revolut for business?

Costs £25 a month but it might do exactly what you want it to do. 14 day free trial and it'll take about a week to set it up.

Thanks, I was researching revolut. Looks like you can't close an account so easily. So once you signup they keep charging you and don't respond to your close account requests through "live chat"

[gardener]

Can your UK accountant help you?

Don't have one. But it's an option to find one that can do that.

[WTFH]

You're best to either come to the UK legally, legally set up a bank account and get an accountant to handle it for you, or close down your UK Ltd and set one up somewhere that you are prepared to call your base and pay the relevant taxes etc.

[DeludedKitten]

Thanks, I was researching revolut. Looks like you can't close an account so easily. So once you signup they keep charging you and don't respond to your close account requests through "live chat"

It's a one year contract. I didn't think it had been running for more than a year, so I can understand why they keep charging people if they have not been there for a year.

I've not used them for business banking, and their support used to be slow but was good the last time I needed them as a personal customer.

[Maslins]

Thanks, I was researching revolut. Looks like you can't close an account so easily. So once you signup they keep charging you and don't respond to your close account requests through "live chat"

Yes, we had a situation ~6 months ago where we had to write a specific letter for a client, being one of multiple hurdles to close their Revolut account. Did seem baffling, and possibly just a cynical way to make it harder to close an account that costs £25/month.

I've pasted below what they said to the client who wanted to close their account. Certainly would put me off ever recommending them. The harder it is to leave something, the more reluctant I am to sign up in the first place.

"You can close the account only during the trial period. You have exceeded the acceptable date. At this point, we can close your account only if you are a small enterprise. As per our terms of service, "Micro-Enterprise" means businesses which employ fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million. As a proof, we will accept a letter signed by authorized person (accountant, solicitor) stating whether your business is being microenterprise according to the above. Once this is provided, you need to: * normalize the negative balance (if you happen to have one), * confirm that there are no pending transfers (incoming, or outgoing), * provide an explanation for this decision * confirm some security details: your name, your date of birth, your phone number, your e-mail address, your company's name, your company's address. Also, please confirm your last top-up amount, if there was any."