NatWest business account: what it costs once the free period ends
NatWest gives you two years of free business banking, then moves you to a tariff with no monthly fee but a charge on almost everything you do: 35p per automated payment, 95p per £100 of cash. For a business making 100 payments a month and banking £2,000 in notes, that is about £54 a month once year three arrives, against £0 at an account that does not charge per transaction. Whether that is worth it comes down to one thing, and it is not the branch.
The two free years, and who actually gets them
NatWest's free banking is not a blanket offer. New businesses qualify if they have been trading under twelve months with projected or existing turnover no higher than £1 million, and get two years from the date the account opens. Established businesses qualify if turnover is up to £2 million and they switch using the full Current Account Switch Service, and get two years from the date the switch completes. Charities and community organisations under £100,000 turnover bank free for as long as they stay eligible.
There is a new catch worth knowing. For accounts opened on or after 20 April 2026, paying in more than £200,000 of cash in any twelve-month period ends the free period early and moves you onto standard charges. If you run a business that handles serious volumes of notes, the free years are shorter than they look.
The tariff underneath, in full
These are the Standard Tariff charges from NatWest's own Business Account Charges Booklet, correct as at 20 April 2026. There is no monthly account fee. Everything else is priced per use.
| What you do | What it costs | What counts |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly account fee | £0 | No minimum monthly charge on the Standard Tariff |
| Automated payment | £0.35 | Direct Debits, standing orders, Faster Payments, card cash withdrawals |
| Cash in or out | £0.95 per £100 | Branch counter, Post Office counter or deposit machine |
| Manual payment | £0.95 | Each cheque paid in or out, and counter transactions |
| Phone or counter payment | £1.00 | Non-automated payments made by telephone or in branch |
| Cheque via the app | £0.75 | Cheques photographed and paid in through mobile banking |
Transfers between two of your own NatWest business accounts are free. Cheques stack charges rather than replacing them: NatWest's own worked example puts three cheques at three paid-in charges of 95p plus one manual charge of 95p, £3.80 in total.
What that costs a real business
The tariff only means something once you run your own month through it. Three worked examples, using the figures above.
- A consultant, 20 payments a month, no cash. £7 a month, or £84 a year. Small enough that the FreeAgent licence alone more than covers it.
- A trades business, 60 payments and £1,500 of cash. £21 plus £14.25, so £35.25 a month, £423 a year.
- A shop, 100 payments and £2,000 of cash. £35 plus £19, so £54 a month, £648 a year.
At a free account with no per-payment charge, all three pay nothing for the payments. Starling charges 0.7% on cash with a £3 minimum and Zempler 0.55% with a £4 minimum, so even the cash-heavy shop pays around £14 or £11 a month rather than £54.
The one genuinely strong reason to pick it
FreeAgent. NatWest includes it free for as long as you keep the account, and FreeAgent's own list price is £19 a month for a sole trader and £33 for a limited company. A limited company paying £33 a month for bookkeeping software is spending £396 a year that NatWest absorbs entirely. That single benefit covers the consultant's whole tariff several times over, and it is the reason NatWest is a serious option rather than just an expensive one.
Mettle, which is owned by NatWest, includes FreeAgent too and charges nothing at all, though it needs one transaction a month to keep the licence and takes no cash. If FreeAgent is what you are here for and you do not handle notes, Mettle gets you the same software for nothing.
Who should open it, and who should not
Open it if you want a licensed bank with branches, a relationship manager once turnover passes £500,000, and FreeAgent included, and if your payment volume is low enough that 35p a time does not add up. Two free years is a genuine head start for a new business, and £120,000 of FSCS protection is the same cover the free challenger banks carry.
Look elsewhere if you make a lot of payments, because that is where the tariff bites hardest and it is the one cost that scales with doing more business. Look elsewhere too if you bank heavy cash, both because 95p per £100 is dearer than Starling or Zempler and because £200,000 of cash a year now ends the free period. The honest summary is that NatWest is a good account to start on and an expensive one to grow into.
Charges on this page were read from NatWest's Business Account Charges Booklet, stated as correct as at 20 April 2026, and checked again on 7 August 2026. Confirm the current tariff with NatWest before applying.
Questions people actually ask
Is the NatWest business account free?
For two years, then no. New businesses trading under twelve months with turnover up to £1 million get two years of free banking from opening, and established businesses with turnover up to £2 million get two years from completing a full switch. After that you move to the Standard Tariff, which has no monthly fee but charges 35p per automated payment and 95p per £100 of cash paid in or out.
What does NatWest charge for business banking?
On the Standard Tariff: no monthly account fee, 35p for each automated payment in or out, 95p per £100 of cash, 95p per manual payment including each cheque, £1 for non-automated payments made by phone or at a counter, and 75p for cheques paid in through the app. Figures from NatWest's own charges booklet, correct as at 20 April 2026.
Does NatWest business banking include accounting software?
Yes. FreeAgent is included free for as long as you keep the NatWest business current account, which is a genuine saving of around £19 a month for a sole trader or £33 for a limited company at FreeAgent's own list prices. It is the strongest single reason to pick NatWest over a free challenger account.
Is money in a NatWest business account protected?
Yes. NatWest is a licensed UK bank, so eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per person per institution by the FSCS. That is the same protection Starling, Monzo, Mettle and Zempler carry, and more than e-money accounts such as Tide, Wise or Revolut, which safeguard funds instead.
Can I lose the free banking period early?
Yes, and this is new. For accounts opened on or after 20 April 2026, paying in more than £200,000 of cash in any twelve-month period ends the free banking offer and moves you to standard charges. NatWest says it will notify you before that starts. Heavy cash businesses should factor it in.
Figures checked 7 August 2026 by S5 editorial against each provider's own published pricing. Confirm details with the provider before applying.