Mettle Business Bank Account Review

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Mettle business bank account: at a glance

Mettle is a business bank account launched by the NatWest Group in 2018.

It is designed for sole traders or limited companies with at least one director, but not for public limited companies (PLC) or limited liability partnerships (LLP).

Below, find out more about the pros and cons of a Mettle business bank account, as well as the features it offers.

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Mettle Business Bank Account

Monthly Fee

Free
Card Purchase Fees

Free
Bank Transfer Fees

Free
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To get FreeAgent for free you'll need to make at least one transaction a month from your Mettle account. A saving of £150 a year (based on FreeAgent's lowest tariff).

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Mettle business bank account pros & cons

Pros

Mettle business bank accounts are free; there are no monthly fees or transaction charges.
The account can be accessed via the Mettle mobile app or online.
You can pay in cash at the Post Office or at a PayPoint.
Deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Cons

There is no face-to-face service.
It’s not possible to pay cheques into a Mettle account.

These pros and cons are based on a survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.

Mettle business bank account key features

Mettle is an app-based business bank account provider regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
It’s a licensed bank account, so deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
A Mettle business bank account is free – there are no monthly or transaction fees to pay
No access to credit facilities, such as business loans or credit cards, are available with this provider

Mettle business bank account full review

Launched in 2018 as a way for the NatWest Group to compete in the challenger banking space, Mettle is an online and in-app business bank account designed for sole traders and limited companies – and it’s completely free.

If you are self-employed or run a limited company, a Mettle business bank account can offer you an easy way to manage your business finances from your phone.

We’ve gathered everything you might want to know about Mettle’s business account offering below.

Monthly fee	No
Transaction fees	No
Account management	Via mobile app Online
FSCS protection	Yes
Cash deposits	Yes (at Post Office or PayPoint)
Cheque deposits	No
Access to other banking services, such as business loans and overdrafts	No
Integration with accounting software and tools	Yes
International payments	No
Customer service	Via mobile app Over the phone Email
Multiple user access	No
Trustpilot rating	4.6 out of 5 (as of 4 April 2023)

Mettle business bank account features

The following sections provide some important information about the key features of Mettle business bank accounts.

Business account fees

The most important factor that business owners look for in a business account is the price – half of those NerdWallet surveyed picked it as one of their top three criteria.

Mettle only offers one plan type – its free mobile app-based business account, with no monthly fee and no transaction charges.

Any business with a Mettle bank account gets the same service. There are a range of features that come with a Mettle business bank account, all designed to help sole traders, the self-employed and small businesses manage and scale up their operations.

These features include, but are not limited to:

no transaction fees, meaning free UK transfers, cash deposits and ATM withdrawals
a prepaid debit card attached to your bank account
ability to schedule payments wherever you are through the Mettle app
ability to share your Mettle business bank account with your accountant, or integrate accounting software, such as Xero or QuickBooks
setting aside funds for taxes or emergencies with Money Pots
free access to online accounting software FreeAgent
ability to create and send invoices directly from your phone, including your company logo
simplified bookkeeping, including adding receipts to transactions and exporting expense data
real person support on the app, via email and over the phone

Easy account access

The business owners that NerdWallet surveyed felt that easy access was the second most important criteria overall when looking for a business account.

You can access a Mettle account via the provider’s mobile app, available on iOS and Android devices. It’s also possible to manage your money on the Mettle website, though you will need your mobile device to log in.

It’s worth noting that there is no way to access the account face to face – although Mettle is part of the NatWest group, you cannot use NatWest branches to access your account. However, you can access customer support over the phone if you want to speak to someone.

Account set-up

A quarter of the business owners NerdWallet surveyed said that quick account set-up was important when looking for a business account.

Mettle’s application process can be completed in about 10 minutes and it aims to have accounts opened within 72 hours of submitting an application (excluding weekends).

FSCS protection

According to the business owners that NerdWallet surveyed, protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is a key criteria when looking for a business account, ranking third most important overall.

Mettle is a fully-licensed business bank account, meaning eligible deposits are protected by FSCS.

This means that if Mettle were to fail, you would automatically be compensated (up to the FSCS limit of £85,000 per person or business, per bank).

Mobile phone app

The ability to access a business account via a mobile app is crucial to business owners, with this feature ranking fourth in our NerdWallet survey.

Luckily for digitally-minded business owners, Mettle is an app-based business account provider. The app is available on both Android and Apple devices.

Customer service

You can contact Mettle’s customer support team in the following ways:

by telephone
through live chat via the Mettle app
by email on [email protected]

Mettle’s customer service opening hours are the same for all communication channels: Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm; Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, 9am-5pm.

Currently, Mettle does not offer customer support 24 hours a day, though you can contact a member of staff on any day of the week. However, this may not be an issue for business customers. 24/7 customer service was not a huge concern according to our survey, with only 15% of respondents putting it in their top three criteria.

Customer reviews

Mettle has received positive reviews on a variety of different sites:

Trustpilot: 4.6 out of 5, based on over 2,400 reviews
Apple App Store: 4.9 out of 5, based on over 16,400 reviews
Google Play: 4.8 out of 5, based on over 5,000 reviews

This information is correct as of 4 April 2023.

Mettle business bank account eligibility

Before applying for a Mettle business bank account, it is important to make sure your business is eligible. Firstly, you need to be:

registered to trade in the UK
a UK resident, with a UK phone number
over the age of 18

In terms of the details of your business, you need to:

be a sole trader, or a limited company with at least one director and an ‘active’ state on Companies House
have a maximum account balance of either £50,000 for sole traders, or £100,000 for limited companies

This means a Mettle business bank account is not available for public limited companies (PLC), unlimited companies (Unltd), limited liability partnerships (LLP) or charities, among other business types.

There are also a number of industries and business activities that Mettle does not support. This includes, but is not limited to, alcohol manufacturing, adult entertainment, gambling and cryptocurrency.

In addition, you must undergo a soft credit check as part of your application. Soft credit checks don’t affect your credit score or show up to other providers on your credit report, but are used to help verify your identity.

How to choose a Mettle business bank account

There are a number of questions that you may want to ask yourself when deciding whether to open a Mettle business bank account or when comparing other providers:

Are you willing to pay monthly or transaction fees, or do you want a free account?
How would you prefer to manage your account (for example, online, via an app, in branch)?
Do you want to bank digitally or would you like the option of face-to-face banking in a branch?
Are you willing for you and your business to undergo a credit check as part of your business banking application?
Do you want your deposits to be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?

How to apply for a Mettle business bank account

To open a Mettle business bank account, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Download the Mettle app.
Start an application.
Submit proof of ID and address
Wait for approval.

Download the Mettle app

To apply for a Mettle business bank account, you need to use the provider’s mobile app. This can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, the Google Play store or the Mettle website.

Start an application

As part of your application, you’ll need to submit details about your business, as well as some personal details so that Mettle can check your identity. This includes submitting proof of ID and filming a short video on your phone.

You may need to provide proof of trading to show that your business is operational. This could include a bank statement (from the last six months), a utility bill in your business’s name or an invoice. If you can’t provide these immediately (for example, if your business is new), Mettle will ask to see proof within six months of opening your account.

In most cases, submitting your application should only take around 10 minutes.

Submit proof of ID and address

You’ll need to submit proof of your identity during the application process, such as:

a valid passport
an EU national identity card
a UK photocard driving licence (full or provisional)
a UK biometric residence permit

If Mettle can’t prove your identity through its initial checks, you may be asked to provide proof of address. You can submit a document such as:

a utility bill (dated within the last six months)
a UK driving licence (in date)
a bank statement (dated within the last six months)
a council tax bill (dated within the last 12 months)

Wait for approval

Your application should then be reviewed, and subsequently approved or rejected, within 72 hours (excluding weekends). You’ll be contacted via email with the outcome of your application.

Services offered by this provider may change over time. Always check Ts&Cs.

Although it is owned by the NatWest Group, Mettle is a fully-licensed bank in its own right.

Your Mettle business bank account is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and by the FSCS.

This means any money you deposit into your Mettle account would be compensated through that scheme if lost. FCA compliance means your money is held in a separate client account or insured for its value, and therefore would be protected were Mettle to go into administration.

Review methodology

At NerdWallet Ltd UK we base our reviews on the results of surveys we conduct to understand what key product features are important to those who use them, and align them to the product we review.

Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible but it is likely there are others available that we have not reviewed. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability of your financial circumstances.

You can view our review methodology here.

About the Authors

Connor Campbell

Connor is a writer and spokesperson for NerdWallet. Previously at Spreadex, his market commentary has been quoted in the likes of the BBC, The Guardian, Evening Standard, Reuters and The…

Kristina Fox

Kristina was a writer at NerdWallet who focused on writing finance content for small businesses, as well as young people and students. A recent graduate trading French for finance, she…

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