Finding the right bank account for your start-up or small business can be harder than you expect. All the major banks offer different types of business and start-up accounts and it sometimes can be hard to spot the differences.

We created a list of the most important features of the start-up business bank accounts from HSBC, Santander, Natwest, Lloyds TSB and Barclays.

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List of start-up business bank accounts

• Free for 18 months without transaction limits
• After 18 months still free, but with transaction limits
• Internet Banking and Business Telephone Banking included
• Annual turnover has to be below £500,000
• Click here to get to the HSBC website.

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•  Free for 12 months for non-Santander customers
• Free for 18 months if you have your personal account with Santander
• Annual turnover has to be below £250,000
• Internet Banking and Telephone Banking included
• Click here to get to the Santander website

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•   Free for 24 months with unlimited transactions
• £500 fee-free overdraft in the first year
• Free Regus Gold Card Membership for 12 months (worth £420 p.a. ; giving you unlimited access to 1,200 Regus business lounges and cafes around the world)
• Internet Banking and Telephone Banking inlcuded
• Annual turnover has to be below £1,000,000
• Click here to get to the NatWest website

• Free for 18 months
• Support from a relationship manager
• Internet Banking and Telephone Banking included
• Click here to get to the Lloyds TSB website

•  Free for 12 months
• Free for another 12 months if Business Essentials , Business Essentials Plus or Barclays Business Manager software are purchased
• Internet Banking and Telephone Banking included
• Support from Barclays business manager
• Click here to get to the Barclays website

So which bank to choose for my start-up?

Well, choosing a bank for the first business bank account of your start-up is a quite hard and “emotional” decision. You never can be sure if the bank suits your needs unless you try their services and see if their business support, features and pricing is suitable for your small business.

Looking at the list above we would recommend Natwest as they offer a quite long free period of 24 months and the free Regus Gold Card membership for one year. This membership can be especially interesting for start-ups which operate from a home office and need to meet customers on a regular basis. Meeting customers at a Regus address will definitely come across more professional as meeting them in your living room.