Wise is the best all-round business bank account for digital nomads. Get your free Wise account now
Fed up with old-fashioned banking restrictions disrupting your international lifestyle?
Get ready for seamless business banking on the go – with our roundup of the best business bank accounts for digital nomads in 2023.
Here they are:
- Wise for Business 🌎
- Revolut Business 🌍 /🇬🇧
- Tide Business Account 🇬🇧
- Starling Business Account 🇬🇧/🇪🇺
- Monese Business Account 🇬🇧
If you want the details on what makes these accounts great (and the bad bits too!), then keep reading for our full review of each bank account.
Let’s get to it!
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5 Best Business Bank Accounts for Digital Nomads in 2023
Having a reliable business bank account is one of the fundamentals for doing business across borders.
But for people who live a global lifestyle, not just any business bank account will do.
You need one that allows smooth and inexpensive currency conversions, fast transfers, and the ability to accept payments like a local – wherever you are in the world.
The best business bank accounts for digital nomads will allow you to do all these things and more. And the great thing is, most of the bank accounts in this article have totally free options to help you get started.
Whether you’re in crypto or e-commerce, or something in between, keep reading to find out the key benefits of these business bank accounts.
#1. Wise Business Account
Overview
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is one of the most well-known multi-currency, cross-border accounts for digital nomads and expats.
The Wise business account bills itself as “the no hassle international business account”.
As a Wise user for over four years, I can safely say that statement is accurate. Wise for Business offers a range of clever features to make life easier for borderless business owners.
In fact, it’s pretty much a “set and forget” business bank account.
Wise started life as a currency exchange provider, which is still one of its major strengths. Wise for Business offers the largest number of local currency accounts – 10 different currencies!
Here’s a list of all the local currency accounts you can set up with Wise:
- AUD from any bank account in Australia
- CAD from any bank account in Canada
- EUR from any bank account in the world that’s denominated in EUR
- GBP from any bank account in the UK, or by SWIFT
- NZD from any bank account in New Zealand
- MYR from any bank account in Malaysia (Only available for Malaysian Personal Accounts)
- PLN from any bank account in Poland
- SGD from any bank account in Singapore
- USD from any bank account in the US, or by SWIFT from certain countries
- RON from any bank account in Romania (only available if you’re a resident in the EEA, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Australia, or Japan.)
- HUF from any bank account in Hungary
- TRY from any bank account in Turkey
Highlights of Wise for Business
- Collect money seamlessly from around the world, via Amazon, Stripe, and more – in up to 10 currencies (great for e-commerce & creators)
- Reduce payment hassles with invoice templates to get paid on time and for free — like a local.
- Fast, easy currency conversions at the real exchange rate
- Make payments with one click — with the real exchange rate, in 80 countries. 6x cheaper than traditional banks, and 19x cheaper than PayPal.
- No monthly fees, no surprise fees – only pay for what you use, and be notified of any other fees, so you always have the choice
- Hold over 50 currencies in your account – for free (up to 30,000 EUR)
- High cash withdrawal limits – £1,500 daily and £3,000 monthly
- Fast payroll system for up to 1,000 international employees – with just one transfer.
Pricing
The Wise for Business account has no monthly fees and no surprise fees.
You only pay for what you use, and Wise will always notify you before a fee is charged.
Here’s a breakdown of all the fees for the Wise Business account
| Feature | Price (GBP) |
|---|---|
| Account opening | 45 GBP |
| Sending money | From 0.41% (varies by currency) |
| Receiving money (AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, RON, SGD, TRY and USD (non-wire)) | Free |
| Receiving USD wire payments | 4.14 USD |
| Withdrawing 200 GBP per month | Free |
| ATM fees over 200 GBP per month | 1.75% (+ 0.50 GBP per withdrawal) |
| Getting the Wise debit card | 3 GBP |
| Converting money | From 0.41% (varies by currency) |
| Hold 50+ currencies | Free |
| Hold more than 30,000 EUR | 0.07% (charged only on the amount that exceeds 30,000 EUR) |
| Invest with Wise | 0.55% (annual fee) |
Bottom Line
Wise has added more fees since I first started using its business account in 2018. But, despite this, Wise for Business is a convenient and low-cost way to manage your business funds and transactions across borders.
Thanks to its pedigree as a money exchange service, Wise offers a massive amount of currencies to choose from. It’s the best choice for borderless business owners who need access to a wide variety of currencies and local account details.
(Note: for large money transfers, e.g. anything over 5,000 £, $ or €, I’d recommend using a specialized service such as Currencies Direct, instead of Wise. You can track your funds more easily, set forward contracts and limit orders, and have a personal account manager on hand for any issues).
Wise for Business allows you to pay like a local in over 10 currencies – the most of any of the services I reviewed for this article.
It’s an excellent way for EU and UK based business owners to get a free USD business account. In fact, at Digital Émigré, we use a Wise for Business account to access USD local bank details free of charge.
Overall, Wise offers one of the best business bank accounts for digital nomads.
#2. Revolut Business
Overview
Revolut burst onto the scene in 2015 with a pre-paid multi-currency card, then quickly became a staple among the digital nomad and expat community.
Revolut’s app-based personal account is one of the best around, with a range of innovative features.
In 2021, Revolut became the UK’s largest fintech company, with a £24 billion valuation.
Now, Revolut has launched its business bank account in a bid to shake up the traditional business banking model.
Today, over 500,000 companies in Europe and the United States are using a Revolut business bank account. It’s an excellent contender among the best business bank accounts for digital nomads.
To be eligible for a Revolut business account, you must either be a registered sole trader or have a business incorporated in one of the following countries:
Aland Islands, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mayotte, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
If your business is set up in a country that’s not on this list, you can register your interest and be notified when Revolut opens operations there.
Highlights of Revolut Business
- 30+ currencies available to hold and exchange
- Take payments like a local with GBP and EUR accounts
- Reduce payroll hassles with on-board payroll management tools
- Manage your team’s expenses on the go with receipt capture and prepaid business expense cards
- Make accounting easy with Revolut’s integrations with popular accounting software like FreeAgent or Xero
- Set up direct debit payments (UK based accounts only)
- Pay securely online with virtual one-time use cards
- Prestigious solid metal MasterCards (paid plans only)
Pricing
Revolut offers two different types of business accounts, one for freelancers/sole traders and one for corporations.
Each type of account has a free option, with various paid tiers available for different feature sets. All paid plans are charged monthly.
Here’s a full overview.
Revolut Business Account for Freelancers
| Plan | FREE | PRO | ULTIMATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per month (£) | £0 | £7 | £25 |
| Free metal cards | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Free local payments included per month | 5 | 20 | 100 |
| Payments between Revolut accounts | Free and unlimited | Free and unlimited | Free and unlimited |
Revolut Business Account for Companies
| Plan | FREE | GROW | SCALE | ENTERPRISE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per month (£) | 0 | 25 | 100 | Contact Revolut for price plans |
| Free metal cards | 0 | 1 | 2 | Custom |
| Free local payments included per month | 5 | 100 | 1,000 | Custom |
| Free international payments included per month | 0 | 10 | 50 | Custom |
| Team members | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Priority support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| GBP & EUR local accounts included | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Expense management | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Payroll management | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Business IBAN number | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Bottom Line
Revolut business accounts are great for freelancers, as well as corporations dealing with multiple currencies.
You can hold and exchange funds in over 30 currencies at competitive rates.
Revolut is also great for businesses that need to accept payments like a local in either GBP or EUR (USD local accounts currently aren’t supported).
The free version is great for early-stage startups and small businesses, although you’ll probably want to upgrade once your business grows – especially if you’re working with a team.
You can’t deposit cash or checks into Revolut business accounts, but that’s unlikely to be an issue for digital nomads working across borders.
#3. Tide
Overview
Founded in 2017 to serve the UK’s small business community, Tide has become one of the UK’s fastest growing B2B fintech companies.
Tide aims to overcome some of the common issues plaguing small business owners, such as lack of easy credit, difficult account opening processes, and high fees for maintaining a business bank account.
With Tide, it takes less than five minutes to get an active sort code and account number, credit approval is instant, and invoicing and expenses management are automated.
Tide is a good fit for those with an online business incorporated in the UK, and mainly serving UK clients. For digital nomads, this could still be a good option, but Tide is more aimed at the UK-centric business owner.
The great thing is, you don’t have to be a UK resident to open a Tide account. You just have to have a UK-based limited company.
Highlights of Tide
- FREE standard plan (paid plans also available)
- 24/7 customer service included via in-app chat & phone
- Fully regulated UK bank account, with deposits protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- Scheduled payments – Set up and edit standing orders and one-off payments, see and manage your Direct Debits
- Boost your business cashflow with easy Direct Debit invoice payments – via Tide’s integration with GoCardless.
- Access credit options to suit your business – all from within the Tide app
- Make accounting easy with Tide’s integrations with popular accounting software like Xero, Sage, Kashflow, FreeAgent, QuickBooks, ClearBooks and Crunch.
- Manage your team’s expenses on the go with fast receipt capture and categorization
- Security features – enable and disable cards instantly
Pricing
| Plan | FREE | PLUS | CASHBACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per month (£) | £0 | £9.99 (plus VAT) | £49.99 (plus VAT) |
| Tide business debit card | Free | Free | Free |
| Expense cards for your team | £5 / month | 1 free included | 3 free included |
| Transfers in & out | 20p / transfer | 20 free / month | 150 free / month |
| ATM withdrawals | £1 | £1 | £1 |
| Scheduled payments | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Accounting integrations – Quickbooks, Xero, Sage and more | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Multi-business – hold up to 5 business accounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Priority in-app & phone support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 24/7 legal helpline | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dedicated account managers | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| 0.5% cashback with Tide card | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Bottom Line
Tide is an interesting addition to our stable of best business bank accounts for digital nomads.
It has an extensive range of useful features, such as holding up to 5 business accounts in one app, dedicated account managers, business loans, and wide range of accounting integrations.
Not all of those features come with the standard plan, so you’ll probably need to upgrade to one of the paid options.
If you’ve got a UK limited company, but live outside the UK, then you might find Tide a bit too UK-centric for your needs.
But Tide is a useful option if you need to set up a UK business bank account as a non-UK resident.
#4. Starling
Overview
Starling Bank is one of the UK’s most popular challenger banks. It offers a fantastic personal account, and its business account is also great.
In fact, here at Digital Émigré, Starling is our current business bank account of choice.
And we’re in good company. Over 500,000 UK businesses currently use Starling for their business banking needs.
It’s really easy to apply for a new account from within the Starling app.
Starling business current accounts are suitable for sole traders and limited companies (but not for partnerships). The basic account is free to use, with a variety of paid add-ons available for a range of business needs.
What’s more, Starling’s customer support is available 24/7, totally free, and (importantly!) you get to speak with actual humans, rather than just chatbots.
However, keep in mind that the company director will need to provide proof of UK residency when they open the Starling business account.
If you have a UK limited company but with a non-UK resident director, a business account with Tide or Wise will likely be a better fit than Starling.
Highlights of the Starling Business Account
- Totally FREE – No monthly fees for the standard account (one of the only UK banks to offer this)
- 24/7 customer service included via app, phone or email – with top ratings nationwide
- Fully regulated UK bank account, with deposits protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- Free unlimited UK payments and direct debits
- Easily switch to Starling in an instant with the handy Current Account Switch service
- Make accounting easy with Starling’s integrations with popular accounting software like QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Xero
- Manage your team’s expenses on the go with fast receipt capture and categorization
- Full account access for multiple directors and persons with significant control (as listed on Companies House)
Pricing
All Starling UK business bank accounts are totally free of charge to set up and operate.
Starling offers several handy paid add-ons, which we’ll take a look at now.
Add-on #1: The Business Toolkit. £7 per month incl. VAT (FREE for the first month)
- Best for freelancers and sole traders
- Create, send and match invoices in a few clicks
- HMRC tax calculation, tax report, and automated savings
- Record VAT and submit Making Tax Digital VAT return
Add-on #2: EUR business account. £2 per month
- Exchange and hold funds in EUR alongside your GBP
- Local account details to make and receive local payments for free in the eurozone
- Make card payments for free like a local using your regular business bank card
If your UK company does business in Europe, Starling’s euro business account will be an essential add-on for you.
It’s well worth the extra £2 per month for the convenience of holding the two currencies in one place.
Add-on #3: USD business account. £5 per month
- Hold, send and receive USD – great for doing business with US-based clients
- Get local US account details, for easier, cost-free payments.
- Convenience – use your regular business bank card; no need to juggle two
Bottom Line
In our opinion, Starling offers the UK’s best business bank account for digital nomads.
No other UK business bank account offers the same level of service and features while still remaining fee-free.
If you have a UK-based company, or you’re registered as a sole trader in the UK, it’s a no-brainer to choose Starling for your business banking needs.
Those doing business across borders in EUR or USD will need to sign up for a paid add-on. But Starling’s monthly charges for that are relatively modest.
While Starling lacks Revolut or Wise’s wide range of global currencies, it makes up for that in terms of solid service and reliability.
Starling is the best option for a full UK business bank account that’s FSC protected and also has several currencies available.
#5. Monese
Overview
Created in 2015, Monese has been voted one of the UK’s best challenger banks. It was founded to do away with the cumbersome process of utility bills and credit checks.
The Monese personal account focuses on simplicity, and the business account was created with the same philosophy in mind.
All you need to open the account is a UK registered business and a smartphone.
One of Monese’s key strengths is its super simple set up process. You don’t even need a utility bill to get started with Monese. Instead, they verify your address by geolocation.
But how does Monese fare among the best business bank accounts for digital nomads?
Highlights of Monese Business
- Fast, stress-free account opening
- Free to move money between Monese accounts
- Move money like a local with the UK Faster Payments network
- Great for global businesses – send international payments fast, easily, securely
- Organize your business finances with up to 10 different savings pots
- Peace of mind with high-end security features like biometric unlock, back-end encryption and 3D Secure
- Multilingual customer support in 14 languages – great for global teams
Pricing
| Feature | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Monese business account | £9.95 / month (free with Classic personal account) |
| Foreign currency card spending | 0.5% fee per transaction |
| Foreign currency transfers | Free between Monese accounts (from 0.5% fee when sending to non-Monese accounts, £2 minimum fee |
| Contactless debit card | |
| Cash top-ups at UK Post Office & PayPoint locations | £1 each at Post Office and 2.5% at PayPoint (minimum £1) |
| ATM withdrawals | 6 FREE per month (£1 each thereafter) |
Bottom Line
Monese is a great choice for global teams with its customer support in 40 languages. It’s extremely easy to get up and running with the business bank account.
It also offers savings pots, which is useful for organising your business finances for meeting different goals.
There’s a £9.95 per month charge, which is quite costly compared to some of the other options, which offer totally free tiers.
But, if you already have a Monese personal account, you can get a business account for free.
Real-life example: Our business banking setup
Here at Digital Émigré, we’ve been through some trial and error to arrive at our current business banking set up.
I’m sharing the details here to give you an example of how to combine several of the best business bank accounts for digital nomads to create the perfect global cross-border stack.
Here’s a brief explanation about why we chose this particular set up.
The company is incorporated in the UK and currently pays business taxes in GBP. That’s why it made sense to use Starling for our main business bank account.
What’s more, Starling’s excellent customer service means any problems with the main account can be ironed out smoothly.
Starling also integrates seamlessly with our accounting software, QuickBooks.
As a cross-border online business, we also accept payments in EUR and USD. Starling offers local bank details and the ability to hold both of those currencies, but at an extra charge.
That’s where Wise for Business comes in.
Our Wise account is the main destination for our EUR and USD funds – for receiving payments in those currencies like a local, for holding the currencies, and for exchanging between them.
We also have a Wise account in GBP, but we typically use Starling for receiving payments from UK clients.
Wise for Business is also our account of choice for doing currency exchange within the business. For example, we might need to convert EUR to GBP at tax time.
Stripe isn’t a bank, but it’s our favorite payment processor. We use it to automatically and seamlessly accept customer payments in GBP, EUR, and USD.
As we’re currently charging mainly in EUR or USD, our Stripe account integrates neatly with our Wise for Business account.
Lastly, there’s PayPal, which we use as a last resort (because it charges large fees).
However, some clients and situations insist on PayPal, so we include a PayPal for Business account in our stack too.
In the new world of global business banking, combining several accounts is a good way to get the perfect set up for your particular business workflow.
Most of the best business bank accounts for digital nomads will be a good fit for this approach, as they’re typically flexible, easy to open, and often free to maintain.
Before you go…
In this article, we’ve reviewed five of the best business accounts for digital nomads and expats.
They are:
Important features to look for in a business bank account for digital nomads include the ability to hold and exchange multiple currencies, open an account without a fixed address, and accept payments from clients worldwide.
Note: if you’re looking to transfer a large amount of money abroad, you should explore a specialist money transfer service, such as Currencies Direct.
My overall top pick for best business bank account for digital nomads is Wise Business. It’s a great fit for doing borderless business, while also affordable.
