Barclays Bank offer small business owners the chance to have free business banking for up to 24 months depending on what other services you apply for. Once you have completed your free banking period then you get free automated transactions (which for most people means free banking). Here's our review of the accounts Barclays offers.
| Provider | Account Name | Free Banking Period | Apply Online |
 | Barclays Start-up Business Bank Account
Completely free business banking for up to 2 years then free automated transactions thereafter (*) | up to 24 months |  |
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| Barclays Business Current Account Free automated transactions with Barclays Business Essentials Package (*) | for life | |
Both of these business bank accounts from Barclays are great for new and existing businesses because they both offer periods of free banking plus a load of other extras as well. The account has :
This offer is available for individual(s) setting up the first business bank account for a business within its first 12 months of trading. There is no charge for standard transactions for 12 months with our standard Business Start-Up Package. There is no charge for standard transactions for 18 months if Business Essentials , Business Essentials Plus or Barclays Business Manager software are purchased at the time of opening the account. There is no charge for standard transactions for two years if Business Essentials and CREDITFOCUS or Business Essentials Plus and CREDITFOCUS Pro are purchased at the time of opening the account. This applies to everyday Sterling debit and credit transactions and the maintenance fee. Please note accounts must be active. At the end of your free business banking period, we will automatically set your account to the Free Automated Transactions Tariff.
The Barclays business essentials bank account is the same as the standard account but comes with additional benefits that you pay a monthly charge for. This and the next account are great to make savings on standard business tools if you need them. Here's an overview of what you can expect.
The business manager package from Barclays is their premium start-up package that is the same as the essentials account with a few more extras.
No matter what account you choose from Barclays when starting a business you get access to a wide range of services for free making this one of the most comprehensive banks to deal with. So even if you simply choose their base account for free business banking for the 12 months you still get access to all the following services:
Here's a summary of what Barclays offer their business account for all businesses:
You can also choose their free automated tariff which is still a monthly fee of £5.50 but automated transactions made via internet banking or over the telephone are free but some charges increase such as cheques go from 59p to 79p and cash paid in from 0.55% to 0.85%.