Fig. 1 · A card terminal, part by part
We read a business account the way you would take apart a card terminal.
From the price on the receipt down to the licence and the money behind it. Scroll, and the terminal lifts apart one layer at a time.
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01 Receipt printer
The price prints last.
Revolut Business UK plans cost 10, 35 and 125 pounds a month. Wise Business charges 50 pounds once, then a conversion fee from 0.24%. At 5,000 pounds converted a month Wise costs about 12 pounds against 34 on Revolut Basic.
Wise Business against Revolut Business -
02 Keypad
Who may press the keys at all.
There is no legal right to a business account: the EU basic account right covers consumers only, and the FCA says the UK has none. N26 Business and bunq Free Business are for people trading in their own name.
The best business account for a startup in Europe -
03 Top case
A case can be sealed shut.
Revolut Business says it reviews a limited account within 15 business days. After a suspicious activity disclosure the Proceeds of Crime Act sets a 7 working day notice period and a 31 day moratorium.
How long a frozen business account stays frozen -
04 Display
The screen lists more than it pays out.
Wise receives money in 22 currencies and holds more than 40. Airwallex gives local details in 20 or more. A virtual IBAN looks like any other IBAN and has no legal definition at EU level, according to the EBA.
Multi currency business accounts, compared -
05 NFC coil and keypad membrane
Every rail carries its own fee.
The EU mark-up rule over ECB reference rates covers card payments. Flat fees can outweigh it: 10 incoming Fedwire payments cost 80 pounds at Revolut, and 20 Swift payments 200 to 400 pounds at Airwallex.
What the details and the rate really cost -
06 Main board and secure element
The licence runs the machine.
UK deposits are covered up to 120,000 pounds per person per banking licence, EU deposits up to 100,000 euro. E-money and payment institutions are not covered by the FSCS: they safeguard funds instead.
Are neobank deposits protected? -
07 Battery
Where the stored money sits.
An e-money firm keeps customer funds in a safeguarding account in its own name, apart from its own money. Since 7 May 2026 UK firms reconcile it at least once every business day and file a monthly return.
What a safeguarding account is
Putting it back together
The journal
- Multi currency business accounts, compared by what the details and the rate really costForty currencies on a landing page can mean twenty two you can actually be paid in. A comparison of four providers by local details, IBAN country, markup over the rate and the flat fees nobody puts in the headline.
- How long a frozen business account actually stays frozenA freeze runs on a provider's review clock, a statutory clock nobody may mention, or a complaint clock you start yourself. What each provider promises, what the law allows, and what shortens the damage.
- Wise Business against Revolut Business, read as two legal entities and two price modelsOne is a bank in the UK and charges by the month. The other is an e-money institution and charges by the conversion. The cheaper one depends on your monthly volume, and the numbers meet at about 15,000 pounds.
- The best business account for a startup in Europe depends on the stage the company is atA company in formation, a founder trading in their own name and an incorporated startup with a US shareholder are refused and accepted by different providers. Sort by eligibility first, then by price.
- What a safeguarding account is, and what it is notOne pooled account in the firm's name, a ledger kept by the same firm, and since May 2026 a daily reconciliation and an annual audit. Here is what each of those does and does not tell a customer.
- Are neobank deposits protected? It depends on the licence, not the appA bank licence brings a compensation scheme. An e-money licence brings a duty to keep your money apart. The two fail very differently, and the app looks the same either way.