ANNA Money business account review

After signing up for ANNA through its quick online sign up process, you will receive your digital account. The features you’ll have access to include:

• Business account and debit card: ANNA business accounts come with a Mastercard debit card. The business account does pretty much all you would expect from a traditional business current account, including offering direct debits (but not overdrafts).
• App: ANNA’s app includes the usual services that come with a digital banking app, and has some handy features such as personalised spending reports.
• Invoice service: ANNA can create invoices for you and even chase due payments (politely!). It also automatically matches payments and invoices, helping you keep your accounts in order.
• Additional debit cards: These have individual spending controls. You can give them to other employees and manage your expenses more easily.
• 24/7 assistance: It combines an AI-based chatbot and in-app support offered by a UK-based customer service team. They aim to get back to you within 10 minutes (and ANNA will refund your monthly subscription if they don’t).
• Cashback: ANNA offers 1% cashback on a range of business expenses.
• Connect all your accounts: The ANNA app can also be connected to other business or personal bank accounts through Open Banking, so you can keep an eye on all your transactions and do your budgeting all in one place.
• Integrate with Xero: ANNA accounts can be integrated with accounting software package Xero, so all your business banking transactions will feed through to your accounting platform.
• Submit your VAT return: You can connect your ANNA account to HMRC’s digital portal, then use ANNA’s tools to calculate your VAT and submit your return.

ANNA is also planning a whole lot of handy new features, such as the ability to connect your business account with your accounting software, to do international money transfers and to do your tax calculation and HMRC filing automatically.

ANNA has four pricing tiers that customers can choose from:

• Under £500 monthly income: This ‘basic’ version of ANNA comes free of charge and includes 2 debit cards, as well as the app’s core admin features such as invoicing, tax reminders and auto-matching payments to invoices. You also get £100 worth of free ATM withdrawals a month, and 2 free electronic money transfers in the UK (in or out of your account).
• Up to £2,000 monthly income. For £4.90 a month, you get 4 free electronic money transfers in the UK, a £300 limit on free cash withdrawals, 3 debit cards, and access to most of ANNA’s app features.
• Up to £20,000 monthly income. This plan costs £9.90 a month and includes all of ANNA’s app features. It comes with up to 5 debit cards, 35 free UK bank transfers, and up to £2,000 a month of free ATM withdrawals.
• Up to £500,000 monthly income. ANNA’s top tier costs £19.90 a month and comes with unlimited additional cards and UK bank transfers. All of ANNA’s admin features are included and the limit on free ATM withdrawals is £10,000 a month.

Card payments are always free in the UK, but a foreign transaction fee will be applied if you use the card abroad.

How do I apply for an ANNA account?

ANNA promises that you can set up an account in 10 minutes and that the card will be on its way the same day. For a business account, it does seem pretty fast and stress-free to sign up to, and obviously you can do it online.

Eligible businesses include limited companies (you need to be the director to sign up) and non-limited businesses that are structured as a partnership or sole trader. You must be living in the UK.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

• Proof of identity: a driving licence or passport.
• Proof of address: a utility bill or a bank statement, not older than three months.
• Details of the company: name, address, and date of birth for shareholders who own 25% or more of your company.

Compare the fees of popular business bank accounts

ANNA isn’t a bank, so it doesn’t have a banking licence or benefit from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) deposit protection of up to £85,000. However, ANNA is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the company that issues the debit card, Wirecard Card Solutions, has an electronic money licence. This means that customer money has to be kept separate from company money and can never be used to pay the company’s debts. The Mastercard debit card is protected by a PIN and you can block the card in the app if it gets lost or stolen.