“ANNA isn’t a bank, but it offers a business account with a debit card and an app that helps you manage your banking and invoices, doing a good chunk of the admin work for you,” says Finder’s banking publisher, Matthew Boyle. “It’s one of the growing number of online-only business banking apps and ANNA Money has been featured as one of our best business bank accounts for invoicing.”
ANNA Money business account review
ANNA’s business account promises to set you free from admin. We look at all its features and fees, to help you decide if your business should sign up for one.
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ANNA Money offers digital-only business accounts which also come with invoicing and expense management features, all managed from an app.
Compare Anna Money’s business accounts
What is ANNA?
ANNA Money (also just known as ANNA) is an online business current account and digital assistant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It’s known for the judgmental cat noises the card makes every time you use it, reminding you to be careful with your spending. So yes, the slogan “the debit card that miaows” is quite literal. Feline sounds aside, ANNA stands for “Absolutely No-Nonsense Admin”.
How does ANNA work?
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.
How much does ANNA cost?
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.
Is ANNA right for my business?
ANNA is suitable for sole traders and SMEs that do the vast majority of their transactions in the UK. Since it charges foreign transaction fees and doesn’t offer international bank transfers, it isn’t a good solution if you need to travel often or trade overseas. The other thing to consider is that ANNA’s most innovative features are the support you get for invoices and expenses. If you have an efficient alternative in place, you probably don’t need ANNA.
Compare the fees of popular business bank accounts
 | |
| Product Name | ANNA |
| Account fee | Free Free up to a max. balance of £5,000 (or up to £500 paid in per month) |
| FSCS protected | |
| UK ATM charge | Free up to £100 per month |
| Account software integration | |
| Accounting integrations | Xero |
| Additional cards | 1 |
| Requires credit check | Soft search with no impact on credit score |
| Credit check | |
| Credit check details | Soft search with no impact on credit score |
| Key benefits | Earn 1% cashback for paying with your ANNA card in selected categories. Get a 6-month free trial |
| Overdraft | |
| Freeze card from app or online banking | |
| Instant notifications | |
| Interest rate | 0% |
| Current account switch guarantee |
Doing business overseas with ANNA
| |
| Product Name | ANNA |
| Overseas ATM charge | Free up to £100 per month |
| International transfer charge | Via Payoneer and subject to Payoneer's fees |
ANNA customer reviews
ANNA doesn’t have as many customer reviews as some other players in the business banking space, but those it does have are largely positive. It has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 from over 600 reviews on the App Store, and over on Google Play, it has an average score of 4.3 out of 5 from more than 700 Android app users (March 2021).
On Trustpilot, ANNA received a mark of 4.7 out of 5, and a rating of Excellent, from nearly 1,000 reviews. Many users praised the app’s invoicing features and the brand’s customer service, although a limited number of customers experienced individual problems with payment processing or account blocking.
Is ANNA safe?
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.
Pros and cons of ANNA
Pros
- Free version with core admin features available, so you can try out ANNA for your business.
- Quick and easy set up, especially for a business account.
- Easy to use app with useful money management features.
- Invoice and expense services integrated in the app.
- 24/7 in-app support that aims to respond within 10 minutes.
- You can connect accounts held with other providers to the ANNA app through Open Banking.
- Integration with accounting software Xero.
- You can calculate your VAT return and submit it to HMRC.
Cons
- Foreign currency fees for transactions in another currency apply.
- You may still need a traditional bank account for some of your business’ financial needs.
- No credit facilities or overdrafts available.
Our verdict
While there are other business accounts available, ANNA’s strongest selling point is that it really integrates banking with expense management and invoicing (and even accounting, to a degree). Few business account providers offer the same services and account types at ANNA’s price, which makes it very competitive.
All in all, ANNA looks like a good choice for a tech-savvy business owner who’s looking to do all their admin and banking from the same app. However, keep in mind that there are better options out there if you do much of your business abroad.
Get started by visiting ANNA's website and sign up for an account. If you have read this review and decided that ANNA’s account is not for you, you can also compare other business bank accounts on the market.
Frequently asked questions
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you.
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Ask an Expert
How do you deposit money to Anna?
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for getting in touch with Finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
Upon checking, you can’t actually deposit money to ANNA, but rather, ANNA is more of an app that helps you handle your business transactions. For this reason, you would still need a traditional bank account when using ANNA.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Joshua