It depends. If you’re a limited company, you’re required by law to open a business account. This is because your business is seen as a separate legal entity.

If you’re a sole trader or freelancer, opening a business account is not mandatory. That said, some banks may prohibit you from using your personal bank account for business transactions. With that in mind, it’s generally a good idea for sole traders and freelancers to open a business account.

It usually takes less than 10 minutes to open a business account with SumUp. Once you’ve signed up and verified your identity, your account number and sort code are ready to use right away, so you can instantly add money and make transfers while your prepaid debit card is on its way.

On rare occasions, it might take us a little longer to verify your documents, especially if the photo of your ID document is blurry or if the address you entered doesn’t match the one on your proof of address.

Before we can open your business account, we first need to verify your identity. All you’ll need to do is upload a photo of an ID document, such as a valid driving licence or passport.

We may also ask you to provide a utility bill or bank statement too, as a means of verifying your address.

Opening a business account with SumUp is 100% free. We also don’t charge a monthly or annual fee, or a fee to send or receive money.

The SumUp Card is 100% free. To order yours, all you need to do is open a free business account with SumUp.

Yes, when we say ‘free’, we mean it. It won’t cost you a penny to open your business account, nor to send, receive, spend or manage your money.

The only fees we charge are on withdrawals that exceed your monthly free withdrawal allowance and on withdrawals made abroad. In both cases, the fee is 2%.

To help protect your money if your card is lost or stolen, there are certain limits on the amount you can transact (see below). You can contact our Support Team if you'd like to request a change to your limits.

Card payments (in shops and online)

• Per payment: £3,000

• Daily limit: £15,000

Cash withdrawals

• Per withdrawal: £500

• Daily limit: £2,000

Outgoing transfers

• Per transfer: £15,000

• Daily limit: £25,000

• Monthly limit: £75,000

Incoming transfers

There are no limits on the amount of money you can receive.

No, SumUp isn't a bank. We are a leading financial services provider and an authorised electronic money institution, regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (licence no. 900700). This enables us to issue secure e-money accounts, account numbers, sort codes and prepaid Mastercards for your small business.

We protect our customers' funds in e-money accounts that are separate from SumUp's own bank accounts, which means your money is safeguarded against any eventuality. We believe this allows us to offer a more secure, flexible alternative to business bank accounts, providing our customers better protection against fraud with less paperwork.

Your funds are protected at all times.

As an authorised electronic money institution in the UK, we're regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and operate in accordance with the FCA's rules and regulations.

This means that we safeguard your funds in segregated accounts that are unattached to our own, so that whatever happens, your money is secure and available to you.

We also use 3D Secure technology to guarantee your payments are secure. Whenever you make a payment online using your SumUp Mastercard, you'll get a notification on your phone asking you to verify the transaction.

Find answers to more of your questions in our Support Centre.