Sole traders sometimes use a personal bank account for their business finances. However, it’s much more practical to keep your business and personal finances separate. It can also help when you come to do your tax return.
If you’re considering a business-only account, you might want to look at Amaiz. This business account is certainly packed with features, but it’s not necessarily the cheapest option. Amaiz has been featured as one of our best business bank accounts for startups and beginners. So let’s take a closer look.
What is Amaiz?
Amaiz is a relatively new fintech company that offers digital-only current accounts to sole traders and limited companies. It fully launched in June 2019 and its account features bring together banking, invoicing and accounting.
How does Amaiz work?
You can open an Amaiz account in a few minutes from the app. You get an account and a debit card, plus a series of useful app features to manage your business finances:
Freeze your card on the go. If you lose it or it gets stolen.
Push notifications and live balances. So that you can always keep track of what you’re spending and when.
Jar sub-account. This lets you set money aside to save for an incoming expense or a holiday or anything else.
Spending charts and analysis. Including automatic spending categorisation that divides your expenses into different groups.
Invoicing tool. You can create invoices and send them to your customers directly from the app.
Accountancy advice included. From ACCA certified accountants that can be contacted via email or live chat in the app.
Accounting software integration. At the moment, it’s available with FreeAgent. Amaiz says Sage and Xero are coming soon.
The account does (almost) all you can expect: you can make bank transfers, set up and manage your direct debits and load cash into the account at every Post Office in the UK. Amaiz says standing orders will also be available soon.
The card lets you make payments and withdraw cash from ATMs both in the UK and abroad.
How much does Amaiz cost?
Amaiz costs either £4.99 a month or £9.99 a month, plus VAT, depending on the plan you choose. It also offers business accounts for established and growing businesses which cost £24.99 or £99 per month.
UK card payments, bank transfers and ATM withdrawals are all included in the fee. You can withdraw up to £500 a day. Using the card abroad will cost you though:
Card payments outside the UK. 0.5% of the transaction in the European Economic Area, 1% anywhere else.
ATM withdrawals outside the UK. £1.25 in the European Economic Area, £2 anywhere else.
Doing business overseas with Amaiz
Product Name
Amaiz Starter
Overseas transaction details
EEA transaction charge = 0.5% Intraregional = 1%
Overseas ATM charge
European = £1.25, Other ATMs £2
International transfer charge
N/A
Is Amaiz safe?
Amaiz isn’t a fully licensed bank, so there’s no deposit protection on your funds.
However, it is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to hold electronic money. Your money will be held in a separate client account that cannot be touched by Amaiz. So your deposits can’t be lent out and are safe even if the company were to go bust.
Amaiz rates and fees
Product Name
Amaiz Sole Trader
Account fee
From £4.99 (+vat)
Bank transfers
Free
Overseas card transaction fees
0.1% minimum £20
FSCS protected
Accounting integrations
FreeAgent
Requires credit check
Overdraft
Freeze card from app or online banking
Instant notifications
Interest (AER)
0% AER
Pros and cons
Pros
Have your account up and running in a few minutes.
A very comprehensive business account with loads of features.
Freeze your card from the app if it gets lost or stolen.
Free accounting advice included in the price.
Cons
Pricing structure is a little unclear.
Extra fees if you use the card abroad.
No overdrafts or credit facilities available.
Not all the planned features are available yet.
Customer service information for Amaiz
Email support
Telephone support
In-app or live chat
Contact form
Branch support
The verdict
As we said, Amaiz isn’t the cheapest business account on the market, especially if you sometimes need to take your card abroad. Starling Bank, for example, offers solid business accounts that come with both zero monthly fees and fee-free spending abroad.
However, the wide range of features, including invoicing and budgeting tools and even accounting advice, partially make up for that. An Amaiz account is certainly a commitment but can be extremely practical and give you great peace of mind. When it comes to business money, sometimes it may be worth spending a bit more and having all you need in the same place, so that you can concentrate on your work.
Get started by visiting Amaiz's website and sign up for an account. If you have read this review and decided that Amaiz’s account is not for you, you can also compare other business bank accounts on the market.
Frequently asked questions
Amaiz says it should take around 5-7 days for your card to arrive.
Amaiz’s account limits are as follows:
Maximum balance. £40,000. Plus £40,000 in the Jar sub account. This rises to £70,000 for limited companies.
Bank transfer/direct debit maximum amount. £10,000.
Card transaction limit. £10,000.
Daily ATM withdrawal limit. £500.
Yes, there are. Anna is worth checking out as it’s quite similar to Amaiz and a bit cheaper for sole traders. Tide can also be a good idea.
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. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Valentina Cipriani was a writer at Finder UK. She wrote news, features and guides about banking and credit cards, helping people to improve their financial lives. She holds an MA in International Journalism. See full bio
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