Can’t get business bank account for ltd company

Can’t get business bank account for ltd company, please advise.

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Hi, I am an independent fetish video producer (non nudity, very mild).  I am earning around £75-£79k gross pa.  I was advised to go limited. I did then quickly learned that most Uk banks will not give business bank accounts to adult industries.  So I am completely stuck. Do I have to write off my ltd co before it’s even begun? Then remain as a sole trader.  Can anyone suggest a way around this.

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By Sheepy306
23rd Jul 2019 02:23

Have you tried the online ones like Cashplus Business, Tide, Acorn etc etc?

Which ones have you tried so far and been knocked back?

Can you be a little more vague or generic about the industry you work in when you apply, without actually telling untruths?

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Replying to Sheepy306:
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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 22:19

Sheepy306 wrote:

Have you tried the online ones like Cashplus Business, Tide, Acorn etc etc?

Which ones have you tried so far and been knocked back?

Can you be a little more vague or generic about the industry you work in when you apply, without actually telling untruths?

Thanks. I tried Natwest. Since being declined, I am put off trying any other bank because of the questions I got.

Part of my income is selling latex fashion photos so I said just that. I sell digital content online. It wasn’t a lie but kind of covered the sale of fetish video sales too.

If they declined me as a fashion model, they would definitely decline me as a fetish video producer.

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Replying to Sheepy306:
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By AndrewV12
17th May 2022 09:26

Great points Sheepy.

Tide is good for opening a Limited Company Bank account at May 2022 anyway.

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By SXGuy
23rd Jul 2019 07:16

I mean unless your Ltd company name is blatantly obvious what you do, I can't see an issue. I mean barclays will open bank accounts for Ltd companies pretty much straight away.

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Replying to SXGuy:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:26

No my company name is very generic and does not indicate anything.

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By MissAccounting
23rd Jul 2019 08:52

Ive got a client who works in the adult industry and they describe themselves as an entertainer or a model and got a bank account no problem.

As mentioned above unless your Ltd Co name is obvious then Im sure your business description will be fine as video producer?

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Replying to MissAccounting:
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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 22:23

MissAccounting wrote:

Ive got a client who works in the adult industry and they describe themselves as an entertainer or a model and got a bank account no problem.

As mentioned above unless your Ltd Co name is obvious then Im sure your business description will be fine as video producer?

When was this? Banks seem to be more inquisitive these days when it comes to business account applications.

They wanted to know my payment sources, what are their websites, can they see links to my work etc.

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Replying to Spacedust:
Caroline
By accountantccole
25th Jul 2019 12:33

Our one has also gone down as entertainer/model - has a Ltd co account

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Replying to accountantccole:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:31

But the bank wanted to do a business reveiw and required more information. I then had to do a prebooked phone conversation with their business team. They then wanted to know all kinds of details such as:

You mentioned you receive payments from abroad, who are your clients? (I then had to tell them I dont have clients, I sell digital content online via various online platforms).

They then wanted to know what platforms. Of course I could not give them the actual fetish sites I sell the content on, because they would immediately refuse my application. So I gave them the company name who pays out (different for our confidentiality reasons).

Then they wanted their website.
Then they wanted to know exactly what is is I sell.
(I said digital content, sales of fashion photos, videos etc)

It just got worse, over and over, more intrusive questions about what type of modelling I do. Is it PG, is it on TV, do I have an instagram or facebook.

Honestly, I was shocked at the questions.

I do not know how anyone as a model in this business can get a business going as a ltd company.

What bank is your model with? and are they in the adult industry as a model, or a mainstream fashion model?

Thanks

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Jerome lane stewart and co
By Jerome Lane
23rd Jul 2019 09:08

you should be able to get an account with more modern thinking banks (Metro or Tide for example). Otherwise, although not ideal, you could use your own personal account purely for business purposes and put a declaration of Trust and minutes in place explaining the issue and why a personal account is being used for a company. You could run into issues with suppliers and customers with the work around though.

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Replying to Jerome_Lane:
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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 22:25

Jerome_Lane wrote:

you should be able to get an account with more modern thinking banks (Metro or Tide for example). Otherwise, although not ideal, you could use your own personal account purely for business purposes and put a declaration of Trust and minutes in place explaining the issue and why a personal account is being used for a company. You could run into issues with suppliers and customers with the work around though.

Thanks, could you please explain more on your suggestion of using a personal account?

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Replying to Spacedust:
Jerome lane stewart and co
By Jerome Lane
24th Jul 2019 09:44

Can you contact me directly?

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Replying to Jerome_Lane:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:33

Thanks I haves sent you a DM

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
23rd Jul 2019 09:13

Just say you are a film maker.

Ensure the SIC code with Companies House is suitable vague too.

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:34

ireallyshouldknowthisbut wrote:

Just say you are a film maker.

Ensure the SIC code with Companies House is suitable vague too.

Yes, I could but they would again want more information about the type of films I produce, who I get money from, what are the businesses I sell to, and on it goes.

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By bernard michael
23rd Jul 2019 09:44

Are you sure it's not you they object to ?

Is there anything in your background/reputation they could take exception to ?

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 22:12

bernard michael wrote:

Are you sure it's not you they object to ?

Is there anything in your background/reputation they could take exception to ?

No, they said their decision is nothing to do with me personally, it’s just my business model.

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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 09:53

Hi guys, thank you for all your responses.

I initially applied to NatWest for a business bank account and got declined. However I was not completely honest about what I did, I did actually try to be very vague about it. I said I was a fashion model. I even made a website with some of my alternative latex modelling work. I then sell my photo sets on the same website where I sell my fetish videos. So that explains my income source.

They declined by business model. They said it had nothing to do with me personally, just my business model.

The amount of questions I had was ridiculous. For example what are the companies where you are receiving payment from, where are they located, what do they do, what do I do for marketing, exactly what do I sell, can we see links. It was way too intrusive for me to be completely honest, yet they still declined it anyway.

I am quite interested in the fact that I could possibly use a personal bank account, but not quite sure what this declaration of interest is? Is that for the bank or for HMRC or for companies house?

Thanks again for all your help guys, much appreciated.

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Replying to Spacedust:
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By SXGuy
23rd Jul 2019 10:16

Id suggest you go elsewhere then! I know for a fact all some banks care about is company name and number, brief description of business activity and expected turnover.

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Replying to SXGuy:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:40

SXGuy wrote:

Id suggest you go elsewhere then! I know for a fact all some banks care about is company name and number, brief description of business activity and expected turnover.

What banks are those exactly? Thanks

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By Spacedust
23rd Jul 2019 09:58

Hi guys, thank you for all your responses.

I initially applied to NatWest for a business bank account and got declined. However I was not completely honest about what I did, I did actually try to be very vague about it. I said I was a fashion model. I even made a website with some of my alternative latex modelling work. I then sell my photo sets on the same website where I sell my fetish videos. So that explains my income source.

They declined by business model. They said it had nothing to do with me personally, just my business model.

The amount of questions I had was ridiculous. For example what are the companies where you are receiving payment from, where are they located, what do they do, what do I do for marketing, exactly what do I sell, can we see links. It was way too intrusive for me to be completely honest, yet they still declined it anyway.

I am quite interested in the fact that I could possibly use a personal bank account, but not quite sure what this declaration of interest is? Is that for the bank or for HMRC or for companies house?

Thanks again for all your help guys, much appreciated.

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By bernard michael
23rd Jul 2019 10:06

Banking is still to a degree based on mutual trust and after reading your further information I suspect that's why they declined you . They didn't like your prevarication

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Replying to bernard michael:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:43

bernard michael wrote:

Banking is still to a degree based on mutual trust and after reading your further information I suspect that's why they declined you . They didn't like your prevarication

That's the issue. Do I come straight out and say I am a fetish model and I produce fetish content? I know immediately they will decline because banks see adult industries as high risk (even though I will not be accepting payments directly from the public). Also they do not like being associated with adult businesses for fear it hinders their reputation. Ridiculous when all is completely legal - plus much worse than my work is on TV!

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By Manchester_man
23rd Jul 2019 23:22

I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.

if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.

As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.

Try harder and you'll succeed

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Replying to Manchester_man:
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By Justin Bryant
24th Jul 2019 10:32

Yes; I agree re the personal account option and where on earth is Tax Dragon to tell us all that that is fraud etc?

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Replying to Manchester_man:
Melchett
By thestudyman
24th Jul 2019 10:59

Manchester_man wrote:

I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.

if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.

As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.

Try harder and you'll succeed

Except it will be in the bank's terms and conditions that personal bank accounts should not be used for business purposes. As soon as they notice transactions not of a personal nature, they will most likely close the account. And the OP will be back to square one.

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Replying to thestudyman:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:50

Exactly, this is what worries me. I do not want to be living each month worried that my business bank account is going to be closed, even though I am a completely legal and very profitable business.

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Replying to Manchester_man:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:46

Manchester_man wrote:

I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.

if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.

As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.

Try harder and you'll succeed

Thanks, I did apply online with Natwest. I gave a brief description of my work as follows:

digital multi media production and creative services, including photography, video editing, web design and development, affiliate and web marketing.

This is when the "we need more information" began

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Replying to Manchester_man:
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By Spacedust
25th Jul 2019 17:48

Manchester_man wrote:

I applied online for a company bank account with Santander for a side company I set up. It was accepted immediately without having to answer any questions.

if I were you, I'd be applying online. I’d guarantee that you'll be able to open an account without any problems.

Well the irony is, I do not have any direct customers or clients. I sell my content via big online web platforms, who pay me out in US dollars each month to my real name anyway.

As the contributor above said, you could make do with a personal account, there's no law that says a company has to have its own company bank account, but it doesn't look very professional to customers / suppliers.

Try harder and you'll succeed

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