How to Switch Business Bank Account with the Current Account Switch Service

The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) moves a UK current account from one bank to another, payments and all, on a date you choose. Small businesses can use it within limits that Pay.UK publishes. This guide sets out those limits, the seven-working-day timeline, the guarantee, what does and does not move, and how the dates sit against PAYE and VAT deadlines, taking every figure from Pay.UK or HMRC. The new account must be open first; what that involves is in how to open a business bank account in the UK.

Key facts

• A business can use the service “so long as you have an annual turnover that does not exceed £6.5 million and you employ fewer than 50 people”; a small trust qualifies “with a net asset value of less than £6.5 million” (Pay.UK, business FAQ).
• “The process takes 7 working days, and is overseen by your new bank or building society” (Pay.UK, about the service).
• “Any charges or interest incurred on your old or new account, as a result of a failure in the switching process will be refunded when you bring this to your new bank or building society’s attention” (Pay.UK, the Current Account Switch Guarantee).
• The service “only covers regular current accounts - not ISAs, savings accounts or non-sterling payment accounts” (Pay.UK, about the service).
• Employers’ PAYE is due by “the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly”; a VAT return and payment are due “one calendar month and 7 days after the end of an accounting period” (HMRC).

What the Current Account Switch Service is

Pay.UK describes the service as “owned and operated by Pay.UK, a not-for-profit company that helps make payments secure, safe and simple”. Its FAQ describes Pay.UK as “the home of Bacs Payments, Faster Payments and Cheque Payments”. “There are over 50 participating banks and building societies in the UK”, according to the FAQ, and the business switching page states that “18 UK business bank account providers” take part in the business version.

The switch is run by the new bank: the process “is overseen by your new bank or building society”, and it is the new bank you go to if anything goes wrong. Two points shape everything that follows. First, the service is a payments transfer, not an account application. Pay.UK’s business FAQ: “Account opening and account switching are separate processes. Your new bank or building society has to carry out ‘know your customer’ security checks as part of their account opening process. Once these are complete to the satisfaction of the new bank or building society, you can choose and agree your switch date.” Second, a full switch closes the old account.

Who can use it: the business eligibility limits

Pay.UK’s business FAQ answers the eligibility question directly: “Yes, so long as you have an annual turnover that does not exceed £6.5 million and you employ fewer than 50 people. If you are a small trust with a net asset value of less than £6.5 million you can also use the service. If you are still unsure whether you qualify, speak to your new bank or building society.”

Three tests: turnover of £6.5 million or less, fewer than 50 employees, and for trusts a net asset value under £6.5 million. A business over either of the first two is outside the guaranteed service, and Pay.UK’s answer in cases of doubt is to ask the new bank.

Eligibility for the switch is separate from eligibility for the account. The new bank applies its own rules and completes its Money Laundering Regulations checks first; regulation 30 requires verification “before the establishment of a business relationship”, so the account-opening clock runs before the switching clock. The comparison lists each provider’s published eligibility conditions.

The seven-working-day timeline

Pay.UK’s business switching page sets out three steps.

Step one: choose the new account. Pay.UK points businesses to independent comparisons; the banks’ fees, eligibility rules and switching offers are in the comparison, read as the methodology describes.

Step two: pass the new bank’s checks. Pay.UK lists what may be required: “The name of your business/charity”, “Your trading address”, “Funding requirements”, “A Companies House registration number”, “An HM Revenue & Customs certificate” and “A recent utility bill or statement relating to the business”, plus personal identification from directors or partners.

Step three: request the switch and pick the date. In Pay.UK’s words: “Request the switch, and choose your switch date. You’ll need to allow 7 working days for the switch, and it can’t be a weekend or a Bank Holiday. You’ll be able to use your old account until your agreed date - just don’t set up any new payments during this 7-day period as these will not be transferred.”

The FAQ fills in the detail. “Once you have applied for and opened your new account, you can choose the switch date to suit you. The date of your switch must be at least seven working days from this point.” Money stays put until the day: “You will be able to access the funds in your old account up to and until your switch date, when they will be transferred to your new account.” And the switch can be called off: “You can cancel your switch up to seven working days before your switch date. If you do want to cancel, speak to your new bank, who can guide you through this process.”

On the date itself, per the process page: “Your new bank will have transferred all your regular incoming payments and outgoing payments (salaries, Direct Debits, standing orders, bills) to your new account, along with your balance. Your saved Payee details will also be transferred over.”

The Current Account Switch Guarantee: what it promises

The guarantee is what distinguishes the service from opening a new account and closing the old one yourself. Pay.UK’s business page states it: “The Current Account Switch Guarantee ensures that your switch is free, simple and secure. Your new bank will switch your payments and transfer your balance, and your old bank will take care of closing your old account. You’re covered for any charges or interest incurred in the unlikely event that anything should go wrong.”

The FAQ is precise about the remedy and its limit: “This guarantees that any charges or interest incurred on your old or new account, as a result of a failure in the switching process will be refunded when you bring this to your new bank or building society’s attention.” And: “It is for your new bank to decide whether you receive compensation above and beyond the refund.” So the guarantee is a refund of charges and interest caused by the switch; anything more is at the new bank’s discretion.

It is uniform: “all banks and building societies that display the Current Account Switch Guarantee Trustmark will follow the same switching process and must offer the same guarantees.” And redirection is part of it: “All incoming and outgoing payments will be automatically redirected to your new account. Each time a payment is redirected, an automatic message is sent back to the originator advising them of your new account details so they can update their records.” A business can ask the new bank not to pass its details to a one-off payer. Pay.UK’s pages read for this guide do not state a time limit on redirection, so this guide does not give one.

What moves and what does not

What moves. The balance, on the switch date. Regular incoming payments. Regular outgoing payments, which Pay.UK lists as “salaries, Direct Debits, standing orders, bills”. Saved payee details. And redirection of anything sent to the old details afterwards.

What does not. Pay.UK states the service “only covers regular current accounts - not ISAs, savings accounts or non-sterling payment accounts”. A business savings account or a foreign-currency account at the old bank is outside it and has to be dealt with separately.

An overdraft does not transfer. The business FAQ: “Yes. You will need to agree any overdraft facilities you require with your new bank or building society. Alternatively, they may be able to provide facilities to help you pay off any existing overdraft you may have, subject to their normal lending criteria. If you do not come to an agreement with your new bank you must make separate arrangements to repay your existing overdraft before you switch.” The overdraft is a fresh lending decision at the new bank; if it goes against the business, the old overdraft has to be cleared before the date.

Payments set up late do not move. Asked whether arrangements set up at the old bank within seven working days of the switch date are transferred, Pay.UK answers: “No. The Current Account Switch Service will take care of all payment arrangements at your old bank up until 7 working days before your agreed switch date. If you want to set up new payment arrangements during the 7 working day period leading up to your switch date you must do this on your new account.” Payments you have asked to stop “should remain stopped after your switch”.

And the old account does not survive: “If you use the Current Account Switch Service to switch, your old bank will close your old account. This ensures that any payments made to your old account are automatically redirected to your new account.”

Partial switches and keeping the old account open

Some businesses want a second account rather than a replacement. Pay.UK’s business pages read for this guide do not describe a partial switch product, so this guide does not describe one. What Pay.UK does say is this: “If you would like to keep your old account open then you are free to do so, but you won’t be able to use the Current Account Switch Service to do this, and you will not be covered by the Guarantee. Speak to your bank and they can help explain your options.”

Anything short of a full switch, whether a bank calls it a partial switch or it is simply a second account with payments moved by hand, sits outside the guaranteed service: no automatic redirection, no seven-day promise, no refund of charges caused by a missed payment. It is a reasonable thing to do; it is just not the Current Account Switch Service.

Timing a switch around payroll and VAT

The date is yours to pick, subject to the seven-working-day minimum and the no-weekends rule. The dates a business is measured against are HMRC’s, and those are published.

PAYE. Employers must pay by “the 22nd of the next tax month if you pay monthly” or “the 22nd after the end of the quarter if you pay quarterly - for example, 22 July for the 6 April to 5 July quarter”; a cheque “must reach HMRC by the 19th of the month”. HMRC’s employer guidance adds: “If you’re a small employer that expects to pay less than £1,500 a month, you can arrange to pay quarterly”.

VAT. “The deadline for submitting your return online is usually one calendar month and 7 days after the end of an accounting period.” HMRC adds: “This is also the deadline for paying HMRC. You need to allow time for the payment to reach HMRC’s account”, and the payment must reach HMRC on or before the deadline even where that falls on a weekend or bank holiday.

Set against Pay.UK’s rules, several points follow from the sources rather than from opinion.

• Funds stay in the old account until the switch date, so a payment due before the date leaves the old account and one due after leaves the new. A date between a payroll run and the PAYE deadline splits those two payments across two accounts.
• Arrangements set up in the last seven working days before the switch are not transferred, so a new Direct Debit to HMRC for VAT, or a new standing order, set up in that window has to be created on the new account.
• Pay.UK lists “salaries” among the outgoing payments the new bank transfers, so salary standing orders move. Where a payroll provider holds the account details, Pay.UK’s pages describe redirection of payments sent to the old details; they do not describe updating details a third party holds, which is a step between the business and its provider.
• The switch date cannot be a weekend or bank holiday and HMRC’s VAT deadline does not move for either, so the two calendars will not always line up; Pay.UK’s minimum and cancellation windows are both counted in working days.

None of this says when a switch is best done. It sets out the published rules so a business can put its own payroll and VAT dates alongside them.

Switching offers in the banks’ tariffs

Several banks publish incentives tied to a full switch through the service. They are recorded in the comparison from each provider’s own tariff, read on 5 September 2026, and are listed here as information about what is published, not as a reason to choose any of them.

• NatWest’s business account charges leaflet, correct as at 20 April 2026, offers switchers “2 years of free banking from the date the switch is completed” for businesses with annual turnover up to £2 million using the full service, withdrawn if cash deposits exceed £200,000 in any 12-month period.
• Metro Bank’s Important Information Summary, correct as of 22 July 2026, describes a “31 Month Full Switcher Offer” with “free cash transactions (withdrawn, deposited or exchanged) up to £10,000 per month”, against 12 months fee-free for other new customers.
• Santander’s Classic Key Facts Document, effective 28 April 2026, waives the £9.99 monthly fee for the first 12 months for switchers using the service, as for start-ups.
• HSBC’s Business Price List, dated 15 December 2025, offers “12 months of free banking on primary Business Banking Accounts” to start-up or switcher customers, against a standard £10 monthly fee.

Each offer is conditional on the full switch, which is to say on the old account closing. That is the trade: the guarantee and the incentive on one side, the old account on the other. What a business does with it is its own decision; the rules are the ones above.