Small businesses pay up to £252 a year just to bank their cash, and nearly half of accounts only take it at the Post Office

Small businesses that take cash are paying up to £252 a year simply to bank it, according to Bank Solutions, which compared the published cash charges of 31 UK business current account plans.

Paying in £1,000 a month in four deposits costs between nothing and £21 a month across the 25 plans that publish cash terms, with a median of £10. HSBC charges the most, £21 a month (1.50% of the value plus £1.50 per deposit), followed by Lloyds at £19.40, Zempler Bank at £16, the Co-operative Bank's Business Bank Account at £15 and NatWest at £13.30.

Three plans charge nothing for that amount, because each publishes a free allowance of £1,000 a month: Santander's Business Current Account Classic (at Santander cash machines only) and the Co-operative Bank's Business Directplus and FSB accounts.

The Post Office has become the branch

Twelve of the 25 plans, from Starling Bank, Monzo Business, Tide, Zempler Bank and Mettle, take cash only over a Post Office counter (Monzo and Tide also name PayPoint). None of the twelve publishes a free allowance. The Post Office says it charges no deposit fee itself, and that "your bank decides which services you can use there, along with any limits or charges". Six plans publish no cash service at all.

What a shop pays

For a shop or cafe paying in £2,000 of cash a month over eight deposits, plus four cheques, the yearly cost across the 16 plans that publish every fee needed to price it runs from £96 to £1,113.48, with a median of £547.80. Cash deposits are the largest part of that cost on 13 of the 16 plans.

Sam Allcock, editor of Bank Solutions, said: "For a business that takes cash, the fee for paying it in can matter more than the monthly fee on the account. The same £1,000 of takings costs nothing to bank at one provider and £21 at another. And for nearly half the accounts, the only place to pay it in is the Post Office counter."

The full report, with every plan's cash terms and the page each was read from, is at banksolutions.uk/reports/cash-deposit-charges-uk-business-accounts-2026.

Notes to editors

• Dates. Every tariff was read from the provider's own published document on 5 September 2026 and re-checked on 30 September 2026, when none of the 31 plans had changed.
• Method. £1,000 paid in as four deposits of £250 in a month, priced from each plan's published tariff. The shop example is £2,000 of cash over eight deposits and four cheques a month, with any monthly fee included.
• Exclusions. Six plans publish no cash service (Allica Bank's Business Rewards Account, ANNA Money's four plans and Wise Business). Plans that do not publish every fee needed are not priced.
• Coming change. HSBC has published a new price list taking effect on 14 December 2026, under which cash paid in at a branch is charged at 2% of the value and cash paid in at the Post Office or a self-service machine at 1.5%. The figures above are the charges in force today.
• Credit. Source: Bank Solutions analysis of providers' published tariffs (banksolutions.uk). Online, please link to the page the figure came from.
• About Bank Solutions. An independent UK business banking comparison published by Domain Farm Ltd (company number 13544286). No bank or provider pays for or sees a figure before publication. Bank Solutions earns referral fees from some providers, which never affect a figure or a ranking.
• Contact: Sam Allcock, editor, editor@banksolutions.uk