Common questions about
UK business accounts

Yes. ARIDANG specialises in UK business accounts for non-residents and foreign-registered companies. You do not need a UK address, UK director, or branch visit. The entire process is online and typically completed in under 24 hours.

We have onboarded businesses registered in Estonia, Poland, UAE, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Germany, France, and dozens of other jurisdictions — all with full access to UK payment rails (FPS, BACS, CHAPS, SEPA, SWIFT).

No. ARIDANG does not require a UK-resident director. All directors and beneficial owners can be based outside the UK. Identity verification is completed remotely through a digital ID check — no in-person appointment, no notarisation, no branch visit required.

If your company is incorporated in the UK, Companies House requires a UK registered office address — this is a company law requirement, not an ARIDANG requirement. If you do not have one, registered office services are widely available for £50–120/year.

If your company is incorporated outside the UK (German GmbH, French SAS, Estonian OÜ, etc.) no UK address is needed. Your foreign company address is used.

Most accounts are approved and active within 24 hours from a complete application. The application itself takes under 15 minutes online.

Our team reviews your documents before they reach compliance, which eliminates the most common source of delays: incomplete or incorrectly formatted information reaching the compliance desk without a pre-check.

Typically required: certificate of incorporation, proof of registered address, director passport or national ID, and a brief description of your business activities and expected payment volumes and countries.

For non-resident or internationally-registered companies, we may also request a corporate structure chart showing UBO ownership chains, or a recent bank statement. We tell you exactly what's needed upfront — no surprises midway through the process. Full details in our document checklist guide.

Traditional UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds) typically require a UK-based director, a branch visit, and a waiting period of several weeks. Non-resident and foreign-registered companies are routinely declined or face extended KYC reviews.

ARIDANG accounts are fully online, accept non-residents, and open in under 24 hours — while providing access to the same UK payment rails (FPS, BACS, CHAPS) plus SEPA and SWIFT. See the full comparison on our compare page.

The payment services underlying ARIDANG accounts are provided by Gemba Finance Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Authorised Payment Institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (FCA FRN 804853). You can verify this on the FCA register.

ARIDANG OÜ (Dmitrijs Gluhodedovs) acts as an introducer and onboarding partner, helping businesses apply and manage their accounts through the Gemba platform.

ARIDANG accepts limited companies, LLPs, and equivalent corporate entities from most jurisdictions worldwide. This includes: UK Ltd, Estonian OÜ, German GmbH, French SAS, Dutch BV, Polish Sp. z o.o., US LLC/Corp, and many others.

Sole traders and personal accounts are not supported — you must operate through a registered company. If you are a freelancer without a company, you will need to incorporate first — online company formation typically costs under £50–200 depending on the country.

Yes. There is no minimum trading history or minimum time-in-business requirement. Newly incorporated companies — including those incorporated within the last few weeks — can apply.

You will be asked to describe your business model, expected transaction types, payment volumes, and which countries you will be sending and receiving payments to and from. This context helps compliance assess the account's intended use rather than your trading history.

UBO stands for Ultimate Beneficial Owner — any natural person who owns or controls 25% or more of a company, directly or indirectly. Under UK and EU anti-money laundering regulations, payment institutions are required to identify and verify all UBOs before opening an account.

For each UBO you will need to provide a valid passport or national ID and proof of address. For holding companies or multi-layer ownership structures, a group structure chart showing the ownership chain down to the natural persons is also required.

Yes. ARIDANG regularly onboards holding companies and multi-entity corporate structures. You will need to provide the holding company's incorporation documents, a group structure chart showing the full ownership chain, and ID for all directors and UBOs traced to the natural persons at the top of the structure.

See our dedicated page: UK business account for holding companies.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a payment integration initiative that allows euro-denominated bank transfers across 36 European countries under a single set of standards. Member countries include all 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and the UK.

Post-Brexit, the UK remains a SEPA member for outbound euro transfers. This means businesses with a UK account can still send SEPA payments to EU/EEA counterparties. Read more in our SEPA guide.

SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) is the standard SEPA payment — arrives within 1 business day, widely supported across all 36 SEPA member countries, and used for most routine B2B euro transfers.

SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) is real-time — funds arrive within 10 seconds, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year including weekends and public holidays. ARIDANG accounts support both. SEPA Instant requires the recipient bank to also support SCT Inst.

Yes. Your ARIDANG account includes a dedicated EUR IBAN and full access to SEPA rails — both outbound and inbound. You can send SEPA Credit Transfers and SEPA Instant payments, and receive euro payments from any SEPA-connected account, without needing a separate EU bank account.

This is one of the main reasons international businesses choose ARIDANG: a single account covers UK domestic payments (FPS, BACS, CHAPS) and European euro payments (SEPA Standard and Instant) simultaneously.

Yes. ARIDANG accounts support SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) for collecting recurring EUR payments from customers across SEPA member countries. Customers authorise the collection via a mandate. This is commonly used for subscription billing, membership fees, and recurring B2B collections from European clients.

Yes. ARIDANG accounts support bulk SEPA payment uploads via CSV and API-based automation. You can schedule recurring SEPA transfers, batch multiple payments in one instruction, and receive confirmation of each individual payment status — all from the same account dashboard.

This is particularly useful for payroll bureaus, accountants, and businesses running regular supplier payment or payroll batches across European countries.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a global messaging network that banks use to send international payment instructions to each other. A SWIFT wire transfer moves funds between banks in different countries using standardised message formats.

To send a SWIFT payment you need: the recipient's IBAN or local account number, their bank's BIC/SWIFT code, the payment currency, and the amount. Transfers typically arrive within 1–3 business days depending on the corridor and any intermediary banks involved.

SEPA is a European-only payment system covering 36 countries, euro-denominated only, highly standardised, and typically very low cost. Best for routine B2B euro transfers within Europe.

SWIFT is a global network covering 200+ countries and supports any currency. Used for international wire transfers outside SEPA zones, or for transfers in currencies other than EUR. SWIFT can involve correspondent bank fees and is generally slower and more expensive than SEPA. See our full SWIFT vs SEPA comparison.

ARIDANG accounts support outbound SWIFT payments to 160+ countries. Supported outbound currencies include GBP, EUR, USD, CHF, CAD, AED, SGD, and more.

Inbound payments are accepted in 16 currencies, each with a dedicated wallet — so counterparties pay you in their currency, and you hold the balance natively without automatic conversion.

To receive a SWIFT payment, provide your sender with: your IBAN, your bank's BIC/SWIFT code (available in your account dashboard), your company name as account holder, and the bank's name and address.

For USD payments, a US routing number (ABA code) may be required instead of or alongside the IBAN, depending on the sender's bank system. Your ARIDANG dashboard shows all the payment details you need for each supported currency.

FPS (Faster Payments) — arrives within seconds, available 24/7/365, typical limit £1m per payment. Used for most everyday GBP transfers between UK accounts — individual payments, supplier invoices, and ad-hoc transfers.

BACS — 3 working day settlement, used for bulk payroll runs (Direct Credit) and recurring collections (Direct Debit). Lower cost per transaction for high volumes.

CHAPS — same-day settlement, no upper limit, used for high-value or time-critical GBP payments (property completions, large corporate settlements). Higher per-payment cost. ARIDANG accounts include access to all three rails from a single GBP account. Read more in our UK payment rails guide.

A sort code is a 6-digit number that identifies a specific bank and branch within the UK banking system. Together with your account number, it forms the routing address for UK domestic payments via FPS, BACS, and CHAPS.

Every ARIDANG GBP account comes with a dedicated sort code and account number. UK clients, payroll providers, and e-commerce platforms (Stripe, PayPal) use your sort code and account number to send payments — working identically to any high street bank account.

Yes. ARIDANG accounts support BACS Direct Debit for collecting recurring GBP payments from UK customers. Customers authorise the collection by signing a Direct Debit mandate. This is commonly used for subscription payments, recurring invoices, membership fees, and regular billing.

BACS Direct Debit is subject to the Direct Debit Guarantee, which gives customers the right to an immediate refund for any payment taken in error — a consumer protection you are required to honour as the collecting party.

A multi-currency business account lets you hold, send, and receive money in multiple currencies from a single account — without being forced to convert everything to one base currency each time a payment arrives.

ARIDANG accounts hold 16 currencies simultaneously. Each major currency (GBP, EUR, USD) has its own dedicated IBAN, meaning your counterparties can pay you in their local currency and you receive it natively — no conversion loss, no intermediary conversions, no forced exchange at unfavourable rates.

16 currencies: GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, CHF, PLN, HUF, CZK, SEK, NOK, DKK, HRK, RON, BGN, AED, and SGD. Each currency is held in a separate wallet within your account. You can receive payments in any supported currency and hold the balance without converting it.

Yes. GBP, EUR, and USD each come with a dedicated IBAN. This means UK clients pay you on your UK sort code and account number, EU clients pay via SEPA to your EUR IBAN, and US counterparties can wire to your USD account — all landing in the same multi-currency dashboard without automatic conversion.

FX conversion is only applied when you explicitly convert between currencies — incoming payments are held in the original currency by default, so a EUR SEPA payment stays as EUR in your EUR wallet until you decide to convert.

When you do convert, ARIDANG applies the mid-market rate plus a transparent percentage spread: 0.65% for major currency pairs (GBP/EUR, EUR/USD, GBP/USD). Higher spreads apply for exotic or minor currency pairs. Full FX pricing is on the pricing page. There are no hidden markups applied without disclosure.

Yes. ARIDANG accounts include both physical and virtual corporate debit cards. Cards are linked to your account and can be used globally — in person, online, and for recurring business subscriptions. Physical cards are dispatched by post; virtual cards are available instantly in the dashboard.

When you pay in a foreign currency with your ARIDANG corporate card, the conversion uses the interbank (mid-market) exchange rate — the same rate banks use between themselves. No percentage markup is added on top of this rate.

Most business cards apply a 1.5–2.5% foreign transaction fee on top of the exchange rate. With ARIDANG, that extra charge does not exist: paying €500 with a GBP card costs you exactly the mid-market GBP equivalent at the time of the transaction, nothing more.

Yes. Multiple cards can be issued for your team, each linked to your account. Contact our team through the account dashboard to discuss multi-card arrangements. Spend limits can be set per card to control team expenditure.

UK accounts: £49/month. EU accounts: free to open (€0 account opening fee). There are no setup fees and no minimum balance requirements. Full pricing including payment fees, FX rates, and card fees is available on the pricing page.

Incoming FPS (UK domestic GBP) and SEPA Credit Transfers are free of charge. SWIFT inbound payments may incur a small receiving fee depending on the corridor. Full incoming payment pricing is listed on the pricing page.

Outbound SWIFT payments cost £15 per transfer. FX conversion (if the payment involves a currency exchange) is applied separately at 0.65% for major currency pairs. This is significantly cheaper than traditional bank SWIFT fees, which often range from £25–50 per wire plus a 2–3% FX spread.

Full payment fees including SEPA, FPS, BACS, and CHAPS are on the pricing page.

FX conversions are priced as a percentage spread applied on top of the mid-market rate. Major currency pairs (GBP/EUR, EUR/USD, GBP/USD): 0.65%. Minor and exotic pairs carry a higher spread. There are no hidden markups — the rate shown at the time of conversion is what you pay. Full FX pricing is on the pricing page.