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Name: Kate Rose

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Some major "gotchas" that you won't see until you're up and running

I did quite a lot of research prior to opening the account, including speaking directly to someone at Mettle to confirm that I would be able to do everything i could do with my old Barclays account. In practise, this turned out to be very much not true. I'm still not clear on what is causing the problems, despite being a personal investor for many years and pretty finance savvy, but i think it's because they are not actually licensed as a Bank, they just have electronic money processing permissions. So firstly, the card they give you is useless. It looks like a Mastercard, but so far i haven't found anyone that will accept it. That was my first problem, because i pay for various software as a service on a monthly basis, and now have to use my personal credit card and claim back via expenses which makes a lot more admin for me. Secondly, I keep some capital from previous years in a separate business savings account which attracts a higher interest rate (and because you aren't protected if Mettle goes bust, so you really don't want to keep more than a few months' operating capital there at any one time). Having closed my old Barclays account, i went to the savings account provider and asked them to set up the Mettle account as the recipient of funds when i need them. Surprise! They won't do it. Mettle isn't a recognised organisation. So as of now, i have savings in a business savings account which can only be transferred to another account in the business name, but not the Mettle one. So i'm going to have to set up yet another account just to get my savings back. The actual account offering is great, the app works fine, and i'm saving a fair bit because of the free FreeAgent provision. I just wish they'd been more honest about the limitations of the account before I committed. Reviewed on: 31st October 2022