Support for those who regularly use their business overdraft
What is a business overdraft?
A business overdraft is borrowing through your business current account. It’s an arranged overdraft where we agree an overdraft limit with you so that your account doesn’t become overdrawn.
What you need to know
- Designed for short-term use.
- You're charged when you use it.
- You pay an annual fee
- Can be expensive compared to other borrowing options.
- Can be used to help with cash flow.
- Long-term use could lead to financial challenges.
An unarranged overdraft is when you don’t have an arranged overdraft and your account becomes overdrawn, or you go over the agreed limit on your arranged overdraft.
What is regular overdraft use?
It’s where you’re using your overdraft for longer periods and paying monthly interest which could be avoidable. This can happen for many reasons. Maybe your overhead costs have gone up, or you’re waiting for invoices to be paid.
As a responsible lender, we keep an eye on how you’re using your overdraft. We’re here to support you through these difficult times.
Are you a regular business overdraft user?
- You may have problems with your cash flow.
- This can lead to a cycle of debt if you become reliant on it.
- There could be high costs for using an overdraft.
- Regularly going over your agreed limit could affect your credit file and make it harder to get credit in future.
If you’re using your overdraft for long periods, we may try to contact you. We’ll give you some options of how we can help you break the cycle. We’ll also give you some tips to reduce or avoid overdraft costs.
Even if you don’t hear from us, there’s still support available. Take a look at the options below to find out more.
Breakthrough
Our resources give you the tools to help you with any business challenges you may be facing right now
If business finances are a struggle
The last few years have been difficult, and we’re now seeing rises in the cost living and doing business. We’re here to help
Independent help & support
Speak to one of our partners to see if they can give you a helping hand
Other Borrowing Options
Have a look at alternative options available to you
Our teams are here to help you take control of your cards using these features.
Regularly going over your agreed limit or spending more money than you have in your business account could affect your credit file. This might limit your options for running your business or getting credit in the future. For information on credit files, visit our Breakthrough page for business support.
If you’re worried about your business finances, it could lead to stress, affect your health and your business decisions.
- Acting early gives you more control of your money and can stop things getting worse.
- We may reduce or remove your business overdraft.
- Sometimes, we might take other steps to help you pay back the balance in full.
If you’re worried about an overdraft on your personal current account, see our overdraft repeat use page.
We understand money worries can be difficult to talk about. If you'd like further help with managing your overdraft, you can contact us.
If your business is facing financial challenges and you end up spending more than your agreed overdraft limit, we have options to help you. Here’s a few examples of how we can help you in managing or reducing your overdraft during challenging times.
- Repayment plan – You can set up regular payments to repay your unarranged overdraft balance. We'll suspend your interest and fees during the time of the agreement. You won't be able to use your account until the excess amount has been cleared.
- Monthly reducing overdrafts – We offer a temporary limit to cover your unarranged overdraft balance. Over a period of time, this is reduced back to any arranged overdraft limit. This can help clear your arrears while you're still using the account.
- Breathing space – This gives you a period of time to contact a third party to set up a repayment plan, with any interest and fees suspended during this time.
- Paydown – If there’s no agreement on the best solution, contributions can be made towards the account. The account is blocked and can no longer be used.
These support options are tailored to your needs once we have done a budget planner with you. Any arrangements in place will impact your credit file.