By Anand Sahota, Lead Product Manager, Business Banking at OakNorth
Choosing your business bank is a critical decision. Whether you’re just getting started or scaling fast, you need more than just a bank account. You need a partner that gets you up and running quickly, transparently, and reliably. But for many businesses, the journey gets stuck before it even starts.
1 in 4 businesses abandon onboarding before they’ve even started banking – often because the process feels unclear, slow, or overwhelming.[1]
At OakNorth, we believe the journey begins the moment you say “I’m in.” That’s why we’ve built one of the most seamless and supportive onboarding experience in business banking. Here’s what onboarding looks like with OakNorth:
1. Sign up in minutes
Our mobile-first experience lets you apply in under 10 minutes. With integrated ID&V, you can get verified instantly and keep your business secure.
2. We do the heavy lifting
We scan a wide range of trusted public and private sources to understand your business and its complexity, so you don’t have to do the explaining. Whether you’re a venture backed scale-up, a PE-owned portfolio company, a family-run trading business, or a property developer managing multiple SPVs, we connect the dots across multiple data points to get up to speed on your business faster than ever.
3. Human-led. AI-powered
Our AI tools verify your business details in minutes, assist our team with their assessment at every step, and identify potential hurdles early. And when you need a hand, a real person is right there to support you.
It’s the best of smart automation, guided by our best-in-class human experts.
4. One point of contact
You won’t be bounced between teams. You’ll have a dedicated onboarding specialist from start to finish, so you always know who to speak to, and what’s next.
“We were up and running in days – which was impressive in itself – but what really stood out was how effortlessly OakNorth handled our multiple businesses and how seamless the payments experience was. Our Business Banking Partner felt like an extension of our team: proactive, commercially savvy, and genuinely invested in our growth.”
– Hayden Daniel Glynn, CFO, Charles Alexander Finance Limited
And we’re just getting started. We’re continuously refining the customer experience – investing in smart tech while doubling down on human expertise, to transform SME onboarding for the better.
New here? See how we help UK businesses grow.
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[1] OvationCXM Research and Insights Team. The Business Banking Customer Experience Report. OvationCXM, 2025. PDF file,
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/633ae5005ebe99233fbae7db/67fecc2b47ac557e60cbb787_The%20Business%20Banking%20Customer%20Experience%20Report%20FINAL%20(1).pdf
