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Online for Business changes: what you need to know

Over the coming months, we’re making it simpler for your business to request and authorise everyday service tasks in Online for Business.

From 9 May 2022 your terms and conditions will change to reflect this. 

What’s changing?

We’re making it easier for your business to carry out non-payment – or “service” – tasks in Online for Business.

A single Full Access User will be able to request and authorise service tasks online.

This means:

  • They can authorise a task on their own, even if your bank mandate needs more than one signature for this type of request outside of Online for Business
  • They can verify the request with their logon details – they’ll no longer need to upload their signature

In the future, we’ll be adding service tasks to Online for Business that can be requested and authorised by a single Full Access User. Some examples of these include:

  • Changing your business address and email address
  • Opening additional accounts
  • Closing your account
  • Adding or removing a Delegate User or View Only User
  • Managing and cancelling your business debit cards, credit cards and charge cards

We’ll use Online for Business to let you know about the services we’re adding as they become available. 

What’s not changing?

If you’re a sole trader or other 1 to sign business, there will be no change for you. A single Full Power Signatory can already authorise everyday service tasks – inside or outside Online for Business. But you’ll still benefit from the new online services we’ll be adding in the future, as well as the simpler way of authorising service tasks online.

There will also be no change to:

I want more people in my business to be able to authorise these tasks online. How do I do this?

You’ll need to add them as, or upgrade them to, Full Access Users for Online for Business. You may also need to change their signatory level on your mandate as only Full Power Signatories can be Full Access Users.

Change account and  online access for people in your business 

I don’t want some people in my business to authorise these tasks online. How can I control this?

You’ll need to change their user type from Full Access User to either Delegate User or View Only User. Or you can remove their Online for Business access altogether.

Change or remove  online access for people in your business

What does this change mean for my business?

When you opened your account you told us who your signatories are and how many need to authorise payments and service tasks for your business. These signing rules are set out in your bank mandate.

The change we’re making means that, from 9 May 2022, authorisation of service tasks in Online for Business will be determined by the Online for Business terms and conditions – rather than your bank mandate. These tasks can still only be authorised by someone named on your bank mandate as a Full Power Signatory, but it will now be on a 1 to sign basis. To understand how this affects your business, you’ll need to know your signing rules – 1 to sign, 2 to sign etc.

I don’t know the signing rules for our business

If you’re a Full Power Signatory for your business, one of our advisers can help with this.

To get you to the right place, we just need to check a few details with you first.

Get started

Impact of these changes on your business

Signing rules in your mandate

These will still apply outside of Online for Business

1 to sign

2 or more to sign

Impact within Online for Business

There will be no change for your business

Whether you’re a sole trader or a business with multiple signatories, outside of Online for Business any one Full Power Signatory can already authorise everyday service tasks.

In the future, any one Full Access User will be able to do more of these tasks in Online for Business.

There will be a change for your Business

Any one Full Access User will be able to authorise everyday service tasks in Online for Business as and when these features become available, without the need for further authorisation.

Actions to consider

If you have Full Power Signatories on your mandate who are not Full Access Users in Online for Business, you may want to consider adding them or upgrading their User Access Level so that they can authorise servicing instructions simply and securely.

Find out more about adding or upgrading Users 

If you don’t want every Full Access User in your business to have this power, you might want to change their level of Online for Business access ahead of 9 May 2022.

Find out more about changing User access

Glossary of Terms

Full Access User

A Full Access User is someone who can use all the services in Online for Business. They must be named as a Full Power Signatory for your business on your bank mandate.

Delegate User

A Delegate User is someone who can use most of the services in Online for Business. But they can’t make bulk payments, apply for products or (from 9 May 2022) authorise service tasks. They don’t have to be a signatory for your business.

View Only User

A View Only User is someone who can view account statements, balances and transactions in Online for Business but can’t make payments or carry out service tasks. They don’t have to be a signatory for your business.

Full Power Signatory

The Full Power Signatories for your business are listed on your mandate. They have full access to your business accounts and can instruct us on behalf of the business. This means they can make payments and withdrawals, open and close accounts, apply for new products and services and make changes to the mandate, such as adding and removing other account holders.

1 to sign

1 to sign means that any one Full Power Signatory in your business can authorise service tasks (non-payments). This would apply even if you have multiple Full Power Signatories – any one of them can authorise on their own.

You may have different signing rules for payments but they’re not relevant to this change.

2 or more to sign

2 or more to sign means that more than one Full Power Signatory in your business is needed to authorise service tasks (non-payments). You might be ‘2 to sign, ‘3 to sign’, ‘All to sign’ etc. For example, if you’re ‘2 to sign’ that means any two Full Power Signatories in your business must jointly authorise requests.

You may have different signing rules for payments but they’re not relevant to this change.