Flagstone strikes record 56 partnerships with banks to help make UK SMEs’ cash reserves work harder
Flagstone, the UK’s largest savings platform for businesses and individuals, has revealed that the number of banks and building societies making their business savings accounts available to the platform’s SME clients has expanded rapidly in the last 12 months – in a clear sign that SMEs are waking up to the advantages of actively managing their company cash for better returns and risk protection.
Today, 56 savings providers are on Flagstone’s business savings panel – a 37% increase from 41 banks in January 2025. Banks and building societies partnering with Flagstone for business savings include Société Générale, Santander International, Nationwide, OakNorth, and Allica.
In mid-July, Flagstone’s bank partners were offering over 200 savings accounts to Flagstone business savers on a mixture of instant access, notice and fixed terms. Over 90% of these accounts offer inflation-beating rates of return; and 16% offer competitive rates of 4.00% AER or over.
Simon Atkins, European head of treasury and financial markets at Bank ABC, which has just launched an exclusive six-month fixed-term business savings account on the Flagstone platform offering 4.09% AER: ‘We are pleased to continue our partnership with Flagstone, providing its business customers with access to competitive deposit solutions across GBP, USD and EUR. As businesses take a more active approach to managing surplus cash reserves, partnerships such as this can help broaden their access to deposit options that meet their cash management needs.’
In 2025, Flagstone recorded an 81% surge in direct deposits by UK SMEs onto the platform, and that growth trend continued strongly in the first half of 2026. Today 11,000 UK businesses manage their cash reserves on Flagstone’s platform.
As SMEs wake up to cash management, so too are banks tuning into the opportunity for business development in the SME banking space. Katie Horne, banks relationship manager at Flagstone: ‘Partnering with more than 50 banks is a significant milestone for our SME business. With us, they open new doors to business customers that might not have found or thought of them, and are able to provide a critical piece in the wider puzzle of providing multiple accounts and multiple banks to help SMEs maximise returns and minimise risk.’
Research by Flagstone of UK SME financial decision makers has identified three critical factors driving demand from SMEs for better cash management and access to a wider pool of savings providers:
Generating a return on dormant cash: 51% of SME save nearly all their cash with high street banks, typically earning returns of less than 2%, if anything at all.
Protecting cash against risk of bank failure: 99% of companies with £500k to £1m in cash hold their funds with four or fewer banks, leaving over half potentially unprotected under FSCS rules. The average Flagstone SME client maintains six savings accounts – a combination of instant, short and longer-term fixed and notice terms.
Maintaining liquidity and access: Flagstone business clients spread cash across instant access, fixed term and notice accounts to balance returns with flexibility and availability.
Horne: ‘For a long time, generating income from your cash was a luxury only those businesses with time on their hands could think about. But, cash management has switched from luxury to necessity, particularly in a political and economic environment where running – or ideally growing – a business is hard. While businesses face pressures such as higher business rates, employment costs and late payments – finding fast, flexible and efficient ways to safely turn their dormant cash reserves into a secure and active income generator is crucial.’
With 56 bank partners, Flagstone has reaffirmed its position as the UK’s largest business savings platform. Across its business, individual and charity savings propositions, Flagstone customers can gain access to over 450 savings accounts from over 65 cash savings providers.