Updated: 29 Nov 2022

How to find the best joint bank account

Joint bank accounts can help you manage your finances and boost savings returns. We show you how to make the most of a joint account and avoid common pitfalls.

Chiara Cavaglieri

In this article

What is a joint bank account?
What you need to know about opening a joint bank account
Joint bank accounts compared
Earning interest in joint bank accounts
Joint cashback and packaged accounts
Joint bank accounts and debt
Can a joint bank account affect my credit rating?
Disputes and closing a joint bank account

What is a joint bank account?

A joint bank account is one that you share with one or more people.

It doesn't necessarily have to be your partner or spouse - friends, housemates and business partners might also want to share an account to make managing finances easier.

Opening a joint bank account is often a practical decision - for example, it can make paying household bills easier, and ensure a stress-free way to manage shared income and outgoings. But it also creates a financial link between you and the other account holders.

What you need to know about opening a joint bank account

You can usually add someone to an existing single account to convert it into a joint account - you might both be asked to visit your local branch, and a standalone credit search will need to be carried out on the new party.

If you want to open an additional joint account, some banks will let you do this online as well as in a branch. Either way, you'll need to provide income and employment details, as well proof of your identity and address.

While some banks will only let two people open a joint account, others have no limit, as you can see from the table below.

Each joint-account holder must sign a document called a mandate that sets out how the account will be set up:

Most joint accounts are operated on an 'either-to-sign' basis, where each account holder can give payment and withdrawal instructions independently.
A few banks allow you to run the account on a 'both-to-sign' basis, where each account holder must authorise transactions.

Both-to-sign accounts can be useful for small businesses and charities, but they're impractical for most people because each account holder must sign every cheque and give permission for withdrawals (either in-branch or by both going through security checks over the phone).

Sharing a bank account can be strategic, giving you the opportunity to boost savings returns, double deposit protection and share benefits on a packaged account - as we explain later in this guide.

It can even ensure a simpler process when a spouse dies.

However, there are risks:

All parties are 'jointly and severally' liable for any debts, no matter how the account is operated and regardless of who spends the money.
Joint accounts create a financial link between you and the other account holders, so prospective lenders may look at their credit reports as well as yours when assessing applications.

Most of the big banks let you operate joint accounts online and via mobile banking apps, assuming it's set up on an either-to-sign basis (if both-to-sign, account holders must typically transact together in branch and therefore not through online or mobile banking).

Once you've set up a joint bank account with someone, you'll each be given individual usernames and passwords to access the account.

Find out more: How to be safe when banking online

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the safety net that pays compensation to you in the event that your bank or building society goes bust.

Accounts held in joint names benefit from double the protection in the event of a bank going bust - because the FSCS assumes that each account holder holds an equal share.

This can be useful for couples, because a two-person joint account would be covered up to £170,000 in total (£85,000 per person), assuming neither party had any other savings with that provider.

However, if you have a joint account with an elderly parent for example, half of the money is still 'credited' to you for FSCS purposes, so make sure this doesn't mean your total savings with that bank (from your other accounts) exceeds the upper compensation limit.

Things get even trickier when banks operate under the same licence. For example, if you had a joint account with First Direct and a sole account with its parent bank HSBC, you would only be entitled to claim compensation of up to £85,000 across the two if it collapsed.

Use our FSCS protection tool to check if your bank shares its savings protection limit.

Joint bank accounts compared

All of the banks and building societies in the table below let you set up a joint account as either-to-sign (where any account holder can authorise transactions).

We've also shown you those that permit both-to-sign joint accounts (where all account holders must authorise transactions), along with the maximum number of people that can be added to a joint account, and which firms let existing customers convert a sole account into a joint account.

Accounts are listed alphabetically:


Bank of Scotland	76%	2	Yes	No
Barclays	70%	4	Yes	Yes
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER First Direct	88%	2	Yes	No
Halifax	75%	2	Yes	No
HSBC	71%	No max	Yes	No
Lloyds Bank	74%	2	Yes	No
Metro Bank	76%	4	Yes	No

Data correct as of November 2021. Which? Customer Score: Our rating for customer satisfaction, based on feedback from real customers. The score is made up of a customer's overall satisfaction with the brand, and how likely they are to recommend that brand to a friend. We surveyed 4,525 members of the general public in September to October 2022. Our full table includes scores and star ratings for all banks.

Earning interest in joint bank accounts

Joint accounts can be a neat way to make the most of inflation-busting interest rates.

Banks tend to let you hold just one interest-paying current account in your name alone, but you can open an additional account in joint names.

Bank of Scotland is an exception - you can add 'Vantage' to a maximum three accounts per person (six between two people) to earn interest.

Find out more: Best high-interest current accounts

Joint cashback and packaged accounts

Unlike interest-paying accounts, there's little to be gained by opening multiple cashback current accounts, as banks tend to restrict benefits - for example, Barclays customers can only hold one Rewards Wallet each.

However, a joint account is a good way of getting more value from a packaged account ,as you'll both be covered, but will pay just the same monthly fee between you.

Find out more: Best and worst-value packaged accounts

Joint bank accounts and debt

No matter who pays in and who spends what, each account holder is jointly responsible for any debt.

If you've agreed to an either-to-sign joint account, any account holder can increase or decrease an overdraft without the permission of the other(s).

The bank could pursue any account holder for an overdrawn balance, even if they were unaware of it.

Find out more: how to deal with debt

Can a joint bank account affect my credit rating?

Yes, joint accounts create a financial link between you and any other account holders - known as 'financial associates' - meaning prospective lenders may look at their credit report as well as yours when assessing applications.

If you share a bank account with someone who has a poor credit history, it could make it more difficult for you to get credit, even in your own name.

Find out more: Credit reports and your score explained

Disputes and closing a joint bank account

What to do in a dispute

If there's a dispute, you must tell your bank immediately.

After being notified of a disagreement, providers will register the dispute and either freeze the account or switch it to 'both-to-sign' so that it no longer accepts instructions from just one account holder.

This means that debit cards and cheque books are blocked, and access to online or telephone banking is suspended until the dispute is resolved, or you both agree to close the account.

In some cases, direct debits and standing orders are automatically cancelled, so you may be advised to open a new sole account to cover essential bills.

What to do if you want to close an account

Some providers will let one person close a joint account, as long as there isn't a dispute registered. But otherwise, you'll both need to sign and send an account closure form or visit a branch together.

You won't be able to close an account until any overdraft has been paid off.

Your bank or building society will also need to know how the money will be distributed between you, and what should happen to any standing orders or direct debits.

Remember that details of all financial associations will remain on your credit report unless you tell the credit reference agencies otherwise.

Contact all three agencies - TransUnion, Equifax and Experian - to issue a 'notice of disassociation'. This means that the other account holder's financial circumstances won't affect your credit applications in future.

Joint bank accounts and 'mental incapacity'

Providers in England and Wales may freeze a joint account when one person loses mental capacity, unless a power of attorney is already in place to make decisions on their behalf.

This is designed to protect the vulnerable, but it can take several months and a lot of money for a deputy to be appointed by the Court of Protection.

This would involve temporarily blocking debit cards, withdrawals, online banking and even direct debits - only Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, Co-operative Bank, First Direct, Nationwide, Post Office, Santander, TSB and Virgin Money told Which? the account would remain in full service for the other account holders.

In Scotland, banks must automatically allow the other account holders to carry on using the account under the Incapacity Scotland Act 2000, provided it was set up on an either-to-sign basis.

In Northern Ireland, practices vary between banks.

Set up Power of Attorney with Which?

With Which? Wills, you can set up Power of Attorney and get support from our legal experts as you go through the application process.

Visit our Power of Attorney site and see how we can help you get the peace of mind you're looking for.

Joint bank accounts and income tax

The introduction of the personal savings allowance (PSA) in April 2016 means that annual interest from bank and savings accounts is now tax-free up to £500 for higher-rate taxpayers and £1,000 for basic-rate taxpayers.

Where two joint account holders are in different tax brackets, HMRC told us that half of the interest earned is attributed to each account holder, and then set against their individual PSA.

For example, if the account earned £500 in interest, the basic-rate taxpayer's remaining tax-free allowance would be £750, while the higher-rate taxpayer's allowance would drop to £250.

What happens to a joint bank account when someone dies?

When an account holder dies, money held in joint names usually passes automatically to the surviving account holder, which means that they are still able to access the funds, and probate is avoided.

Under Scottish law, a deceased's share doesn't pass automatically by survivorship to the remaining owner, but the bank may allow them to continue to operate it.

After receiving the death certificate, the bank can transfer the account into the surviving party's sole name, although any existing overdraft facilities may be reviewed.

The tax implications can be less straightforward:

If the account is held by spouses or civil partners, the money is usually exempt from inheritance tax (IHT);
For anyone else - eg unmarried partners or other relations - HMRC will want to know how much money was deposited and withdrawn by each owner, and any IHT due must be paid by the beneficiary.

For example, if a son or daughter operates a joint account on behalf of an elderly parent, and never contributed to the account, all of the money will be treated as part of the deceased's estate.