The top five ways in which high street banks fail small businesses have been identified in a new survey.

According to a survey of its members by Tide, the mobile-first business banking service, the problems include trouble setting up a business account and lack of access to business advisors.

The full list is:

• Setting up a business account is confusing and time consuming: High street banks request endless documents to SMEs before they can start sending and receiving money.

• High street banks are inaccessible: When it comes to trying to visit an advisor at a high street bank; Tide's previous research found that on average it takes an SME just under three weeks to get a meeting in the UK.

• SMEs need anytime, anywhere access: Small businesses, and particularly freelancers and consultants, are constantly on the move for work and they need the banking infrastructure to do things on the go. The innovation that has happened in consumer banking, where now a user can make transfers on mobile rather than just check on funds, hasn't quite stretched to business accounts.

• Foreign nationals struggle to get an account: It is near impossible for a foreign national who has set up a company or is freelancing within the UK, to set up an account.

• Traditional business banking is unnecessarily expensive: High street banks charge monthly fees for just keeping a bank account and extortionate fees for additional services, for example when spending money abroad.

George Bevis, founder of Tide, said: "High street banking for SMEs is inherently slow and outdated for the needs of the modern small business.

"For many start-ups, for whom time and money are scarce resources , having an easy-to-access and cost-effective service can be business critical.

"Whilst their online offering may sometimes be sufficient for consumer banking, the existing online business banking tools offered by high street banks are not good enough for businesses."

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