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There are several banks (Bank of Scotland included) that offer free business banking for the first 12 months. I was told if it's a business you are running then a business account is a must, but the laws may be different in Scotland concerning this. I think it's something to do with tax and being able to prove what is and what isn't business expenditure and income. Lloyds TSB used to offer a similar deal.I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 20240 -
I was just wondering whether there is any reason I could not take out the Alliance and Leicester account with the 0%overdraft, take out the 2500 and put it in a mini cash ISA or a high interest savings account, then pay it back after 12 months?
As long as I paid money into the account to keep it open would there be any problem with this?0 -
Hi All,
Am just concerned that the Abbey 8% interest account is still being flagged as the 'number 1 current account'.
As previously stated on here it does pay the highest interest, but even after appearing on Watchdog for it's terrible customer service things have not improved.
I opened one of these accounts 12 weeks ago and still have no access to the money I deposited due to not being sent either a debit card or internet banking details.
And they also didn't bother to answer my complaint letter sent three weeks ago in the 14 days they promised.
I'd advise anyone to STEER WELL CLEAR! The interest is very attractive but so far out of the 12 month deal I've wasted 3 months with only a small amount in the account. I'm not going to pay my wages in when I have no access!
I think I'm going to move to A&L....... Anyone with feedback on them?0 -
It would be nice to hear from MSE exactly why they refuse to take competence and customer service into account when recommending best buys. After my experience of the last 12 months, and reading this forum which shows that my experience appears pretty common, I would not recommend Abbey to anyone.0
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I opened an a/c in Oct 2007 to get the advertised 8%, put in £2500 and left it but on checking the statement I am only getting 2.5% less tax. I checked the website and although the headline says You could get up to 8% when you look at the small print it says the rate is 2.5%. Are they relying on the fact that most people will be unable to calculate the interest?
I rang to query this but just got transferred from person to person and eventually left on hold.
Added later: Finally got through to the right person who said that the 8% will not be paid until the account has been open for a year! Having gone to all the trouble I will now leave the £2500 there until the year is up, but I could not recommend this account which is only going to get an extra £60 or so interest.0 -
This thread makes very interesting reading..
I moved from Smile to HBoS half way through last year to get the £100 & better interest rate. They totally stuffed up the transfer process - kept getting letters through the door saying "your bank has cancelled payment".. When I got through to them on their useless internet banking / account switching hellpline it transpired that they 'forgot' to send the letters out to the originators of the direct debits. No appology nothing!
I paid an xmas cheque & cash in on the 27th in the north of scotland. The cash showed up but the chequed didn't, phoned internet banking on Wednesday & they said they would flag it up with the branch & get them to contact me. Went into local branch today & they had no record of this - useless
I have found the people at branch level to be superb but the internet based stuff is appauling. Smile were so much better at this, pity there interest rate is so crap, otherwise I would go back to them.
So thats my rant does anyone have any suggestions for a curent account with good to fair interest rate that has better internet banking than HBoS.
I work shifts & all this 'you'll have to go in to a branch' or 'we can't leave a message on your home phone' is not acceptable to me. With smile you could leave secure messages online - cannot do this with HBoS0 -
I'm furious with A&L. I just got stung by their new £5 charge for going overdrawn for 10 days. When I phoned up to complain, I was told I can be charged up to £10 this way per month. (This is being overdrawn within my overdraft limit ...)
Will close the account the moment I've switched everything back to Barclays :mad:0 -
Im surprised that people seem to contemplate moving bank accounts for the signing on fee or even for the interest (which could just be an introductory offer). With most bank accounts you can have an online savings account and switch money between that and your current account as often as you like. To my mind a bank account is something that's too important - and too much trouble - to keep switching. I moved from Abbey because their servive had slipped to appalling levels - and because my financial circumstances have changed (ie I'm now mostly in credit) so a different product suited me. Unless BoS seriously annoy me I'm not planning to switch again, whatever incentives are on offer from other banks. The £100 and 6% interest were bonuses, and helped make the decision on who to move to, but if I'd been happy with Abbey I wouldn't have even contemplated switching.0
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I would strongly second this post. I have just moved my current account. The process has gone very smoothly (up to now at least), but was a pain nonetheless. I would very strongly recommend against doing this every six months/year for the sake of an introductory offer. Also, moving banks has a short-term impact on a person's credit score (or at least I hope it's short-term!).0
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Alistair, I've just opened a A&L Premier Direct account and am in the process of switching. So far I would recommend it. The interest rate is good, I like their internet banking interface, and I've been impressed with their customer service (compares favourably with Smile, who I was with before).This thread makes very interesting reading..
I moved from Smile to HBoS half way through last year to get the £100 & better interest rate. They totally stuffed up the transfer process - kept getting letters through the door saying "your bank has cancelled payment".. When I got through to them on their useless internet banking / account switching hellpline it transpired that they 'forgot' to send the letters out to the originators of the direct debits. No appology nothing!
I paid an xmas cheque & cash in on the 27th in the north of scotland. The cash showed up but the chequed didn't, phoned internet banking on Wednesday & they said they would flag it up with the branch & get them to contact me. Went into local branch today & they had no record of this - useless
I have found the people at branch level to be superb but the internet based stuff is appauling. Smile were so much better at this, pity there interest rate is so crap, otherwise I would go back to them.
So thats my rant does anyone have any suggestions for a curent account with good to fair interest rate that has better internet banking than HBoS.
I work shifts & all this 'you'll have to go in to a branch' or 'we can't leave a message on your home phone' is not acceptable to me. With smile you could leave secure messages online - cannot do this with HBoS
I know others haven't had such a positive experience, and it is early days for me, but up to now I would recommend this account.0
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