SB: Business Bank Accounts

buglawton

bargainhunt wrote:

Buglawton, that sounds like a good deal I may investigate it in future. How have you found their customer service etc?

Up to now Adelante have been very approachable and helpful.

Am experiencing the usual bank delays in getting approval for their Bank of Ireland deal. Anyone wanting the deal has to plan early (applies to ANY Merchant Services hook-up actually). Will report the actual experience when we get to use the system, watch this thread!

sophiedb

bargainhunt wrote:

I would say Abbey is ideal if your business is not handling large volumes of cash and has no requirements for complex banking transactions. In my case the most complex is international payments, which does require some paper work but hopefully should work when set up.

Hi, sorry to jump into this thread but I'm thinking of switching to Abbey from NatWest, and my biggest concern is the amount of cash and cheques we bank.

Cash in is generally £2-3k per month, plus 120-150 cheques - obviously we'd have to pay for any cheques over the 100 limit, but what do they mean by "cash deposits made at cash machines located at Abbey branches"? Are they inside, generally speaking? Do they give you a receipt of some sort? Do you have to go to the counter for the cheques?

I'm going to use the call-me facility (heh, extra money-saving) to hear the official line, but it's good to read how you've found them too

cheers, Soph

Savvy_Sue

I can't speak for Abbey, but my DH uses HSBC and their 'paying in' machines effectively photocopy each banknote as it goes into the slot! It's not a trivial or a quick operation, so you might want to check this while you're on the phone!

bargainhunt_3

I would check if Abbey is the right package for you as you are paying in quite a lot of cheques, and you will incur a 50p charge for each one there after. This could mean you paying £10-£25 per month in charges just to process cheques.

As for the service, I assume its just the standard cash Link cash points that they have that you use. Hence you put your stuff in an envelope and deposit it. You then get a receipt for the envelope but not its contents. Hence they reserve the right to correct it if you make a mistake.

I've yet to use their machines to pay money in as I mainly use electronic transactions or cheques. You can post cheques to them without any problem and you dont have to pay for a stamp to do it - unlike some banks.

Savvy_Sue

bargainhunt wrote:

As for the service, I assume its just the standard cash Link cash points that they have that you use. Hence you put your stuff in an envelope and deposit it. You then get a receipt for the envelope but not its contents. Hence they reserve the right to correct it if you make a mistake.

The HSBC ones are not 'standard' cashpoints but 'special' ones for business use, AFAIK. Or the card recognises that it is a business payment (you have to use a special card) and does something different to the 'normal' paying in at cashpoint routine. It sounds like Abbey is different, which is fine, just thought I'd warn you about the possibility if you were paying a lot in! My DH makes sure he goes to an HSBC with a cashier service rather than using the machine, because even if he has to queue it is a lot easier!

bargainhunt_3

A useful tip. I've yet to use the machines at Abbey, mainly as there is no Abbey in the town where the business is based. But a the Abbey branches do not officially support business accounts I doubt they have special machines - although I'd advise people to check this.

However it is worth noting that their new owners Santander want to expand the business banking operations, at present they have a 3% market share of business accounts, they want to increase this to 6%, so perhaps the in branch services will improve.

As I said earlier this is a basic account, for those with minimal needs. Its very good value for money for those who are within the transaction limits and overall the service is pretty good. But as it is basic you need to keep in mind there is practically no service beyond phone and net banking.

grumpyoldgit_2

We have just changed to Abbey business - so far so good - all cards cheque books etc issued without a hitch and the internet side works well.
One annoying problem so far though - the other day we tried to pay in cash at a branch - could not do it because we did not have one of the business banking envelopes with us and the branch did not have any! We forgot to bring one with us. Staff were VERY apologetic but we left still with our cash unable to pay in.
Amazing really since they are just pre-printed envelopes that they have supplied us with in batches.
Would have been nice if they could have at least found one envelope but I guess the policy is not to actively support business accounts at branches.
Apart from this one minor inconvenience Abbey seem like a good bunch to be with.
GoG

bargainhunt_3

Yes, I had some friends who tried to open account with A&L, after six weeks they still hadn't completed the process, despite being accepted. On complaining they were told it would take up to another 21 days!

Abbey took about 2-3 weeks in my case and so far so good.

buglawton

bargainhunt wrote:

Buglawton, that sounds like a good deal I may investigate it in future. How have you found their customer service etc?

OK, this is the part of the thread about a cheap way to accept Credit Card Payments on the go (eg markets or mobile services) with a Customer Not Present option too.

I have now got the system up & running and we used it at a craft fair this weekend. Works quite smoothly. I can give more detailed advice to anyone who sends a personal message.

Point to remember is, you still need to use an imprinter with 1 copy retained by Customer as your evidence should anything go wrong or if the customer raises an issue afterwards. There's an online way of managing Refunds back to the original card.

Well worth the monthly fee (about £6.00) but not necessarily suiting everone, entering the data on a phone's wap browser.

On getting home I was able ot go online & view the day's transactions. Not bad.

dandare

Hi folks could anyone recommend or direct me to any chat on the forum. im going self employed as a photographer and need to open a business acc. but im not too sure where to start. hopefully one with minimal costs.
thanks