CH: Paying employees by Bank Transfer - Advice please?

Werdnal

I work as Admin Assistant at our village Playgroup, and prepare the weekly staff wages. Currently this involves writing 6 weekly cheques and the staff having to trek into town to pay them into the bank. Our Chairperson has asked me to look into possibility of paying wages by bank transfer. They are all weekly paid, and working hours vary, so amounts are not the same every week. My only experience of bank transfer payments are for monthly paid - does it work weekly?

We have a business account with Alliance and Leicester, and before I ring them for advice, would like to know about the pitfalls of doing the bank transfer option. Do banks charge for this service? Does it involve a lot of work? Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

fengirl_2

Yes, you can do this weekly, but I would ask how much A&L charge as it can be hefty. I have always used CAF Bank who charge 20p for each payment. You need to register each employee with the bank - their bank details, etc and once they are set up, you fax the details to the bank a couple of days before payment is due. Your fax sheet will have a space for two signatures, just like a cheque.

Savvy_Sue

We used to do it the way fengirl describes, which gives you one item on your bank statement for everyone's salary. But when our bank (Unity Trust) changed the way they were doing it, we couldn't get our heads round it, so we do individual BACS payments. I suppose we should look into the 'proper' way again at some point.

ukbill69

Just ask for each details of their bank accounts and BACS the money using internet banking, I know barlcays save the details so you can pay again.

It should be cheaper and better for your business than issuing cheque.

English_Bob

we use Lloyds TSB business banking and have a tariff that allows free Internet banking including bank transfers. I pay all my bills and staff wages (albeit monthly) this way. Easy and reliable and free.
Not sure whether this account is still available, but i would ask A+L about the cheapest way to do it and possibly change tariffs.

Raksha

We use A & L internet business banking and our wages are paid this way (there's two of us, me and the boss). I can make payment when ever I want, either using a template or a normal BACS payment. If the amount is small (not sure how small) then it automatically goes onto the Fastpay system, which transfers the money immediatly, most BACS payments now take 24 hours into my account (HSBC)

HTH