Cater Allen Business Banking

Legacy_user

Hi All

I've read through the threads on small business accounts but am specifically looking for feedback on Cater Allen please.

Do you have to have a minimum of £5k to keep to the account open with them and is it free banking for life?

I've been having a few problems with Abbey which are giving me headache and I am considering changing accounts completely which I was trying to avoid but felt driven to!

I can't see any problems moving from one bank to another that would cause any accounting issues in regards to preparing year end returns etc unless I am missing something...

Any advise really appreciated..

Thanks in advance..

Pennywise

Please see my comments in red below.

Summer01 wrote: »

Hi All

I've read through the threads on small business accounts but am specifically looking for feedback on Cater Allen please. Their customer service is probably one of the best and their call centre is in Bradford, staffed with humans who actually answer the phone and do what you ask them to.

Do you have to have a minimum of £5k to keep to the account open with them and is it free banking for life? You pay a monthly charge if your balance drops below this but many accountants have arrangements for this fee to be waived for their clients - ask your accountant if they have such an agreement, if not, perhaps change to another accountant! As far as any bank can say, it's free for the foreseeable future and has been for the past ten years - who knows what the future holds, I don't think anyone can give a cast iron guarantee as to future T&Cs.

I've been having a few problems with Abbey which are giving me headache and I am considering changing accounts completely which I was trying to avoid but felt driven to! As are lots of people

I can't see any problems moving from one bank to another that would cause any accounting issues in regards to preparing year end returns etc unless I am missing something... Just a bit of admin/book work, such as opening a new bank account in your book-keeping system, and making sure your books reflect exactly which transactions are going through each account.

Any advise really appreciated..As long as you don't need anything other than simple/basic banking, then Cater Allen will be fine. Just remember that you can't easily pay in cash nor draw it out as they have no branches, and you're not going to get overdraft, loan, merchant account, etc., facilities. If a basic postal/internet account is all you need, then it'll do the job. Also, many accountants offer even more than the minimum balance waiver - some will also arrange for their commission to be rebated to your account as extra interest. My only worry is that they are now part of the Santander group and may get swallowed-up into the uselss A&L and Abbey call centres - however, I had this same worry when they were taken over by Abbey several years ago and was pleasantly suprised when Abbey left them alone as a completely autonomous unit - hopefully Santander will have the sense to do the same and leave them alone!

Thanks in advance..

owner

I've had a Cater Allen account for 10 years and never had to pay a penny in charges so they get a big thumbs up from me. As pw says above though it does depend what sort of business you have as to whether it suits, I've recently had to open a new account for a different business and went with the Co-Op via the FSB as my requirements are slightly different (cash handling etc.)

System

I've read through the threads on small business accounts but am specifically looking for feedback on Cater Allen please. Their customer service is probably one of the best and their call centre is in Bradford, staffed with humans who actually answer the phone and do what you ask them to. Sounds like just what I need, Abbey are giving me headache currently.

Do you have to have a minimum of £5k to keep to the account open with them and is it free banking for life? You pay a monthly charge if your balance drops below this but many accountants have arrangements for this fee to be waived for their clients - ask your accountant if they have such an agreement, if not, perhaps change to another accountant! As far as any bank can say, it's free for the foreseeable future and has been for the past ten years - who knows what the future holds, I don't think anyone can give a cast iron guarantee as to future T&Cs.I've asked my accountants if they know anything about this, and they were not sure and have gone to take a look at it.

I've been having a few problems with Abbey which are giving me headache and I am considering changing accounts completely which I was trying to avoid but felt driven to! As are lots of people Oh dear!!

I can't see any problems moving from one bank to another that would cause any accounting issues in regards to preparing year end returns etc unless I am missing something... Just a bit of admin/book work, such as opening a new bank account in your book-keeping system, and making sure your books reflect exactly which transactions are going through each account. I thought as I had a previous company with them it would be quick and easy to set up a new account with them than look elsewhere but no joy. I may not have a choice but to start trading through this account for a month or so until I get a Cater Allen account open, then I would wish to move all transactions to the new account and close the Abbey account down completely.

Any advise really appreciated..As long as you don't need anything other than simple/basic banking, then Cater Allen will be fine. Just remember that you can't easily pay in cash nor draw it out as they have no branches, and you're not going to get overdraft, loan, merchant account, etc., facilities. If a basic postal/internet account is all you need, then it'll do the job. Also, many accountants offer even more than the minimum balance waiver - some will also arrange for their commission to be rebated to your account as extra interest. My only worry is that they are now part of the Santander group and may get swallowed-up into the uselss A&L and Abbey call centres - however, I had this same worry when they were taken over by Abbey several years ago and was pleasantly suprised when Abbey left them alone as a completely autonomous unit - hopefully Santander will have the sense to do the same and leave them alone! Cater Allen mentioned that you can pay cheques in via RBS branches or by post system and this will be sufficient for me, I don't need too many transactions or anything complicated.

Thanks for your advise.

System

I had a chat with Cater Allen and they said that to get free banking I have to be referred through an accountant, otherwise if I drop below the £5 limit it's going to cost me £15 a month to run the account..

What a pain, my previous accountant used them aswell - maybe I should have done this before I changed to another one!

I'm guessing that if you change accountants then you still get the free banking as the bank won't be aware...

saveoursovs

If you're forming a new company, then try using bfca.eu - they charge about £25 inc your VAT registration and pdf docs of incorporation, and'll refer you to Cater Allen so you can avoid the charges and open the account with £1, no further commitment to use the rest of their services is required should you not wish to.

DKLS

I really wish that whoever trains the Cater Allen staff would train the staff at the bank where my current account lives.
They really put other banks to shame with their customer service.