I need a business account - any suggestions/recommendations?

pipsi_2

I need a business account to use for my small business. When i set up the business at the beginning of the year i tried to open a business account with Lloyds because i currently bank with them. They turned me down, probably because i have had a few missed DD on my current account from when i was a student and also made an arrangement to repay my credit card when i was a student too.

It would have been ideal to have an account with Lloyds as i would have been able to transfer money from my business account to my personal account instantly online. I have been using a Lloyds savings account for business transactions but it obviously has the restrictions of not having a debit card and the account is in my name instead of the name of my business. I'm worried that clients my find it unprofessional for my business account to be in my name instead of that of the business.

I don't need an overdraft or any other credit facility, just an account i can pay money into and take it out again and have a debit card. A business cheque book would also be useful but not essential. I would probably also transfer my current account to the new bank too.

I don't want to use HSBC because i fell out with them a couple of years back and closed my account. I also have an outstanding debt with Barclays that i'm paying back so they probably wouldn't let me open a business account with them.

Mols

I use HSBC for my business banking who I am very pleased with.

My fiance has free business banking with Santander. The account is OK but there are restrictions on how much money you can access in a single day but it is free banking for life.

Santander online banking is quite good (when you finally get your ID and logon details) so everything is quite straightforward to manage yourself.

There is no branch access on Business accounts. We only found out after the account had been opened in branch and we had to go back having waited for over a month for the online banking details!

Another bank we looked at for my fiance's business was the Co-op who I thought looked better ..... but it was not my decision!

huw01

I too have a HSBC Business Direct account, very good account if you can manage most of your transactions online then you'll get mostly free banking

Might be time to swallow your pride and go and see them again !

heloid

HSBC Business account has been great for me as well. They have a business banking branch around the corner from me at my current office which has been very handy. Sorry if this doesn't help!

gilligansyle

Hi, NatWest are good for business banking. They do a foundation account which is intended for start up businesses or those where the person has a poor credit history.

You need to make it clear you don't want overdraft facilities or a credit card, or they will first score you for a full account.

pipsi_2

Thanks for the advice so far. It's obvious that most of you use HSBC, saying i had a falling out with them was a bit of an understatement, they completely screwed me over when i had a credit card with them cloned. They called me initially when they saw some odd transactions and said to call if there were anymore, months later and hundreds of pounds of fraudulent transactions, hours and hours spent on the phone to an overseas call centre and you can guess the rest. They also screwed up my ISA two years in a row and i got lots of charges over my current account when i was a student which all started after a DD took me 31p overdrawn and it snowballed from there. I managed to get the current account charges refunded but after years of them messing me around i closed everything and vowed never to return.

I've looked at Santander and they seem the best so far because of their free banking, my business is small so i feel confident that i could keep within their 'free' limitations and wouldn't get to the point where i may have to pay for some transactions. Not being able to use a branch might be a problem as some of my clients pay me in cash so it's important that i can pay cash into my account. One draw back is my local branch is right in the city centre so it's impossible to just park up outside and dash in to pay something in. One of the beauties of currently using Lloyds is that there are several branches local to me that are convenient to use, several within walking distance. I gather that it might be possible to pay money in at the post office with Santander, this would make things a little easier, although then i guess i would have to contend with the three days it would take for the money to hit my account instead of it hitting instantly by paying in at a branch.

RBS do a foundation account which sounds similar to the Natwest account mentioned. Again my nearest branch is right in the city centre. I had my student account with RBS - now a Graduate Account, so already have a relationship with the bank, however i also still have my overdraft which i'm slowly paying off, so although i have the benefit of already having a current account with them, i don't really want to use it until it's back in credit. It might have to be an option though.

Any other suggestions/advice/recomendations?

smudge2006

Pipsi, sent you a pm...

pipsi_2

Tried to open a Santander Business Account today. i made it clear from the offset that i didn't want an overdraft or a credit card. The lady took my ID and i think she only asked me two questions, (how long i'd lived at my current house and my previous address). The account was declined, i was really annoyed, not because of the decline, although i was a bit bummed about that, but more because at no point did she tell me or ask me if i was ok with being credit scored. For the account to be declined, she clearly entered my details into the computer to do a credit score on me. Surely she should have asked me if it was ok to do that, or informed me that she would be doing so.

I think i've decided i'm going to go with RBS and try to apply for their Foundation Business Account, i have a graduate account with RBS with an overdraft from when i was a student. I'm pretty much up to my limit and have only been paying a small amount into the account each month as it has been interest free until this month, now only a portion of the overdraft is interest free. Although i'm close to my limit i've never gone over it since uni, apart from when they started charging me interest last year by mistake. If i manage to open a Foundation account with them i will probably start using my graduate account as my day to day current account which will help reduce my overdraft and also lower the interest i'll start to pay on it.

Has anyone with a CCJ managed to open a Foundation Business Account with RBS? I have a CCJ against my name which i'm currently trying to sort out, an ex employer claimed to have paid me more than i was due when i left and the CCJ was entered without my knowledge. I've written to their solicitors a couple of times since i found out about it but either get a reply that completely ignores what i've written to them and just demands the money or i don't get a reply whatsoever. They have yet to provide any evidence that i even owe them anything despite me asking them on several occasions to send evidence to show what i was apparently overpaid.

jonesMUFCforever

Looks to me that whichever bank you try will decline you as soon as they credit score you - they all will.

So unless you carry on as you are you will have to wait until they drop off your credit file.

pipsi_2

Well i managed to open a business account with Natwest today, i was planning on opening one with RBS as i already have a current account with them but the lady from Natwest called me this morning so i decided just to go with them as the Foundation account is pretty much identical to the RBS one as they are part of the same company. I told the lady that i just wanted the Foundation account because i didn't need an overdraft etc, and also mentioned i had a poor credit history.

The application process on the computer goes through the same procedure and then after the credit check it recommends the best account for the individual, on my case the Foundation Account. I also opened the Tax Savings account they have so i can use it to put money away for my tax bill, car repairs etc. I mentioned that i might also open a current account to make transferring from business to personal easy but she said with the Faster Payments system, i could transfer money from my business account to my current account with my other bank instantly, so it wasn't really needed.

She said that i she will ring me tomorrow after her colleague has double checked the paperwork, ID etc which is standard procedure, and should then be able to assign an account number and within 10 days i should have my card, cheque book, PIN number, internet banking codes etc. The lady was really friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my business, she kept a copy of my business plan, incomings etc and asked a lot of questions about the business. Much better than the service i had at Santander.

pipsi_2

Oh, one other thing, at the end she printed something off and said that i wasn't listed as being on the electoral register. I found this really odd because i am on the register, i voted at the general election and my address and i'm on the electoral register on both of the credit reports i recently ordered. And this morning we had a letter from the council through the door asking us to update the details of those living in the house, i was on the only one in the house who went on the electoral roll when we moved in so my name was the only one printed on the sheet. Really not sure how it came back as showing me as not being on the electoral roll. Any one got any ideas?