Business Account - best for international transfers

StephenWeir

I'm currently looking to move bank as my current bank, Bank Of Ireland, charges £25 for all transfers I send, even ones completed in the UK.

The key things I'm looking for are;

- ability to send transfers online to both local and international accounts
- transfer fees, both locally and overseas, should be as low as possible
- good customer service would be a desirable


Can anyone make any suggestions of what might be a suitable bank to try?

anselld

First Direct.
SEPA Payments £9
Free Euro Receipts
Excellent Customer service.
£100 cashback for switching.
Probably £50 referal cashback to share 50:50 if you ask on the referrals board.

gt94sss2

The OP wants a business account, so HSBC are probably his best bet. First Direct (owned by HSBC) don't do business accounts afaik.

I understand HSBC's internet banking for businesses is among the best.

Regards
Sunil

anselld

OK, yes, I missed the business bit, sorry!

sveika

Lots of my friends do international transfers and I think they tend to use either HSBC or Halifax. From what I've heard from them, Halifax is cheaper than HSBC. Cannot comment on customer service as I have heard enough complaints about both of them:-)

olly300

Have a look at Carter Allen and Citibank's business accounts. The best account will depend on what currencies you use.

While Carter Allen is now part of Santander everyone who uses them is very happy with their customer service.

StephenWeir

Thanks for the advice - Cater Allen appears to be just as expensive for TTs and Citibank doesn't seem to have a business section online. Maybe you could send me a link to this page?

There is some new legislation on SEPA payments which states that banks can't charge any more for their customers to send payments to other SEPA payment countries than for any other transfers. Does anyone know where I might find a resource where comparisons are made on SEPA payment charges?

We've decided to take this a step further and we're reviewing all the main banks and setting out a comparison table to see what they're offering.

Kempo

StephenWeir wrote: »

Thanks for the advice - Cater Allen appears to be just as expensive for TTs and Citibank doesn't seem to have a business section online. Maybe you could send me a link to this page?

We've decided to take this a step further and we're reviewing all the main banks and setting out a comparison table to see what they're offering.

A comparison table would be very helpful as I'm currently on the same mission! :T

NickAJ

In a similar position.

We are with HSBC and have a Euro current account as we trade in Holland / Denmark / Eire who all sell / buy in Euros.

At the moment we have to do Priority Payments from our Euro account to our suppliers at £17 each. Inbound payments come via the SEPA system for free. We also use UKForex to purchase Euros which we either "store" in our Euro account or remit direct to our suppliers.

I've just spoken to the SEPA team at HSBC. To use SEPA payments we have to register with HSBCNet (an advanced form of online banking) for which they charge £25 / month. Each SEPA payment is then £4. So we have to do more than 2 payments per month to benefit.

CITIbank don't have business accounts as far as I know but they do have free Euro and Dollar accounts.

I'll be interested to see how everyone gets on .