life time free business banking

Russe11

afaia the only place is santander, problem for me is I don't have a local branch(pretty much just required to pay in cheques).

Is there any others?, am currently with barclays and it cost £5.50 a month.

Quick glance at moneysupermarket shows no others, am I missing anything?

steve1980

No, Santander are the only ones. I'm making use of the Barclays 1st year free but will be moving to Santander after.

anamenottaken

Russe11 wrote: »

afaia the only place is santander, problem for me is I don't have a local branch(pretty much just required to pay in cheques).

Is there any others?, am currently with barclays and it cost £5.50 a month.

Quick glance at moneysupermarket shows no others, am I missing anything?

Is there any others?, am currently with barclays and it cost £5.50 a month.

Given the number of Santander branches I see (walk along most high streets and it seems you find 3), I'm surprised you don't have a branch nearby.

I would never recommend Santander but if you must why not use Royal Mail to deliver cheques.

chalkie99

You can also pay cheques in through a cashpoint machine using an envelope and at a Post Office.

We used to use the Post Office service when we had an account and it was very easy and free - ask at your Post Office if it still is.

Horace

You can have free business banking for life if you are a member of the Federation of Small Businesses and for as long as you are a member.

I pay £120 annual membership of the FSB which gives me some great benefits including free insurance if I am inspected by the HMRC (worth it for that alone). I have free business banking with the Co-operative Bank and I pay cash in at the post office, can post a cheque there too, can also go into a physical bank and bank online. The bank even pay me by giving me an annual membership bonus of £25.:cool:

buckster

You don't have to have a branch in your town to bank with santander. Just stick the cheques in the post in the free envelopes they send you.

LittleVoice

I don't think you can pay in cheques to a business account at a Santander branch. At least I tried paying in cheques at a former A&L branch earlier this year (when the commercial account had originally been A&L and had paid in cheques last year) but was re-directed to the post office (who seemed just to put them in the mail anyway) or directly posting. (Only other option suggested was paying in at a branch ATM using the account card, which wasn't with me at the time.)

martindow

LittleVoice wrote: »

I don't think you can pay in cheques to a business account at a Santander branch.

Yes you can pay in cheques and cash in notes but it has to be done through one of their ATMs. They will not accept deposits over the counter for business accounts.

Russe11

Do you have to ask for postal banking with santander or do they just send them to you anyway, got a letter here for a £100 to move accounts.

Slight problem is the paying in 1000 a month, some of my contracts got on for longer periods and might pay in 10,000 one month then maybe only a few small cheques the next month, then loads more the next month then perhaps nothing for 3 months which I don't work as spend in abroad.

paulwf

I'm not sure how much you use or rely on your business bank account but if it is important to you then go with the bank you trust and gives you the best service for the sake of £5.50 a month.

I will save money wherever possible but I've seen the mess that a bad bank can cause and would never switch just to save money.

James1968

When you tot it up, you pay 12x£5.50 at Barclays which equates to £66. To gain free banking at the Co-Op requires you to join the FSB @ £120 p/a, but the Co-Op then gives you £25 p/a members bonus, so total cost is £95 p/a.

Santander are owned by the Spanish Govt., who are planning to sell-of the UK operations to make some cash for their Taxpayers. If this happens, then you can kiss goodbye to free business banking and decent interest rates.

If you feel your business would benefit from being a member of the FSB (or is already a member), then there is only one choice. If it isn't, then frankly I would stick with Barclays as they only charge a monthly fee unlike some who charge a fee based on what type of transaction you undertake.