life time free business banking

Horace

James...the FSB isnt just about free banking there are oodles of other benefits too and I must admit that I have used their legal helpline a few times now as well as utilising their other services.

Some banks (I know Lloyds TSB does) charge for everything - everytime you pay money in, everytime you write a cheque, in fact every time you use your account.

I guess it depends on what you want - I don't particularly want to pay bank charges which is why I switched from Lloyds to the Co-op (and I had already been a member of the FSB for a year by then too).

emsywoo123

Horace wrote: »

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).

Horace can you explain this bit? Insurance for HMRC inspection? Why do you need insurance?

Apologies for general lack of knowledge

greyteam1959

I think Horace means Tax Investigation Insurance.
You really need this nowadays to protect yourself against the cost of a Tax Investigation by HMRC.
They now have the power to fully investigate your business ( & private ) affairs.
The costs can run into many thousands of pounds even for a small business.

Horace

Mervyn you are correct I meant the Tax Investigation Insurance - I just couldnt think what it was called. I do know that the HMRC are turning more to small businesses and have started investigating them to see if they have evaded tax. If I am ever investigated then I know that I can call the FSB straight away and they will deal with it.

The other FSB benefits I use are the vehicle recovery (like RAC and AA only a lot cheaper), free banking, legal helpline (used a few times and both times I have been given great advice which resulted in me getting money back from unscrupulous charlatans) and now I have a gold card to be used in Regus business world lounges world wide whenever I want...as someone who works from home it is great for me because I can now meet people in a more professional looking place than a local coffee shop or hotel lounge.

paulwf

Off topic but I love how the staff in my local HSBC hate seeing a queue of *four* people. They rush to open counters and go up and down the queue apologising and offering alternative ways of paying money in etc. Their counter staff are always friendly and like a laugh and a joke. Good old fashioned service and I like it.

paddyrg

Just for the record, LloydsTSB has 2 tarriffs for businesses, the 'electronic tariff' is free for electronic transactions (transfers, etc) but slightly dearer for cheques and counter services. If your business is more electronic than cash handling etc it may be worth looking at *if* you're looking at Lloyds.

stonebroke123

James1968 wrote: »

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.

Are they owned by the Spanish government. I can't find a source to confirm this.

IrishGypsy

stonebroke123 wrote: »

Are they owned by the Spanish government. I can't find a source to confirm this.

They're not government owned and the UK arm is also a seperate subsiduary of the Spanish arm.