Business Banking

bridiej

I use Bank of Scotland - they only charge for cheques at 40p each and promise you will not pay any other charges for the whole time you have the account (provided you're in credit of course!)

And you can do the whole thing on line which is a doddle...

vansboy

If you are a sole trader & not going under a business name, why not just set up another personal account, within the same bank (helps to move £$£$£ this way, if you need to)

VB

Poppy9

UKshop tell Nat west you are moving. If you are a good customer they will offer you free banking to keep you.

One charge its impossible to avoid paying is for accepting Credit/Debit Cards. You have to sign upto a 12 month contract, you have to rent their machine and then pay anything from 3% to 10% for each credit card transaction. Debit cards are usually charged at a flat rate of 20p to 60p per transaction. If you are a shop ask about a local traders association. They often arrange a lower rate for members. You don't have to go with the same bank as you bank with. Refuse credit cards for small amounts or add the %age to the price if you can.

aeuerby

You need to be careful if you are going to add a percentage for small amounts. Some of the contracts we looked at stated that you could not charge more for paying by credit/debit card than if the customer wanted to pay by cash or cheque.

If you want to charge extra you have to put the prices up across the board not on each transaction.

Poppy9

Not true. Ikea are going to charge extra for using a card as opposed to cash.

bridiej

Have you noticed on Tesco receipts there is some print at the bottom of the receipt which says something along the lines of "2.5% has been included to the cost of your shopping to cover credit card charges".

So in other words, even if you pay cash you are still covering the cost of other people's debt!!! >:(

Poppy9

Yes you are which is why with small business you should always ask for discount for cash. This doesn't mean though that you don't want a receipt. I always demand off a tradesperson or shop for cash. Why should they avoid paying tax etc when I have to.

When I was in business I always offered a small discount for cash or cheque - it makes people feel happier and they were quite happy when I explained if they paid by card I had to pay bank charges on it.

Sometimes though for large purchases it was in my interest to take cards. With the facility many people would simply not consider buying as I relied on impulse buys. Also too I was guaranteed my money if I put it through the banks machine. The cash could have been counterfeit.

bridiej

I use Bank of Scotland Direct Business Cheque account with Internet banking.  Only problem is that you have to post the cheques rather than use a branch, but as long as there is £5k in the account, all cheques and cash withdrawals are free.

You dont have to have £5K in the account - I've never had more than £2.5K and more often than not it's arong £1K in there and I get free except for cheques which are 40p each.

With regards to Tesco, I was talking about shopping in general, plus it makes no odds if you pay cash in there as the % is included in the cost of the goods - a right royal rip off if you ask me!!! >:(

Dodsy

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. The BofS banking is all free apart from cheques (40p each), and even they are free if you have more than £5k in the account for the whole month.

However, you can make payments via bank transfer using Internet banking for free even if you have less than £5k.

Poppy9

You are mad keeping £5k in a business account as the interest on this money - if there is any payable is crap. Far better to negoiate free banking regardless of account balance. The £5k should be regularly transferred into a decent interest paying account (quite a few on internet accounts).