Business Banking

aeuerby

Poppy,

I was commenting on the fact that some of the contracts we looked at - I forget which bank it was with we have looked at so many! - stated clearly that we were not permitted to charge customers extra to pay by credit card rather than cash/cheque.

I thought I would point out that it would be advisable to check what it says in the contract that was signed. Not all banks had this clause.

Savvy_Sue

You are mad keeping £5k in a business account as the interest on this money - if there is any payable is crap.

This may be true of a strictly business account, but I work for a charity which is also a Ltd Co. We bank with Unity Trust and are able to keep all our money in one account because we do get a decent return on it from them. I'd recommend them to anyone eligible: mostly charities, trades unions, voluntary organisations. http://www.unity.uk.com/

I mention it here because I have worked for charities who have been paying quite hefty bank charges so if anyone's reading from that perspective here's another answer!

bridiej

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).

I keep enough in my account to cover my expenses, plus an "emergency fund" then transfer the rest into a Smile account, then ultimately a Smile ISA.

It's all done over the internet so dead simple!

johnllew

The Alliance & Leicester Business C/a has free banking for up to 50 transactions per month, as long as you don't need to bank cash. It pays 2.5% AER on credit balances with no min bal. There's also a linked Business Reserve a/c paying 4.44% AER on £1 upwards.

And they're keen for new business.

johnllew

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!!!  >:(

That's just a VAT scam. Because the 2.5% is for "financial services" it's not vatable. Saves the retailers millions but it's being challenged by the Vatman.

vansboy

TRUE!!

& just look at the confussion you create, by paying with plastic & asking for a detailed VaT invoice!!

Poor girls on the customer service counter!!

VB

UKShop

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

Thanks for your advice. I spoke to our branch manager last week, said there was nothing he could do and very kindly handed my a copy of the Terms & Conditions that we agreed to when we opened the account.

Told him I was going to Abbey, and he promptly replied "Thanks for your business this last year" - walked out the door, across the road into the Abbey and should receive comfirmation of our new account this week !

Abbey used their 'Charges Calculator' and reckon they can save us almost £1,000/pa !!

Don't know how much of a good customer we had to be for the Natwest to want to keep us ! lol

m_rodent

reply to john llew

I endorse the Alliance & Leicester choice. I joined them initially because my micro-co. gets paid in cheques in Euros most of the time... and A&L are the best Ltd co. a/c for paying in such cheques that I could find (bulk pay-in of Euro cheques).

But yes, I found that you can also opt out of the £10 per month charge even after the 1st year's free banking, and they've got free Internet a/c management, and good interest rates on current and deposit a/c.

The one thing about them is that I find they're a bit dosey... could definitely improve their cust servs... seems to be a case of lacklustre banking culture rather than arrogance/hatred of customers as far as I can see... weren't they previously the "GIRO bank", whatever that was? (sthg to do with being on the dole mebbe?? )... Also apparent understaffing on the cust servs line. Don't know how they compare to others in this respect, probably similar...

Recommended for a micro-co. with lowish level of activity, anyway.

M Rodent

Slinky

NatWest have just offered me 18 months free business banking as I am starting a new business, and am also a personal customer of them.

I've seen adverts for Lloyds also offering 18 months free for new businesses.

aeuerby

Most banks offfer free business banking in the first 12-18 months. It's after that time most start to charge massive amounts.

We had free banking with Barclays but have just closed it and moved to Abbey - permanent free banking.