Small business bank account?

Gangaweed

I need to open a small business bank account.

Any recommendations for excellent customer services and low (or preferably nil) bank charges?

Thanks.

phill99

SNtander may well be your edit bet.

They offer free banking for 18months and the nuts £7.50 a month ( I think) after that.

leveller2911

You don't need a business account to run a small business from. I have run my business from a personal account for over 20 years.

Business accounts tend to be free for 12-18 months then they hit you with charges for transactions.

If your Ltd you may have to but if your a sole trader you don't.

Opinion

I had lots of trouble with TSB (whom I've banked with for 10 years.) Wanted me in branch, wanted me on the phone, back in branch- to show them copies of my bank statements... which I had to ask them to print off as I am 'paperless'. First set of documents that they sent via internal mail were lost, the suggested the safest way was to send them via recorded delivery. Sent them again, "Sorry, the bank manager didn't certify the copy of your passport." ARGH. "I've banked with you for 10 years, you should have a copy of my passport already!" ... "Oh, yes, we do. We didn't think to look."

Whole thing took 2.5 months, then they sent a cheque book but no bank card, another 2 weeks, then another 1.5 weeks to get online banking.

w211

Joining the Federation of Small Businesses will give you the benefit of free business banking with the Co-Op - http://www.fsb.org.uk/business-banking

However, it costs £120 a year to join with a £30 joining fee, so it depends if you find paying that worth, and if you use the other benefits the FSB will bring.

On the other hand depending on the nature of your business, and what leveller2911 you may not need a business bank account at all, and just use your personal account.

It may breach the bank's terms and conditions (I believe business bank accounts are just another way of them to make money), but the worst they can do (if they find out) is to ask you to open a business account, at which point you could just switch banks.

As long as haven't got too much incomings from various sources, it should be ok. For tax purposes just keep a good ledger/Excel spreadsheet.

Gangaweed

Thanks for all the replies. It is a limited company so I will definitely need a bank account.

So far it seems the best options are Santander or HSBC (free for 12 months).

Deru

Are you in London? got a friend using Metrobank for his Business account and he says charges are next to nothing compared to Barclays, whom he switched from.

Aquamania

There's a big sticky thread here on this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2103019