Aldermore Business Savings - Very Slow?

mgarl10024

Hi,

I've recently opened one of these for my business - http://www.aldermore.co.uk/business/business-savings/easy-access/ - as it appeared on MSE and on many other league tables as a good deal.

Opening the account was a breeze and everything looks good.

The only trouble is that they seem very slow.
- the online access seems to take 5-10 seconds to just display a list of accounts. Then you click on an account and it's another 5-10 seconds. In fact, most clicks seem to be taking that long to respond.
- transfer in, by Faster Payments, also seem to take an age. I transferred a test payment on Sunday and it took over 6hrs to show up. Last night I transferred in another £50 'test' faster payment and it still hasn't showed. It could of course be my bank, but transfers to other banks are usually instant.

Does anyone else use Aldermore (for business savings)? Is this quite typical of what to expect, or are they just having a bad few days?

Thanks,

DoctorW

Mgarl,

Will be interested to hear from others as to their experiences with Aldermore as that interest rate seems pretty great compared to many other Business Saving Accs. Looking to switch mine from Santander soon so will keep an eye on this - would happily deal with a slow website for the extra interest...though the payment delays would be a slight negative.

To be lazy and avoid having to read through their website myself, what other charges do they levy on your general business admin/payments etc? or do you have your main business current account with another provider?

Thanks,

D

deadkenny

Likewise been looking for business savings and not many come up in comparisons but most are Aldermore at the moment.

I'm a little concerned that they're a relatively new bank formed in 2009 and only broke even in 2011. Okay there's regulated financial protection, but still I don't want the hassle of it taking ages to get the money if the bank goes tits up.

The attraction though is good rates even on instant access, and online application without the need to hold a current account with them.

Are there any good online application, online access business savings with any of the reputable established banks? Many just seem to want you to call to discuss (so an hour of sales BS) or use an adviser to apply. I don't mind a lower rate, so long as it's better than 0% in my business current account.

Or, can I trust Aldermore?


Edit: seems to get a good write up here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9247941/Aldermore-a-Dads-Army-bank-for-SMEs.html

ColdIron

I've been using Aldermore for 3 years now (non-business) and found them professional, courteous and easy to deal with, not to mention the good rates

They operate a traditional banking model, borrow money from savers and lend it back out, and being a new bank don't have any of the mis-selling baggage that more established organisations are being fined for

mgarl10024

DoctorW wrote: »

would happily deal with a slow website for the extra interest...though the payment delays would be a slight negative.

Yes, I agree.
I have found that payments to them are taking between 6hrs to 24hrs to show up - which is very slow. In fact, with the 24hr payment, the origin bank received the money back as 'rejected' by Aldermore, then auto-retried and got it there 6hrs later.
I'm just thinking of cases where I may require the money swiftly, and having payments rejected and retried fills me with concern. The result is that I'll end up transferring the money days in advance of when it is needed and will lose some of the interest benefits of having the account!
I am still hopeful they were just having a bad few days (and the lack of 'me-too' replies suggests this to be the case) and will monitor the situation

DoctorW wrote: »

Mgarl,
To be lazy and avoid having to read through their website myself, what other charges do they levy on your general business admin/payments etc? or do you have your main business current account with another provider?

It's about the best rate I could find, without incurring notice periods or higher minimum balances. I read that there are no charges for this savings account (although arguably the 1.1% rate being below that amount for a personal account is a charge/cost).
I am currently shopping around for a different business current account provider as my intro period is running out with my current bank. I've a few contenders atm, although would welcome recommendations.

Borrowedtune

I've been using Aldermore for 2 years, following a discussion on here pointed me in that direction. No complaints from me, but it does sometimes take a while for new deposits to show up on screen.

Unfortunately, their immediate access rate was cut from 1.5% to 1.1% back in July, and I haven't got around to finding an alternative yet, and I may not even bother.

bowlhead99

I wouldn't worry that they were only established in 2009. It means they don't have pre-credit-crunch investment bank losses and misselling baggage to come back and bite them, and by all accounts they've been successful financially with rapid growth of their customer book over recent years; it's been reported they'll seek an IPO in the near future.

The way they've done this as a "challenger bank" seems to have been quality of service and rates, winning various best buy awards along the way, and they have still participated in high profile schemes such as funding for lending. So their brand still doesn't have the same high street recognition as a Barclays or RBS, but rather it's mainstream in terms of credibility but without the baggage of a bank with a trillion dollar balance sheet. I guess what I'm saying is, they're not some fly-by-night foreign operator that just happens to offer accounts to naive UK savers chasing the dream of a higher rate.

You mention the lower business rate than the best personal account is a negative or a "charge/ cost", but the reality is that business banking rates are always lower than what banks offer to personal customers.

Retail customers in the UK have never really had to pay for banking if they don't want to and just demand that they be able to deposit cash whenever they want however they want, take it out wherever in the world they happen to be (from an ATM or directly to the hands of a retailer) with zero notice, be paid an interest rate, and get it back instantly with absolutely zero risk.

They don't want to pay transaction fees or maintenance fees for any of this, or only get a low interest rate, because they know that despite the fact they can demand it back at no notice, and bank has running costs, the bank might be able to pool some customers cash and lend it to someone for 5 to 30 years at 4,10, 20% APR. So they would think it a rip off of they had to pay anything for the service or get a return below inflation... rip off Britain etc etc!

Banks generally subsidise their personal banking stuff with what they can make on the business/ corporate side, meaning businesses have much greater throughput but pay more for the privilege and get nominal interest rates, while the CEO of the business likes the bank because it gives him a 0% credit card and free holiday insurance on his personal account

So, it's quite refreshing when a bank offers a quality business savings account at more than double the base rate. I guess if you're having slow payment issues that's not great but the Faster Payments spec is, after all, an "end of next business day" product if you're using it to pay another bank. Most businesses plan lead times into their payments as it can take their own staff a while to set up transfers anyway, while suppliers generally accept getting paid on a 3-day BACS cycle. So 6 hours to fund an external account is unlikely to be a disaster when it's compensated by higher interest.

mgarl10024

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Retail customers in the UK have never really had to pay for banking if they don't want to and just demand that they be able to deposit cash whenever they want however they want, take it out wherever in the world they happen to be (from an ATM or directly to the hands of a retailer) with zero notice, be paid an interest rate, and get it back instantly with absolutely zero risk.

You almost make us sound demanding.

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I guess if you're having slow payment issues that's not great but the Faster Payments spec is, after all, an "end of next business day" product if you're using it to pay another bank.

Maybe it is simply an expectation issue on my part. I'm so used to 'instant' transfers (hit 'send' on the origin, then 'refresh' on the destination and see it appear) that it has turned into the expectation - two hours at the latest. I didn't appreciate that it was "end of next business day".

bowlhead99

Just to follow up the comment that they were rumoured to be looking to IPO this year and are a reputable / credible group rather than some unknown upstart. Now confirmed they're going ahead with it:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/upstart-bank-aldermore-to-list-shares-in-london/
(there was a bit on BBC too, but the FT and NYT pieces were a bit longer while the FT one is behind a paywall)