Switching business bank accounts after free period?

wattc

I want to set up a business bank account.

The Natwest "Business Plus Current Account" is catching my eye, as it seems to only charge £5 a month and most standard transactions are free, as it's mainly managed over the internet.

But it starts out at £5/month, there is no free 18 - 24 month period.

So. Does anyone see a problem in setting up a business bank account with the longest free period (RBS do an account with 24 months free, 25 months with Clydesdale etc) and when that ends, switching to the "Business Plus Current Account"at £5/month?

I should just add that I have a fairly limited number of clients, so should be able to inform them to start make payments into a new bank account when I switch without it being too much hassle.

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Nothing wrong with it other than the pain of updating everyone/everything when you change banks.

If you are a Ltd then opening an account can be a little more painful than opening one as a private individual but still achievable.

paddyrg

It's a hassle to switch, but nothing staggering. What I'd suggest, though, is that you don't nickel-and-dime your business banking. It's better to have a reliable and useful service than a cheap one.

If it helps at all, I've got 2 businesses with Lloyds (and pay £5/month for one and under £6/month for the other) covering all I use it for, the mobile app is actually pretty good, not had any account problems, etc.

Robin9

wattc wrote: »

I want to set up a business bank account.

The Natwest "Business Plus Current Account" is catching my eye, as it seems to only charge £5 a month and most standard transactions are free, as it's mainly managed over the internet.

But it starts out at £5/month, there is no free 18 - 24 month period.

So. Does anyone see a problem in setting up a business bank account with the longest free period (RBS do an account with 24 months free, 25 months with Clydesdale etc) and when that ends, switching to the "Business Plus Current Account"at £5/month?

I should just add that I have a fairly limited number of clients, so should be able to inform them to start make payments into a new bank account when I switch without it being too much hassle.

Thanks

Why not stick with END or Clydesdale after the free period ?






W

wattc

Robin9 wrote: »

Why not stick with END or Clydesdale after the free period ?

W

Because they charge a monthly fee PLUS fees on each transactions. Which all adds up. The natwest acc is mostly free on common tranactions, as it's managed online.

Zanderman

wattc wrote: »

So. Does anyone see a problem in setting up a business bank account with the longest free period (RBS do an account with 24 months free, 25 months with Clydesdale etc) and when that ends, switching to the "Business Plus Current Account"at £5/month?

I should just add that I have a fairly limited number of clients, so should be able to inform them to start make payments into a new bank account when I switch without it being too much hassle.

I see no problem if you have a small number of people paying into the account. The switch guarantee applies anyway, so any stray payments to the old account in the first year after switching should still reach you.

We are currently switching one of our business accounts to Yorkshire/Clydesdale (from HSBC) for the 25 months free banking - and don't anticipate any problems because most of our business transactions for that account are done using paypal, not directly via the account. So, hardly any clients to inform, just a change of linked account for Paypal. And we save the basic £5.50 HSBC monthly charge for 25 months - which is good.

After the 25 months the YB/CB tariff of £5 plus transaction fees applies - and we will consider options, but I assume that if another attractive switching offer is available we will go for it.

I see no problems for us in switching that particular business account - but I can see how a switch might complicate life for businesses with lots of incoming payments from multiple sources direct to the account.

wattc

Thanks Zanderman, good post

willo65

You can do 24 months free banking with Natwest and then switch to business plus at the end of the free banking period keeping the same account details etc.

wattc

willo65 wrote: »

You can do 24 months free banking with Natwest and then switch to business plus at the end of the free banking period keeping the same account details etc.

Really? That's good to know. I figured if you opened a certain type of account, you'd have to stick with it after the free period. So I could switch to the plus account at the end of the free period and keep the account number etc? That would be ideal. Do you know this from experience or did you find this info on their website? A link would be great if it's on their website. Thanks