Which is the best bank for personal and business banking?

SteButch

Hi can anyone please advise me on which bank is the best for personal and business banking. We have been with Barclays for a number of years but I lost faith with them over the whole PPI and bank charges thing. We got a lot of money back but it still leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

We currently have Premier Checking and Savings accounts and a Business Checking and Savings, (we pay charges for these accounts every month). The wife loves it because she has access to all the accounts via the Barclays iPhone App, so if we need to move money in a hurry we can.

I’ve wanted to join the likes of First Direct for years but as they don’t do any Business accounts it puts us off. We are worried that if we need to move money in a hurry, going from one bank to another, there could be delay and we could end up with bank charges.

Thanks for your help.

grumbler

EDIT: Wait... "Checking account"?! Do you not have any forums in US and have to go to UK for an advice? Do you have First Direct in US too? And the PPI debacle?

Define 'the best'.
Why does it have to be one bank for personal and business? What is best for business isn't necessarily best for a person.
Money normally moves almost instantly nowadays, and you don't have to move the whole balance in one go. It's advised to have accounts with more than one bank for both personal and business needs. However, if you want to switch a personal account and close it, the Switching Service takes care of everything: 7-day bank switching era begins: Full Q&A

ChiefGrasscutter

Trouble with these sorts of posts is what is "best" often depends on your personal preferences and personal circumstances.
Its a bit like asking which is the best car or the best computer/laptop to buy or the best anti-virus software.

For some people they don't like the online banking interface so they would say not to go to bank A while others like the same interface and would prefer A over say B.

Then there are others who hate Bank C because they had had issues with them in the past while the reality is that no matter how much they hate them the fact is that Bank C has several million customers who are clearly either happy or at least have better things to do with limited time in life to go changing banks.

and so its goes on......

agrinnall

In the past I've posted a picture of a piece of string in response to this sort of question but I just can't be bothered to look for one today...

SteButch

Thanks for the replies, this is my first post/question, I will try to ask a more precise question next time. No need for pictures of pieces of string.

jumperabv3

SteButch wrote: »

We currently have Premier Checking and Savings accounts

I use Citibank in the US, it's a great bank if you ask me, money transfers are processed quickly, and you got the mobile app and anything else that you need.

Also, I can transfer money from my Citibank US account to my Citibank HK account (Hong Kong), and vice versa, it' free but note if you transfer from the US to the HK account it would force you to convert the money you're transferring from USD to HKD so you would lose a little bit on the way but it's still worth it.

For UK banks I use Halifax, the Post Office and Barclays - they are all great banks, Halifax I think is my #1 favorite because it allows you to do Fast Transfers (to your Halifax Clarity card for example) and it just works great, easy to use, updates quickly with all payments/transfers etc. and has great savings account that pay you nice interest as well.

If you're looking for a US BASED Credit Card that works like Halifax Clarity but just in the US in USD currency then look at my thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5117022

I use PenFed, you get both savings account and a Promise Credit Card that doesn't charge you any fee at all - so as I mentioned in this forum from time to time I can choose whether to use my Halifax Clarity (in GBP) or the PenFed one (in USD) if I use it in countries other than the UK/US (e.g. in Hong Kong I would choose the card based on the currency that is "stronger" e.g. if the GBP/USD is 1.60 I would use Halifax Clarity and if it's 1.50 like now I would use PenFed).

It all saves you lots of money in the end.
Sorry if I wrote too much information here, I tried to keep it as short as I can.

planteria

it's a very difficult question to guide with..

but i bank with HSBC for business, and for personal banking i use HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS. i have other accounts which i use for promotions and deals too..

i think if i purely wanted 1 business account and 1 personal account i would be with HSBC & HSBC or HSBC & Barclays. i find cs at both of these to be very good, in fairness using their premier services. way better than Santander or Halifax, for examples. i have also found Lloyds to be good, but NatWest to be poor.

a friend & customer of mine swears by Barclays personal, HSBC business, Barclays for card terminal. cynics in business sometimes structure their finances to ensure that no bank has complete control of their affairs..preventing them controlling personal savings to cover business debts, for example. that is also part of the idea of having card payments received by a different bank to your current account provider. also, perhaps your business bank not knowing that you are short of cash personally (for example, not suggesting that is the case with you) could be a good idea:think:

System

Probably Lloyds family or Clydesdale for business banking.
Same for personal and plus Nationwide / N&P.

I would avoid HSBC and Barclays myself.

RBS / NatWest are a maybe.

planteria

i'm a long-standing Nationwide member, but i've found CS with them, and with Clydesdale, to be laughably bad.
i can't even imagine risking business banking with them:laugh: