Business Bank Account

room_101

Hi,

I'm in the process of setting up a company and am needing now a business bank account.

Can someone recommend to me a good company? I'll be contracting so I probably won't need many of the options that a SME or similar would require. Just trying to get an account with minimal charges.

I've heard that Cater Allen is a good place, but you need to be invited to join it by a professional adviser. They seem to be linked to Santander but I've no idea if they are equivalent or totally different. It is recommended on all the contracting websites although ReviewCentre.com is not glowing in praise of them.

Recommendations greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

eskbanker

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/small-business#acc has a summary of decent business bank accounts as seen from the perspective of a small business, it's not clear from your post in what ways you'd see yourself being different from an SME though but this should be a reasonable starting point for your research....

room_101

Thanks. It looks like Santander is the best account option judging on reviews.

My own bank has min 12 months (up to 24 months depending on criteria) fee free online bank service. There is also £500 cashback based on a number of transactions.
The fee is £7.50pcm. Santander has 12 months free banking and also charge £7.50pcm.

The main difference seems to be that there are counter services, cash handling and cheque handling costs with my own bank option.

Should I still opt for the Santander as it was awarded best business ac for the previous 13 years and Moneyfacts best business bank 2015 or go with my own local banks online account who seem to be having a push on for business customers.

pmduk

It really has to be your own decision only you know what you'll use.

peter_333

I'm a freelance contractor too, considering changing my business banking for one simple reason, which may initially seem small, but is worth considering...

The online accounting system I use provides a facility to automatically import bank statements from your business bank accounts, but only some banks are supported. My current bank is unsupported, which means I have to manually download statements as .csv files, edit the .csv files into the exact format my accounting system requires, then upload the files to my accounting system. Doing that multiple times a month is a pain, so I'm planning to switch to a bank that the accounting system can automatically download transactions from.

If you use an online accounting system of any sort, it might be worth keeping this in mind.

pmclondon

Fee free business banking if you keep balance over £5k at all times

DCFC79

pmclondon wrote: »

Fee free business banking if you keep balance over £5k at all times

Post was over a year old, surely a more recent thread to post it in.

cromm

I was looking for information about a new business bank account myself and came across this. The irony hit me that the Santander Business Banking App in the iphone appstore was last updated around the same time that this thread was started...over 2 years ago. if this is important to you I would avoid. I tried it and it's like banking in the dark ages!

revolver

My wife setup as a sole trader earlier this year and she has been using her personal account but a friend of hers says she may need a business account. The only transactions that go through the account are one payment in per month from an outside agency, and one payment out per month to cover room hire.

The terms of her account state that she cannot use it for business purposes but the payment in is similar to a salary payment and the payment out is just a normal bank transfer. In oher words, very few transactions and the sums involved are in the hundreds rather than thousands.

She doesn't want to open a business account as she will be charged to use it. How would her bank know that she's using her personal account for business and even if they did, what can they do about it?!

Zanderman

revolver wrote: »

The terms of her account state that she cannot use it for business purposes but the payment in is similar to a salary payment and the payment out is just a normal bank transfer. In oher words, very few transactions and the sums involved are in the hundreds rather than thousands.

She doesn't want to open a business account as she will be charged to use it. How would her bank know that she's using her personal account for business and even if they did, what can they do about it?!

With the pattern of use you report it may be unlikely they would notice - but you can't be sure.

As for what can they do about it - it's a clear breach of the T&C so they can close the account. With very little notice. So, if the account's a general account used for other things that could be a major inconvenience.

I'd suggest either opening a business account - maybe a free app-based one like Starling (if she doesn't need cheques etc) or, if she must use a personal account, use one that isn't in use for much else.