Business Banking

markh30

Hi, im just about to set up business banking for my ltd. co. and im wondering if anyone with experience can recommend me a good account? also, would it be better to go with my current bank and what sort of deals should i look out for? cheers!

Donegal_Paul

all i know is i would avoid Barclays as they are pretty useless, took ages to sort mine out, then when there was a problem with accessing the online statements etc i get a call centre in india and have to wait 5 days for them to post me a new password activation.

also (foolishly) went over 6 weeks ago to them for a personal current account as i thought it would be easier for transferring money etc but have i heard anything at all from them?

Nope, not a dicky bird.

martindow

There have been some threads on this recently. Abbey always seems to come out well if you are happy having an account operated by post or via ATM without local branch support.

MORPH3US

Best bet is spending a morning in town and going to see as many as you can, or just have a look at their websites and see what they are offering.

IIRC A&L are pretty decent in terms of offering free / cheap banking for business accounts, but it all depends on your usage of the acount.

Lots of places do "free" banking initially, but it all depends on the t&C's (usually free up to a certain number of transactions) how long for and what the charges are afterwards.

AWinner

From bad experiences in early 1992, keep personal and limited company banking entirely separate.

Do not even have both accounts with different companies in the same banking group.

Kilty_2

Can't go wrong with Lloyds TSB IMO.

I'm 16 and they gave me a (sole trader) business current account which now has a Visa debit card (they gave me a cashpoint card to start with but replaced it recently)

Most others shut the door on me

Customer service is amazing - I can't believe the speed and efficiency of the business call centre.

TenThirteen

I bank a lot of cash which was costing me £30/month at HSBC. I then joined the FSB for £140 a year and you can open an FSB Business Bank account at the Co-Op - no charge for cash/cheques upto £4k/month then the standard market rate. Then cancel the FSB Direct Debit to avoid the £140 the following year and simply keep the Co-Op account. You can pay in at any post office and if you nominate one particular 'favourite' branch then transactions are instant at that one branch. Plus, my local Post Office is open on Saturday's.

Savvy_Sue

What TenThirteen has said highlights the importance of working out WHAT you need from your business banking BEFORE trying to work out who is 'best'. The answer will be different depending on whether you need to pay in and withdraw cash / cheques regularly, and what other services you need. Obviously if you regularly need to withdraw cash then you need a bank where it's convenient to do so! If you don't, then banking by post widens the field.

olly300

Have to agree with Savvy_Sue.

When I looked at a business bank accounts I worked out that I would very rarely be dealing with cash, writing/receiving 3 cheques a month, most of my transactions will be done by bank transfer, I would like online and telephone banking and a branch where I could pay in a cheque if I needed to. Therefore I looked at lots of different banks that I did not bank with, and looked at all their business accounts and then found the banks with the accounts that did what I wanted for free.

I then went around my local area and tried to open a bank account. The fastest bank was HSBC. Basically I telephoned them up and asked what paperwork I needed to show. Went into the bank with the paperwork, made a same day appointment and 2 hours later had a business account with them.

gingababe

Well we are currently with Lloyds Tsb, & have booked an appoitment to close the account, as we are now being charged to pay cash into our account & a monthy admin charge. so will close & move , but how to I don`t know. It would be great if I could pay in at my local post office as I seem to be there 3 or 4 times a week.
Ginga

Savvy_Sue

For paying in at your local PO, you probably can't beat Alliance and Leicester. Although I believe other banks have an 'arrangement' with them - Cooperative almost certainly, NatWest almost certainly NOT!

If you're friendly with your local PO staff, why not ask them if they know which banks allow business banking transactions? They will probably be glad of your custom!