Is there any high street bank opening any new business accounts?

mika_dm

For the last month I keep trying to open a new business account. I don`t want to go for internet only banks, so I will exclude those. I have personal accounts with 3 different banks and 2 of them are not opening new accounts at the moment. 3rd one, RBS, told me they can`t open a business account for me because my business is not in Scotland, but they will transfer me to NatWest, because it is the same company and they deal in England. 2 days later, NatWest came back to me to say they declined my application because I`m not their client and they are not opening new business accounts for new customers.
I understand that people may need the Bounce Back Loans, but I feel the big banks just take the Covid19 excuse too far. Im sure there are not 10000 applications for new business accounts per day and they still have the staff to deal with the applications on.

Any suggestions will be welcomed.

Thank you.

oldbikebloke

Nat West is not accepting new business accounts because they are currently trying to encourage existing business customers to go elsewhere as they are being forced to reduce their market share by the regulator. Consequently they only want big businesses that pay lots of bank charges, not small business that pays only a few £ each month. 
They are bombarding us with incentives to switch to another bank as we are too small for them to want to retain.

doningtonphil

Oldbikebloke - that will explain why we were sent a link to the NatWest part if the website that listed what other banks would give us to move away from NatWest - the best offer is £4000 cash!

CKhalvashi

HSBC are, but it may take a bit longer than usual.

Barclays apparently also are, however bearing in mind it took almost 4 months to get a Ltd a bank account through them a few years ago, I'd dread to think what 'taking longer than usual' is for them.

lr1277

I don’t believe HSBC are opening branch based business accounts at the moment. They may change their stance on 14 December. They do have an internet based account called Kinetic, which is currently open for applications.
Cater Allen are opening business accounts, but this is not a recommendation as i have never had an account with them. However you need to be referred to them by a financially regulated organisation like your accountant. Also their application form seemed a bit involved.

mika_dm

CKhalvashi said:

HSBC are, but it may take a bit longer than usual.

Barclays apparently also are, however bearing in mind it took almost 4 months to get a Ltd a bank account through them a few years ago, I'd dread to think what 'taking longer than usual' is for them.

At the moment HSBC is closed until 14.12.2020 at least. I managed to speak with someone from their department, not very helpful, but confirmed they are closed for now. Barclay`s asked me on application if I am a customer, and when I put no, they stopped the online application.

I managed to apply to Yorkshire Bank( as I do have a Virgin Money account), but a problem with their software put me on wait until Monday 

CKhalvashi

mika_dm said:

CKhalvashi said:

HSBC are, but it may take a bit longer than usual.

Barclays apparently also are, however bearing in mind it took almost 4 months to get a Ltd a bank account through them a few years ago, I'd dread to think what 'taking longer than usual' is for them.

At the moment HSBC is closed until 14.12.2020 at least. I managed to speak with someone from their department, not very helpful, but confirmed they are closed for now. Barclay`s asked me on application if I am a customer, and when I put no, they stopped the online application.

I managed to apply to Yorkshire Bank( as I do have a Virgin Money account), but a problem with their software put me on wait until Monday 

Monday is better than both of the above.

Apologies, I didn't realise HSBC was closed for new business at the moment, and also haven't had a problem with Barclays in the past, except the application seemingly taking forever.

If you need something sooner, it may be worth speaking to one of the app-based companies, especially if a majority of your transactions are expected to be non-cash.

mika_dm

I try to stay away from internet based banks for now. I hate to deal important problems over the phone(kinda deaf ). I managed to speak with someone from Yorkshire Bank who said it is a n IT problem and they will call back on Monday. Also on their website said they will finish the application in 5 days( ). Now lets see if they will do it.