Business Bank Advice

2blue4u

2blue4u

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John
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Seeking advice and experience from others, if you would be so kind.

I've only switched banks once in 25 years of being self-employed. That was back when Bank of Scotland got into bed with the Halifax and the qos of both suffered.

Now the NatWest are fiddling with their charges which means ours will more than double.

I'm not asking for much. No overdraft, no interest expected. No cash paid in - or taken out. The killer is we have about 75 cheques a month to pay in.

Any suggestions?
 
Co-Op through the FSB? Free banking and they even pay a little interest on the balance as well as a £25 bonus for banking with them.
 
Mine is with HSBC I don't recommend then they're a pain in the backside.
 
I've just had the same letter from Natwest, my charges are going up 600%.
Did you read the part of the letter where they have updated their terms. They may, should they deem it necessary, charge interest on credit balances!!!!!!

As soon as I got the letter, I applied for an account with HSBC. Free for the first year, £5 /month for the second year and then a fee structure pretty much the same as my current Natwest fees which will mean around £8/month.
 
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I was with the Clydesdale Bank, wouldn't recommend them either, they charge for absolutely everything. I left about 10 years ago so my info may be out of date. I decided to leave when I tried to phone my local branch, got through to a switchboard in Glasgow who said they'd send the local branch a fax to get someone to return my call.
 
Santander does free banking for businesses. I had a company with an account with them and cheques in and out were no problem but paying in cash was difficult and withdrawing cash was by machine only. This was opened 10 years ago so they may have changed the offer.
 
Santander are recommended, I'd avoid HSBC and Natwest at all costs

Which is a shame as First direct for home banking is excellent
 
HSBC definitely not. Nat-West, not if I can help it. Both based on experience. Many years ago I had Coop business and it was OK; I have a Coop personal account which is broadly OK and fuss free. I'm now with TSB for business and been easy as pie. Very decent online banking and the initial set up was easy. All my transactions are BACS so dunno how the cheque pay in thing would work. I have a branch close to where I live and one right where my main client is so it's a winner, tho only needed to go in once.
 
ecoleman said:
I looked into them but reviews don't look promising.
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Can only say that Mrs Nod has had no problems at all with them in the 5 years or so she's been banking with them. It might help that we have a real CoOp branch on the High Street here so don't have to use the alternatives. Our branch is also relatively quiet so we rarely need to queue when paying in (a mixture of cash and cheques). The online side of things seems to work well too, although I have nowt to do with that side of it!
 
Most UK banks are generally run for their own benefit rather than their customers'.

There is a Scandinavian bank, called something like Handlesbanken, getting very good reviews. They have proper old fashioned bank managers that can make decisions apparently.
 
Thanks, guys. I'd forgotten about the TSB. And I'll look at the Coop again. I was an FSB member and may consider rejoining. Also investigating Handlesbanken, of which there are two branches nearby.
 
Never had a problem with HSBC but I do most of my business banking online and I'm lucky to have a couple of branches nearby (a bit of a luxury in Scotland!). I did try and open a business account with RBS when I first started and it was a total nightmare and I think I'd now be a Williams & Glyn Customer anyway if I had opened it up!
 
My problem is the number of cheques to pay in - and the method of paying them in. In the past I had discounted using a bank with an option to pay in via the local post office and that added to the clearing time. But now NatWest take six days to clear thereby largely negating that argument.
 
2blue4u said:
My problem is the number of cheques to pay in - and the method of paying them in. In the past I had discounted using a bank with an option to pay in via the local post office and that added to the clearing time. But now NatWest take six days to clear thereby largely negating that argument.
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You get what you pay for - if you want a decent business bank you must expect to pay for the service. Someone further up the thread said
BBR said:
Most UK banks are generally run for their own benefit rather than their customers'
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That is because they are a business and they have shareholders. Do you give your business services away free?
 
It took 6 months before one of the people in our office could fully use their business account with Coop/FSB. Absolutely useless at checking documents, losing documents, failing to send out required paperwork, agents not looking into details properly before acting or just having no clue what was going on. Would not trust them with my money at all.
 
Overexposed said:
You get what you pay for - if you want a decent business bank you must expect to pay for the service. Someone further up the thread said

That is because they are a business and they have shareholders. Do you give your business services away free?
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My business bank does nothing that a personal account does. The majority of my transactions are done by a computer with 0 interaction with a human being.

Banks make plenty of money, by gambling with the money put in my account. I get nothing in return for that, so I expect free/cheap banking.
 
sphexx said:
Santander does free banking for businesses. I had a company with an account with them and cheques in and out were no problem but paying in cash was difficult and withdrawing cash was by machine only. This was opened 10 years ago so they may have changed the offer.
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Santander is easy now to pay in cash, I business bank with them and hold a sole trader account and can pay in cash and cheques at any post office or Santander branch with no problems, but a minimum of £1000 per month needs depositing in order to receive free banking every month, I changed from the TSB about 8 years ago after being advised by my accountant and dont regret it one bit.
 
ecoleman said:
My business bank does nothing that a personal account does. The majority of my transactions are done by a computer with 0 interaction with a human being.

Banks make plenty of money, by gambling with the money put in my account. I get nothing in return for that, so I expect free/cheap banking.
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So running a branch network is free, running a clearing system is free, the IT behind money transfer systems/ contactless payments / merchant systems/ on line banking is free having staff available to speak to is free? Wake up and smell the coffee a bank account is a bargain
 
Overexposed said:
So running a branch network is free, running a clearing system is free, the IT behind money transfer systems/ contactless payments / merchant systems/ on line banking is free having staff available to speak to is free? Wake up and smell the coffee a bank account is a bargain
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Your a banker!

You know, how dare you tell me to wake up and smell the coffee.
I was with a bank that offered me a set of rates. I didn't ask for them, I didn't demand them. Now they have changed the contract, upping the charges by 600%, taken away my interest ( that alone looses me £1.59/quarter), and they've written into their contract they they may charge me interest for having money IN my account.

I've now switched to another bank that is offering similar rates to what I was paying. I didn't demand the rates, that's what they offered.

Maybe you should wake up and smell the coffee. High street banking means nothing to banks these days, it's just a mechanism to draw customers in to deposit their earnings so that overpaid gamblers can make the make billions with it. Or loose it and still earn a hefty bonus.

As for the services you mention, Merchant systems are paid for separately and I pay handsomely for that, contactless payments, I didn't ask for that and nor do I use it, and as for staff, I've not set foot in a branch for years.
 
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Santander are a bunch of clowns. Because I have a business account with them the log in to my personal account is completely different from my wife's and has different features (some of the promotions simply can't be applied to my personal account because, well, they are clowns). If you need to speak to them then either you get a call centre with limited language skills or people who understand your queries exactly but have absolutely no idea how to answer them.

But I've been with them for years. It's free and if you resign yourself to having never to speak to anybody about anything (I've decided that some things are so hard that if they crop up I'll simply close the account) it works OK. I don't take cheques any more though. You can send them in the post and it doesn't take too long but if you have a lot of cheques you'll need either to be patient or find somebody with counter services and that will cost a lot.
 
ecoleman said:
Your a banker!

You know, how dare you tell me to wake up and smell the coffee.
I was with a bank that offered me a set of rates. I didn't ask for them, I didn't demand them. Now they have changed the contract, upping the charges by 600%, taken away my interest ( that alone looses me £1.59/quarter), and they've written into their contract they they may charge me interest for having money IN my account.

I've now switched to another bank that is offering similar rates to what I was paying. I didn't demand the rates, that's what they offered.

Maybe you should wake up and smell the coffee. High street banking means nothing to banks these days, it's just a mechanism to draw customers in to deposit their earnings so that overpaid gamblers can make the make billions with it. Or loose it and still earn a hefty bonus.

As for the services you mention, Merchant systems are paid for separately and I pay handsomely for that, contactless payments, I didn't ask for that and nor do I use it, and as for staff, I've not set foot in a branch for years.
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Elliott you have no idea of who I am or what I do, so don't jump to conclusions. And please spare me the righteous indignation as after all you are the one squealing like a girl about bank charges.
Its very fashionable to bash the banks and in some cases this is highly justified but do you really think that the banks make any money out of small business accounts ? If you paid for the services you used on a per unit basis your eyes would be watering.
So wake up and smell the coffee chum!
 
JonathanRyan said:
Santander are a bunch of clowns.
. I don't take cheques any more though. You can send them in the post and it doesn't take too long but if you have a lot of cheques you'll need either to be patient or find somebody with counter services and that will cost a lot.
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It may not help you, but for the record you can pay cheques in at the machine. Could be tedious if you have lot.
 
Overexposed said:
Elliott you have no idea of who I am or what I do, so don't jump to conclusions. And please spare me the righteous indignation as after all you are the one squealing like a girl about bank charges.
Its very fashionable to bash the banks and in some cases this is highly justified but do you really think that the banks make any money out of small business accounts ? If you paid for the services you used on a per unit basis your eyes would be watering.
So wake up and smell the coffee chum!
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You're still missing my point, or maybe just ignoring it because it doesn't suite you.

I actually couldn't care less if the banks make any money out of me. I took a bank up on it's offer to me and now they have withdrawn that offer so I'm moving to another back with a better offer.

Why does it bother you so much? :rolleyes:
 
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ecoleman said:
You're still missing my point, or maybe just ignoring it because it doesn't suite you.

I actually couldn't care less if the banks make any money out of me. I took a bank up on it's offer to me and now they have withdrawn that offer so I'm moving to another back with a better offer.

Why does it bother you so much? :rolleyes:
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I'm not ignoring anything, merely pointing out that a bank has a right to make money too and they are free to put their tariffs up in the same way that you or I are. You as a customer have the right to decide if you wish to take the offer or not and you haven't.
I get fed up with hearing people screaming about how the institutions have done them. I know for a fact that banks do not make a profit on small business accounts and if they are seeking to address this they can do so quite legitimately in the same way that you as a customer can go elsewhere.
In case you didn't realise if base rate goes negative a bank that leaves money parked at the Bank of England would have to pay interest instead of being paid interest,so all of a sudden holding your money on deposit starts costing the bank!,, that's why Nat West and RBS have changed their tariffs.
 
Overexposed said:
I'm not ignoring anything, merely pointing out that a bank has a right to make money too and they are free to put their tariffs up in the same way that you or I are. You as a customer have the right to decide if you wish to take the offer or not and you haven't.
I get fed up with hearing people screaming about how the institutions have done them. I know for a fact that banks do not make a profit on small business accounts and if they are seeking to address this they can do so quite legitimately in the same way that you as a customer can go elsewhere.
In case you didn't realise if base rate goes negative a bank that leaves money parked at the Bank of England would have to pay interest instead of being paid interest,so all of a sudden holding your money on deposit starts costing the bank!,, that's why Nat West and RBS have changed their tariffs.
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And where do you see me screaming about how my bank has done me in?
I've always been very happy with Natwest but as you have rightly pointed out I have the right to decline their offer and move.

I've looked at a number of business banks and the majority offer an electronic banking fee structure where electronic transactions are free but you pay more for cheques and cash, so you saying that you can only get a decent bank by paying for it is hogwash. If a bank wants to push it's rates up 600%, that's fine by me, but like many many others I'm not sticking around to pay them.
 
Nat West & RBS on the news today, they are looking at bringing in charges for paying monies in to business accounts.

(have only skimmed the thread, so apologies if already mentioned)
 
OldCarlos said:
Nat West & RBS on the news today, they are looking at bringing in charges for paying monies in to business accounts.

(have only skimmed the thread, so apologies if already mentioned)
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Well, they say they are not implementing it, but have written it into their t&c's so that they have the power to do so.
It also does not effect personal accounts, only business accounts.

As I've said before, I'm not sticking around to find out if they do implement it.
 
sphexx said:
It may not help you, but for the record you can pay cheques in at the machine. Could be tedious if you have lot.
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Thanks - I didn't know that :)

Doesn't help me a lot because they are one of those weird banks that put their cash machines inside their branches - so I have to go when they are open to use the machine that stops them having to be open....
 
ecoleman said:
Well, they say they are not implementing it, but have written it into their t&c's so that they have the power to do so.
It also does not effect personal accounts, only business accounts.

As I've said before, I'm not sticking around to find out if they do implement it.
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They MAY bring it in, especially if other's are willing to, but it could backfire if only a couple implement it, so they're probably being cautious atm. One thing for sure though, they'll also be looking at other options to get their grubby hands on our cash.
 
OldCarlos said:
They MAY bring it in, especially if other's are willing to, but it could backfire if only a couple implement it, so they're probably being cautious atm. One thing for sure though, they'll also be looking at other options to get their grubby hands on our cash.
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Luckily, I'm a sole trader so if the banks do start this, I dump all my spare cash into a personal account or premium bonds until it's needed.

Anyway 0.01% isn't that much to pay them. I think that's what they pay me.
 
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I believe Metrobank off very cheap rates and a simple charging structure if you have less than 200 transactions a month. However, their network isn't currently widespread so you may struggle to find a local branch.
 
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