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who do you bank with
looking to open a new business account who has the best deal looking at bank of Scotland at the mo
regards
Derek
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27 Replies
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i was gonna go with halifax (they use RBoS) but they took so long to get back to me that i went to HSBC (my bank for 20yrs 😳 ), 1yr free, and a further six month fre on internet, £75 for an overdraught, been ok so far,
includes usual cheque book and a business card which is paid of at the end of each month (ie not a credit card), ideal for buying materials for the jobs you aint got the cashflow for !
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Im with Lloyds Tsb and have been since I began, have been really happy with them so far. Also I now have a business manager in my own branch which is very handy.
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quote Hugh Potter:a business card which is paid of at the end of each month (ie not a credit card)Invaluable !! perfect for buying from suppliers you don’t have accounts with.
I’m with Nat West, no probs except the usual charges us business people always seem to be stripped up with.
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I was with Yorkshire Bank for fifteen years and the service was impeccable until last year when they moved my business accounts to a call centre. It is in Shipley rather than Bangalore, but the result was the same. Useless.
In the process of changing to NatWest. Although the charges are a bit more at least I can get hold of my business manager or his assistant, for an instant decision, with a single phone call. That’s well worth paying a bit extra in charges.
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all our families business accounts are with Natwest, have been for donkeys years, seem to get better with the charges the more money you make, otherwise they’re definatly higher
as for personal banking, they are sodding useless! i have had a student account which morphed into a graduate account, but trying to get a question answered in the branch when they know your a student/graduate is like getting blood out fo a stone! think they think we are an alien breed or something?!
Kate
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Natwest for my business account for the last 3 years. I was thinking of trying alliance & Leicester because of the free banking, only drawback seems to be standing in queues at the post office to pay cheques/money into the bank.
John
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John,
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating.
Don’t go anywhere near a building society pretending to be a bank!!!!
Their “free” service is worth exactly what you pay for it.
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I bank with the Cooperative Bank. The banking is free if you are a member of the FSB, and there are no catches.
Janine
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my banks the one that just got robbed of £40mil
£20million of it was mine!!!
George
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Lloyds Tsb, Been fantastic since i set up on my own. As Jayne explained you have your own account manager on the end of the phone. 18 months free of charge too – bonus!
Kev
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quote Janine Chrispin:I bank with the Cooperative Bank. The banking is free if you are a member of the FSB, and there are no catches.
Janine
That’s interesting Janine there must be a catch, is it free forever aslong as you remain an FSB member?
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I bank with Abbey Business – Free banking and no complaints, not so impressed with them on a personal level but the business side is great
John
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We’re with Abbey for business, no complaints at all and providing you stay within certain limits all your banking is free.
Lee
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I use Cater Allen Private Bank – free for business (I think they might charge if you do loads of transactions though).
Get interest as well.
I used them for 10 years as an IT contractor and found them to be pretty good, so when I opened my printing business as a LTD company thought I’d use them again.
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quote Martin Cole:quote Janine Chrispin:I bank with the Cooperative Bank. The banking is free if you are a member of the FSB, and there are no catches.
Janine
That’s interesting Janine there must be a catch, is it free forever aslong as you remain an FSB member?
Yes it it, but the FSB has a lot more to offer than just free banking! I was with HSBC before and also had a card machine. Although the card machine was with HSBC too, I was paying twice – once for putting though the machine and then for the money going into my account!
Janine
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Have to disagree with John, Alliance & Leicester have been brilliant for me, free banking and interest, post office open earlier and later than banks so much better for paying in money. They also have comprehensive phone banking and online.
was with Tsb but they were useless
Rbs were too expensiveDave.com.com.com
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Dave,
I’m sure the Alliance and Leicester will do you a good job if your requirements are fairly simple, but ask for anything slightly non-standard and you will come up against a brick wall.
What did them for me was bouncing one of my cheques because, although I thought I had sufficient funds, they insisted that it took a week to clear a cash payment into my account. A week to clear a cheque I can understand, but cash? No way!!! When I rang to complain I had to sit and listen to a lecture by some spotty girl, fresh out of school, on how to manage my finances.
If I write an iffy cheque I expect it to be paid first and then a phone call to let me know, and perhaps to ask what I want to do about it if they are worried. That’s the sort of service you won’t get from an ex building society – no flexibility. OK, it might cost me a few quid in charges but that is preferable to having a cheque bounce and perhaps doubts about my credibility placed in the recipients mind.
Believe me, I wish the A&L better suited my needs. The local Post Office is two hundred yards away as opposed to six miles for my bank, plus parking is easier if I decide to drive, but they just can’t hack it for me.
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Hi John, I’ll bear that in mind – thanks for the info
Cheers John
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Derek mate …prepare to be “shafted “…im sorry but at least you know where you are with the guy with the shotgun & ski mask .Ive never been with a bank that really helps you of course i can only speak for myself on that one .When i started i was with the bank of scotland ,i found them great .First name terms with the manager .hed open the door for you whether you were in a boiler suit or 3 peice one .That all change when they moved to far bigger premices .I felt you were just a number …lost that personal touch if you know what i mean .As for managers ,you had several none of which you could see
Regards Brian
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John, that’s one of the reasons I left the banks, I had money taken out of my account, took me overdrawn so got charged, thing was it had nothing to do with me, it should have come out of someone elses account! I have had cheques with the wrong name on too. Last time I asked for an overdraft for some working capital (only £1000)they wanted 3 years projected accounts, even though I had never been overdrawn in the 10 years I had been with the bank.
Bit like garages/lawyers and architects, we have all had trouble with them in one way or another.
Dave.com.com.com
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I understand perfectly Dave.
The reason I moved to the Yorkshire in 1990 was that I wanted a ten thousand pound overdraft to buy equipment. My existing bank, Lloyds, had told me that they would quite happily do that but that they would want my house for security. I told them that they lent that sort of money to any muppet that walked in off the street in the form of car loans without any talk of security and the couldn’t have my house. They wouldn’t budge so I walked.
I think that the truth of the matter is that it is partly down to our manager and partly down to the system. We are likely to get more favourable decisions from a local manager who has been to visit us, seen what we do and been able to form an opinion on what type of characters we are. However, no matter how good a manager, if a call cente system doesn’t allow that personal relationship to happen then we have to battle with bureaucracy.
Also, let’s not forget that a call centre “manager” is likely to be a spotty youth about twenty two years old with no authority to deviate from strict guidelines and is frightened to death of making a mistake.
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Here’s a tip..
Maybe a bit “iffy” but worth considering none the less. 😕
The last bit of equipment I bought was a Cadet printer. I shopped around for the best interest rate and discovered I could get a personal loan with a much lower APR than I was able to get on any business loan or leasing deal. I therefore applied for a personal loan from my bank – told them it was to buy a car. They lent me the money (no questions asked) and I used it to buy the printer. Nobody asked to see my nice shiny new car which didn’t exist 😕
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Yer Phil, I was going to do that if I needed the dosh as it doesn’t take long to organise. I borrowed a couple of thou a few years ago to buy a Merc car, and couldn’t believe how easy it was with vertually no questioned asked. Like you say no one asked to see the car either.
Cheers
Dave.com.com.com
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Phil, its not iffy at all.
in fact its more than legitimate.
if your personal credit rating is good, you can borrow, and invest in your business ( of course you decided not to buy the ar or loft conversion)I did an experiment recently to finance my new pickup (Or lifestyle vehicle, as you prefer to call it)
the figures were to borrow 20k
I look at the bottom line, i.e. what the finance costs..
business account over 4 years nearly £4000
lease purchase over 4 years very similar inc balloon paymentdealer finance over 2 years nil
dealer finance over 3 years £1200Personal loan over 4 years £2200
Moral is shop around.
The problem I found, with cash you can shop around, but its hard to find discounts, reason, most suppliers rely on a commision from their financer to form part of their profit margin. So in a lot of cases the cheapest purchase is the interest free over 1 or 2 years
Peter
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sound advice Pete ! i’m real guilty of not shopping around like i should !
i’m thinking of opening an account with the white lorry bank of tonbridge, i hear they’re dying to give their cash away, they’re just a bugger to find !
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nice one hugh .
i went for a business loan last week and the guy said to me you are ok for a personal loan its cheaper just say its for a car!
they are all fighting for the business something to do with referal points even between the two sections business and personal banking something like that but dont quote me as the car! will have to go back thats with barclays
i have been told bank of scotland is two years free banking on new business accounts so will be looking into that today
derek -
the only reason i didnt go with rbos (thru halifax i think) was that in a week they hadnt phoned me to open account, i went in again, was told they’d call me, had one answer phone message about 8 days later, if it takes that long to just get a call, how soon could i expect a decison on anything important ?!?!?
re hsbc, the nice lady phoned me and said my temp o/d i asked for had run out, would cost me £4 a day charge, but she said, i’ve run it thur thr system, it’s gonna cost you x amount to have it permanent, how much would you like 😮 just enought to cover things thank you !
the point is, she coulda done nothing, i woulda forgot about my temp o/d running out and been £120 out of pocket time i found out ! In the first month alone she saved me £50 just by calling me !
i dont really need the o/d, not properly anyways, but it’s nice to know it’s there if there aint enough credit on the bisi card to see the month out !
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