dodeer Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I'm starting a new limited company and will need a business bank account. I personally bank with Natwest but wonder if anyone on hear can offer any advice on which, if any, bank offers the best and easiest business banking. Natwest offer upto 24 months free banking, and satander similar. I will ideally need an overdraft or small business loan, which in this day and age am sure won't be easy with any bank. Any advice for a thicko like me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriBsa Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've been with Natwest Direct Business Banking for about 12 years and up to the beginning of this year I would have recommended them. However, their service certainly seems to have slipped of late. They were included in the RBS sale of branches and will become William and Glyns in 2017. A lot of good people seem to have left presumably due to the career uncertainty. Recently I was contacted in a telephone survey on behalf of the bank and a good many of the questions were of the type "are you happy?", "have you thought of moving to another bank?", "have you taken steps to move to another bank?" etc. So clearly William and Glyn's are worried they have bought a pup. I personaly would seek a bank where you can have regular contact with a manager who understands your business needs at a local branch. Telephone banking is fine till you have a problem. I was planninng to post a similar question in a few months time as I will be seeking to change banks then. HTH Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've been with Natwest Direct Business Banking for about 12 years and up to the beginning of this year I would have recommended them. However, their service certainly seems to have slipped of late. They were included in the RBS sale of branches and will become William and Glyns in 2017. A lot of good people seem to have left presumably due to the career uncertainty. Recently I was contacted in a telephone survey on behalf of the bank and a good many of the questions were of the type "are you happy?", "have you thought of moving to another bank?", "have you taken steps to move to another bank?" etc. So clearly William and Glyn's are worried they have bought a pup. I personaly would seek a bank where you can have regular contact with a manager who understands your business needs at a local branch. Telephone banking is fine till you have a problem. I was planninng to post a similar question in a few months time as I will be seeking to change banks then. HTH Tom Williams and Glyn haven't bought anything. It is an existing RBS brand that is being resurrected as the name of the branches being split from the larger RBS group. I thought only RBS Branches in England and Nat West branches in Scotland were being split off but it's a while since I worked there so things may have changed. I have heard good things about Barclays business banking offering. But I suspect it's similar to the question around broadband supplier, insurance companies etc in that different people will have very different experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I'm starting a new limited company and will need a business bank account. I personally bank with Natwest but wonder if anyone on hear can offer any advice on which, if any, bank offers the best and easiest business banking. Natwest offer upto 24 months free banking, and satander similar. I will ideally need an overdraft or small business loan, which in this day and age am sure won't be easy with any bank. Any advice for a thicko like me? if you are after any type of facility I would have thought sticking with the bank that knows you gives you best chance etc..whatever banks say they are still v frugal with small business facilties......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onatangent Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Also depends on what you need the business account to handle, ie are you going to monthly deposit, use for eCommerce business etc. Depending on the account profile you will get X amount of free transactions and then a %/minimum fee for cash deposits, digital transactions etc. I get free same bank transactions so use my current account as a buffer if I need to purchase raw stock which jn turn means I can opt for a cheaper business account profile and manage my amount of external transactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I use Santader small business banking, I think small business does upto a turnover of a million quid. Banking is just about as free as you can get. I moved from hand about 6 years ago when my banking changes were getting massive compared to the service. I pay nothing to write a cheque or deposit them upto 100 per month and a reasonable amount of cash upto 3k per month paid in. My monthly bank charges are normally nothing, if anything under a tenner. HSBC was approaching £50 to £100 per month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Not HSBC. They are the worst sort of self-abusers. Most business accounts offer the same perks of free banking for a few months, then you're on the hook thereafter. I'd go wth NatWest in your case because they at least know you for AML & KYC and you probably understand their flavour of online banking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDaveO84 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) I use HSBC and haven't had any problems with them, Infact they have been very helpful when I've had problems. I pay about a fiver a month charges. But be wary if you deal in cash as they can levy some serious charges on you for paying cash in as I found out when I tried to pay £2000 in and they charged me £50 for the privilege. I have the Internet banking option which is the cheapest fee and I only deal with invoices and BACS payments I think there are other options if you deal with cash Atb Dave Edited February 19, 2015 by MrDaveO84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I have banked with Yorkshire Bank, 35 a month ish Moved to HSBC similar charges but absolutely would not stop calling me for a "Business Review" and I had to collect new cards from a branch.(Replacements) Moved to Santander, charges are zero, no marketing calls at all, but cant use counters and takes a day longer to clear a chq. I like them a lot,no counter service can be a bind if ATM not working but saved over 2k in charges in the years I have been with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingo15 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 we are with natwest and have been for a while now. Dad just stuck in his ways. we are changing to santander when we get back from spain, plus should you have any chqs to pay you can use post office counters now instead so that will be a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLuke Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 I personally wouldn't recommend Barclays nor Barclay Card for business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Santander is apparently free banking and has been for about 6 years with my account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodeer Posted February 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ok, thanks for thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super sharp shooter Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I have used HSBC for 2year now and they don't seem to bad. They all seem to be much the same after the free banking finishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I have used HSBC for 2year now and they don't seem to bad. They all seem to be much the same after the free banking finishes. Did they sort you a nice Swiss account to buy all those guns? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.