Good business bank accounts

[SGirl]

Well, I've finally decided to make the switch from sole trader to limited company. My accountant has been nagging me for 2 years now, so I finally gave in.

Now I need to open a business bank account. But I'm up to my eyeballs in work and I don't have time to research the various accounts available in depth. So can any of you recommend a business bank account or two? If I just have half a dozen accounts to consider, that'll be much quicker than reviewing all the different options available on the market.

Many thanks for your help!

[POORCARDEALER]

First thing to have in mind is they are all pretty poor for SME's.

Avoid Barclays. their customer complaints are up 106% in 12 months.


If it was me I would look for the one giving free banking for the longest, then if you didnt have borrowings I would move when the free period was up

[CerbitonFlyer]

I've just signed up with Co-operative bank. Only been using them for about a month or so, but the sign up process was painless. As far as charges go they worked out a lot better than the big high street banks.

[Davel]

Avoid RBS!

Handelsbanken seem very good.

[GadgeS3C]

Just been through the same research - Natwest are offering 2 years free for new companies and a reasonably good deal after that if you don't handle cash/cheques.

[s2sol]

I've got accounts for 3 businesses with HSBC. Two ltd companies, one sole trader. I have a good relationship with the local branch, and I've never paid for banking on the sole trader account.

Internet banking is pain free, too.

[liller]

barclays wouldn't even give me the time of day when I tried to open a business bank account with them. They were rude, dismissive and patronising so for these reasons I despise them!

I went with HSBC who so far have been very good and they give you 18 months free banking which is a bonus.

[SGirl]

Righto, thanks. So not Barclays then.

Handelsbanken could be a good bet because most of my foreign payments come from Sweden. I'll definitely have a look at that. I don't handle cash or cheques very often, so Nat West is worth a look too. I can always move the account after the 2 free years if I don't like them.

I already have a sole trader account with HSBC - they've been okay so far, but I just want to see if anyone is any better! I doubt they'll offer me any incentive to keep my business though, hence the search...

Thanks for all your help so far!

BTW, if anyone can do some relatively inexpensive logo and/or website design, do let me know. I'm going to have to update the stationery and website as well, but I don't have the budget for thousands of pounds' worth of work.

[Vixpy1]

Barclays have been brilliant for me, right up until we had a problem, then they were terrible. Between Barclays America and UK they lost 100K for 7 days. No one could tell me what was going on, My business managed said it could not possibly be Barclays and put the phone down on me, I Spent hours on the phone ringing various people, all of whom told me to speak to someone else.

Terrible

[Vixpy1]

Barclays have been brilliant for me, right up until we had a problem, then they were terrible. Between Barclays America and UK they lost 100K for 7 days. No one could tell me what was going on, My business managed said it could not possibly be Barclays and put the phone down on me, I Spent hours on the phone ringing various people, all of whom told me to speak to someone else.

Terrible

[POORCARDEALER]

Vixpy1 said:

Barclays have been brilliant for me, right up until we had a problem, then they were terrible. Between Barclays America and UK they lost 100K for 7 days. No one could tell me what was going on, My business managed said it could not possibly be Barclays and put the phone down on me, I Spent hours on the phone ringing various people, all of whom told me to speak to someone else.

Terrible

Barclays.....We stopped a chq for 25k, they didnt stop it and paid it, we had paid customer in another way so he was paid twice....Barlays addmitted their mistake in writing but told us we had to reclaim the money from the customer (whos car we bought and had never dealt with before)....they just refused to sort it. They offered us £50 compensation.

[Caulkhead]

As has been said by many - avoid Barclays! I had a limited company account with them and they were appalling. They promised and never delivered on many things and then when we argued they did their level best to stop us trading. We only finally got satisfaction after more than a year, the intervention of the ombudsman and our MP!

Santander are worth a look - I've got a ltd account with them and have found them helpful and enthusiastic, if not always overly competent.

[GadgeS3C]

Caulkhead said:

Santander are worth a look - I've got a ltd account with them and have found them helpful and enthusiastic, if not always overly competent.

My experience exactly of them - but from a personal banking perspective. Had to explain to them how their offset mortgage worked when I applied for one...

[5705]

Join the FSB; you get free Co-operative business banking (and free legal advice/cover, etc).

[GadgeS3C]

5705 said:

Join the FSB; you get free Co-operative business banking (and free legal advice/cover, etc).

How much does FSB membership cost? They don't seem to want to tell you on the website. I always work on the principle that if they force me to ask I won't be prepared to pay that much.

[joewilliams]

We're happy with Handelsbanken.

[LooneyTunes]

joewilliams said:

We're happy with Handelsbanken.

Tried them for 6 months - nice enough people to deal with but overall the service didn't live up to expectations. Was glad I'd not closed off old account fully, but still looking at alternatives to RBS.

[5705]

GadgeS3C said:

5705 said:

Join the FSB; you get free Co-operative business banking (and free legal advice/cover, etc).

How much does FSB membership cost? They don't seem to want to tell you on the website. I always work on the principle that if they force me to ask I won't be prepared to pay that much.

IIRC, it's around £120pa. There's a whole range of benefits* in addition to the bank account, so joining JUST to get the bank account may seem poor value. And paying cheques into the Co-op account is a PITA (choose a local Post Office if you don't have a local Co-op bank branch).

I'd had the year's free Barclays business account and it was not worth continuing with them.

• chief among them is the tax/legal advice (should you need it = hard to estimate!)

[Phil Dicky]

Avoid RBS and HSBC...both useless...several of my customers use Handlesbaken an swear by them

[AmiableChimp]

I use HSBC and have been very happy so far.

Free banking as I tend not to handle cheques, etc.