"Easiest" business bank account to get opened right now.

[ATV]

Hi guys does anyone who has opened a business bank account within the last 6 months know of the easiest one to get opened quickly without any fuss (providing business plans etc.)

Would just prefer to show up with the companies house Certificate of Incorporation and the Memo/Articles of Association and get the online logins etc within a few days

Don't need anything fancy but I need something with the Ltd company name on the cheque book and online banking asap.

Later one I'll get a better bank account but for now a "basic" one will do but it needs to be quick and painless.

Any ideas?

[skilly1]

If you already have a back account with Barclays they say:

If you’re a sole trader or limited company with no other directors or shareholders, and have had a personal or business product or account with us for at least 6 months, you may be able to open your account over the phone.

[witko999]

Santander does all you require I think. Certainly no business plan etc.

Think it took about a week for mine to be up and running though.

[FredClogs]

Lloyds. All done over the Internet, I had no history with them.

[bigandclever]

Metro Bank. Takes about 30 minutes and they’re open 7 days a week, can go to a branch without an appointment too.

[Wilmslowboy]

I use tide ...all done online, download thier app (wgich is very good) , never spoke to anyone.


https://www.tide.co

[trickywoo]

Santander were good for me.

Barclays, who I have a personal account with, told me 3 week just for a meeting never mind being up and running.

I have another business account with Lloyds who are ok but far from great.

[Phunk]

Wilmslowboy said:

I use tide ...all done online, download thier app (wgich is very good) , never spoke to anyone.


https://www.tide.co

+1

Pretty much instant

[uber]

Tide are good but right now everyone is playing catch up to Starling https://www.starlingbank.com/ . Open with the app and transfers etc are much faster than Tide.

[psi310398]

Phunk said:

+1

Pretty much instant

And another here.

Pretty painless to set up. But no cheque book and no cheque paying in facility.

[Mikedknight]

Fresh out of bankruptcy, got an appointment with Barclays on Thursday for a business account. I'll update how I get on, but they seemed confident it won't be an issue.

[willetttiger]

I set one up with starling bank last week in 5 minutes really quick card came in three days no overdraft but not needed just needed an account to put money in etc still waiting to hear from NatWest and its been two weeks

[Toaster Pilot]

HSBC don’t need business plans / meetings / etc BUT they are crap, go somewhere else.

Metro if you’re near/in London I reckon.

[So]

Toaster Pilot said:

HSBC don’t need business plans / meetings / etc BUT they are crap, go somewhere else.

Metro if you’re near/in London I reckon.

HSBC is becoming increasingly crap actually.

[Toaster Pilot]

So said:

HSBC is becoming increasingly crap actually.

For account opening? I last used them in September and they took a couple of weeks but were reasonably straightforward (online application, sign and return some paperwork, done)

There are many reasons I dislike my business banking experience with them but account opening isn’t really one of them.

[So]

Toaster Pilot said:

So said:

HSBC is becoming increasingly crap actually.

For account opening? I last used them in September and they took a couple of weeks but were reasonably straightforward (online application, sign and return some paperwork, done)

There are many reasons I dislike my business banking experience with them but account opening isn’t really one of them.

No. Their online banking is archaic and useless if you need to view regular payments over a period in excess of a month.

The call centre is taking forever to answer calls at the moment.

[bigandclever]

Toaster Pilot said:

Metro if you’re near/in London I reckon.

They’re a bit more widespread than that.

[ATV]

Mikedknight said:

Fresh out of bankruptcy, got an appointment with Barclays on Thursday for a business account. I'll update how I get on, but they seemed confident it won't be an issue.

How did your meeting with Barclays go?

[Mikedknight]

Really well, my account won't be an issue. However having a driving licence with the wrong address on for my photo ID was a problem. My own fault and I'll be back there in a couple of weeks to complete the process.

[Sir_Dave]

bigandclever said:

Metro Bank. Takes about 30 minutes and they’re open 7 days a week, can go to a branch without an appointment too.

This is the theory.

From my experience a couple of weeks ago, the reality was 90 mins talking to a "business adviser" who promised a lot, but didn't seem to really know what he was talking about. None of the fees were mentioned any point, neither were the features of an alternative "upgraded account" (i know what they are, but it showed a lack of training/understanding from him). I was then promised an account number within a couple of days as he couldn't sign off on a "financial services company".

7 days later when i called them to find out what on earth was going on, i got a call back from a "business manager" to say they now need copies of a million other things that they didn't mention at any point previously. Naturally, its not a problem to provide it, but the lack of feedback/understanding for such a simple task is concerning to say the least.

All in all, its easy to go in & see them, but realistically speaking, they seem just about as useless as all the other banks i've dealt with over the years