Who shall I use for my business banking? ££

[Ristic]

Pretty simple one here guys, I'm after a business current account and want to know if anyone has any recommendations?

Is there such thing as fee free business accounts or is there an addition I should look out for which justifies the fees?

Thanks in advance! R

[Jeremiah@RHJAccountants]

Pretty simple one here guys, I'm after a business current account and want to know if anyone has any recommendations?

Is there such thing as fee free business accounts or is there an addition I should look out for which justifies the fees?

Thanks in advance! R

Cater Allen
Metro Bank

(These are free with no charges if you meet certain conditions)

Or go for your normal high street banks which will offer free banking for up to 18 months and then charge around £5-9 per month after that! (nothing will justify the fee)

I always advise clients to speak to who you bank with personally if the Cater Allen and Metro are not for them.

[Waldorf]

Used to be that a lot used Cater Allen but they went off the boil, some accountants are now promoting Metro Bank, Cater Allen are good but I think they decided to reduce their dependence on the contractor market.

Free banking, and not just for 12 months, is what you should be looking for, all others offer a pretty standard services but reliable.

[northernladuk]

I hear good things about Cater on here but also hear the most complaints. I'm with Santander and have been very happy with them for many years.

[SueEllen]

Cater Allen's banking systems rely on RBS while they are part of Santander. Their FP take one business day and have to be done by 4pm due to using RBS systems. You have to do most things with them online, by telephone or by post due to charging if you for example pay deposits in at an RBS branch. They will post stuff to you. (I should add they are not the only organisation who offer banking services who use another bank's systems to process payments.)

Metrobank has limited branches, which they call stores, outside London. The other stores are in the SE. While transactions are done online and by phone if there are issues with their service they expect you to go into a store as they don't tend to post stuff like cards out. Their FP are normal as they have their own systems. Their stores have long opening hours and are open most days including Sundays and the non-religious bank holidays.

Both Cater Allen and Metrobank offer good customer service e.g. will apologise if they screw up and not pretend there isn't an issue when there is.

[Andy O]

If you want decent mobile and web access for your banking I would go with the mainstream, HSBC, Barclays. Even after free banking ends, I think the £5.50 I pay for HSBC is worth it and doesn't break the bank when you're earning £400-£500 per day.
I've seen complaints on here regarding Cater Allen, slow online payments and useless online banking.
Depends what your priorities are.

[The Spartan]

I'm with Natwest and despite their I.T. glitches, I've never had a problem with them. It's free for the first 2 years and then afterwards you can select what monthly amount you want to pay depending on what type of service you want

[SueEllen]

Metrobank's online and mobile banking is on par with the rest of them. They are just a newer bank. One of the guys running it set up banks in the US.

[Maslins]

Unsure whether Cater Allen are deliberately trying to NOT take on new accounts at the moment or whether they're just difficult gits...but we've stopped recommending them. Reason being they keep rejecting applications for really daft reasons, and refuse to speak direct to the client...so we end up with protracted daft conversations with us playing piggy in the middle.

Having said that, we also fairly regularly hear from clients that getting an account with any bank isn't particularly easy at the moment. Perhaps it's not just Cater Allen.

Long story short, you may find you don't actually have that much choice as banks are hardly crying out for small business clients at the moment.

[fidot]

MyCo's Co-Op account has no fees, and even pays some interest and £25 per annum loyalty bonus. Not sure if that deal is still available, as MyCo has had this account for approx 12 years, but it might be worth having a look.