Changing my business account

[kaiser78]

I use Santander. Life time free banking, over 2% business saving account rate. It is not bad.

+1 generally, until they do their website upgrades and mess all the account settings up...

[sy8111]

+1 generally, until they do their website upgrades and mess all the account settings up...

Oh, I registered recently when its website is already like this, so no exp with previous one. I find their current design is not bad at all. Fast and responsive.

[too_many_details]

+1 HSBC

I used to be with Cater Allen. Service was fine.

The big deal was no faster payments (and neither do any of the Santander group I believe).

Since I personally bank with First Direct, I was able to transfer my salary/dividends within hours rather than 3+ days.

HSBC is average for general business banking.

[sy8111]

+1 HSBC

I used to be with Cater Allen. Service was fine.

The big deal was no faster payments (and neither do any of the Santander group I believe).

Since I personally bank with First Direct, I was able to transfer my salary/dividends within hours rather than 3+ days.

HSBC is average for general business banking.

Yes, there is trade-off everyone need to choose. Either you go for free service and wait for 3 days , or you pay for happy mood seeing instant money shown in personal account.

[matzie]

I'm considering a switch from CA too - primarily because of the inconvenience of not having a debit card yet (I'm five months in, but given that I had some time at the beginning waiting for payments, it'll still be a while before I've got six month's worth of a £5K balance). I'd also like a secondary account for CT, which I think is probably too much trouble for CA as well. Not that I've called them yet on either of these points though, so I guess I deserve whatever I get for moaning aloud...

[TykeMerc]

I'm considering a switch from CA too - primarily because of the inconvenience of not having a debit card yet (I'm five months in, but given that I had some time at the beginning waiting for payments, it'll still be a while before I've got six month's worth of a £5K balance). I'd also like a secondary account for CT, which I think is probably too much trouble for CA as well. Not that I've called them yet on either of these points though, so I guess I deserve whatever I get for moaning aloud...

Give them a call, odds are that they'd rather keep a customer.

[Wanderer]

Give them a call, odds are that they'd rather keep a customer.

WHS, especially if you have 10s of thousands in the account and a good personal credit record.

[too_many_details]

Yes, there is trade-off everyone need to choose. Either you go for free service and wait for 3 days , or you pay for happy mood seeing instant money shown in personal account.

I should point out that HSBC banking is free for typical usage.

[sy8111]

I should point out that HSBC banking is free for typical usage.

Ahh, I can see you are right. Was the Business Direct account there in November 2010? I looked at HSBC firstly at the time and found its business account is not free and thus went to Santander. I may consider transferring to HSBC provided it is free now. Is it hassle to do this?

EDIT:

Well, it is still not life-time free, only in first 24 months (18 months if turnover < 100K). I will stick to Santander for now.