Business Bank Accounts - what to look out for

[jamesbrown]

Which is not good being part of Santander who are useless...

Agreed on that much. I'm hopeful that Santander's incompetence doesn't extend to CA...

[Sausage Surprise]

Cater Allen here for almost 5 years. Hasn't cost a single penny. I do everything online but on the 3 or 4 times I've had to call them it's been in answered within 3 or 4 rings, by a person who's dealt with the call quickly, efficiently and professionally with passing me around from dept to dept.

No complaints from me, great bank, can't recommend them highly enough.

Ditto.....was just about to post the same thing.

[Sausage Surprise]

do you have a credit card with them?? whats the fees??

Debit card and yes it is free

[Mr.Whippy]

Debit card and yes it is free

Do you still have to have the account with a min £5k balance for 6 months before they give you one of those?

I was with CA for a number of years and they were a great bank, really helpful & professional every time I called. I only moved because I eventually got fed up with the 3 days it took to transfer money to my HSBC accounts.

[Mr.Whippy]

My application to CA was referred by my accountant; there was no minimum balance and the debit card was issued immediately (within a week). So, if you're referred by your accountant (or maybe CUK?), it should be fine.

I was referred by my accountant, SJD at the time, and had to wait 6 months to apply for the card.

[Clare@InTouch]

In that case, I assume their policy has changed. As I say, I got my Visa debit card within a week of opening the account (with zero balance in there). This was last week.

It's a change in policy. They used to insist you waited 6 months before giving you a deferred debit card (in order to build up a credit history I presume) but they appear to issue them straight away now. Maybe because it's a normal debit card rather than a deferred one.

[SimonMac]

Does Carter Allen internet backing use a chip and pin reader type device so you have to have the card with you to access the online banking?

Also anyone have any experience of requesting more than one card? I am an existing MyLtdCo so will be transferring a healthy balance across

[jamesbrown]

Hi Clare

Does Carter Allen internet backing use a chip and pin reader type device so you have to have the card with you to access the online banking?

No, you need your customer ID/username, a personal access code (PAC), which is fixed, and an internet banking password.

[Clare@InTouch]

Hi Clare

Hello, fancy seeing you here!

[SimonMac]

Hi Clare



No, you need your customer ID/username, a personal access code (PAC), which is fixed, and an internet banking password.

OOooh handy, its a pain at the moment only having one card when working away and trying to do the verification process over the phone when someone else logs onto the internet banking