Best Bank

[DimPrawn]

Yes the call centre at Cater Allen is like a gentlemens club of highly educated types eager to serve you. Plus the odd duff northern bird thrown in.

Internet banking just to get a fast (exportable) list of current transactions would be great though. I have about 100 transactions a week on one of my (non IT contracting) business accounts and it's a right pain asking someone to read through them!

[GeorgeGregan]

I'd also go with Nat West...I'd say they are fairly average...but the back office team is so incompetant, that I've had free banking for 3.5 years. They just twigged and wrote to me....that was a number of months ago...but they're still such a bunch of numpties that they haven't actually got round to introducing charges I reckon if you start with them now, then 18 months later they'll get you...but you never know....

I went with Natwest because I thought having had a personal account with them for four years opening a business account would be trivial. Boy was I wrong.

Brought in all the required identification to the nearest branch, it was all photocopied and certified, and I was told I'd hear from them within a week. Three weeks later I'd heard nothing so rang them up and was told that things often get lost in their internal mail and to apply again. Duly did so, waited another three weeks, again nothing, ended up having to send the originals by registered post directly to their business banking section. Even then it took a few more weeks so I had a pile of cheques I couldn't cash and a looming cash flow crisis.

The best bit was once when I rang them up and asked to be put through to the business banking account opening team, I was told that they can only be contacted by fax from within Natwest as they are outsourced.