Business current account switching

[Contreras]

Are we finally going to see the competition for business accounts that retail account holders have enjoyed for a while now?

What do new switching rules mean for small businesses? | This is Money

"For 13 months the new current account provider will arrange for payments accidentally made to the old account to be automatically redirected to the new account." - well that solves the biggest problem for moving business accounts, if it works.

Most of the banks currently have introductory offers of 12-18 months 'free' banking for new start-ups. I predict that in the not so distant future these will morph into introductory free banking for any small business that switches accounts, not just start-ups.

And then perhaps, just perhaps, when they realise that saving a fiver in fees per month might not be enough to tempt many businesses away from the competition we might just see a gradual rise in the interest rates offered to match that of retail accounts. That would be nice.

Wishful thinking?

[Martin at NixonWilliams]

"For 13 months the new current account provider will arrange for payments accidentally made to the old account to be automatically redirected to the new account." - well that solves the biggest problem for moving business accounts, if it works.

I've not heard of this until now but it sounds like a good idea.

I've switched banks myself recently, it took almost one month and was a pain. Everything was sent in the post (second class) and took an age to process! Hopefully the new rules will make switching much easier.