Business bank du jour

[zazou]

When choosing a bank for your Ltd company, what are the things that really matter?
I (reluctantly) accept the fact that no one is going to offer an interest rate that makes any difference.

As far as I can see it is the running costs, service level, perks and the possibility of a mortgage in a few years time. Am I missing anything?
I've shortlisted NatWest, HSBC, Santander and Cater Allen.

ps. Does it matter if you already have a history with that bank?

[Bellona]

When choosing a bank for your Ltd company, what are the things that really matter?
I (reluctantly) accept the fact that no one is going to offer an interest rate that makes any difference.

As far as I can see it is the running costs, service level, perks and the possibility of a mortgage in a few years time. Am I missing anything?
I've shortlisted NatWest, HSBC, Santander and Cater Allen.

ps. Does it matter if you already have a history with that bank?

I bank with the Co-Operative and wanted transfers between my Ltd and personal accounts to be instant.

They had an 18 month "no charges" offer on new business accounts at the time as well.

I have a few direct debits and a quarterly transfer (dividends when in profit), and never write any cheques, so my bank charges are about £5 a month - so for me the benefit outweighed the cost (and as I get interest on my balance monthly it usually works out that I don't see the charge as a deduction anyway.)

[MPwannadecentincome]

When choosing a bank for your Ltd company, what are the things that really matter?
I (reluctantly) accept the fact that no one is going to offer an interest rate that makes any difference.

As far as I can see it is the running costs, service level, perks and the possibility of a mortgage in a few years time. Am I missing anything?
I've shortlisted NatWest, HSBC, Santander and Cater Allen.

ps. Does it matter if you already have a history with that bank?

Your accountant can introduce you as well - a lot of them have an arrangement with Cater Allen, they get some referral commission you get an account with the transaction fees waived (provided within a set limit).

Interest rates being so low having interest paid is no longer of a big consideration.

Some banks do "faster" fast payments, some don't.

In the context of most people's daily rates the running costs are not huge. Service level is the biggest factor possibly though one way or the other most are as bad as each other IMHO.

[Zero Liability]

With Barclays, pretty happy with them. I'd move banks if I found one that offered a better business saver than ING and had good service, now that the bonus interest on the account is running out but it looks like most if not all offer close to 0%.