Cater Allen - Terminated account 60 days notice

[d000hg]

Has this happened to anyone else? I have been banking with Cater Allen for 5-6 years and my account has always had a very healthy surplus, all of a sudden I have received a letter stating that they are terminating my account and they don't have to tell me why. I have always been extremely happy with them so this has come as a complete shock! can anyone shed any light on the matter and can anyone recommend another good business account?

Maybe they don't have to but please tell me you are at least going to ask... go into your branch or phone your account manager?

[Lumiere]

the earned interest

What interest , we are talking about HSBC here, aren't we ?

[SueEllen]

Maybe they don't have to but please tell me you are at least going to ask... go into your branch or phone your account manager?

If they close your account due to suspected money laundering, even if it's a mistake, they won't tell you why at all.

[billybobster]

Cater Allen closed our account - don't touch them with a barge pole

I've just had exactly the same happen. We are a UK Ltd company (start-up going for 18 months). I just logged onto to make some payments and the account was not available. When I called, they told me they had issued a letter back in October giving us 60 days notice. We never received such a letter. When asking for a reason, the operator wouldn't give us one. Apparently the letter that was sent to us doesn't specify a reason either. This was a solvent business that had been reasonably quiet in the last month or so, but there is certainly nothing dodgy going on!!

I find it unfathomable that no one from CA thought it fit to give us a call and that we are not going to get an explanation. Some jumped up banker has made a sweeping decision to close specific company accounts that are legitimate businesses. This is causing innumerable problems getting paid by suppliers and paying our own suppliers.

So, if you are thinking about moving to Cater Allen, in a word, don't! They don't communicate well. It took ages to set the account up, and then they closed it without reason. No wonder the UK is in a mess. Stick to the big four banks - at least they won't just shut your account.

Cater Allen - don't touch them with a barge pole!

[jamesbrown]

A few more examples in the reviews here:

Cater Allen Business Bank Account Reviews | Business Bank Accounts | Review Centre

One of them mentions something about foreign shareholders; whether that's true, I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. They've certainly become a PITA in processing payments from international clients, although the person I spoke to put that down to RBS.

[Ticktock]

What interest , we are talking about HSBC here, aren't we ?

Yes. HSBC Business Accounts contain both a current account and a savings account.
The current account gets 0% interest, the savings account does get interest, but I can't remember how much.

[northernladuk]

Santander also have a business saver account but they have just slashed the interest by half from not a lot to virtually nothing so no longer really worth considering.

[jamesbrown]

Aldermore is probably about the best you can get right now at 1.1% for an easy access account.

[barrydidit]

Yes. HSBC Business Accounts contain both a current account and a savings account.
The current account gets 0% interest, the savings account does get interest, but I can't remember how much.

Details here. Interestingly, it appears to increase slightly if you leave the funds untouched for 30 and then 60 days. I don't know if thats a recent change - i've had the account for over a year and wasn't aware of that.

If really small numbers are your thing then you're in for a treat.

[jmo21]

Aldermore is probably about the best you can get right now at 1.1% for an easy access account.

+1, just found them myself this morning, opened an account in less than 15 minutes, including getting login details via text/email (username to 1, password to the other).

Just in time for my Barclays Direct (previously ING Direct) 2% rate ending