Business account?

[dude69]

I have just set up a small Ltd (not contracting), and I need a business account that won't start charging me. Always used to have Alliance & Leicester (Santander), but not sure now if that's the best option. Probably just have a couple of thousand in the account.

[Clare@InTouch]

Cater Allen are popular due to having no charges if you stay under 30 transactions a month. If you open the account through an introducer then they waive their minimum balance requirement.

[speling bee]

Cater Allen are popular due to having no charges if you stay under 30 transactions a month. If you open the account through an introducer then they waive their minimum balance requirement.

The other thing to remember about Cater Allen is that their FPS payments take 1 working day, which is at times rather irritating.

[dty]

The other thing to remember about Cater Allen is that their FPS payments take 1 working day, which is at times rather irritating.

How do you access their FPS? I just made my first divi payment and scheduled it using their "one-off payment" option for last Friday (13th) and it didn't arrive until Tuesday (17th) - 2 business days? Faster payments? Faster than what exactly?

[speling bee]

How do you access their FPS? I just made my first divi payment and scheduled it using their "one-off payment" option for last Friday (13th) and it didn't arrive until Tuesday (17th) - 2 business days? Faster payments? Faster than what exactly?

Faster than the old BACS. If you rmake the request after (I think) 16:00, it goes via (I think) RBS on the Monday for payment on the Tuesday. I thought EU legislation had mandated FPS, but apparently not, or it's not enforced.

[Craig at Nixon Williams]

How do you access their FPS? I just made my first divi payment and scheduled it using their "one-off payment" option for last Friday (13th) and it didn't arrive until Tuesday (17th) - 2 business days? Faster payments? Faster than what exactly?

I spoke with Cater Allen about this recently; they don’t have faster payments as such (it isn’t instant) but it is next working day if the instruction is received before 2pm. If the instruction is received after this time then it will go the day after.

[dty]

I spoke with Cater Allen about this recently; they don’t have faster payments as such (it isn’t instant) but it is next working day if the instruction is received before 2pm. If the instruction is received after this time then it will go the day after.

I set the payment up earlier in the week in advance for the 13th. I think there's something odd about scheduled payments whereby they effectively take effect the following day. Then add the overnight you mentioned and voilà, 2 days.

TBH, I'm massively underwhelmed by CA and, having been a client for 2 months, am already considering ditching them.

[speling bee]

I set the payment up earlier in the week in advance for the 13th. I think there's something odd about scheduled payments whereby they effectively take effect the following day. Then add the overnight you mentioned and voilà, 2 days.

TBH, I'm massively underwhelmed by CA and, having been a client for 2 months, am already considering ditching them.

Apart form the annoying lack of FPS, I find them just about OK enough to stick with. The problem is, they don't develop their service, so the rest of the industry is pulling away from them.

[dty]

Their web site is straight out of the 80s, and is a nightmare to navigate. And have you tried logging in from an iPhone? Their ridiculous JavaScript key handlers cause the keyboard to close after every character... :-/

Oh, and have you SEEN their iPhone app?

Not confidence inspiring.

[Craig at Nixon Williams]

I set the payment up earlier in the week in advance for the 13th. I think there's something odd about scheduled payments whereby they effectively take effect the following day. Then add the overnight you mentioned and voilà, 2 days.

TBH, I'm massively underwhelmed by CA and, having been a client for 2 months, am already considering ditching them.

If I was a client of Cater Allen, their ‘faster payments service’ wouldn’t impress me as they do seem to be behind the rest of the rest of the market on this front. However, I’d be happy for payments to take a day longer for the sake of getting free banking.