HSBC Business Banking - £5.50 per month!

[eek]

First don't do business accounts by any chance?

No but they have a decent telephone banking service which is all I want because visiting a branch is hard work.

[TheFaQQer]

Go for first direct not HSBC but the fact I can phone them and it's answered straight away is a winner from me. I paid for Lloyd's and they didn't have the decency to answer the call without putting me on hold for 5 minutes

I wonder if FD have considered having a business account as well.

I've been with them for our personal accounts for over 10 years now.

[d000hg]

No but they have a decent telephone banking service which is all I want because visiting a branch is hard work.

Yeah the wife switched to them for the free £100 and is very impressed.

[SimonMac]

The days of free banking are well and truly over, businesses are the first to come under the levys but it wouldn't surprise me to see personal accounts going that way too, they already started it with the Premium Value accounts which are rarely worth the extra fees when the only products you use are bought individually.

I pay about £10 a month with my NatWest, but at the moment I think its worth it, their internet banking is second to non (much better than LloydsTsb) and as I have my personal and business account with the same company transfers between the two are seemless, most of the times I use the app on my phone rather than log into the full online portal

[Lumiere]

So what are the options, is Cater Allen good, any principal differences between CA and HSBC banking if someone had experience with both ?

Looks like they even have decent saving account rates, e.g. 1% for 9 months term (50K+), rather than 0.0000001% that HSBC tend to offer.

[d000hg]

The days of free banking are well and truly over, businesses are the first to come under the levys but it wouldn't surprise me to see personal accounts going that way too, they already started it with the Premium Value accounts which are rarely worth the extra fees when the only products you use are bought individually.

I pay about £10 a month with my NatWest, but at the moment I think its worth it, their internet banking is second to non (much better than LloydsTsb) and as I have my personal and business account with the same company transfers between the two are seemless, most of the times I use the app on my phone rather than log into the full online portal

I pay for my personal Santander account but they give cashback on council tax and things so it works out I make money on the deal.

My Santander business account has always been free; I could switch back to that from HSBC but HSBC appeared to have the best overseas payment options (I am on HSBCnet) and I often receive from and send payments abroad.

If you open a business account, will they transfer across DDs the same way personal banks will?

[Cupid Stunt]

The days of free banking are well and truly over, businesses are the first to come under the levys but it wouldn't surprise me to see personal accounts going that way too, they already started it with the Premium Value accounts which are rarely worth the extra fees when the only products you use are bought individually.

I pay about £10 a month with my NatWest, but at the moment I think its worth it, their internet banking is second to non (much better than LloydsTsb) and as I have my personal and business account with the same company transfers between the two are seemless, most of the times I use the app on my phone rather than log into the full online portal

£10 a month?! I bank with them too (personal & business) and have to agree with using the phone app to make transfers fast and seamless.
I'm on a tariff that has generous allowances for banking transactions (paying in cheques, transfers etc.) and as I never go anywhere near the allowance I pay a £3.75 fee per month, obviously dependant on how you use your business account it may be worth seeing if they can get you on a better tariff?

[Head]

Anyway... has anyone tried asking HSBC for options? If so what did they offer?

Yes, I wrote to HSBC, not looking for options, but to state a good case for asking them if they would be prepared to consider waiving the fee in my case - something we should all do, if only to let them know how we all feel.

My business has between £25,000 and £50,000 on deposit at any one time; I never go into a branch; I never write cheques; and all of my roughly 8 to 12 transactions a month are done by me online. So I'm not looking for something for nothing, and as their profits have soared yet again, I thought it was worth sending a polite letter to see if there was any room for negotiation.

Their reply:

"If you do not accept any of these changes [i.e. as outlined in their letter advising of the new £5.50 monthly charge] we will treat this as notice from you to respectively close your account.'

So they really don't give a hoot any more.

When they used to be the 'Midland Bank', their marketing phrase was 'The Listening Bank'.
Seems they've now become the 'Up Yours, Take a Hike' bank.

[AtW]

to state a good case for asking them if they would be prepared to consider waiving the fee in my case

If your client asked you to waive your fee and work for free because of whatever the good reason is (client going bust), would you do that?

£5.50 is barely enough to buy McDonalds meal for one adult, it's not unreasonable amount to charge for totally essential service such as bank account.

If you invoice for £55k per year, then your transactional costs will be just 0.1% which is very low. Try billing cards to see bank charges (2-4%) and you'd appreciate how cheap your service is.

[d000hg]

Do stop spouting this rubbish AtW. Considering your business is about offering a service you really should see that working for free ad offering a service for free are utterly different.

Not to mention that your business offers services for free...