Reply to: Natwest Business Accounts

[kingcook]

I think they have lost quite a few customers hence the u-turn

That... and the "£500 each time in FOS administration fees"

[SueEllen]

Nice. Too late for me as a customer though - i've already moved to another bank!

I think they have lost quite a few customers hence the u-turn

[kingcook]

Yeah-but-no-but-yeah-but-no-but-yeah:

BBC News - Santander U-turn on free business accounts

Nice. Too late for me as a customer though - i've already moved to another bank!

[jamesbrown]

Yeah-but-no-but-yeah-but-no-but-yeah:

BBC News - Santander U-turn on free business accounts

[Sausage Surprise]

Has anyone heard anything similar for Cater Allen? Anyone received anything?

No

[bless 'em all]

If you use Cater Allen, some of the facilities like depositing cash into your account at an RBS branch (check the list of terms and conditions) are not free. Use electronic payments and it is free.

If you get paid in different currencies, there is a charge for receiving the invoice, but it's not too bad.
€8 or so.

I agree with the comments about them being good. The call centre agents are helpfull and they are very wary of security. I had a client pay me late and suddenly, I could repay myself a backlog of expenses incurred over a couple of months, which I had paid myself for the company. (Accommodation near the site, travel costs, subsistence etc). Cater Allen double checked that I had initiated the transaction.

The call center staff are sooo posh I have to put on my 'posh' accent to keep up.

Business-wise they're good.

[sunflower]

If you use Cater Allen, some of the facilities like depositing cash into your account at an RBS branch (check the list of terms and conditions) are not free. Use electronic payments and it is free.

If you get paid in different currencies, there is a charge for receiving the invoice, but it's not too bad.
€8 or so.

I agree with the comments about them being good. The call centre agents are helpfull and they are very wary of security. I had a client pay me late and suddenly, I could repay myself a backlog of expenses incurred over a couple of months, which I had paid myself for the company. (Accommodation near the site, travel costs, subsistence etc). Cater Allen double checked that I had initiated the transaction.

[TOSH1]

I spoke to Natwest this morning. They will be charging .40p per tranaction. I have about 15 incoming and outgoing per month so it will be £6.00 per month. I can pay 3.75 per month and no charges. He also mentioned that Santander has taken over Santender and they will introduce charges with in the next 15 months or so.

Spoke to my accountact who said that he will arrange for my account to be set up with Cater Allen. Cater charge but only after 50 transactions, the first 50 tranactions are free. Since I only do about 15 it makes sense for me to move.

[Maslins]

I had a similar issue with HSBC. Turns out it's still free if you do all your banking online, they only charge if you call them. Also there is a standard charge for the 'commercial card'. Only problem I had was when the security fob stopped working, so I had to call them to do some transfers and arrange a new fob.

NatWest might be different I guess.

We bank with HSBC, as do a lot of our clients. There's an 18 month free period, then beyond that it's still free provided you meet certain criteria. I think it's not paying in/withdrawing any cash, or >5 cheques/month...so fine if you'll mostly be doing online transfers/direct debits etc.

They did recently introduce this odd £6 monthly fee, something to do with foreign payment limits, which we got stung with despite not making any foreign payments. If you moan enough, they remove it and refund historic charges.

So in short, HSBC good & free, but you need to keep an eye on things.

[Hex]

Has anyone heard anything similar for Cater Allen? Anyone received anything?

[Contreras]

Santander was free and then started charging for new accounts, and recently accounced that all business accounts will carry charges going forwards.

Only seen press reports so far so I've just phoned them to clarify exactly the situation and I was told :-

Customers should receive two letters about the new charges. The 1st letter if not already received will be sent out this month or next. The 2nd letter to be sent out Dec/Jan will be 60-days notice of the introduction of the new fees.

Monthly fee will be typically £7.50 (same as for new account holders).

There is no announcement on Santander's own website so you must wait for the letter(s), however Interest rates and fees information for new accounts should give an idea.

They have set up a special team of numpties to deal with all enquiries on this matter so if you call the main business banking number expect to be transferred. The direct no. is 0845 606 1721.

[kaiser78]

Lloyds charge, I know that first hand, but I think Santander are free?

Don't think Santander is free anymore, certainly not for new accounts, I looked.

Santander was free and then started charging for new accounts, and recently accounced that all business accounts will carry charges going forwards.

[kingcook]

Mine is still free.

Not for much longer it won't be

[Sausage Surprise]

My Cater Allen (arranged through NW) is free

[Clare@InTouch]

I would have said to take a look at Cater Allen, but they are part of the Santander group, although a different entity. Santander is charging for business accounts. So it raises some question marks.

Normally Cater Allen don't charge if you keep 5,000 in your business account. Some accountants negotiate that to 0.

They are open from early in the morning till 11 pm which is handy.

+1

Cater Allen have the nicest call centre staff I've ever spoken to. They should waive the £5k balance if you go through an introducer, and it's free as long as you have reasonably low transactions.

HSBC offer free banking for a couple years too I think.