Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: davetherave on May 09, 2008, 06:39:10 pm
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my bank, lloyds TSB, has made me get a business account, saying that my current account is for personal use only. As far as i can tell its a load of b******s. Anyway for the first 18 months its free but after that they are going to charge me for every cheque and cash i put in.
obviously i'm not too happy about this and was just wondering if anyone has any advice on who it would be better to bank with.
Even the woman who set up my account and who works for Lloyds TSB said i'd be better off looking to bank elsewhere before the free 18 months are over
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I think it`s abbey national that don`t charge you on a business account,don`t quote me on that though.I know what you mean about charges,i can`t beleive what some banks want for business banking,but there not silly and if you pay in a lot of cheques per month they`ll soon cotton on to you.
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cheers NHW i just looked at abbeys business account and it looks a lot better than Lloyds TSB's one
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i use Nationwide
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cheers NHW i just looked at abbeys business account and it looks a lot better than Lloyds TSB's one
I use Abbey's "free for life" business account.
First 100 cheques per month free (I've never paid for one yet though I have occasionally held a few over until the 1st of the next month).
Several thousands in cash before charges too (I've never got close to this).
I believe all DDs, SOs, and other electronic transfers are all free as well.
You are not allowed to use over the counter service though. You must use the cashpoint so obviously no facility for coin deposits.
Also, don't expect any kind of individual business advice. The service is free and is very definitely no frills.
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what do you do with all your coins then The Shiner?
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Royal bank of scotland, personal account. I pay hundreds of cheques in & i've never been charged or questioned about it once. ;) + (almost) free 300 quid overdraft.
Tony
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These charges are not set in stone.
If you don't want to pay for every cheque, withdrawal etc, go to the bank manager and say so.
My conversation (about 4 years ago!!) went something like: "The only reason I need a bank account is to process the relatively large number of relatively small value cheques that I receive. I can get a free account with xxxxxxxxxxxxx. if I have to pay your charges I'll move my account."
We agreed a monthly flat fee of £20 which has never been reviewed.
With a turnover just under the VAT limit, I reckon that's a bargain :)
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Alliance & Leceister Commercial Bank
You even get interest on credit balance
No charges at all
Only bit of grief is you pay in at any Post Office
and cheques take 4 working days to clear instead of 3
I can live with that ;D ;D
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If you are a member of the FSB you can get a free account with the co-op. They even pay you £25 ( wow) a year for staying with them.
The only draw back I have is there are no branches near me. Nearest is in manchester I think. all cheques posted to the bank ( free post ) or you can pay them in through the post office.
I was with lloyds but they started charging new and amazing fee's for the stupidest things so I jacked them in.
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thanks guys, it looks like i'll have to have a shop around to find the best deal that suits me
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My free buisness banking has just ended with Lloyds and i do get charged quite a bit each month which is a con!! Apparantly i get a personal buisness manager to help me achieve my goals and optimise my buisness............so far i haven't heard a thing!!
i will be changing to free buisness banking shortly!!
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Lloyds are disgraceful nad there service is apalling.
I changed last year to Nat West and its the best move I ever made. I now have my charges capped so I have a max charge each month regardless of how many cheques/ cash i pay in. My business manager even rings every so often to see how I am. Happy Days!!
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I have the FSB Coop account. Recommend it.
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HSBC CURRENT ACCOUNT. No problems paying cash or cheques in. Mind you, it helps when the regular cashier fancys a piece. Give a wink and smile and all that. Nice.
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My free buisness banking has just ended with Lloyds and i do get charged quite a bit each month which is a con!! Apparantly i get a personal buisness manager to help me achieve my goals and optimise my buisness............so far i haven't heard a thing!!
i will be changing to free buisness banking shortly!!
I use lloyds aswell personal business manager is total bs, I used to have one and she was great, I am not happy with them at all,. when I get the chance i will sent up meeting with a few others and see what they offer, my bank changes per months are stupid, if I call them never do they know anything and have to call me back (which alot of the time they dont) thats not personal service.
Capped charges sounds very interesting, what do they charge and what limit is the cap?
Ian
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what do you do with all your coins then The Shiner?
They are cash float to give change to customers. Also, I use them as draws from my business for personal expenditure. I've paid for meals out several times with £1 and 50p coins. Smaller coins seem to go on stuff like newspapers etc and, if there is still a surplus, I can always bag them up and pay them over the counter into my personal account - though I haven't needed to do that for ages.
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Ian
Everything you said about Lloyds is spot on. If you want a personal relationship with your business manager you have to pay more!! They scale their charges depending upon what service you require.
Also when I was with them I had same issues re contacting them and never getting called back. I complained at local branch and they suggested i had my account moved to them. What happened when I tried I got a phone call from my business manager (who is based in Birmingham) telling me that I can move my account but she will still be my business manager. I said I didnt want her as she was basically useless and she does not know my business and we would never meet. She said well unless I want to pay more thats the way it is. So that is when I closed my account. I may have been small fry to them but they just didnt care! The only positive thing I can say about Lloyds is that they have the deposit points open 24/7 and branches you can still pay money in after 5. Nat West you have to be in by 4.30 and no after hours services. I have overcome that by giving my banking to my MUM to do!
My Dad uses Alliance and Leicester, he finds their service apalling as you have to allow at least 7 days for your money to clear (by the time you have posted it and it gets their and then clears) however he earns more in interest than I pay in charges. He deals in much larger sums of money so waiting for it to clear is no hassle.
Nat West, my money clears within 2 days of me paying it it. I paid in £1000 on thursday and last night it was all available. They have been great like that although I dont need money that quickly anymore. They have differing acccounts (as they all do). My service charge has just gone up from £3.50 to £3.75 per month. I am on an automated tariff. I earn very little interest but all my automated transactions either people paying or me paying out are FREE! hence why I am trying to get more and more people paying online.
The reason my charges are capped is that I was regularly paying over £45 per month in charges. I went to see him and he tweaked my account slightly and capped it at £25 max. I am well happy with that.
To summarise, yes A & L are free, as are Abbey abd co-op and prob one or 2 others. But I personally like that pwersonal service, after all isn't that what we sell? I like the fact that someone takes an interest in me,my account and my business it makes me feel good.
I know others will feel differently or will have bad experiences of nat West and good experiences of Lloyds (unlikely my dad moved all his stuff from them after 30 years of business and 50 years of a personal account, mortgage 2, they never batted an eyelid) However my experiences are my own as are my opinions. Oh yes forget to mention call centres are BRITISH too and that is a massive bonus, Lloyds and many others are in Delhi or somewhere stupid like that.
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Hi,
I used to have buisness account with lloydstsb, but got fed up with the service and charges.
So went to natwest I got 2 and 1/2 years free banking and have been with them in total 5 years and never had a problem. I have never had to wait to be served like i did at lloydstsb, it has a local buisness manager if needed.
My personal account is also linked so i can transfer money on the internet immediately. You get an internet saving account which pays interest daily so you can put money in from business and personal account and when a direct debit comes or you need money just transfer money back to the account which needs it and all the transfering is free to all accounts, if done on the internet.
Also the bank charge is an buisness expence so so can use it in tax returns, so what is the problem with a small charge ? Lets face it not one of us does something for nothing, DO WE ?
Darren
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I use HSBC. Im looking to change soon though.
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Alliance & Leceister Commercial Bank
You even get interest on credit balance
No charges at all
Only bit of grief is you pay in at any Post Office
and cheques take 4 working days to clear instead of 3
I can live with that ;D ;D
hi darren
i have used this bank for 27 years, and have never had any bank charges :D
it used to be called girobank
mike