[L.J.Thorpe]

For the last six years i have used an ordinary lloyds tsb personal account to pay all business monies into,this was fine ,i had a good relationship with the manager at my branch,he knew exactly what i was doing and was very helpful.At xmas this year he retired........and guess what : anyway i went in last week to listen to all the crap about how they wanted to look after my interests etc,offered 18 months free and i said i would think about it.Anyway they can cram it in their collective ass,i just want to know about the following
Santander free business banking
co op FSB business banking
The FSB generally ie is it worth it
any other free or cheap business accounts
cheers

[prestige cleaners]

santander is the way to go, no way am i going to give a penny of my profits to a scummy banker! let alone £50 a month!

[wpclean]

The problem with Santander is if you recieve payments by bank transfer, your customers address will not show on your account, only the name !

[lee_dewing]

thats true wpclean.

I'm santander, only have a few at the mo that pay online.

soon as custy pays online  i save their details in the george notes section to id them (but your right this is a pain!)

But free banking

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

thats true wpclean.

I'm santander, only have a few at the mo that pay online.

soon as custy pays online  i save their details in the george notes section to id them (but your right this is a pain!)

But free banking

only free if u pay in 1k a mth 

[L.J.Thorpe]

cheers for that,what about the FSB??? anyone a member? its 150 a year so means the co op account is not really free at all  : so do you gain owt
also i have heard that santander take ages to clear chqs??

[prestige cleaners]

my experience is 5 working days for chq clearance. if you do go with them and use the p.o to send them chqs, make sure you record all chq details as they have lost £65 of chqs in the post for me! (and i didnt record them  )

[colin purewater]

rbs free business banking for 2 years, soon as the two years is up move on.... dont give them a penny

[Sean Dyer]

The problem with Santander is if you recieve payments by bank transfer, your customers address will not show on your account, only the name !

Thats not the ONLY problem with santander

Everything with santander is a problem

I cant stand them and have deposited a whole 2 cheques with them

They send loads of crap in the post, have 1 million passwords for one account, machines instead of humans for banking,

 i cant stand them im staying with my personal account, im only opening a business account for cheques in the wrong name

[mikecam]

santander is the way to go, no way am i going to give a penny of my profits to a scummy banker! let alone £50 a month!

Nothing like doing your homework, good on ya !!!

[rg1]

If you are a sole trader, you do not by law have to have a business account and no bank can refuse to give you a personal account for your business.

[L.J.Thorpe]

If you are a sole trader, you do not by law have to have a business account and no bank can refuse to give you a personal account for your business.

Thats what i thought but not so sure now ???its hard to work out the legal position but looking at terms and conditions on current account business use may be prohibited

[rg1]

You can set up a personal account by using the following example:

Joe Bloggs trading as  JB window cleaners

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

For the last six years i have used an ordinary lloyds tsb personal account to pay all business monies into,this was fine ,i had a good relationship with the manager at my branch,he knew exactly what i was doing and was very helpful.At xmas this year he retired........and guess what : anyway i went in last week to listen to all the crap about how they wanted to look after my interests etc,offered 18 months free and i said i would think about it.Anyway they can cram it in their collective ass,i just want to know about the following
Santander free business banking
co op FSB business banking
The FSB generally ie is it worth it
any other free or cheap business accounts
cheers

Whats wrong with Lloyds TSB business account?
I have this with MB Window Cleaning and never had a problem.
I have opened another business account with Lloyds TSB with Sapphire Window Cleaning.
It depends on what you want from the bank account, but remember if you are a business, sole trader or not, you will have to pay.
It also looks more professional when your customers have to write cheques out to your business name rather than your personal name.
How many people drive their vans on personal insurance? I bet most of them use business insurance which you pay more for.


Matt

[Rob_B]

There is no legal requirement to have a business bank account for a sole trader.  Your customers writing you a cheque is no different to your mum giving you a cheque for your birthday.

cheers for that,what about the FSB??? anyone a member? its 150 a year so means the co op account is not really free at all

FSB is £150 and though it may seem then that the banking isn't free, don't forget that they will represent you in any tax investigation for free.  This could result in thousands of pounds of accountancy fees.  My accountant offers insurance for this for about £200.00, so in the end £150.00 is not bad.

[George Gardner]

Barclays offer 18 months free business banking.

Sounds a bit sad but its often a good idea to keep your business banking with the same bank as your personal/current account - if you can. More likely to be approved loans and mortgages that way.