[quinda]

What bank account do you use for your business?

Abbey National do some 'no fees' business banking - you need to deposit £50 in your business account, and £50 in the 'reserve account' if you want one of those, but after that, there are no standing charges or anything, and for a sensible amount of day to day transactions there are no fees.

Natwest do free banking for one year - after that there is a fee, but you get a business advisor that you can see to answer your questions, and they offer services such as foreign currency accounts.

I'm looking at Lloyds as well - they're similar to Natwest, but offer 18 months free banking.

Has anyone got first hand experience of these or other banks? If so, how have you found them so far? Which would you recommend?

[CG Man]

I don't think I will be using Lloyds TSB when I get a paypal account they gave me free loan protection when I took out a loan then I found out I was paying for it and they lied about the total I would have to pay back. When I was laid off I took out the protection and they forced me to fill out 6 applications to get it and it took 4 months a total con.

[quinda]

Ouch, sorry to hear about your problems.

That said, by the sounds of it you did get something back from the protection? I was in a similar position with Barclays after losing a job a few years back, and the payment protection I took out didn't cover me for the loss of my job (long story, but essentially Barclays saw it as me leaving my job voluntarilly, even though everyone else (including the JSA people) accepted that I was made redundant).

Loans are a sticky area, and payment protection is almost always a con in one way or another. How have Lloyds been with your current account, or do you not have one with them?

[CG Man]

My normal account has been fine not got a business one yet I know I'll have to sort one out before they invent a policy just for me.

[quinda]

Thats good to hear! I hope you get a business account sorted. I've had a lot of hassle with mine - they seem to want a lot of ID these days, and take ages to get back to you :(

Good luck!

[Computer Spec]

I use Halifax, but I don't have a business account just a normal current account. What's the difference between a business account and a normal one? Do you get more interest or something?

[quinda]

Business accounts can have multiple signatures required before funds can be accessed. They can have a cheque book and debit / credit card that is in the name of the business instead of in a persons name.

They also have facilities for things such as international transactions (with lower fees than personal bank accounts) and the facility to take credit cards.

Really there isn't much difference if you don't need those sorts of things. For a lot of smaller businesses, the main benefit of having a business account is that you are keeping business and personal accounts separate therefore making it easier to do your accounts at the end of the year.

[Jade]

Ah that's a good point there, about keeping personal & business transactions separate. I think I am ok with that at the moment as I have a profit & loss account in a spreadsheet format. So i just record all transactions in there and I can see what has been made/lost etc.

[quinda]

Hehe, nice to hear someone organised :)

I'm terrible about keeping stuff up to date at the moment. I was keeping meticulous records, but I found that the software I was using wasn't up to the job, and when I decided to change applications I got lax again :(

I'm hoping to get an account sorted soon so that I can at least feel confident in being able to refer back to statements if things get disorganised.

[CSN-Carl]

We used to be with HSBC, Just moved over to Natwest. Was not happy with HSBC customer service.

[creospace]

I use LLoyds and never had a problem to be honest been with them for personal and business for over 10 years.