Choosing your business bank account is actually very important. No matter what type of business structure you have whether it be sole trader or limited company it’s probably advisable for you to have a seperate business account purely for business expenditure.
Some Busines Banking Tips
- Get a recommendation – Talk to other colleagues and friends in business. Find out which bank they are using and if they are happy with it. Obviously if they’re not happy then avoid them!!
- Research – You can do alot of work on what the banks offer on the internet. You have to decide what’s important for you. Is it a good interest rate, low fees and charges or is the personal touch important?
- Internet Banking – It’s actually quite important and it will save you alot of hassle phoning the bank to check on payments etc so make sure that whatever bank you decide to go with offers internet banking as standard.
Business Banking Options
Below we have given a summary of the main banking options in Scotland and also included links to their respective websites.Typically what we have featured below is new start business accounts for businesses who the banks classify as less than £1million turnover. The features we have mention were correct at the time we wrote this post so please do check each site as they may have changed.
Lloyds TSB Bank – Up to 18 months free business banking, your own relationship manager and exclusive Sage software.
Bank of Scotland – 12 months free business banking, no overdraft arrangement fees for 12 months and a Relationship Manager.
Royal Bank of Scotland – 2 years free business banking, a dedicated local Business Manager plus many value added services from the group companies like Streamline, Lombard etc.
Clydesdale Bank – 12 months free business banking, direct “one-to-one” contact plus flexible and speedy decisions.
Santander (Formerly Abbey National and also includes Alliance & Leicester) – Free day-to-day banking forever, 6% AER Interest for 12 months on balances up to £2500 (other terms apply) and is predominantly internet and telephone based.
