Business Accounts
- What are Business Bank Accounts?
Business bank accounts are tailored to accommodate all businesses financial needs, offering a range of helpful and convenient features for both savings and transactional purposes to help you to manage your business finances with ease.
All businesses have their differences, but the one thing they all share is the need to manage finances effectively. Many businesses also require funding at some stage in their progression, so it may be wise to consider choosing a provider that not only offers great business banking, but also gives access to business loans.
Whether you're looking to set up a new business, or you simply wish to find a new account, there are a number of options available to match your business needs, each offering assistance to help you spend less time worrying about your banking and more time building your business.
Business banking provides you with more than just a place to store your funds, but a full business package that can help you to make your business a success. Many providers have business specialists on hand, allowing you to get professional advice in a number of areas, not just finance. - What type of accounts are available with Business Banking?
The two main accounts that most businesses require are current accounts and savings accounts. Business current accounts can be used to house funds required on a day-to-day basis, and business savings accounts provide an effective place to keep the profits made from the business, while also accumulating interest.
There are a number of business savings products to choose from, so whether you require instant access to your reserve funds, or you are in a position to be able to lock your cash away in a fixed rate business bond for an extended period of time in order to earn higher interest rates, Which4U can help you to find the right account for your business. - What features are offered with Business Bank Accounts?
Most business current accounts come with an introductory free period, generally ranging from 6 – 24 months, but if you choose the right provider you can get free business banking for life. This means that you can reduce your outgoings while still benefiting from a great account.
Santander offers a business current account with a number of useful features at no charge, so you never have to pay a penny. Some areas of the account are limited, for example up to 100 cash withdrawals per months and you are also limited to £3,000 in cash deposits per month.
Other features available from a range of providers include free unlimited direct debits, standing orders, bill payments, debit card transactions and transfers. Some accounts limit the amount of free deposits that can be made per month, but there tends to only be a small fee when exceeding this, for example Alliance & Leicester allows £3,000 in free cash deposits per month, then charges 50p for every £100 above this.
You may also be given access to free advice, from business to legal & tax advice, and in some cases a local business manager to provide a more personal level of assistance throughout the life of your account.
Barclays offers its business banking customers an award winning service – 'CREDITFOCUS', which provides the facility to check out potential customers to see whether they have a sound credit score. This allows businesses to steer clear of people who have a history of late payments, or other unattractive qualities. On top of this, Barclays offers free secure data back-up, online skills training for employees and helpful legal & tax advice using its specialist helpline, and law, accountancy and marketing advice from it's pool of specialists. Barclays offers all this for up to 24 months at no charge.
Many banks now provide customers with unique business accountancy software to make managing accounts, staff salary payments and administration easy. These packages can draw data from your online statements and insert them into the system, allowing you to manage your accounts with ease.
- How easy is it to manage a Business Bank Account?
Nowadays, the internet has made it very simple to manage you business finances online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By gaining access to your providers online banking facility, at click of a button you can achieve a number of tasks, such as paying bills, transfer funds between accounts and viewing balances & statements. Most banks also offer telephone banking, as well as at ATM's, in branch and by post. - Will I be approved for a Business Account?
If you own a business you are eligible for a business bank account, but it is down to your bank to make the final decision, which will be based on your a number of factors.
If you are a relatively new company, some banks may ask you to provide some details and statistics regarding your business, such as financial forecasts together with a detailed business plan. However this is only usually required when you require some kind of credit facility, such as overdrafts, business credit cards and loans. - What will the bank want to know?
If you are an existing company then you are likely to be required to provide details of how you have managed your finances up until now. The bank you apply to may wish to carry out a credit check based on your previous banking history in order to assess various criteria, such as outstanding debts or any other potential problems that could accompany risk.
