| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Best UK business bank account for translators? Thread poster: Richard Foulkes (X)
|
|---|
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Richard Foulkes wrote:
Natwest:
Free banking for 2 years
Standard euro transfers - £10
Inward transfer fee - £7
I have an ordinary vanilla-flavour Natwest Current Plus account. Banking is free all the time (not only for 2 years); each time I receive a payment in Euro they whack off a massive £10 if the amount is over £100, or £1 if it's less than £100.
Added to which, their exchange rates seem very questionable.
This significantly reduces my income over the year but as Sonia says, actually doing a meaningful calculation is well-nigh impossible because the banks will never give you any reliable information. I suspect this is deliberate policy.
Thanks to David Cameron's close friendship with those people (the banks) it looks as though all hope of the UK ever joining the Euro has gone completely out the window now.
[Edited at 2011-12-10 20:48 GMT]
| | | | Richard Foulkes (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Santander it is.... | Dec 21, 2011 |
I decided to go with Santander for 18 months free business banking (when you have a Santander personal account), mainly for the fee-free euro transfers in. The fees for euro tranfers out are pretty high - about £20.
HSBC does look fairly attractive with free transfers in below £100 and £1 for SEPA payments above that as Gillian points out. SEPA transfers out cost £4. I'm not really familiar with SEPA (apart from having just Googled it), so I'm not sure how much control you have ... See more I decided to go with Santander for 18 months free business banking (when you have a Santander personal account), mainly for the fee-free euro transfers in. The fees for euro tranfers out are pretty high - about £20.
HSBC does look fairly attractive with free transfers in below £100 and £1 for SEPA payments above that as Gillian points out. SEPA transfers out cost £4. I'm not really familiar with SEPA (apart from having just Googled it), so I'm not sure how much control you have over your clients paying you via SEPA etc. It appears to be worth looking into though.
@Sonia - I think it may be possible to ask your clients to pay into your personal account then transfer into a business account but I guess it's one to check with your accountant.
The other thing that occurs to me is that bank fees are surely tax-deductible whereas losses on rubbish exchange rates can't be. I don't know whether banks vary widely in terms of their exchange rates - I suppose it depends how far into the minutae you want to look.
[Edited at 2011-12-21 14:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stéphanie Denton (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
French to English
+ ...
| Natwest or Lloyds | Dec 22, 2011 |
Hi
I am a Ltd company and I bank with Natwest, the fees you uoted are what I get charged, and £1 charge for inward payments from Southern Ireland.
However, I also Factor all my UK invoices via Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, and have been a Lloyds personal banker since I was 11and opened my first bank account. Lloyds have been great personally and also on the factoring side of things.
Only thing with Natwest is the automatically give you a credit card , whi... See more Hi
I am a Ltd company and I bank with Natwest, the fees you uoted are what I get charged, and £1 charge for inward payments from Southern Ireland.
However, I also Factor all my UK invoices via Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, and have been a Lloyds personal banker since I was 11and opened my first bank account. Lloyds have been great personally and also on the factoring side of things.
Only thing with Natwest is the automatically give you a credit card , which you can't say no to, part of the package (either you see this as a good thing or a bad thing).
Hope to have been of some help.
S ▲ Collapse
| | | | Richard Foulkes (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
What's the charge / commission for that Stephanie?
| | |
|
|
|
Stéphanie Denton (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
French to English
+ ...
Richard Foulkes wrote:
What's the charge / commission for that Stephanie?
Sorry, I didn't receive a notification...so am only just replying.
The minimum monthly fee is £300 or 1.5%, whichever is the greater.
I find it extremely helpful in getting people to pay on time, and Lloyds act as a debt collector (including in that monthly fee) to chase up any late payers. As stipulated, I only do it for my UK invoices though, and to be honest, the fee is negligable when I can have access to 80% of my invoice amounts within 24 hours, making cash flow a lot easier. Hey, I can a referral bonus if you mention my name...hint hint
| | | | Richard Foulkes (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for the info | Jan 26, 2012 |
Stéphanie Denton wrote: Sorry, I didn't receive a notification...so am only just replying. The minimum monthly fee is £300 or 1.5%, whichever is the greater. I find it extremely helpful in getting people to pay on time, and Lloyds act as a debt collector (including in that monthly fee) to chase up any late payers. As stipulated, I only do it for my UK invoices though, and to be honest, the fee is negligable when I can have access to 80% of my invoice amounts within 24 hours, making cash flow a lot easier. Hey, I can a referral bonus if you mention my name...hint hint
Ha ha . I'm not sure I'd be prepared to pay that but I appreciate the benefits for cash flow and peace of mind.
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:28
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Charlie Bavington wrote:
I take your point re xfer charges. I tend to accumulate large sums in France and xfer thousands at a time. A centime difference in the exchange rate is a big deal to me; a tenner in charges, somewhat less so.
I have an HSBC account here in the UK, and a Spanish € bank account. Clients that want to pay me in euros transfer euros to my Spanish account, clients that want to pay me in pounds send pounds to my HSBC account at home.
I wait until I have a decent amount in Spain and then use a UK company called 'Smart Currency Exchange' to transfer the euros to my UK account. I basically call up my 'personal trader' (or whatever he's called), and he quotes me a rate in Sterling for my euros. If I agree, I then transfer the euros to their account – the Bank Of Ireland if I remember correctly – and they send me the exact amount I was quoted. It usually arrives only a day or so after they have received my money from Spain.
I am no financial expert, but as far as I can tell this seems to be the cheapest way to solve the problem of living in the UK and getting paid in a mixture of euros and pounds by clients abroad.
Michael
[Edited at 2012-01-26 22:13 GMT]
| | | | |
|
|
|
| why would you even think of doing that in a branch these days? | Apr 2, 2012 |
| | | | | Actually, you can't | Apr 2, 2012 |
Gillian Searl wrote:
when you can do most of the process online?
Should have added that:
"We cannot accept applications from existing customers online at this time." They then say to contact a branch or call the call centre, and we know where that leads.
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | There is no moderator assigned specifically to this forum. To report site rules violations or get help, please contact site staff » Best UK business bank account for translators? | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
