i have had a very tantalising offer :) from alliance and leicester business banking to switch over from my current nbanks commercial account to their commercial account and save money blah blah it really seems too good to be true as those of you out there who run business will know, commercial banking even as a sole trader can be quite expensive so my question is.....has anyone else taken ip their offer and is it working for them??

I didn't go with A&L as there is a fee every month if you don't bank more than a certain amount.  Maybe this has changed but apart from this I would have had no hesitation in using a&L as i use them for lots of other financial services and can't fault them.

the fee still applies Ch Chow, but my business fall above the minimum so thats not really an issue...thanks for your reply though.

Hi Sam,

We are a Limited Company( I believe you can also be sole trader) and have just switched to A & L from HBOS, They were charging us for every withdrawal, pay in, BACS, DD, SO, basically if we sneezed we were charged:rolleyes: We called them and asked if they were prepared to do a better deal but they said that although they were aware of competitive offers they couldn't match it.

We have now made the transition and A & L are very efficient and have even arranged to transfer everything over from HBOS, including our DD/SO account balance FOC. We won't, for the forseeable future pay any charges as they only charge a flat fee of £5.00 per month if you don't pay in £1,000 per month. This doesn't affect us, as it doesn't affect you :) Also we have a low interest overdraft that we negotiated, Visa Debit/cash withdrawal cards and cheque book all without penalty/charges.

You need to look at what you want/need and if they can provide it cheaper and more conveniently than other Banks, then go for it :) There are NO catches as far as I can see, and I did scrutinise their Terms & Conditions ;)

Jo x

Just to add, speak to your current Bank as they sometimes miraculously improve their service/charges when pushed. And I mean push, quote to them what you have been offered by a rival Bank. It didn't work for us on this occasion but your Bank might......

It can also save inconvenience when dealing with customers/clients who pay by BACS in having to provide them with new Account details.

I have a business bank account with Abbey National and have incurred no charges (in 5 years), in fact earn interest on the balances.
I don't know how they compare with A&L, but would thoroughly recommend them.