Hey Team,
Love the tips and advice I have received from the this forum over the last 6 months. Im looking to start up my own business and wanted to know which bank provides the best service, value, fees etc.
Look forward to your replies.
Best Bank for Small Business
Lonein6billion on 22/09/2014 - 09:53
Comments
+1 for Bankwst Zero Transaction Account. I have this account for my small business and I opted for the free security token as well. The internet banking platform is brilliant and money movements are faster than my ANZ personal accounts (often I can receive and on-transfer funds in Bankwest on the same day where ANZ process overnight and I have to on-transfer the next day).
Can't fault them TBH.
thanks for responding to my question. does st george allocate a business manager to you?
No. What are they for? I guess if you need something like an account manager you might be looking at a product that costs more than $5/month.
Thanks for the info Scotty. I'm in the same situation as the poster and am currently looking for a bank to sign up with. So there's "no such thing as a free lunch", is there anything that I'm missing out on if I sign up with St George? The other banks have heaps of fees with their accounts, but is this just associated with extra services that we won't need anyway?
Thanks
Can't say that I've researched much. I have been usuing this St. George accounty for over 4 years and with business account it's usually too complicated to change banks.
With St. George I still pay fee such as foreign cheque deposit ($10.50) and sometimes I got charged when a foreign bank deposit into the account ($15). The Internet banking is not ideal. For example if you need to do batch payment with ABA file you need to get "Business Banking Online" which costs extra.
If you are starting out I'll look at BankWest or CBA with $10k balance (see ilostnemo's comment below).
Will you need Credit Card facilities ?
No it will be cash only.
Not commonwealth bank. I'm with them, and it's $10/month, and they won't budge from that fee, even if the company's balance is tens of thousands in the black. It is generally more of a hassle to move a company's banking than an individual's, and the banks know this.
Try one of the options listed above, or rabobank who I think have a fee free account - I only know that because they had a promo to get an iPad mini a few months back for setting up a business account with them, but pulled it soon after it got listed in ozbargain.
RaboDirect only has business deposit / savings account but no transaction account though.
Hi Nickj, thanks for responding to my question. What does " companys balance is tens of thousands in the black" mean?
It means, even if you have lots of money, CBA won't waive $10 a month fee.
nickj
If you keep 10k in your cba business account there is no fee.
Premium Business
Fee type
Fee
Monthly base maintenance fee No fee if the balance remains at or above $10,000 during the month. $15 if the balance falls below $10,000 at any time during the month.
Fee-free transaction threshold Up to 40 free non-electronic transactions*
Electronic transactions
Commonwealth Bank ATM deposits or transfers in Australia; EFTPOS cash withdrawals or purchases in Australia; Direct Entry debits or credits or periodical payments; transfers or payments made via NetBank, and telephone banking. Free
Commonwealth Bank ATM cash withdrawals in Australia Free
Quick Deposits
Deposits made via the Quick Deposit Box or QuickCash Envelopes.
20 cents eachCheque transactions
All cheques drawn by you and deposited to an account (excluding cheques cashed over-the-counter at a Commonwealth Bank branch). Any cheque deposited to your account (including cheques deposited via Quick Deposits or QuickCash Envelopes). 70 cents each
Assisted transactions
Deposits and withdrawals made via a teller at any branch; deposits and withdrawals made at Australia Post offices or any private agency; cheques drawn on your account and cashed over-the-counter at any Commonwealth Bank branch; withdrawals made via telephone banking using an operator. $1.10 each
Non-chargeable transactions
(Transactions which do not attract transaction fees)
Debits for Bank and Government charges
Daily merchant reconciliation from Commonwealth Bank EFTPOS facility
Bank initiated transactionsThe Bank is progressively changing when fees are charged to this account. During the changeover period, fees will be charged either on the first business day of the month, or on the first calendar day of the month, depending on the account and if the account is transitioning on to the new banking platform. Where applicable, stamp duty and other Government charges will be debited directly to your account. For further information, please call Local Business Banking on 13 1998 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- At the end of each month, the Bank will rank the transactions in the following order and transaction fees will apply to transactions above the 40 threshold:
- Quick Deposit Box deposits; cheques included in Quick Deposits
- Cheque transactions
- Assisted transactions
(Top of page)
- At the end of each month, the Bank will rank the transactions in the following order and transaction fees will apply to transactions above the 40 threshold:
Commonwealth Bank funds Adani.
It really depends on how much "service" you like and how much do you value. For no monthly fee business account, there's BankWest Zero Transaction account.
Personally I use St. George's Freedom Business Account that has $5/month fee — it was "free" when I signed up a few years ago but can't be bothered to look around now because they have a branch close by which I need to use 2-3 times a month.