RBS business account & business credit card - crap!

[Brian Turner]

When I set up as a limited company I moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for convenience sake - in Scotland some of the English banks (such as HSBC, which I used while as a sole trader) have few branches up here.

But RBS has been a pain in the butt since I started.

For starters, it took them 3 months to actually set up a business credit card on the account, instead of the project 3 weeks.

During this three months they decided to charge me for access to the card I hadn't even received!

Also, when first set up, I received a letter from the branch business manager welcoming me - but he managed to include out of date contact information so I couldn't even reach him!

The credit card itself is a pain - the staff close at 5 and don't work weekends, so if you have something you need to checkup you can only work with them during office hours - not good when you're working with the 24/7 internet.

Also, a couple of times this year I've had problems with my card being declined. Turned out my original credit limit was too small.

Yet even after contacting them 3 months ago about raising the credit limit to £5k/month, I've just had the card declined again - because it's still running on the original £3k/month limit.

This is despite my speaking with the business manager and his assistant twice to ensure it had been raised after the first payment was declined - and they claimed it had been raised.

So now I've got to waste valuable time in a week of deadlines chasing up the RBS, simply because they are incapable of doing their own job properly.

Of course, another big flaw with RBS is they don't offer merchant accounts - instead, you get fobbed off to that over-priced outdated merchant gateway called Worldpay. Not exactly a great choice for a serious business.

Overall, bloody annoying points I shouldn't have to deal with - seriously can't recommend RBS to anyone for their business banking.

ADDED: The branch business manager AND his assistant are currently off sick. Now have to chase around another office to hope for a call back today.

[Brian Turner]

Just got my call back - if I want my business credit card limit raising above £3,000/month, I have to "upgrade" to something called a chargecard.

To do so involves a £140 fee, plus the company director has to sign a personal letter of guarantee.

This is absolutely pathetic - my company has *never* had any form of debt - no overdraft, no loans, and the credit card is paid off by direct debit every month.

And to expect a "personal guarantee" from the director is a disgusting way of treating a limited company, which by definition doesn't require personal liability.

On top of that, there is enough cash reserve in my company account that it would take months to wipe that out through non-payment (sure, it's waiting for the taxman, but it's a liquid assets all the same).

I think the customer service aspect is absolutely pathetic - banks have been in the firing line recently for being self-serving against customer interests, and from what I've been told by RBS, they are at the forefront of this policy.

Not a recommend business bank.


ADDED: Okay, just contacted HSBC - they apparently run something similar - any lending over £3,000 requires a personal guarantee from the director, at a cost of £80.

Going to contact a few different banks and see how common this is. Either way, I think it's a pretty anti-customer policy.

[Globalart4u]

do you have an abbey or leicester and alliance bank near you? I have an account with hsbc but do not use it as when i did they charged £10 for putting in £75. I just tend to use my paypal uk account - move to my paypal belgium account then put in the money into my business account there. still much cheaper plus i can do all my banking by fax or email and not be charged for it. I did not like the terms and conditions of the banks when i read the small print so decided to not bother. The hsbc account is only for an emergency and thought i should have it as i am registered here in the uk.

I think if more and more businesses start moving their accounts regularly then people would get a better deal but of course am sure the leaving bank will probably come up with some kind of termination payment etc etc here.

[RWA]

I hate banks at the moment, I don't have a business, but I'm being crushed by them with my personal account.

Have you resolved your banking problems Brian?

[Brian Turner]

Not yet, so I'm being careful not to spend too much on the business Mastercard.

[Brian Turner]

Okay, so there are some aspects of the RBS service I think have been below standard, but other aspects seem inherent in the credit card system.

And today I've very thankful to the RBS credit card fraud department for quickly identifying that my business Mastercard had been compromised and used for fraud.

[-=seth=-]

i dont believe there's such a thing as a good bank in the UK they are all c£@p, the way they do business is just asking for some clever entrepreneur to come in and shake the industry up
i wonder how much backing it would take to set up a national bank, i wonder what my bank manager would say if i asked him for a loan to set up a bank, probably ask me for a job and then it would be my turn to say no

[Brian Turner]

Okay, so my card was compromised by fraudulent activity and had to be cancelled and destroyed.

RBS said they'd have a card ordered and sent by courier to arrive by Wednesday.

However, this is the Royal Bank of Scotland we're talking about...

By Friday nothing has arrived. So I call RBS.

Apparently the person I dealt with before was off on Monday, so the card never got ordered.

So now a new card has hopefully been ordered and should be with me tis coming Tuesday, only a week late.

Just hope my internet subscriptions can last that long.

[Brian Turner]

Okay, nothing arrived today as promised the second time - just called RBS and there was some kind of problem with the courier service, but that it should be with me "definitely tomorrow".

[RWA]

Originally Posted by Brian Turner

Okay, nothing arrived today as promised the second time - just called RBS and there was some kind of problem with the courier service, but that it should be with me "definitely tomorrow".

The cynical side of me says that is because they forgot to give it to the courier or they've forgotten to order it.