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Alliance & Leicester Business Banking
About Alliance & Leicester
The Alliance & Leicester Group can trace its origins back to 1852 and the formation of the Leicester Permanent Benefit Society.
Two key events in the history of the Group were the merger between the Alliance Building Society and Leicester Building Society in 1985 to form the Alliance & Leicester and the purchase of Girobank from the Post Office in 1990.
The Alliance & Leicester Business Banking Service
There are four main types of business bank accounts offered by Alliance & Leicster:
Alliance & Leicester Bank aims to offer an alternative way for businesses with charging structures that are fair, competitive and transparent. Despite the high praise for Alliance & Leicester, studies have shown that small firms generally feel let down by their bank, with many unhappy with the high fees and confusing terms and conditions applied to accounts.
The government forced all banks to pay interest on business accounts last year, but most small companies still believe they do not get the best deal from their accounts so we recommend you shop around to get the best deal for your business.
The Alliance & Leicester Group can trace its origins back to 1852 and the formation of the Leicester Permanent Benefit Society.
Two key events in the history of the Group were the merger between the Alliance Building Society and Leicester Building Society in 1985 to form the Alliance & Leicester and the purchase of Girobank from the Post Office in 1990.
The Alliance & Leicester Business Banking Service
There are four main types of business bank accounts offered by Alliance & Leicster:
- Free Business Current Account - The big banks may claim to offer you free banking but if you look closer you'll notice that they limit the number of transactions you can make each month for free. With the A&L Free Business Current Account you don't need to worry, as all standard non-cash transactions are free and unlimited. More details here...
- Business Builder Account - The Business Builder Account was awarded the best business bank award in 2004 by Startups.co.uk and aims to help those businesses in the early stages of trading. There's no minimum balance requirement or monthly transaction charges. You don't even need to open, transfer or maintain a personal account with us to qualify. More details here...
- Instant Reserve Account - Like most businesses, you probably have some money put aside that is not essential to the day-to-day running of the company, but may be required immediately if the need arises. So why not make it work harder for you?
With this Instant Reserve Deposit Account, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that your money will be available to you without giving notice, but also benefit from higher returns that are typical of longer-term deposits. You don't even need to have a current account with us. More details here... - 30 Day Notice Account - With the Business 30-Day Notice Account from Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, you really can make your money work as hard as you do. You can withdraw your funds with just 30 days notice. If you make a withdrawal without giving notice, you simply lose 30 days interest on the amount you withdraw. With a minimum balance of £10,000 and no complicated rate tiers, you'll earn the same rate of interest, irrespective of balance. This is currently 4.60% AER (variable).
Alliance & Leicester Bank aims to offer an alternative way for businesses with charging structures that are fair, competitive and transparent. Despite the high praise for Alliance & Leicester, studies have shown that small firms generally feel let down by their bank, with many unhappy with the high fees and confusing terms and conditions applied to accounts.
The government forced all banks to pay interest on business accounts last year, but most small companies still believe they do not get the best deal from their accounts so we recommend you shop around to get the best deal for your business.
posted by Bruce Wayne at 9:38 AM
Alliance & Leicester Business Banking
3 Comments:
I completed the downloadable forms and took my 'evidence' of identity to the local Alliance & Leicester branch 2 seconds before closing time. At that point they were brilliant - efficient, friendly and helpful. They couldn't actually send the forms off but that didn't worry me. I rang after 10 days on a Friday afternoon when I hadn't heard anything. The forms had only just arrived at the processing dept and I was told it would be another 10 days. I pointed out I had cheques to pay in and couldn't live off fresh air - they said they would fast track it and it would be ready by next Friday. Friday came and went so on Tuesday I rang them to see what would happen. Now I'm told it takes up to 20 days to 'vet' the application forms. My anguish was plain and I was told that they would fast-track my form but it would still be next week before I heard anything.
If I want to open an personal account with any other bank account, they can vet me in seconds, check out the electoral address in seconds and have all my cheque books, visa delta cards at my house within 10 days. How can it be so different? I don't want to borrow money, have a company charge card or anything like that. I just want to be able to cash the cheques for my hard-earned money!
I run a business from home and only pay in cheques so this Alliance & Leicester business bank account seemed ideal as it is free.
Two words to sum up Alliance & Leicester Business Bank Account: Horrible Service.
Everything seemed great when I investigated and applied for the bank account - then the delays began. I was told that it would take 20 days to open which surprised me, after all the bank had followed up my mail-out of literature with a phone call and seemed keen to have me as a customer.
However, once the forms were sent off, it literally took forever to get anywhere. It was processed by the bank into their system more than a week after I mailed it off - and the 20 working days only started from then! No matter what I did, or how many times I rang, and pleaded with the bank that all I wanted to do was cash some cheques, so that I could make my first mortgage payment - to no avail..
What made it worse was that the staff steadily got more unhelpful and arrogant. No assistance what so ever. Told me it would take 20 working days minimum no matter what, even if the bank was foreclosing on me... After more than 4 weeks now, still waiting, and a call today told me that I would be waiting some more...
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