Business Bank Account - Recommendations

[Lou Zealand]

Hi - looking for a steer on which of the banks offer good business account options for a small professional business. Leaning toward ABSA as they currently manage my personal banking. Any recommendations? Horror stories?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Slowbee]

Lou, have you given Capitec a look ?

 

Their rates are good. Website reasonable.

 

If ABSA has your personal stuff, maybe use that as leverage to get good rates.

 

Look at how many debit orders you want to use and also transfers. These tend to accumulate big fees.

 

I guess what you should ask is what exactly you want the account for ?

[Lou Zealand]

Lou, have you given Capitec a look ?

 

Their rates are good. Website reasonable.

 

If ABSA has your personal stuff, maybe use that as leverage to get good rates.

 

Look at how many debit orders you want to use and also transfers. These tend to accumulate big fees.

 

I guess what you should ask is what exactly you want the account for ?

Thanks Slowbee,

 

Should have elaborated. Most of my income will be coming from outside of our borders and probably in the form of USD or Euro.

 

Need a bank/account that expedites fund clearance and doesn't skim too much cream off the top...

[MTBeer]

Thanks Slowbee,

 

Should have elaborated. Most of my income will be coming from outside of our borders and probably in the form of USD or Euro.

 

Need a bank/account that expedites fund clearance and doesn't skim too much cream off the top...

then you'll have to use something other than a South African bank...

 

[Slowbee]

Thanks Slowbee,

 

Should have elaborated. Most of my income will be coming from outside of our borders and probably in the form of USD or Euro.

 

Need a bank/account that expedites fund clearance and doesn't skim too much cream off the top...

I know ABSA and FNB have accounts off shore - but the rest of your questions are above my pay grade.

 

You will wait have to wait for the big players to respond.

[Long Wheel Base]

Lou, have you given Capitec a look ?

 

Their rates are good. Website reasonable.

 

If ABSA has your personal stuff, maybe use that as leverage to get good rates.

 

Look at how many debit orders you want to use and also transfers. These tend to accumulate big fees.

 

I guess what you should ask is what exactly you want the account for ?

When I opened my business account, Capitec never had a business specific account. They may do now though. They did have all the best rates etc for personal accounts but I needed a business specific account.

 

OP- My business account is with Nedbank, no issues but all my income is local, for now at least so I will be watching this thread.

[Long Wheel Base]

You may need to look at one of the more investment focused banks. Investec for eg. The kind that doesn't have a branch at your local shopping centre.

[Shebeen]

Thanks Slowbee,

 

Should have elaborated. Most of my income will be coming from outside of our borders and probably in the form of USD or Euro.

 

Need a bank/account that expedites fund clearance and doesn't skim too much cream off the top...

sounds like investec is what you want. will cost more but you get what you pay for

[Lou Zealand]

When I opened my business account, Capitec never had a business specific account. They may do now though. They did have all the best rates etc for personal accounts but I needed a business specific account.

 

OP- My business account is with Nedbank, no issues but all my income is local, for now at least so I will be watching this thread.

Mercantile are apparently going to partner with Capitec to offer business banking.

 

I called Capitec on Thursday morning as I needed to invoice an overseas client for payment ASAP. I spoke to a very nice lady who informed that someone from their business banking department would contact me within 48 hours. 

 

Unfortunately, it is now Tuesday morning and nothing from them... perhaps my email was taken down incorrectly or digits in my cell number were inadvertently transposed...

 

Nonetheless, it was urgent - so alternative plans were made. 

[coppi]

Open a Nedbank international account and let your customers pay in there. You can control everything from here but is out of the greedy looting brigade here !

[Lou Zealand]

When I opened my business account, Capitec never had a business specific account. They may do now though. They did have all the best rates etc for personal accounts but I needed a business specific account.

 

OP- My business account is with Nedbank, no issues but all my income is local, for now at least so I will be watching this thread.

 

Based on a fairly high-level comparison of the major banks looking at the features offered that are a best-fit for my business model I narrowed it down to the following:

• Capitec/Mercantile
• FNB
• ABSA

As explained above, there was a disconnect between Capitec and myself (still waiting for contact to be made

 

The person I spoke to at ABSA seemed fairly apathetic and didn't seem to care that a) I currently banked with them; and b) I wanted to bring more business their way! They took my number and said one of their consultants would call me back. That was Thursday...

 

FNB were enthusiastic. The guy I spoke to wanted to open the account over the phone after I confirmed the company had been registered with both CIPRO and SARS. In the end, due to the nature of the business, it was decided the best course of action was to set up a one-to-one meeting with a business banking consultant at the branch nearest to me. This was arranged for the very next morning and by mid-morning Friday I had a business account with FNB.

 

The payment was made last night (from abroad) and FNB have a rather drawn-out procedure to validate the payment. Nonetheless, this has been done - now the proof will be in the pudding to see how long it takes for them to clear the funds ... stay tuned.

[Lou Zealand]

Open a Nedbank international account and let your customers pay in there. You can control everything from here but is out of the greedy looting brigade here !

Ahh, maybe next time - let's see how FNB performs. If need be not afraid to switch!

[Blackbeard]

Investec is very good, but they only assist certain categories of business. 

 

FNB/RMB are shockingly bad. They are particularly poor as regards forex, as I have found many times to my misfortune. 

[travisza]

Investec is very good, but they only assist certain categories of business. 

 

FNB/RMB are shockingly bad. They are particularly poor as regards forex, as I have found many times to my misfortune. 

I use Investec and FNB and getting international payments or receipts through FNB is almost always a headache. Investec is smooth every time.

 

But you are 100% correct in that Investec do not offer all the same functions as the other retail banks. If they did there is zero chance I'd have an FNB account.

[Lou Zealand]

 

 

The payment was made last night (from abroad) and FNB have a rather drawn-out procedure to validate the payment. Nonetheless, this has been done - now the proof will be in the pudding to see how long it takes for them to clear the funds ... stay tuned.

 

Funds cleared in about three hours... so far so good

[Help.Me.]

Banks and service in one sentence....dont hold your breath, i am with ABSA and FNB, sometimes i must remind myself to just take a deep breath and try again....