Thread: How Can You Open A Business Account With No Credit Score

Hi,
I have been trying to open a new business account but as my credit score is so bad all the high street banks have knocked me back. Does anyone know if you can open a business current account with building societies without being credit scored. I obvioulsy dont want to borrow just a place to put money and write cheques#
Thanks

Cant help but I shall be checking back to see if anyone has any ideas.

We need a basic account, just for money in, money out, no OD, no chequebook etc.

We have tried all the usuals, RBS, Natwest, A&L but no luck

I have been told that a few of the building societies offer business acounts with no credit check but I cant find them

For anyone who has no dispute with the RBS group of companies Natwest offer a basic business account called...
The foundation business account, apparently it is guaranteed acceptance and run on the same terms as a personal basic bank account. However I have not applied and do not know what the charges are as I have dispute with them so its pointless.
Alot of caggers are in the same predicament as me so if you have no dispute with natwest and apply and are successful please post back for other caggers.

Originally Posted by exasperated

For anyone who has no dispute with the RBS group of companies Natwest offer a basic business account called...
The foundation business account, apparently it is guaranteed acceptance and run on the same terms as a personal basic bank account. However I have not applied and do not know what the charges are as I have dispute with them so its pointless.
Alot of caggers are in the same predicament as me so if you have no dispute with natwest and apply and are successful please post back for other caggers.

I had no dispute with RBS group but was refused a foundation account with Natwest, so it definatley isnt guaranteed acceptance.

At the time of applying I had a step account with them which was being run satisfactorily.

Originally Posted by crockie

I had no dispute with RBS group but was refused a foundation account with Natwest, so it definatley isnt guaranteed acceptance.

At the time of applying I had a step account with them which was being run satisfactorily.

I should also say that my OH had an account with RBS (being run satisfactorily) and we were also refused RBS's foundation account.

Hi Crockie,
Yes I found out today that the foundation account IS credit scored, so not much use.
Know any other way to get a basic business account?:

Originally Posted by exasperated

Hi Crockie,
Yes I found out today that the foundation account IS credit scored, so not much use.
Know any other way to get a basic business account?:

We are still looking but the lack of business account is now becoming a problem.

I have heard that halifax do a Treasurers account which can be used for ltd companies, however this is a passbook account so no card or dd's.

Crockie,
They dont credit score company directors and thats definite, when I went to see an old friend who works for HSBC he told me that was the way around it. However we are not a limited company so if your are you 'home and hosed' as they say

Originally Posted by exasperated

Crockie,
They dont credit score company directors and thats definite, when I went to see an old friend who works for HSBC he told me that was the way around it. However we are not a limited company so if your are you 'home and hosed' as they say

We have been refused the foundation account, Natwest & RBS as a limited company and they have both done several credit checks on us personally

We thought that we would have a better chance of getting the business account if we were a ltd co, as we had heard that they cant credit check directors, however this hasn't proven to be the case.

Go to HSBC and see the business advisor there, tell him your predicament and if he/she is okay they will tell you how to open the account as a limited company. My friend told me he could open the account no problem but being a limited company means audited accounts and other changes that would not suit our business.

Try the Nationwide FlexAccount or the Coop Basic account. Good luck

Hi Steve,
Nationwide and the CO-OP do not do basic 'business' accounts and apparently running a business through a personal account is 'frowned' upon. I have been advised however that the HMRC are not against a business running their financial affairs through a personal account and it is not against the law. However if anyone is considering doing this then they should open a totally separate account for transparency in case they are ever investigated.
The banks do not want business's running their finances through personal accounts has the majority do not charge for putting cash/chqs through which they do on a business account.

Hi Exasperated just seen this thread.
I know of a Foundation account operated by Lloyds.
The criteria is that you dont owe the Lloyds banking group any money,and are not a discharged bankrupt.
I reported that assistance to get one of these can be through inbiz which is an organisation that helps new business start ups.
Well worth also you contacting your local chamber of trade -they can give you info free.Organisations such as these can pull strings with banks and its their business to get people up and running.

I will move your thread into the business bank forums.
The pros and cons of using a personal account have been discussed there many times.

Thanks Martin,
I did not know this forum existed,how can I find out who owns Lloyds and who they own?
Exasp

Well we are talking of HBOS (halifax Bank of Scotland) and subsidiary companies such as Black Horse Finance.
I have no doubt that you will get some response in this forum-not just on the account deciding issues-but any other business related question.

I have a debt to HBOS so Lloyds is not a bank who will do business with me. However I very much apprecaite the site team taking the time to answer my thread and resolve my isssues
Thanks Martin
Exasp

Originally Posted by exasperated

Crockie,
They dont credit score company directors and thats definite, when I went to see an old friend who works for HSBC he told me that was the way around it. However we are not a limited company so if your are you 'home and hosed' as they say

Sorry to tell you this is not true, I have all my accounts personal/mortgage/business with HSBC, I tried to open a new business account today (both our current company and new company are LTD and there are 2 directors - the same in each) and I was unable to due to bad personal credit of the directors. We have never had bad credit within any of our HSBC accounts.

Hi Neeta,
I was sat in front of the business advisor in the branch where I live, I had told him my personal details and he told me that it was a waste of time trying to open a partnership account with HSBC. I assure you he told me that they only credit check the company not the directors as they are not liable as its a limited liability arrangement.
However as we are not a limited company I could not proceed down that route, so I cannot vouch for it personally. That said he wanted to open the account as we have an healthy business and everything else he told us was correct so I dont understand why he would give that advice knowing it would be rejected.
Thanks for your input.

How annoying is it that things can be so different then at different branches of the same branch, my business advisor was adamant yesterday that there is nothing she could do, it's all automatic and after she'd put all my details through it was simply a case of 'computer says no' I find myself in a horrendous situation now with the potential of losing a massive contract because I can't open a new business bank account... p.s. wasn't saying you were fibbing was just adding my experience in, came to your thread in a desparate search for a way out of my problem.... am still searching