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These "challenger" banks are a gimmick. Friend of mine recently tried to set up an account for his new business and all "challengers" refused a business account

These "challenger" banks are a gimmick. Friend of mine recently tried to set up an account for his new business and all "challengers" refused a business account, they were slow to respond and disinterested in helping. Eventually he set up with a high street bank, but the whole thing took over a month, which is ridiculous.

toyg 3y ago
That's surprising. Starling opened a business account for me in less than 3 days. This was back in 2018 though.
- varispeed 3y ago
  Starling was particularly bad. Maybe they stopped caring...
monooso 3y ago
My experience of banking with both Starling and Monzo (personal and business) has been excellent. Far better than with any of the high street banks.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
blitzar 3y ago
Exact same experience, I wouldnt say refused just hoop after hoop to jump through. disinterested in helping is an apt description, they got interested 2 years later and I would get a daily phone call about "finishing my application". I was pretty transparent with the person(s) calling - after years of doing their best to push business customers away, someone up high decided to make to get as many business customers as possible and everyone was on a fat commission to open up new accounts (I think lure of government guaranteed covid loans might have had something to do with it). High street bank was open within 3 days, fill out the form and done.
yakshaving_jgt 3y ago
That wasn't my experience. I set up an account with HSBC about seven years go, and they were a nightmare. It took over a month to open the account, and everything had to be done in branch. Also, HSBC in the UK is not the same HSBC in other countries. I once had to fly back to London from Athens just to "pop in to my local branch" for some uninteresting bureaucratic process. I closed that account and switched to Tide. It took me like 15 minutes to open the account online.
- varispeed 3y ago
  As I understand, Tide is not a bank.
  - yakshaving_jgt 3y ago
    That's technically true. Most of their customers have a business account with a different bank under the hood. In my case, I have an e-money account which is safeguarded in line with some regulation, but isn't protected by FSCS. For my [meagre] business banking intents and purposes, the difference is immaterial, and Tide is a bank.

toyg 3y ago

That's surprising. Starling opened a business account for me in less than 3 days. This was back in 2018 though.

varispeed 3y ago
Starling was particularly bad. Maybe they stopped caring...

monooso 3y ago

My experience of banking with both Starling and Monzo (personal and business) has been excellent. Far better than with any of the high street banks.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

blitzar 3y ago

Exact same experience, I wouldnt say refused just hoop after hoop to jump through. disinterested in helping is an apt description, they got interested 2 years later and I would get a daily phone call about "finishing my application". I was pretty transparent with the person(s) calling - after years of doing their best to push business customers away, someone up high decided to make to get as many business customers as possible and everyone was on a fat commission to open up new accounts (I think lure of government guaranteed covid loans might have had something to do with it). High street bank was open within 3 days, fill out the form and done.

yakshaving_jgt 3y ago

That wasn't my experience. I set up an account with HSBC about seven years go, and they were a nightmare. It took over a month to open the account, and everything had to be done in branch. Also, HSBC in the UK is not the same HSBC in other countries. I once had to fly back to London from Athens just to "pop in to my local branch" for some uninteresting bureaucratic process. I closed that account and switched to Tide. It took me like 15 minutes to open the account online.

varispeed 3y ago
As I understand, Tide is not a bank.
- yakshaving_jgt 3y ago
  That's technically true. Most of their customers have a business account with a different bank under the hood. In my case, I have an e-money account which is safeguarded in line with some regulation, but isn't protected by FSCS. For my [meagre] business banking intents and purposes, the difference is immaterial, and Tide is a bank.