How to Choose A Bank for Business
The choice of the “right” bank depends on many factors: the business model of your company, the transactions that you plan to carry out, how the bank can react to transactions that are dubious from its point of view, etc. Here are some tips to help you choose the most suitable bank for business. Among the main steps are: studying recommendations and ratings, comparing rates, assessing the functionality of online banking and other services, analyzing conditions for products and services, including lending opportunities.
What should be considered when choosing a bank for a business?
Several key parameters can be distinguished:
- Reliability. You need to make sure that the bank has a license
- A set of services. It is important to carefully assess what services you really need and study the terms of their provision.
- Service. It is worth looking at the reviews about the bank’s work in advance and independently testing different communication channels. For example, check how quickly they will respond to your question by calling the hotline, chatting on the website and at the bank’s office. If you do business in multiple regions with different time zones, you will need 24/7 business support.
One of the basic services that banks offer is settlement and cash services (CSC). It includes a direct current account and financial services. Pay attention to how many free payment orders are included in the package, whether you have to pay if there are no account transactions, how much you can transfer to individual accounts for free. A good option is a credit card for business. The entrepreneur can replenish it and withdraw cash and even pay for any personal expenses with it. By becoming the owner of a credit card, you will receive:
- freedom of choice: make purchases when you need it, and not as a result of long-term savings;
- a universal means of payment for goods and services: cards of the international payment system are accepted for payment in more than 30 million retail outlets and 1.4 million ATMs around the world;
- cash reserve for unforeseen expenses – you will always have confidence in the future;
- useful services for a comfortable life.
If you decide to get a credit card for business, you should familiarize yourself with Credit Card Calculator https://myfin.us/calculators/credit-card in more detail. As a rule, the service of the card is included in the package tariff. But even when it is charged separately, it is often free if certain conditions are met: for example, when the amount on the account does not fall below the set limit, or, conversely, the turnover on the account exceeds a certain threshold. Do not forget to connect SMS or push notifications for card transactions in order to immediately find out about those transactions that you did not make.
Many banks provide online bookkeeping services. This service can automatically generate invoices and accounting documents, calculate and transfer taxes, pay salaries to employees and make mandatory tax, pension, and social contributions for them.
The largest banks offer entrepreneurs to connect QR payments. This is one of the non-cash payment methods that can be used both in retail outlets and online stores. QR payments are more beneficial than card payments. They will cost you a maximum of 0.7% of the purchase amount if the bank passes them through the Fast Payment System.
Some banks charge interest on the account balance, and also offer cashback – they return part of payments on a corporate card. Sometimes banks offer free training for your employees as a bonus to the tariff.
Many banks form a pool of partners who give discounts to their entrepreneur clients. These can be special offers from mobile operators, marketing and advertising agencies, IT companies.
Banks often organize promotions on the eve of holidays. For example, they offer free service to new business customers for several months or special tariff plans. Follow the announcements on the banks’ websites to get service on the most favorable terms.
We hope this material will help you choose a bank that will become a good partner in the development of your business. And remember the main rule: choosing a reliable bank is the key to a successful business!
This article has been published in accordance with Socialnomics’ disclosure policy.
