Business Credit Card

blacklawlessd

I have a business account with AIB, and a Visa credit card. I started a web design business last year and went to AIB as I have my other accounts with them. I was refused an overdraft ( didnt need it, but thought it would be wise to have one just in case ). I had to fight to get a credit card, they said the min limit was €5000, but I only wanted € 500. In the end they gave me one with a €1000 limit.
Between Jan and Feb I hadn't enough in my account to clear the balance at the end of the month. I cleared it as soon as I got payments from my clients. In the mean time I was charged €150 for a service I didnt use or want, and asked them to cancel after the trial period, which put my business account overdrawn. Considering I have no credit facilities with the bank I am at the mercy of when my clients pay me. My sales are very good since Feb, and I now only take one work when I recieve a 50% deposit. My current account is now in very healthy shape.
My credit card is up to date for several weeks, but I have been told it is now blocked and I cannot use it again. I need it for buying domain names and hosting for my clients. I was pretty annoyed with the dismissive and poor service of AIB. I have applied for a 3V card to operate on in future.

I feel hurt, betrayed and annoyed with AIB, as I have been a customer of theirs for more than 15 years. In that time I never had any loans, overdrafts etc from them. I had two investments with them that went absolutely nowhere. I was refused a mortgage, when I first applied, and then they didn’t bother call me back when I asked them to quote for a remortgage ( not for consolidating loans, I split up with my partner).

My question is - who is the most decent and fair bank to deal with at the moment (if any)?

I'm thinking of Ulsterbank or Bank of Ireland, I would appreciate any advice or thoughts
Ta

Diarmaid

FusionNet

Hi Diarmuid,

All banks are a-holes at the moment!!! I can tell you now you will here a story exactly the same as yours from people with Ulster and bank of ireland so dont rush into anything. What I would advise you to do though is to open an Ulster bank account asap. Run it along side your aib account. The reason I recommend this is they are the only ones that seem to have the VISA Debit card at the moment. It works on almost all Visa accepted sites but the money comes out of your account the minute you use it and it has a verification tool which goes beyond what visa have on there regular cards. Its a secondary password as well as your 3 digit pin. They also run a website where you can view your purchase receipts.

Ive dealt with all three of the banks and to be honest AIB has been the best of a bad lot but what Ive learnt is if I have accounts in two or more Im covered for all scenarios.

Hope this helps and keep the faith its not easy out there at the moment.

Bandara

If your account is now healthy and your on solid footing just move bank.

End of problem.

Be warned though. Ulster bank have no interest whatsoever in loaning/financing anything at the moment. All banks are pretty much the same, you might be better to stay whee you are, don't take it so personally if a bank doesn't do what you want, the bottom line (harsh as it may sound) is that you missed a payment and they stopped your card.

If you had not missed it they would not have taken this action. They have zero customer service ability, never have had, they simply run figures through a calculator and take the most conservative route possible.

Culchie

I presume you have electronic/business banking?

If not, you should be able to get two years free online banking from any of the banks. It's about €15 per mont after that

Simply pay your suppliers via bacs directly into their bank account.

That should solve your problem.

blacklawlessd

Thanks for that guys. I know I missed a payment and yes, they were doing what banks do. So much for the relationships, they tout in all their ads!

It bugged me that after 15 years of being a decent customer and showing loyalty to them ( moreso than I should have), this is how I was treated. I will open an account with Ulster Bank as Fusion Net suggests.

Has anyone used 3V in relation to their business purchases? Or heard of anyone using it?

drunkmonkey

I'm with AIB, to be honest i'd nearly go down and arrange a meeting with the manager or assistant manager, Put your cards on the table and ask them to help you. It's always good to get the know the people who run your local bank . I'd do that before I switch but I wouldn't use switching as a threat to AIB.

As far as no overdrafts, loans etc, they want you to have these, that's how they make money.

Sound Computers

blacklawlessd wrote: »

Has anyone used 3V in relation to their business purchases? Or heard of anyone using it?

kind of a hassle. low limits, inconvenient and charges for most everything. but i use it from tome to time still.....

good luck, cheers

tombull82

aib are crap if you need a decent bank with fast transaction times or decent service etc they nearly always have been and their online banking is so so slow. My accounts never went in the red with them but i got sick of constantly contacting them to sort out problems on their side. I rang ulster bank for a business account meeting a while back and they never even got back to me. This turned me off them straight away. I am now with BOI and find them great plus free online business banking which works perfect, transactions instantly appear online.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Go down and talk to you account manager, explain you need the credit card facility to do your business. If he says he can't help you then tell them that's his call and you respect it, but as a result of his decision you'll have to move banks... the absolute last thing any bank manager wants is his name down as the reason your leaving a bank. I think you'll find them reasonable if your business is credit worthy.

As much as banks hate lending right now, their customers are still extremely important to them and they spend a fortune on advertising to acquire new customers so don't underestimate how bad it is for them to loose one..

unklerosco

Hammertime wrote: »

Be warned though. Ulster bank have no interest whatsoever in loaning/financing anything at the moment.

Not necessarily true, we where recently approved for a €40k loan which we decided against and have been approved and taken a few smaller loans over the last 6 months... I guess it depends on the business and your turnover etc etc...

I would recommend Ulster Bank tho, great to deal with...

Bandara

unklerosco wrote: »

Not necessarily true, we where recently approved for a €40k loan which we decided against and have been approved and taken a few smaller loans over the last 6 months... I guess it depends on the business and your turnover etc etc...

I would recommend Ulster Bank tho, great to deal with...

I just got approval for 450k funding a month ago, however the lenghts they went too were beyond ridiculous.

I found them absolutely horrendous to deal with, never again.

thecleverone

I would recommend Ulster Bank tho, great to deal with...

I've been in business for a number of years and deal with a lot of new startups and UB by far has been the worst to deal with ..... by a long shot!

StephenM_smc

I have found Ulster Bank excellent in my dealings with them. Approval for a credit card was as simple as submitting the application form, (Looking for a bit more than the OP).

With regard to thecleverone's experience, may be its down to the contact in the bank? The person who looks after my accounts has always been excellent and I cannot recommend Ulster Bank highly enough based on my experience. I have found AIB much colder and less accommodating in comparison.

ScouseMouse

StephenM_smc wrote: »

I have found Ulster Bank excellent in my dealings with them. Approval for a credit card was as simple as submitting the application form, (Looking for a bit more than the OP).

With regard to thecleverone's experience, may be its down to the contact in the bank? The person who looks after my accounts has always been excellent and I cannot recommend Ulster Bank highly enough based on my experience. I have found AIB much colder and less accommodating in comparison.

I have to agree with this. I got one from my business bank. I filled out the application form and that was it. OK, I do carry a healthy balance most of the time, they can see that, but they did do a personal credit check on me with the the Irish Credit Bureau. I have an account manager who has been centralised to College Green, but it was simple.

blacklawlessd

Hi Guys,

Thought I would give you an update.

I've opened a business account with Bank of Ireland. The manager of my Bank of Ireland branch was the one who did all the physical work of opening the account for me. I don't think I could have been treated better.
As a matter of fact 2 of the staff said hello and called me by name - something that has never happened in all my years with AIB.

They've given me a laser card ( I was willing to forego the credit card) as asked for, but also a BOI visa card.

I've been given a book of vouchers for various services, including a consultation with a solicitor and accountant. There is also a google adwords voucher that is worth €100, which is extremely useful.

I have free banking for 2 years, and the manager gave me her card and asked me to contact her directly if I have any problems.

I now also have a 3v card, but I'll just use it for buying books from amazon etc.

Thanks for all the comments and advice guys!

StephenM_smc

blacklawlessd wrote: »

The manager of my Bank of Ireland branch was the one who did all the physical work of opening the account for me. I don't think I could have been treated better.
As a matter of fact 2 of the staff said hello and called me by name - something that has never happened in all my years with AIB.

Great to hear a positive outcome. The personal touch makes a lot of a difference!