UK bank account

[justbookies]

That sounds a nightmare. One suggestion I have is to quickly set up a new personal bank account and get all payments made to that instead. Only use it for your business activity and just treat it as an account that belongs to the business (even though it is in your personal name). This should be the quickest way to get a new account for payments in and out. Then open a new business account (or ideally two) somewhere else.

[chairo]

Thank you for your suggestion but I just discovered something more. Somehow my accountant managed to file our annual return with a Nature of Business (SIC) which is "92000 Gambling and betting activities". It's clearly a mistake but if there is no way to change it quickly I guess I can throw my LTD in the bin as no bank will believe we are doing advertising when official records at companies house states we are gambling.

[salsero]

Maybe a solution is Cashplus business account? Has anyone tried it?

[RacingJim]

Wow it really seems that the banks need to do some catching up. I had a similar problem recently going Limited and trying to get a bank account.

First one I tried was Santander and as soon as I mentioned it was gambling-related they went on the back foot and were asking me for lots of different documents to prove what I do and asking for letters from the companies I work with etc etc.

I then went to Natwest and just said I do online affiliate marketing, I said I sign up for branded affiliate programs e.g. affiliate window and promote deals and receive commission for any sales that are made. No problems at all and just got my account opened properly in the last few days. Just don't mention gambling and hopefully you'll be fine for new accounts, we are marketers not bookmakers.

[casinovegas]

I said internet marketing and social media......seemed to do the trick. I don't know why banks have to be so anal about it, they should want your business really.

[JackTenSuited]

I'm with Natwest too, so far so good. Just told them I do website marketing.

[justbookies]

Thank you for your suggestion but I just discovered something more. Somehow my accountant managed to file our annual return with a Nature of Business (SIC) which is "92000 Gambling and betting activities". It's clearly a mistake but if there is no way to change it quickly I guess I can throw my LTD in the bin as no bank will believe we are doing advertising when official records at companies house states we are gambling.

My accountant did exactly the same thing to me. I now do the AR myself.

[chairo]

Maybe a solution is Cashplus business account? Has anyone tried it?

I checked on their website and do not accept payments from abroad therefore useful for some but not for all of us.

My accountant did exactly the same thing to me. I now do the AR myself.

I did manage to get him to change it but I wanted to have advertising agency whilst he insisted Gambling was the correct one In the end we agreed on IT consultancy services.

How long does it take to complete AR yourself? I have roughly 60 invoices per year. I guess I'll do the same, this guy just screwed up my business and I am currently out of the country...

[justbookies]

The Annual Return takes a few minutes only. Do it online annually and it costs £13. It is nothing to do with your actual company accounts. It is just a list of shareholders and directors (pretty simple in most cases as there is one of each in my case - me). It pretty much prefills itself from the previous year and just update any entry if necessary. Could not be easier.

Also, none of my business, but I think the tail is wagging the dog. You should be the one to determine what category your business best fits, not the bloke employed to do the books. Advertising agency is much closer to the mark than IT Consultant (but frankly either does the job).

[Doolally]

For your Annual Return you might want to use SIC Code "63120 - Web Portals".

It's a good fit that doesn't categorise you to gambling.

[Anthony-Coral]

Anyone else amused/surprised by this paradox that a BANK....... doesn't want to be associated with GAMBLING?

[thebookiesoffers]

Anyone else amused/surprised by this paradox that a BANK....... doesn't want to be associated with GAMBLING?

shows what arseholes they can mate

for reference for everyone, when I went limited Natwest were being a pain in the arse so bumped them off. Tried Barclays and they didn't want to know at all, even when i said online marketing they wanted to know exactly what, once bookmakers were mentioned it was a no go.

tried the co-operative bank and to be fair they were spot on and had no hassle setting the account up, they hardly asked any questions, recommend them highly

[Anthony-Coral]

The irony is that online behemoths like MoneySupermarket dot com and GoCompare essentially work on the same model. Can you imagine them getting grief if they wanted to open an account? I wonder what struggles the originators of sites like this might have had when first starting out, you'd be pretty sick now if you were the accounts manager who turned them down

[thebookiesoffers]

The irony is that online behemoths like MoneySupermarket dot com and GoCompare essentially work on the same model. Can you imagine them getting grief if they wanted to open an account? I wonder what struggles the originators of sites like this might have had when first starting out, you'd be pretty sick now if you were the accounts manager who turned them down

The excuse that Barclays gave me was that there was no way to make sure the money that went through the bookies wasn;t being laundered. i was left gobsmacked at their stupidity to be honest

[JackTenSuited]

when I first went to HSBC they told me they refused to work with a sole trader who's job was to go round fixing the fruit machines in pubs, he didn't touch the money that went in to them but told hit was to risky.
The same bank manager tried to tell me what I was doing was illegal

[casinovegas]

Wonder who the bookies themselves bank with?

[justbookies]

Wonder who the bookies themselves bank with?

The key banking service for bookies is the "merchant services" facility for accepting credit cards. Lots of banks will not give this facility to licensed bookmakers. Those banks that do get (and insist upon getting as part of the deal) the bookies bank accounts and the two main ones when I was in the loop on this a few years ago were Barclays and RBS. Those two banks had specific people who specialised in dealing with the bookies for merchant services facilities, but even they were quite wary of new start bookmakers.

[QuasarAffiliates]

Hi All,

I have been reading through this thread and sorry to learn that you are having such difficulty with the banks, you need to keep trying until you find someone who understands the concept. Make sure to explain the nature and the difference between an operator and affiliation. Some ppl will actually take the time and the interest to understand. Other banks will not and better than you know upfront. You do not want to bank with someone who will continuously give you trouble. Its the last thing you will want to deal with.

Regards,
Rebecca

[alicasino]

Had the same problem.. santander were good though

[Fastlane]

Bumping this ol thread. I will (hopefully) be opening a UK bank account for business very soon. I'm curious, do the recommendations in this thread still stand? Which banks do you recommend? And, do you recommend the "online marketing" route, or try to explain gaming affiliation?

I have other activities outside of gaming and affiliate work even, so I could focus on that.

Thoughts?

Thanks