The other day, I decided to do some banking for my business and pay some more money off my business credit card. It doesn't have a large balance, but I'm working towards paying it off from whatever earnings I make, and then paying back a small loan I made to the business from my own personal finances, in setting it up and buying initial stock and equipment. On making the payment I noticed that the balance had not gone down by as much as I thought it should have, considering the payments I've made recently.
I looked but just couldn't see why the balance hadn't reduced, so I ended up ringing the bank, as I'm always cautious about fraud and wanted to make sure none had been perpetrated. I spoke to a very nice young lady on the telephone, who informed me that an annual fee of £30 or so had been added to the card recently, which was the reason for the balance remaining higher than expected. Apparently my free business credit card period of one year had expired, and I am now required to pay an annual fee for the priviledge of having the card. I'm not complaining as such, as I am sure this is just how it works for businesses all over the country and I was probably warned about it when I opened the account a year ago, but had forgotten. It is useful to have a card to make purchases for the business, so I guess it is just an expense that I will have to get used to and accomodate in my accounting.
Following on from this I took the opportunity whilst on the telephone to ask a few questions about what charges I might have to pay when my free business banking expires in six months time. Luckily no annual fee applies and I will just be charged for cheque and cash withdrawals and deposits. This doesn't seem so bad as I rarely utilise such facilities, so I was duly reassured.
If anyone out there is thinking of starting a business, be aware that the banks will try to make some money from your efforts at some point in the proceedings, but I guess they are a business too.
No comments:
Post a Comment