Is Now a Good Time to Change Banks?

With Glenville Walker Consulting having recently launched its Banking Review Service, provided by Alistair Howard and Simon Robb, these regular articles / posts are designed to keep you abreast of the latest news in the Banking Sector, and provide some thoughtful pointers as to why you might want to periodically review your banking arrangements.

Is Now a Good Time to Change Banks?

Most Businesses (and indeed private individuals) don’t change banks. Ever. Many of us are still with the bank we opened an account with when we went to University or College, or got our first job. Similarily, most businesses stick with their first bank from creation.

Changing banks, especially for a decent sized business, is a major event. To be fair, under pressure from HM Government, the banks have worked hard to make this a simpler process and will help along the way. However, if you have customer payments, supplier payments, staff payments, dividend payments, trade finance payments and, maybe, an invoice discounting relationship to manage, there is still plenty to go wrong.

Sometimes, though, things happen which mean that there may be an excellent reason for changing banks. Some good reasons might be :-

• Lower Fees• Lower Interest Margin• Bigger Facilities (at no extra cost)• And so on

It appears that for some businesses, there might be a window of opportunity now.

The Glenville Walker Consulting Banking Review team have learned that Royal Bank of Scotland is under enormous pressure to facilitate re-banking for those customers who were moving into the Williams & Glynn (which is, of course, not now happening). We understand that RBS will have to compensate any re-banking costs incurred (within time frames not yet determined).

So :-• RBS Customers who were going to W&G may now have to move elsewhere• If there are fees and expenses involved, RBS will have to pay up

Inevitably this will include:

• Arrangement Fees
• Security Release / Registration Fees
• Drawdown Fees (at least initially)
• Early Redemption Fees
• In addition, if the cost of borrowing rises, RBS may have to compensate for that (or at least cover the additional cost for a while)

Over and above this, of course, a new bank always wants to impress (at least initially). So this might be a great time to review facilities and get that long sought but never granted increase?

In short, for a good number of north western based companies, there may never be a better time to strike a better banking deal – and get the banks working for you (for once).

A word of caution, though! If you want a better deal, you might need a little help. Come and speak to the Glenville Walker Consulting Banking Team. The first meeting costs nothing, and helping you is what we do best!

For further information please contact our Commercial Relationship Manager, Hazel Walker on 0151 305 9654 or hazel.walker@glenvillewalker.com