I’m working for a small consulting company. We have huge potential for the coming year, but right now things are lean… no one wants to (or can) pay up their invoices in a timely fashion, it seems.
Anyway, what this means is that when a check does come in, we need that money available in a hurry. Our current bank (no names, but rhymes with Mony) takes its sweet time clearing a check - at least 5 business days, sometimes as many as 10. Sometimes deposited checks clear so slowly that my boss (who does not manage the books) will occasionally hit the account for a withdrawal before the funds are technically available - and the bank is happy to let him make the withdrawal but then ding us for an uncollected funds fee. One especially busy day recently produced $150 in overdraft charges. sigh
Now, perhaps other banks don’t clear business checks any more quickly, but we have had enough other issues with the staff at this branch (things like capricious enforcement of “rules” that seem to depend on whether my male boss or my female office manager is involved) that we’d like to start fresh somewhere else. The company office is in Orange County, New York, a little removed from things (about 1.5 hours NW of NYC) but I think at this point we’d be willing to travel some to reach a bank that operated in a more professional fashion on the whole.
So, anyone have any suggestions about banks that are good for small businesses, or banks to stay away from? I’d also be interested to hear generally about people’s experiences with float time at their own banks… I freely admit to being naive about how banks operate in this regard, whether there are differences in how business and personal accounts are handled, etc. Thanks.