What bank do you use for your company?

edited in Questions and Answers
We are in the process of creating a bank account so we can start receiving payments, and we're wondering what bank you guys use and why (for your business). Besides the obvious differences in fees (which we can easily compare), we are aware that an account with FNB makes it possible to receive funds from PayPal. Are you aware of any other differences that would be applicable to a game dev company?

Comments

  • FNB has the best odd-hours support. ABSA doesn't understand game development at all (so opening our business account with them initially was really annoying). You don't need an FNB account to use PayPal anymore, they opened that up to other banks, but I believe it still goes through FNB somehow...

    If you're getting paid in dollars, set up a foreign currency account. We have one with FNB and another with Mercantile through a company called Currencies Direct that handles international transfers for us. Right now none of that stuff really matters though, so pick the bank whose bank manager is keenest on your business and wants to see you grow. If you can't talk to a bank manager and you only get the drone treatment, go elsewhere.
  • My normal business is with ABSA the game business is with FNB initially for paypal. We receive international payments with both paypal only with FNB, no problems there with either. I 2nd dislekcia's comment if you don't get a good manager and treated well at the start just leave, and that could simply be a branch thing even a bank thing. Absa is very handy for the business since I have 2 other people that load payments and access the accounts easily it makes that far more manageable. The game business I am the only one that works on the account I am not sure FNB has a convenient way to add other managers to an account.

    Oh its worth adding we have moved all our online credit card payments to the FNB account. They have a SMS notification system that really does beat ABSA hands down.
  • Thanks for the help.

    Seems like the differences are small enough that (for now) we're just gonna choose a bank based on our initial feeling and the advice you guys have mentioned. We'll probably do a more in-depth look when the differences actually start to matter and we have a better idea of how our financials will work.
  • FNB screwed us recently. You can no longer use their business cards for a lot of online payments, unless you also have a personal account there and the two are linked.

    This happened totally without warning. I can't buy games on Steam anymore with our company card, let alone flights etc.
  • @BlackShipsFilltheSky: Thanks for the tip, we will be sure to check that out before we open an account with FNB
  • @BlackShipsFilltheSky good point. It's some kind of visa security thing some sites expect others don't. I had forgotten about this since I revert to my and a cards when it has happened. I think there is a process of linking it to a personal account but I don't care to create a personal account at FNB just for that.
  • ABSA has the best Internet banking backend for business, paying SARS etc. it makes the other banks internet side seem like toys. Their service is great but you need to find a good branch. We had 10k in fraud on a cloned card refunded the same day. ABSA is expensive on the fee side.

    To be honest, you should also check out capitec as they have no banking fees.
  • I'd go with FNB solely for the ability to get iOS, Android, and Mac devices for very low cost monthly repayments. When running a business, cash flow is king.
  • FNB screwed us recently. You can no longer use their business cards for a lot of online payments, unless you also have a personal account there and the two are linked.

    This happened totally without warning. I can't buy games on Steam anymore with our company card, let alone flights etc.
    I've just gotten myself my FNB Business banking account, this is slightly meh to hear... Though I'm in the mind to switch my personal over to there too, after all the hype hype hype Steve's made's died down... I thought about it logically and it makes sense to consolidate and clump benefits together...

    Unless it's not? Any opinion on that?
  • FNB screwed us recently. You can no longer use their business cards for a lot of online payments, unless you also have a personal account there and the two are linked.

    This happened totally without warning. I can't buy games on Steam anymore with our company card, let alone flights etc.
    Wait, what happened? Our FNB business card (it's not a credit card, it's a purchasing card, which is the same thing without the credit) gave us hassles in the US, but mostly because of the way that US businesses just assume you have endless credit and reserve amounts all the time. That particular card died and just got replaced (yay airport scanning machines), but it hasn't given us hassles with online purchases yet... What happens, something like ABSA's 3Dsecure?
  • edited
    It's the same thing @Tbulford mentioned. Some kind of extra VISA security that got added recently. It requires that a business account be validated, and to validate you have to have a personal account (as far as I know). Not all online stores are affected by it, but a substantial amount are.

    FNB online banking got reworked around October last year. FNB went from having (what I thought) was the best online banking at the time to having easily the worst. The new Absa online banking is a lot better.

    As far as I know, FNB has the the best online bookkeeping still. And it saves accountants a bunch of work. But I expect the other banks are improving in that area.
  • @BlackShipsFilltheSky are you aware if FNB's online system allows you to add users with permissions?
  • edited
    @tulford, I can confirm yes, and limit amounts on withdraws and transfers if you enable those.
  • Just a quick update from our side: one of our directors will be overseas for a few weeks, and we don't technically need a bank account yet. So, we've decided not so rush things and are rather going to do a little more shopping around before we decide on one. Hopefully that means we won't have to spend even more time later switching banks.

    Some of the points raised here are a bit of a concern to us, specifically the credit/cheque card thing. So, in the next week or so, we'll visit some of the banks and trying to get a much better idea of the differences. I'm sure we can share what we find out here afterwards.

    Thanks again for the discussion, it has already been quite helpful.
  • Anyone got an opinion on Capitec?
  • Capitec is great for savings - has the highest interest. But I don't think it's useful for companies. You're not its target market.
  • Yeah. I thought as much. they can't be good for everything :)
  • edited
    FNB cancelled our company bank card this week arbitrarily. No explanation. And they didn't deliver a new card. I've currently got a temporary savings card from them and I'm taking it overseas in 5 days and praying that it works there and they don't cancel it again.

    I'm looking to change banks.
  • How did you know it was cancelled? Did you get an sms or something?

    I tried to pay for something with my business cheque card and apparently forgot my pin number. Or maybe I didn't, not sure :/
  • edited
    I found out my business cheque card was cancelled when an ATM machine took it and didn't give it back. (well, that was the first clue, the final clue was the person at the inquiries desk the following day saying the card was cancelled).
  • Damn, that's not cool. I've yet to make extensive use of my account yet, will let everyone know if there's trouble (hope there won't be, gah admin)
  • I'm in the same position now with funds coming into paypal it looks like FNB is the only option.

    But now I've another bigger issue, and question, how the heck do I register for a Google Play Merchant account (wallet)...so I can use IAP and sell games for Android??

  • Boysano said:
    I'm in the same position now with funds coming into paypal it looks like FNB is the only option.

    But now I've another bigger issue, and question, how the heck do I register for a Google Play Merchant account (wallet)...so I can use IAP and sell games for Android??


    It's a well-known fact that South Africa's excluded from Google's wallet system, I don't think it has changed recently...
  • I just got one today, via UK account and address
  • Yep, that's pretty much it. South Africa excluded, use overseas contacts :)
  • Hey folks, hope this is a good place to post as we're doing this whole thing too.

    Anyone have anything to say about Nedbank?

    We've been doing all the fun of picking a bank and going to visit each one.

    I can at least say that Capitec is not relevant here. They told me they don't do business accounts.
  • @DarkCarnivour: I'd stay as far away from Nedbank as possible - they're about as responsive as Putin's face. Plus they're so far back in the stone age technologically that you really don't want to be trying to explain a tech business to them.
  • Oh dear. Are they really that far behind, what don't they do? Is this a typical kind of branch/consultant specific issue or is it the whole bank?
  • they're about as responsive as Putin's face
    I have been with Nedbank for 4 years and have always had relatively good support. It all depends what branch you phone regarding support.
  • Regarding the lack of Google Wallet Merchant support in South Africa:

    If one opens an overseas bank account, how does one link that to a Google Wallet account? Is this even possible in South Africa? Or does the company have to be registered overseas?
  • You have to have the company registered overseas in order to register as a google merchant, as soon as your documentation mentions South Africa, shit goes wrong.
  • We can't have nice things
  • Ah, this thread. To follow up; we ended up going with NedBank. We visited every one of them.
    Conclusion: I don't think it matters. If the bank behaves like shits, pick another one. The big 4 are all essentially the same.
  • To follow up from our side too: we ended up going with FNB after checking them all out briefly. We haven't had any bad experiences yet, but we haven't had to do very much with the account yet. I agree with @DarkCarnivour, it doesn't seem to matter very much.
  • Got all my stuff on Standard Bank,
    but planning to trial our game dev company stuff on FNB just because they are the only direct link with paypal.
  • Boysano said:
    Got all my stuff on Standard Bank,
    but planning to trial our game dev company stuff on FNB just because they are the only direct link with paypal.
    That's irrelevant now, apparently. Paypal seems to allow you to use any local bank, it's just that your payments come from FNB (which pulls them out of PayPal for you) but the money still ends up in your bank account.
  • dislekcia said:
    Boysano said:
    Got all my stuff on Standard Bank,
    but planning to trial our game dev company stuff on FNB just because they are the only direct link with paypal.
    That's irrelevant now, apparently. Paypal seems to allow you to use any local bank, it's just that your payments come from FNB (which pulls them out of PayPal for you) but the money still ends up in your bank account.
    Yes that is correct and what I'm currently doing, but time is money and I any case need another account to register the company for income tax
  • For Paypal, Standard Bank and Nedbank said they could do it, but never got back to me to say how much their fees would be. ABSA just flat out said they can't do it, but I can try Western Union, cause that's basically the same thing... so that's when I walked out of ABSA...
  • FNB have implemented an online banking security system that effectively means everytime I want to change the limits on the Free Lives bank account I have to phone an operator, verify my security details, and wait for them to change the limits from their side.

    In theory this system keeps intruders away from Free Lives money. In practice it means I can't use features on their online banking after hours because their call centre closes at 7.
    Thanked by 1dammit
  • @BlackShipsFilltheSky: Why do you need to frequently change your limits? I would imagine there is a sensible limit you can set once-off, and then leave it as-is. Just curious here.
  • @BlackShipsFilltheSky: Why do you need to frequently change your limits? I would imagine there is a sensible limit you can set once-off, and then leave it as-is. Just curious here.
    You realise you used the word "sensible" when referring to Free Lives spending, right? :P

  • Haha ok, fair enough. I hope to one day be in the situation where there isn't really a sensible limit for Clockwork Acorn, it sounds like a nice problem to have :)
  • edited
    This time I needed to pay our rent. But we're paying for the whole year in advance (as well as two months deposit), so it was a rather extraordinary sum.

    And it was pay day today, and we were doing Christmas bonuses early. The forces of the universe were clearly in agreement to empty as much of Free Lives' bank account as possible on this one horrid day.

    And, as if FNB hadn't already done enough, FNB's One Time Pin service was completely shut down today. So I had to use telephonic banking to transfer the rent money. It felt like living in the past (and they still haven't emailed me proof of payment, so it's a lot like living in the past assuming the people of the past were bafflingly incompetent).
    Thanked by 2francoisvn dammit
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