Adam M

My company is thinking about moving bank accounts as customer service from lloyds has not be satisfactory.

Anyone know what their requirements are for opening with them?

Its not the kind of info that is easily forthcoming if you contact them directly.

You need to go down a long path before you can find out if it is wasting your time!

krankyd

I don't think that it's the sort of bank that you ask to join - I believe that you have to be nominated by another customer, then they vett your accounts and if it's OK they make you the offer.

suppost to be the mutts nuts, though. 24hr personal service, just ring up the bank and they arrange anything!

boxst

Hello

Well, I worked with Coutts a few years ago (in the Isle of Man), and the minumum amount for opening an account was £500,000.

They may have changed, as they were looking to become a more "normal" bank.

Steve.

Chris L

Adam

I used to work for Coutts a few years back (spent the first 5 or 6 years of my working life there). There is a difference between the requirements for an individual and a business.

Coutts offer business services and accounts like any other bank. I know that you are involved with patents and this is the sort of specialist area that Coutts might well be interested in. Traditionally they have strong links with insurance, shipping, legal firms etc. There aren't the same kinds of rules for company accounts as there are for personal accounts (when I was there, you had to have a minimum income of £100000 and assets of £500000 (excl property (this was about 5 years ago) for a personal account)

Coutts even offer student accounts - if they think you have potential!

Your best bet is to give them a ring and make an appointment with your local branch or go into one of the bigger offices - Strand or Lombard Street.

Hope that helps

Chris

dsmith

and at the end of the day they're just part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group - so why not try NatWest ?

Deano

JackClark

Fees

carl

The implication of this page is that you can get a personal account at Coutts with as little as £3,000.

(Actually it appears to be less than £3,000 but at 75p per transaction it may prove uneconomical )

rik1471

What benifits do you get from banking with Coutts over a high street bank?

carl

Snob value, I think

Adam M

thanks for replies guys.

it does look like its just snob value, and very expensive.

I was hoping that since they have restrictions on those who can use their service they might rely on the guaranteed higher balances generating large volumes of interest to reduce bank charges.

I was wrong!

Luke

VERY easy to open an account with them.... But they are not as "Classy" as you think... Bit "Bling Bling"!!!!!

I know loads of people who earn less than 40k and have accounts with them.

zoog

try Barclays Premier which is their private clients service, I find it very good and you only need to earn over 70k to join apparently.

IanA

I think it used to be that to get a genuine private account at Coutts you had to deposit £10000, unless you were paid by the paymaster general (Forces Officers and the like).

You might be better off with Robert Flemming, last time I looked into this (a while back) their charges were much more reasonable and they were very helpful.

Chris L

As the various replies suggest, there is no hard and fast way to open an account with Coutts - if the face fits and all that. If they think you have potential to earn big money, then they will take you on - it is as simple as that. If you are earning less than 40K a year and have a Coutts Bank account then the reason for this would normally be other assets - i.e investments, share portfolios, family trusts (or your family name ) etc

It is true that Coutts has traditionally been the bank of the armed forces and the royal family - which is where a lot of the snob appeal comes from.

I would have to say that having worked for them, the service provided is outstanding. They will run your (financial) life for you if you want - you name it, they can provide it. What people crave is personal attention. The staff to customer ratio at Coutts is around 1:300, at NatWest(now RBS), it is closer to 1:2500. Some Coutts account managers will look after as little 50 accounts, whereas your local high street branch, it is likely to be 10 times that figure. All this doesn't come cheap and there are plenty of people out there willing to pay for it, for whatever reason.

There are numerous private banks out there, some much more exclusive than Coutts (try C H ***** for example - you still have to be invited to hold an account with them). Coutts is merely the best known and one of the oldest (c 1692).

As I said before, company accounts are a little different and it would not hurt to have a chat with them as you might be pleasently surprised.

Chris

Chris L

Carl

Not true, the reference to £3000 is the minimum balance you must keep in your current account to avoid bank charges (who does that ??). If it drops below that, you will be charged a fee for every debit and credit entry onto the account. It ain't cheap, so you got to want to do it. I would have to say that from the point-of-view of 99.9% of the people on this board there would be little benefit to banking with Coutts.

A little bit of trivia for you: It was my boss and I that actually secured the 'coutts.com' address, after a lot of wrangling

Chris

Dr Hu

If you've read Richard Bransons Virgin Autobiography you may not be so eager to join Coutt's bank

He was glad to see the back of them after they pulled the rug from under him in the BA/Virgin transatlantic affair!

Chris L

Dr Hu

All I will say is that Coutts never washes it dirty linen in public! It guards it's reputation very closely and would rather settle it with the customer than slang it out in the High Court. Several other cases come to mind - Duchess of York, Sting being ripped off by his accountant a few years back. I guarantee that you do not know the half of it. There are ALWAYS two sides to every story.

Chris