Need Banking Advice for Our Business - McKinney

I wish you the best with your business.

We have our own corporation and we go through Bank of America. We've been banking there 20 years and we started our corporation 2 yrs ago. We have free checking. As far as the othier things you will need, I am not sure because we don't use credit card machines, etc. We deal more with consulting and in corporate business instead of dealing with public. We have had no issues with BOA.

We did look at Capital One and liked their program. We opted to stick with BOA because of previous experience and being a long term customer.

Best of luck! Susan

J.,
We have used Compass for years after having a horrible experience with Washington Mutual. Compass is a smallish chain, but they seem to operate as more of a small town bank and are very personable. All the tellers call us by name before seeing our transaction slips, so we know that they know us. We love them! Good luck on the business!

Congratulations on starting your own business. I am not familiar with which banks are in McKinney, but for our business, we have found Capital One to be excellent. I also like Washington Mutual a lot. One place to absolutely stay away from is Bank Of America. We used to use them and they were awful for small businesses. Just go in and talk to a few banks. Be sure the branch near you has a specific business account rep. These people are specially trained in your particular needs. And yes, you should be able to get it all for free.

As for credit card machines and services, do your homework! Don't go for the first offer you get. Also, buy your machine, don't rent it. Rental costs are crazy. We got ours from ebay and it has worked great for years! You do not need to get the machine from the same place you get service from. Definitely check out Costco for their small business deals on card services. (Or Sam's may have them too if that is who you use.)

Bank of America does offer Merchant Services which will help you with the credit card machine questions. They also offer lots of other options for checking, credit cards, check cards for the business, and online banking services.

J.,
My husband and I own our own corporation. We started with Compass since that was where our personal accounts were. We were going to an auction and needed a letter of credit in case we made a purchase and they wouldn't give it to us. It didn't matter that I spoke with the President and threatened to cancel all our accounts. I switched to a small independent bank, it's First Security in Flower Mound. Our business is in Lewisville, but it's a 30 minuted round trip to get there so I do almost all of my banking via mail (payroll taxes, deposits, etc.) I believe the most important thing in establishing a baking relationship is to get to know the president and his secretary. The secretary is the one that will handle most of the "important" details of a business account. We are so happy with this independent bank and they are appreciative of our business since they arent' the branch of a larger corporation. As for merchant services, we are in the process of getting ours through Quick Books since that's the program we use for our accounting.

I'm certainly an advocate of interviewing the banks you're interested in, we do that for our pediatricians and doctors, why not banks?

Good luck,
D.

I used to think banks are banks, what's the difference? Actually there is a huge difference. As in Monthly Fees & Customer Service. Capital One has some great programs for your business and personal banking. Capital One is building a strong buiness presence so go ahead and get started. Call Sherry Stallone @ ###-###-####, her assistant Heather is also great. Sherry works out of the McKinney branch on Eldorado Pkwy. Very easy to work with - just talk to Sherry or Heather and see what they can do for you! Good Luck!

I would recommend First Bank by Market Street. I believe they have a free business banking account but before you run all over their number is ###-###-####. The staff is very friendly and they are not huge so they provide excellent customer service. Also, think about how many transactions you will have over the month. Some places base their rates on how much goes through. Are you going to make daily deposits - write 50 checks a month or is everything going to run through the credit card machine? Also ask about the rates for using the credit card machine. MC & Visa charge a certain % of each transaction. Discover is a little higher (that is why they can give their patrons cash back) and American Express is even higher. I would stay away from the bigger banks that are always merging because your type of account could change without you knowing it ultimately costing you money.

After reading over a few of the other responses I would agree to stay away from BOA. We opened a personal account with them when we first moved to Texas and it took us less than a month to leave them. Also View Point has a hidden agenda. I worked there when it was Community Credit Union and the upper management was horrible - I don't believe the bad ones have changed since they became a bank. You might even try out the Texans Credit Union. A few years ago I would have said they were not as competitive but they are making lots of changes in their accounts - make sure you ask for Shannon. They too know my name as I walk in the door.

We have used Independent Bank in McKinney for 2 years for our Business and Personal Banking and are very very pleased with them. They are small and so they seem more willing to help out with small businesses. They have a location at 75 and Eldorado and a new one at Virginia and Stonebridge in the new shopping village there. Good Luck!

My husband and I both have business accounts with Chase Bank (allen) I HIGHLY Recommend them.
Paul Sims is our banker. This is why I LOVE THEM!!!
We were on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks. Before I left I wrote a check to someone from my husband's business account. Well I didn't realize that my husband had two business accounts and wrote a check out of the wrong account. There wasn't enough money in that account to cover the check. Paul personally called me to tell me what had happened and asked how I wanted him to handle it. He asked if the person I wrote the check to had a chase account and if so he would personally transfer money into their account. Turns out they didn't. He called them to explain what happened and reissued a check from the correct account and rushed it to them. He did not charge us any fees for the mistake! I don't know about you but I have NEVER had such personal service.
As for the merchant services, they will have someone work with you personally to determine the best option for you. we determined that for my website paypal was the best option for me. I can always run credit cards for my husband if he needs me to for his business as well until he decides what service to go with.
As an added bonus, if you say The Card Lady referred you when you open your account they will give you $50 and me $50 for opening a business account. If you would like Paul's number emai me and I will pass it along to you.

View Point Bank has alot of help for first time buisness owners as does Wells Fargo