Your Questions About Business Online Banking

Jere answers:

Usually to set up any bank account you have to prove your identity, Passport, Utility Bills etc. Unless you have a bank account already then the answer is no. If you have an account then I suggest you contact them and ask them if it is possible, they will probably still want you to go in and talk about it, unfortunately.

Jere answers:

Multiple things can be going on:
These might be phishing attempts, not from the real bank, but faked to look like it; meant to get you to do some further action the mail includes (links, phone numbers, etc).

Your machine (Windows by any chance?) has been infected by any one of several ‘banking Trojans’ that has slurped your info and now crooks are attempting to access your bank(s) or set up some kind of identity theft scam.

Using a non-Internet landline phone, call these banks (number from a reliable source) and inquire about fraudulent activity.
I advise you also take the following action:
Credit & ID theft steps
Credit Report Request Service (US Gov. Approved site)

“This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.”
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Note you can get all 3 reports at once, but since these are almost always identical, an alternate method would be to get 1 at a time, and rotate each agency every 3rd month. That way you can monitor your credit status year ’round for free.

Constant vigilance is now mandatory to assure you’ve not been compromised.
And stop using Windows to do banking. Use Linux.

Jere answers:

In the US, it mostly depends on how many people are sending bills to that payee. The more bills get sent out, the bigger likelihood the bank is going to want to stop writing checks and paying postage and will just direct deposit the bills.

Sounds like you’re not running a megacorp, so you’re probably stuck getting paper checks every time someone wants to pay you.

Jere answers:

You can open an account as sando says but you will still need a bank account to transfer the money to because they do not write checks anymore they do direct deposits. You can also start a merchant account which allows you to use all the major credit cards but of course you need to have a bank account to do this and set it up through them.

As far as a what type of bank account you need is another question. If you plan to run the business as a sole proprietor under your Social Security number then you can open a bank account in your name with a DBA attached to it (Doing Business As) which is what ever you choose to name your business. You want to check to make sure the name you use is not already active or you may be in trademark or copyright infringement.

Since you are doing it with a friend you will most likely set the business up as a partnership and I don’t think you can do this under a basic business license, you may have to incorporate as a limited partnership, it’s something to check out. The banks may also require you to incorporate in order to open a business bank account. The best thing to do is call your local city government and have the question answered about partnerships then talk to the bank to see what is required of you two to open a bank account.

The other problem I see is that you are 15 and the banks may not allow you to open a bank account of any type without a parent or guardian to co-sign the account so check this out. The same applies to forming a business.

Sorry I can’t be of more help but I hope this gets you going in the right direction.

Good luck to you and your friend.

Jere answers:

Membership number should come via email but you can find that out now by visiting the website going to the log in details and selecting forgotten membership number. It will ask you for certain information and give you the membership number then and there. Now you have your PIN sentry reader you can log on with your debit card and PIN number. For details how to use the reader theres info on the website too.

**EDIT** SORRY ROB DIDNT REALISE IT WAS FOR BUSINESS – YOU NEED TO CALL BUSINESS TELEPHONY ON 0845 605 2345 AND THEY CAN PROVIDE IT OVER THE PHONE