There are just 50 days left until the Bounce Back Loan scheme closes, which will be striking fear into the army of people still unable to get a BBL.
NEWS FLASH 05:30 – Lloyds servicing accounts live BUT only opened to existing customers with an account ACTIVE and in use before March 2nd. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.
As it stands and I have proof of this, if you were declined by Conister for allegedly having a BBL elsewhere, they will review that decision when you send in proof, but their £10 million set aside to loan out is now being reduced daily.
Even if they do say they will review their decision, they cannot guarantee you will get one, the only way to have a chance of an initial decline is to send in proof you haven’t got a BBL, so find out from Conister who they claim you have a BBL with and get it in writing you haven’t.
Likely suspects are Tide, Starling Bank (who flatly deny it is possible to be on the BBB database/register when they haven’t issued you a BBL, but I continue to see proof from other banks saying the complete opposite), and you may now be on the BBB register/database as having a BBL from Metro if you applied then got a late decline.
Metro Bank are entertaining reviews to those approved for a BBL then declined, but you need to get hold of a Business Manager to fight your case as support staff will just tell you to write in and they will look at it.
I urge you to wander into a branch of Metro Bank armed with proof you are a legit business and do not leave until you speak to someone with a “brain” who can assist, not some young staff member with black trousers and white socks and cheap plastic slip on shoes who may not have a clue.
This is your business and livelihood we are talking about here and whilst you should not have to go through the indignity of battling for a BBL approval > decline to get it turned into an approval again, but that is what you will have to do. Shame on Metro Bank for allowing themselves to get into this position.
For what its worth I have seen a sharp improvement regarding the speed that Barclays are now setting up business accounts, fastest route is to download their app, apply for a personal account which can be set up there and then and then go on to open a business account, ideally be switching your current business account to them.
Once again much like Metro Bank it is a business manager who can sort out any problems or speed things up, seek the assistance of the CEO office at Barclays if you hit any snags, excellent feedback from others who have tried that route, as they delegate a case handler who can phone you up and smooth your journey to getting a business account.
Both Metro Bank and Conister are paying out BBL’s by the way but can and do take longer to do so than their published timescales. Had a few £million paid out to followers of those two banks yesterday alone, so there is some hope.
HSBC have a track record for playing catch up on their BBL backlog on Friday’s and Saturdays, so if you have applied with them look out for feeder/business accounts being set up on those two days, if you get your final EchoSign from them if you have a business account it will be paid into your account within hours of you sending the EchoSign back.
Fastest way to get an account with HSBC is via their Kinetic App, if you are approved it can be in place and up and running in hours. Their Kinetic app is only available to download onto Apple devices though.
Payment times via a feeder account are usually two business days to a standard bank account and add a few extra days on for it to hit a non-standard account such as a Tide account.
One final bank worth a try are Clydesdale they are a tad slow but have been opening up plenty of business accounts recently, there is still just enough time for you to apply, get a business account then go on to get a BBL with Clydesdale based on the average amount of time it takes for them to set them up, but you need to be quick, the same can be said of their sister bank Yorkshire Bank.
Applying for a Bounce Back Loan
If you are new here and are looking for a list of banks that are accepting new customers then click HERE.
CEO Email Addresses
One way to get some action or some form of update from a bank when you have been waiting a long time for a BBL or bank account (including feeder and servicing accounts updates), is to contact the CEO of the bank and a full list of CEO email addresses are on this page of the website