Youâd be displeased that their debit card is Visa, not Mastercard!
They used to be able to introduce you to Amex cards, if you wanted a credit card, although Iâm not sure if they still offer that. Their debit card used to be âdeferred debitâ, where it acted a bit like a charge card (all charges bundled and charged to your account at the end of the month) but that feature was removed a while ago.
Nowadays, they are similar to high level Santander (Santander Select and Santander Private Banking) just without an app.
Their USP is specialist banking for trusts, executorâs accounts, etc and also they are the only part of Santander that offers currency accounts (in Euros and US Dollars). I believe there is no branch access at Santander, as Cater Allen is largely run separately but does share some group back-office functions.
There is a freephone telephone line to call them, and the ability to send and receive secure messages through internet banking.
You can have a chequebook, paying-in book and debit card (if you want); currency accounts only offer a debit card and donât support cheques.
The account shows on your credit report as a standard Santander account.
Supposedly, the benefit would be better service in general.
The fringe benefits would be: access to currency accounts, possible requirement for niche features as I explained above which other banks couldnât fulfil, unusual banking brand, unusual debit card - which would please card collectors.
The other big benefit is that if you do have an accountant or independent financial advisor to manage your affairs, Cater Allen will deal directly with them on your behalf - with your permission. This is not routinely available at ânormalâ banks.
There was a ÂŁ5,000 minimum balance most recently. But they used to have a âSterling Bank Accountâ, with no specific requirements, alongside the âPrivate Bank Accountâ.
It looks like they may have removed requirements from the Private Bank Account now that the Sterling Bank Account is no longer available.
Itâs difficult to know how much of a change in policy it really is, as they may simply be declining applicants who they donât think will keep significant balances.
The account is still subject to status and only available after a credit check. We donât know what criteria they are assessing the credit data against.
One quirk of Cater Allen is that they donât offer overdrafts, at all, so I doubt theyâd want to take on anybody who they felt was at-risk of going into an unauthorised overdraft!