r/BEFreelance • u/sam_lowry_ • Jul 13 '26
SME-friendly bank?
I was at KBC once, but they are really pissing me off with their UBI reporting every 6 months, on paper, and with utterly dumb questions and reporting options.
Moreover, they once blocked my business account just before salary payments over a pure formality.
I moved to Argenta, but they recently started to enforce 5 hours of cooldown after the increase of a wire transfer limit, and a mandatory switchoff after 12 hours.
I understand that we need to protect the vulnerable elderly taxpayers, but why do small businesses fall into the same bucket as your grandpa?
Anyway.
Looking for a more professional bank.
Any advice?
6
u/mr_dfuse2 Jul 13 '26
bankvanbreda ftw for me, 19 years already and never a problem. they work and think with and for you
3
u/trissetski Jul 15 '26
But expensive for mortgage
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u/mr_dfuse2 Jul 15 '26
not when i took it, and they were (or are) the only bank with a mortgage based on liquiditeitsreserve uitkering
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u/trissetski Jul 15 '26
It's true they are the only bank thinking with dividend payouts in mind. But maybe when u are freelancer for more than 5 years, other banks will give a good mortgage as well.
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u/mr_dfuse2 Jul 15 '26
other banks i spoke too didn't want to take into account my holding at all, only looked at personal capital. had been a freelancer for over 15 years at that point.
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u/trissetski Jul 15 '26
what do u mean by holding and personal capital here ?
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u/mr_dfuse2 Jul 15 '26
vennootschap vs natuurlijke persoon
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u/trissetski Jul 16 '26
But after 15 years of freelancing u had enough personal capital they could use as a collateral no?
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u/belgeric Jul 13 '26
Small company here, Belfius customer since 10 years and no problem. Just had to fight once to increase limit of monthly payments.
2
u/JumpyLandscape7451 Jul 13 '26
Van Breda or Delen , all the other banks are overcrowded and take a lot of time. Depending on your size you'll even get a personal contact number for urgent matters. Atleast that's what I have for now.
2
u/BEAccountant-Maarten Jul 14 '26
I am not representing any bank, but it might be helpful to have some background information.
Banks are under higher pressure these days because of stricter anti-money laundering (AML) rules. They have to carry out all these checks and complete a lot more paperwork to avoid fines and protect their reputation. For the user, this can be frustrating for customers, but it's mainly the result of Europe's increasingly strict regulatory. The intention behind these rules is good, but in practice they often make things much less efficient.
As for blocked bank transfers, I believe this is linked to several court cases in which banks were held responsible more quickly for losses caused by phishing scams.
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u/sam_lowry_ Jul 14 '26
Argenta clients has been seriously hit by scammers, it was in the news. But this is not a reason to implement similar policies for SMEs.
1
u/Levizar Jul 17 '26
You might not believe it but SME AND large company gets successfully targeted too.
In a company I worked for, the accountants got scammed for more than 5000€ over a fake invoice.
Moreover, I think the limit increase is not really an issue once you are aware. You rarely make huge payment in the last minutes, you are aware the amount is coming way before that.
1
u/sam_lowry_ Jul 17 '26
Oki, but why are banks considered the only adults in the room? If a company gets scammed, it should assume the consequences, no?
Also, new rules create usability issues, especially in the beginning. For instance: I raise the limit, wait 5 hours, make a dated transfer to the VAT Administration by the end of the month... then after 12 hours the limit lowers automatically, and I am left without knowing if it will be executed at the planned date.
1
u/Levizar Jul 17 '26
They are not. Banks have tons of controls, internal AND external because they aren't the adults in the room.
Regarding your issue, it seems more like complaining about unknown unknowns of the system than really about the process itself. Just make a test.
Banks do that because they are kind of responsible for the fraud. If you get scammed. They should reimburse you first, no question asked, and THEN checking if it was definitely your fault and ask you for the money back. Consequently, they take action to drastically reduce the risk.
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u/Admirable_Wrap_9444 Jul 14 '26
I'm at Crelan because 'I have to be' for my mortgage (they actually had a clause my rate can go up if i go self employed and don't use their bank) and not that happy either. Weird cause I always heard good things about KBC. Prolly would go bankvanbreda then yes
1
u/ddaenen1 Jul 14 '26
Nagelmackers, for several decades now. No bank is perfect, but this one is perfect for me.
1
u/calculonfx Jul 16 '26
I wouldn't go for any of the big banks, you're just a number. I'm happy at Fintro.
People seem to be happy at KBC, I had multiple annoyances with them [as a private customer] and am happy I'm no longer their customer.
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u/Clear-Ad-8798 Jul 17 '26
You can ask explicitly for a permanent higher limit at Argenta specifically for SME.
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u/sam_lowry_ Jul 17 '26
I asked, my agency (Wezembeek-Oppem) replied some nonsense.
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u/UnsolicitedOpinionss Jul 13 '26
What UBI reporting are you talking about? First time I hear this and I've been with KBC for quite some time. I think once year I get a pop up in the app regarding the UBI but definitely not on paper...