First Direct not passing on January rate cut

tcall

After a month of "Following the cut in BOE interest rate, we are currently reviewing our SVR", this has now disappeared from the FD website, and the SVR remains unchanged.
It would appear they have decided not to pass on the rate cut at all, meaning they no longer have the lowest SVR of the major banks. Has anyone heard any different?

Cat695

a banks gotta make money somehow....but they are normally very good with letting people know

Have you emailed them and asked?

tcall

Cat695 wrote: »

a banks gotta make money somehow....but they are normally very good with letting people know

Have you emailed them and asked?

Whilst i do like FD, I cant say i agree that they are good at letting people know. It seems to take 3 or 4 weeks for them to decide what to do with their mortgage rates after a BOE cut, whereas i receive an online notification of reduction of savings rates within a few days.
I haven't emailed them, as i thought someone else might know.

Cat695

for FD to offer a award winning class service (no i don't work for them and yes they have won awards as you probably well know) there will be a slight cost to us all that bank with them

I'd rather keep the first class service and pay a little extra than get the second rate service most banks offer to its customers

As I said in my original post Banks are out to make money

tcall

Cat695 wrote: »

for FD to offer a award winning class service (no i don't work for them and yes they have won awards as you probably well know) there will be a slight cost to us all that bank with them

I'd rather keep the first class service and pay a little extra than get the second rate service most banks offer to its customers

As I said in my original post Banks are out to make money

We shouldn't forget tho that we do already pay for their first rate service by receiving some of the worst savings rates around

Cat695

tcall wrote: »

We shouldn't forget tho that we do already pay for their first rate service by receiving some of the worst savings rates around

well their Cash eISA is currently paying me 6.25% (sadly only till june)

supersul

Since the January BoE rate cut, First Direct has failed to pass on the rate reduction and for the past 4 weeks has had a note on its mortgage rate page saying that it is reviewing its rates in the light of the recent base rate reduction.
Today, following a further base rate reduction the note on the website has now been removed. I spoke with FD and they advise me that the rates are still under review!. Will we have to have another 4 weeks of indecision? So as it stands there has been no move in the SVR even though base rates have now fallen by 1% in 2009.
I feel FD is loosing the godwill of its SVR customers - until recently it was quick to communicate rate reductions but now no more. Taking 4 weeks to review and still not make a decision is frustrating to say the least.

nzstephen

This is a late post to this thread I know, sorry. First Direct have a serious problem here. They have always positioned themselves as a bank that doesn't like banking - ie that they are not like other banks - they are better. By not passing on cuts in full, or at all, and by passing them on late, they are behaving just like other banks - worse in some cases. We have banked with FD for about seven years and used to love them. I am rapidly falling out of love with them over this. I don't think that there is any excuse for not passing on the cuts but if there is a case then they should be up front and honest with us and tell us why.

The things that set FD apart are (apart from excellent service) honesty, quality communication, and treating their customers with respect. In other words - not behaving like other banks. Apart from seriously annoying me and several other ex-FD fans I know, FD are in danger of seriously damaging their brand by behaving like this.

_Andy_

Shame on FD for wanting to make profit.

cbrpaul

Another FD customer here ,

I emailed them last month and got quite an aweful and abrupt reply !!

They are clearly getting alot enquiries over this !!!

The only thing a customer can do here is move away !!! but im staying , for now anyway !!

nrsql

Don't really blame them.Is it my imagination or has the base rate tracker differential gone up?It's 2.39% over base now - thought it was 1.89%.Have a feeling the arrangement fee might have gone down though - is 799 think it might have been 899.
If only I hadn't dithered - but then glad I didn't take the 10 year fixed a couple of years ago - but that would have been cheaper than the 5 year fixed I took with Clydesdale. Seems every mortgage decision I make turns out to be wrong.
The site seems to be getting rid of spaces and line feeds.