Avoid First Direct - They are gonna charge all customers £10!

anniecave

oh... I was all gearing up to move to somewhere else rather than First Direct. Maybe I'll move anyway....!

gingercordial

Divo wrote:

What a relief !! This thing about charging though. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Some banks (A&L I think) have a 'Monthly Account Maintenance Charge' buried deep in their T&Cs which comes into use if your account doesn't meet certain criteria ie.current account balance, which seems sneaky to me. Has anyone incurred these charges ??

My friend has been (might still be) charged by A&L. Silly boy hasn't been paying anything into his Premier Direct account since he opened it so he's being charged a monthly fee for not funding it correctly as per the T&Cs. Which means that neither of us got our money for me referring him :mad: .

CopperPlate_2

I see that A&L actively publicise that they have "No Monthly Fee" which is a bit of a cheek really, given that they do not have a fee ONLY if you pay in the required minimum amount for their Premier Direct Account. Suppose they are only trying to discourage time wasters/encourage you to transfer your salary, but still...

M_Thomson

nbbradshaw wrote:

Call me a cynic but when 1st time posters tell me that all is ok, I get even more suspicious!

Bottom line is I'm moving to A&L, FD cost me over £100 a year in lost interest due to their pathetic interest rate on my current account. My bank account is the only thing I've not changed or reviewed in years, shame on me!

As for making only £1.05 from each of their personal banking customers in the UK, I simply DON'T believe it. Remember the old saying, there's lies, damn lies and then there's statistics!

A&L might have great rates, but their customer service is not very good.

M_Thomson

poorbutgettingricher wrote:

id say they probably make just as much money!

when you have £2000 in credit, the bank is paying you maybe 1% unless you get a really good deal, when in fact they are probably earning 10% by investing it eslewhere!

there are reports of banks making millions of pounds, but it isnt just in the interest charges and fees, its from the £2000 in credit here and there they are making the real money.

say your £2000 overdrawn, and being charged 15% interest, if the bank can earn 10% on that money its 5% they are loosing out on (rough figures) but if your £2000 in credit and earning 1%, they are making 9%. if you dont pay your debt off in full (just make small payments) they stand to loose even more.

simple calculation -

i put 1000 in my bank, earn 1% interest on it a month, after 1 month ill have 1001, after 2 ill have 1002, and so on, but if i give that money to a friend and they repay me 5% after 1 month ill be -995, the 2nd month -990 and so on until it repaid. costing me money!! it works the same for the banks, somehow!!!

and at the end of the day, the cost of processing a cheque, sending a statement, or using your debit/credit card are the same, wether your account is in credit or overdrawn!!!

You are missing the point. A bank will make a lot more money from borrowing. I don't know where you got a figure that a bank will bank makes 10% on all savings money???! If a bank is paying 5% on a current account than that is loss leading. To recoup this loss the bank will try it's danm hardest to cross sell you a mortgage, loan and credit card etc. These are the things that make real profits. Banks which pay lower rates on current accounts and savings like the big four etc will make a bit more money on them, but still nowhere near as much as someone who borrows.

regularsaver1

why are people worrying over paying charge?- i thought this was going to be a standard thing, seeing as free banking will be banished lol

mrcow

regularsaver1 wrote:

why are people worrying over paying charge?- i thought this was going to be a standard thing, seeing as free banking will be banished lol

Because we're MSE'ers! Why pay one company for a service, when someone else does it either cheaper, or for nothing?

We'll all be shopping around if any of the banks start charging like this :cool: (and then the fun begins!)

say_what

Yes, first time poster, but that's because I've had nothing to add before. I know people who work there, and they have been knocked for six by the reaction to this proposal. They've told staff that they've run it past "focus groups" who didn't like the idea. But I think this forum is the focus group in question.

I wouldn't bother switching to A&L - they're a bit of a trashy bank aren't they? - but that's because I quite like the service from FD and if they're not going to charge I don't see any reason to move.

EagerLearner

The power of MSE!

I agree - FD are my bank of choice and if they don't charge me a monthly fee, I will continue to bank with them on both my sole and joint account.

The truth is, as the FD current account has such a poo interest rate, I have been forced to transfer most of my money to Egg Money and earn 4% during the month + 1% cashback on all spend. So FD only see my money for around 3 days after pay day because they offer such a bad current account rate.

Also, as the FD e-saver penalises any withdrawals, I now save with ICICI with a great rate of interest.

As the FD credit card is standard and offers no cashback and a bad rate, I owe £0.00 on mine. I will use my Egg Money due to cashback, or my Cahoot credit card at a good rate, if I need to borrow money.

Sorry FD - I want good good service that *also* comes with competitive products.

BBColin

Divo wrote:

What a relief !! This thing about charging though. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Some banks (A&L I think) have a 'Monthly Account Maintenance Charge' buried deep in their T&Cs which comes into use if your account doesn't meet certain criteria ie.current account balance, which seems sneaky to me. Has anyone incurred these charges ??

Yes, I've been stung with this. Put money in to get the fifty quid and had no idea I had to keep doing it if I kept the account open. Blooming annoying and needless to say I won't be going near A&L again.
Pretty awful interface, too.

On the FD thing, this whole plan to charge finally inspired me to obey my ethical impulses and head for Smile. I'd always stuck by FD because of the fabulous customer service but I'm afraid even considering charges was enough to cost them this loyal customer.

Colin

PS: My first post. Hello everybody!