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

nbbradshaw

johnofhertford wrote:

What are you going to do with your nose, now that you've cut it off to spite your face?

Since when is moving to somewhere else as a matter of principle (and saving you money and earning you more interest in the process) being self-detrimental, sounds like a winning move all round to me.

But then again I would say that given that I'm doing the same as scaldyflash.

Moving gives a clear and unequivocal message to FD and others banks, "DON'T PRESUME THAT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND UNCOMPETITIVE RATES ARE WORTH CHARGING FOR".

IMHO, At the end of the day, banks and other financial institutions are facing compliance pressure from the FSA and better informed consumers (as a result of people like Martin and the users on this site). They may squeel a little and hopefully not follow the FD route but there's still enough business out there for them to make billions a year!

scaldyflash

johnofhertford wrote:

What are you going to do with your nose, now that you've cut it off to spite your face?

Well I do know that I will feel much better knowing that I am not supporting a financial institution which deliberately targets and penalises those who are less well off! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Mercenary

johnofhertford wrote:

What are you going to do with your nose, now that you've cut it off to spite your face?

Lol..... Exactly! :rotfl: :rotfl: :T

KatieKins

I think the thing to remember here is that this is a money saving site. There is no point in trying to make cutbacks here and there to save money if you are then going to pay £120 a year extra for a bank account which you have previously used for free.

I agree with what many people have said, in that they think FD charging is just the tip of the iceberg - I suppose we will just have to wait and see

EagerLearner

The point is, you are *not* going to pay £10 a month - if you open a savings account and put in £1 - job done! It will save you valuable time and avoid more posts on the subject... if you are happy with FD service so far, that's all you need to do.

If you have experienced bad service that's so bad you wanted to move anyway, or their low interest rate has really affected you in terms of savings, I can see how this would be the straw that breaks the camels back - but still in the run up to Christmas, maybe leave it to January to decide, one less thing to stress about...

derrick

Why would anyone want to have an average balance of £1500. per month, pay in at least £1500 per month for a current account that only pays "up to 2% interest?". There are banks paying less, but there are a lot paying more and you don't need the £1500 rule, personally I would not have an account forcing those terms and only paying 2% interest.

Phoenix79_2

YnotL wrote:

If all banks applied charges on the FD basis you're going to end up with people demanding their wages in cash, do you think businesses really want to go back to all the associated costs of having to have large amounts of cash delivered?

The businesses wouldn't have to agree to it. Its probably in your contract of employment that you have to have your wages paid into an account. They will never go back to paying in cash

YnotL

Phoenix79 wrote:

The businesses wouldn't have to agree to it. Its probably in your contract of employment that you have to have your wages paid into an account. They will never go back to paying in cash

Do you think? You think people are happily going to lose £120 a year? Think again. If that got challenged in court, I'd wager business would lose.

Phoenix79_2

YnotL wrote:

Do you think? You think people are happily going to lose £120 a year? Think again. If that got challenged in court, I'd wager business would lose.

Part of my condition of employment is that i have to have my wages paid into a specific bank. I enquired about the legality of this and was informed that if i didn't like it i could find myself another job!

There will always be a 'free' bank account somewhere out there to use. Most of the big players will probably retain a basic non fee account as one of their products.

SparciaM

Eager Learner, you say to not pay the £10 you open a savings account with £1 and then you're done. Well according to FD that is wrong. I don't have to pay the charge as I have a CC and a Sav acc with them, but I was told if I don't regularly (every month) use the CC or Sav acc I will be liable for the charge. I asked how they would do this and they said, when the charges come in all "link/associated" accounts will be monitored to see that regular usuage is being made.

So FD want to get rid of dormant accounts cause it costs them money to track/monitor them. BUT then they'll spend the same money monitoring CC and Sav acc's to make sure people use them every month. It feels as if the bank are dictacting how and what you do with your money.

I'm not switching yet, but I prob will, as I only use my Cu acc as a bills acc and my CC has a balance I'm reducing but not spending. So will switch once their low rate has finished.

I don't mind paying £10 a month for an account if I get something for it. Good interest, extras that actually benefit and save me money etc. But FD only gives good customer service on the 4 - 10 times I call them in 6 - 12 months.