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

Turtle

There is one thing that fd do that I don't know whether any other banks do, and its a good improvement in my opinion. If you transfer money by bacs (one offs or standing orders) to an external account, fd still pay you interest until the day it reaches the beneficiary account. This means you're not losing interest whilst its in transit. I know their rates might not be the best but at least they're not taking the interest from your money. Not sure when this came in but I remember getting a letter about it a while ago.

YnotL

Phoenix79 wrote:

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.

Yes and there is little objection to this condition whilst banking is generally considered to be free. However if some of the major players follow the first direct fee there will undoubtedly be demands for people to have their wages in cash again. Unions will get involved, legal challenges will be made to this condition which effectively taxes employees and they'll win.

derrick

I have a current acc with FD, but only use it to put certain amounts through it and keep a very small balance in it, I would not keep a lot in it as it pays rubbish interest, and it is always handy to have a "spare" bank acc. I also have an E-saver account that I opened last year, but now have a zero balance and has been zero for ages, I got a letter stating that "In recent months you have met the requirements to avoid paying the banking fee. As long as you continue to operate your account(s) in this way you are unlikely to have to pay this fee and can continue day-to-day banking for free."
I have just spoken to Gary, @ the Hamilton call centre, and he assures me that the letter is correct, he even went to his manager who also confirmed it, so if I believe FD then even with the zero balance on my E-saver acc, I will not pay the fee. And I do not need to use the E-saver, just leave it open.

I mentioned this forum and that people where being given conflicting advice from FD, but he said that he has confirmed what the letter says is correct so not to worry.

So E-saver with no money in it + current account = no £10 fee ?

Cypher

I think to be on the safe side set a standing order up for the £10 monthly fee and pay it into a FD savings account. You might as well have the £120 a year as just give it to FD. You can then either leave it in the savings account to grow to say £100 before moving it to Icesave or some other high interest paying account, or you could just transfer back to the current account

Personally, as I've said before, I can't be bothered with jumping through hoops to keep my account Fee Free so I'm clearing out completely.

twhitehead

My wife has a FD to pay her pension into. She opened it when the Post Office near us shut. She never asked to have a bank account but this Government has forced her into it. I cannot find any posts to the forum saying what about the pensioners (her pension is £50 per week).
We go into another bank Monday

myrtle_2

I have had this letter too, I do abject to being 'held to ransom' over this current account and now having to either change banks - very tempted - or to keep a min balance of £1500 or pay in £1500 each month or open another account with them of some description..

As I have liked FD until now I am thinking of staying and opening a savings account and keeping a minimum amount in it, the lady I spoke to at FD said this would qualify...

Another reason I object to this is because I am self employed - my earnings each month can vary considerably, some months I might pay in less than £1500, others considerably more than that and overall every year on average far more than £1500 a month......because of them not 'averaging it out' I would then pay the £10 sometimes...

myrtle_2

http://www.firstdirect.com/saveinvest/esavings.shtml

tempted to open this and keep £1 in it

charlotte3

I opened the account a year ago with FD and now have lots of different companies I work for paying my money into this account and it would be a bit of a nightmare to notify all of them if I open an account elsewhere but I'm prepared to do it if need be.


I'm quite disgusted that FD are doing this to their customers. But I have a CC and a linked E-Savings account so does this mean that I won't be charged the £10 per month if I keep £1 in it? Sorry, if this has been asked before, but I just wanted a quick answer if poss.

EagerLearner

SparciaM wrote:

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.

It is not wrong - I don't put anything into my e-savings and my c/card is at £0, as previously stated. FD have already confirmed I won't get charged. IF this changes in the future - I will do a standing order for £1 to savings each month and use my c/card once a month - big deal :rolleyes:

AndieJagain

just binned FD, set the transfer in order to my Smile acount. had been thinking of doing this anyway for the better interest (if I'm having 1.5k in an account as FD expect, then I'm having 4%+ interest on it) this charge has catalyzed the action. having being with FD for nearly 15 years