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

jo_b_2

Personally, I think this is the perfect opportunity for some consumer revenge...

I'm planning to open a new current account with FD via Quidco for £45 Quidco cashback and £50 FD cashback. I'll be £95 better off and, at the first suggestion of monthly charges, I'll be switching back to A+L (or wherever I can find a better deal!)

trplumbing

If there is no such thing as free banking, why does their website state that it is...

http://www.firstdirect.com/bankaccount/bank_account.shtml

The bank profits right now anyway as it is (though probably not as much as the aggressivbe HSBC targets) -
1: when your are overdrawn they charge you more interest than it costs them (fair enough)
2: when you are in credit, with the money you have with them they give you 2% at best, they then lend that money at, say, 10.9% on an overdraft to someone else.

Also the fact that I dont have a need for, say, a mortgage with them right now doesnt mean than in a year or twos time I wont. If they charge me now £10 a month then they will cost themselves this potential business. Im sure Im not the only one in this boat.

While I like FD I hope that they fail miserably with this one so that other banks arent encouraged.

On the back of someones point about us realising that banks not being not for profit, wouldnt it be great if there was some sort of nationalised bank which was like that..... (better stop dreaming and keep gifting your hard earned cash to the bank in many ways, eh?)

domestic_goddess

jo_b wrote:

Personally, I think this is the perfect opportunity for some consumer revenge...

I'm planning to open a new current account with FD via Quidco for £45 Quidco cashback and £50 FD cashback. I'll be £95 better off and, at the first suggestion of monthly charges, I'll be switching back to A+L (or wherever I can find a better deal!)

A lot of people at the moment are opening bank accounts through quidco and getting their cashback and then closing the accounts ( not saying that this is what you are doing jo_b - your post just made me think of this point). Surely this is another reason for these possible account charges - people are taking the p!ss out of their cashback incentive pocketing their money and closing the account as soon as they have it.

Soon the banks may decide to stop all cashback offers leaving the genuine consumer no incentives!!!

M_Thomson

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

A lot of people at the moment are opening bank accounts through quidco and getting their cashback and then closing the accounts ( not saying that this is what you are doing jo_b - your post just made me think of this point). Surely this is another reason for these possible account charges - people are taking the p!ss out of their cashback incentive pocketing their money and closing the account as soon as they have it.

Soon the banks may decide to stop all cashback offers leaving the genuine consumer no incentives!!!

I don't think the amount of money they loose from the above comes anywhere near what they are losing from people who don't follow terms and conditions, then reclaim bank charges.

Graham_Devon

If this is to do with people reclaiming their charges, which it may well be, then it's just another way in which they are going to screw over the poor and give to the rich.

Basically, if all of the thread is true, then the accounts you would need to have to not be charged the 10 quid are savings accounts, but not instant access ones, investments and possibly mortgages. The biggest money spinners for FD. I would expect that if you have a business bank account also that you wouldnt be charged to £10.

I pay for my business banking. So, I would rather pay £10 a month than pay for transactions. 67p just for writing a cheque for instance, or 30p just for making an online payment. That would criple people. It's bad enough as a business when you get your bill through, but it's accepted.

What people have to remember though is banks are hardly in poverty. Business Banking is a MASSIVE profit spinner, as are mortgages and fixed bonds etc.

The people this will hit are those without savings, because they simply don't have enough money for savings, therefore, they will be hit with the £10 charge, not those with spare cash sitting around.

So nothing's going to change. it may be a little cheaper though if this £10 get's rid of fee's such as going over your overdraft and the bank writing you a letter.

I'm not with FD, I'm with HSBC, but was thinking of changing due to HSBC's poor interest rate, something like 0.02%!

As for people on quidco getting £95 from them...thats NOTHING to a bank. My business banking transactions add up to about 75 transactions a month. I'm charged roughly £20 for that per month. 75 transactions is pitiful for a business account!!

YorkshireBoy

Graham_Devon wrote:

it may be a little cheaper though if this £10 get's rid of fee's such as going over your overdraft and the bank writing you a letter.

It won't though Graham.

Where customers in difficulties* previously had to pay £25-38 per transgression, they'll now...

• pay £12 per transgression
• have an additional 5-7% APR applied to their credit card debt
• have an additional 5-7% APR applied to their overdraft balance
• have their credit card interest free period cut from 59 to 42 days
• have the notice period for interest rate changes reduced from 30 to 21 days
• etc, etc, etc

...and pay £10 a month for the privilege of 'enjoying' the above (which are all actual examples of what's happening NOW by the way).

Welcome to personal banking in the 21st century.


* Whether self-induced or not.

Graham_Devon

YorkshireBoy wrote:

It won't though Graham.

Where customers in difficulties* previously had to pay £25-38 per transgression, they'll now...

• pay £12 per transgression
• have an additional 5-7% APR applied to their credit card debt
• have an additional 5-7% APR applied to their overdraft balance
• have their credit card interest free period cut from 59 to 42 days
• have the notice period for interest rate changes reduced from 30 to 21 days
• etc, etc, etc

...and pay £10 a month for the privilege of 'enjoying' the above (which are all actual examples of what's happening NOW by the way).

Welcome to personal banking in the 21st century.


* Whether self-induced or not.

I've read nearly all of the 6 pages on this, but missed this if it's been mentioned already, where have you got this from?

YorkshireBoy

Graham_Devon wrote:

I've read nearly all of the 6 pages on this, but missed this if it's been mentioned already, where have you got this from?

This isn't the only thread on the subject.

jo_b_2

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

A lot of people at the moment are opening bank accounts through quidco and getting their cashback and then closing the accounts ( not saying that this is what you are doing jo_b - your post just made me think of this point). Surely this is another reason for these possible account charges - people are taking the p!ss out of their cashback incentive pocketing their money and closing the account as soon as they have it.

Soon the banks may decide to stop all cashback offers leaving the genuine consumer no incentives!!!

Current accounts are getting more competitive and banks are offering incentives to switch, so I personally I have no problem taking advantage of these offers.

I'll have to transfer my salary over to FD to get the cashback so I do intend to use the account. If the account isn't competitive - then, yes, I will close the account and look elsewhere for a better deal.

Banks rely on consumer apathy and misplaced loyalty to make money out of customers. If FD do go on to introduce this charge I think they deserve to have a mad exodus!

I would have no qualms about taking the cashback and closing the account if I can get a better account elsewhere.

schiff

Even for £95 I wouldn't fancy keeping a mimimum balance of £1000 all the time to earn a miserly 2% interest - with all the palaver of transferring salary credits and DDs thrown in. Under £2000 it's 0.10%, the usual horror story.

NOT for me!

schiff :eek: