First Direct £10 monthly banking fee (merged)

FD_EMPLOYEE

Hello there,

Our new charges proposition if not fully understood can seem as though we are forcing customers to take up unnessasary products. Let me assure you that this is not the case. We want to strenghten our relationships with customers, You bring value to us and in turn you will continue to recive our great service along with....

- UK only call centres
- A real person within 1 min
- No robots
- Clear, simple and NO GARGON!


first direct has over 40,000 dormant accounts which cost millions to fule each year. These accounts have come from our promotion where if you open up an account with us we will pay you £50. At the start of this promotion there was a loop hole which many people took advantage of and now we have all these accounts that nobody wants.

This charging proposition was to either make it or break it with these accounts, we at first direct would love you all to hold all of your banking with us. We want to be the bank you rave about, it costs us alot of money to be you back up or secondary account.

In terms of dormant accounts, they cost us so much that our products cannot be as competitive as we want them to be. Many of our current and ex customers have pointed this out, if we can save these millions of pounds then we can pass the savings on to you, the customer through better products and not only be the best for customer service but the best for products and value.

The charge is clear, if you only hold a current account with first direct and this does not meet the new and current criteria then the account will be charged £10 from 01/02/07. For full critera please visit https://www.firstdirect.com or call 08456100100 to discuss your account further with a representitive.

I am sorry that you felt that the lady was trying to push products on to you. Also congratulations on that fantastic loan rate, hopefully one day in the not so distant future we will be able to offer that market leading rate.

I think that the reason people like working here is our core values, i couldnt quote them to hand but we are playful and valued, we take pride, we are a family. We do get excellent pay and the career oppertuinites are fantastic, truly second to none. We dont get any major benifits apart from discounted car insurance and our plus points (bupa/dentist/gym/childcare/breakdown cover etc). Also we are asked to do all our banking online and save resources! (We dont mind though!)

There is one thing that is for certain though which is pointed out in your interview, if you are not too happy with fast organisational change this is not the place for you!

For further information on first direct jobs visit https://www.firstdirect.com

As to your last point, i would like to refer to the motor industry to demonstrate what i mean. In Peugot car plants, the same person fits the same bolt to each and every car, this person becomes highly effective in doing so. However this person gets very board very quickly. This gives us a high staff turn over some times. first direct uses this approach in our call centres currently

however...

Ferrari on the other hand have the same one man build the entire car, this man loves his job and gets real long term satisfaction out of it. This one man does every single task in making the car. To relate all this to your point about being transferd four or five times, we are currently working on that in a massive way! Shortly, one person will be able to do everything for you.

It is time for first direct to move from Peguot to Ferrari and give even better customer service.

If you would reconsider your account closures we would very much like you to be part of this new and exciting first direct and really deepen our realtionships with you all.

RedOnRed

...and how does any of that set you apart from any other bank that hasn't taken the unprecedented step of charging a penalty like FD has?

It's a tax on the less well off and a pioneering financial institution like yours shouldn't have to have it brought to your attention by it's own customers.

FD_EMPLOYEE

I understand what you are addressing. We can honestly say that this is not a tax on the customers that dont have the monthly income criteria. The charge is being introduced to bring first direct and its customers closer together. We know that many of these customers that just hold the one current account with us have finacial products elsewhere and its to these customers that we would like to deepen our relationship further.

Many of our customers have said on this website that our products are not compeititive in the market place. We want to move away from this. At the moment we are not offering the best interest rates out there to our loyal customers who use us as their main bank. This is becuse of the 250,000 accounts that have less than ten transactions a month and were opened for the joining incentive and nothing further than that unfortunatley.

You asked '' how does any of that set you apart from any other bank? ''

I personally feel as though you really have to be part of first direct to understand how we are set aside in the market place. I am sorry but i do not know if you are or not. If you are i am sure you will appriciate all the hard work we do to ensure our customers are number one and from this i hope you will really get a feel for the first direct enviroment.

Just expanding on that point further, we find it extremly difficult to give our extremly loyal customers who have a deep relationship with first direct the best value products and services becuase we need to reinvest more funds into these accounts that are currenly unused or unwanted. Therefore we are currently not putting all of our customers first and this takes us away from our mission to innovate the banking industry.

From the outset of the proposition it seems as though we are charging cusomters that earn less than £24,000 however most of these customers do have a deep relationship with first direct and therefore would not be charged. Any customer who earns £24,000 or less and only has the one account with us will be charged and this is so that we can move forward with product improvment stratergies.

I would strongly reccomend that any first direct customer do not call in about this matter until they have recived the letter and can see, in plain black and white fully what this new and exciting proposition means for them.

I hope this has cleared up the matter for you all a little. Thank You.

ffacoffipawb

FD_EMPLOYEE wrote:

I would strongly reccomend that any first direct customer do not call in about this matter until they have recived the letter and can see, in plain black and white fully what this new and exciting proposition means for them.

Exciting my ar5e! What is so exciting about taxing the poorest account holders, who may not earn a great deal, £120 a year???

I am exempt from the charges due to my smartmortgage, but I am very uneasy about this development.

FD_EMPLOYEE

I am sorry you feel that way about the charging proposition. Thank you for holding your mortgage with us, what we would really love to do is reduce the interest rate that you pay on your mortage product so your monthly payments will be lower. That is what this proposition means for you.

I understand that you may be a little uneasy about the change, it is a natural thing. I know that when i first became part of first direct i was uneasy about how fast the organisation changes and moves so i do understand how you feel.

FD_EMPLOYEE

If you are a customer of first direct and have any other questions please call 08456 100 100

If you are not a customer then more information can be found at https://www.firstdirect.com
Here you will find podcast's and FAQ's

Thank you for reading.

jonesMUFCforever

FD_EMPLOYEE
Are you the official mouthpiece for First direct?
Most of what you say sounds like a load of old rubbish to me (family, pride my !!!!).
You are a bank whick cocked up big time with your £50 promotion and now want a way to get your money back.
What about the people who earn less than £1500 per month but use the account as their main bank - is it not the case that they are being forced to either open a savings account, or accept the charge or close their accounts?

regularsaver1

I thankfully work for a bank (and use the same bank for my finances) that does not charge a fee for using their account. They have sent a staff memo saying they are commited to free banking. - but I suppose no bank can fully commit to this

fruit_pastille_2

I have my letter, along with altered T&Cs all of which seem to me to increase / make it more likely for me to receive charges. Fortunately I'm not personally going to be charged, but I think its a wrong policy. I look forward to seeing the benefits / improved products which this rediculous charging policy is apparently going to enable (but I note that none are evident in the new T&Cs). If I don't see an improved product, I will be moving my bank accounts, etc to more competitve products(the inevitable one month of financial inconvenience is much less onerous than others paying £120 per year). As for free banking, I think that if banking were free, electronic transfers would be instant and the interest rates would match that of the bank of England in all products. As I don't get this with First Direct, I must assume I already pay for the banking service I receive.

SparciaM

FD_EMPLOYEE

You and FD mention "A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH IT'S CUSTOMERS" etc, BUT you don't offer any good products that will make a deeper relationship. You say you want to be to re-consider closing my accounts, but your interest rates are at the bottom of every table. Espicially on your ISA, CC etc - So why would I deepen my relationship with a bank that I'm loosing money with.

I wouldn't mind paying a £10 charge if I was getting something for it, yet all I get with FD is someone picking up the phone within 30 secs and a UK person (which I get at smile, a UK person that is), then get transferred around to different people to sort out my banking. But how many times in the last 10 years of online banking have I phone my bank? About 3 times, so I DON'T need good phone service, I need good internet service and rates and at this moment in time FD don't offer that.

You want to deepend your relationship with customers, then put the minimum to pay in at the national average, not a stupid £24,000 a year - which according to the money guardian about 45% of the population don't earn and increase your interest rates, or with the e-saver don't have a penalty for withdrawing money in a month, or reduce your OD interest rate - as I see in the new T&Cs that this has been increased.

FD are a a bank, you want customers to stay, then give them something to stay for!!!!