First Direct £10 monthly banking fee (merged)

CopperPlate_2

After reading the above post it reminds me of a similar analogy. While I don't agree in principle with fd's decision to impose a minimum pay in level per se, I do think that they are taking a business decision to 'lock in' customers to paying in their salary. I disagree with them on the point that they won't aggregate this 'pay in' level between accounts or account holders. If it's a joint account and the cumulative pay in is £1500 or more then that should be it - not dependent on whether holder 1 pays in 750 and the other the same. They've always expected a minimum pay in of £1000 I believe or you'd get the cheque account interest rate, but obviously no charge. Anyway, that is another subject all of it's own.

My thinking was around insurance. You pay a monthly/annual premium for insurance, e.g. home. There are usually caveats on pay outs, but the majority of people usually pay for insurance. There will always be those people who don't/can't pay for insurance, but that again is another issue.

What I mean is - those who pay for insurance pay for a service you hope you don't ever need - sometimes in excess of a hundred pounds a year dependent on factors of course. You have the peace of mind that if anything happens, you're covered. When the worst happens and you have to claim, you have to hope that the outfit you are dealing with are professional and will deal with the claim efficiently and promptly. As we all know there are varying levels of service out there and the cheapest premium isn't always indicative of the best service you will receive when the worst happens. Yes all other banks don't charge (apart from A&L with their Premier Direct Account), but you have to just read some of the threads on this forum to read about dreadful service provided by some of the other banks when things go wrong and you need an element of personal contact to resolve the issue. I'm not saying fd are right to charge, but they seem to be adding 'get outs' in the form of holding other products negating the charge.

I suppose you get what you pay for. There are lots of providers out there offering 'no monthly fee' banking. Many of them are very good at it, but there is no one provider that offers excellent rates and excellent service, and for all the money I'd earn on that extra 1% or so, I'd rather have the reassurance of knowing I'd get excellent service - my own type of 'insurance' for my current account - when I needed it most. Just my opinion and as I said, I don't entirely agree with the way they've gone about it.

SaverSarah_2

FD_EMPLOYEE wrote:

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

No GARGON eh? Well *that's* a relief! (It's jargon, actually. Sorry, couldn't resist.)

We've banked with FD for over 10 years and during this time we've stayed with them for one thing alone: great service.

I'm not sure whether we'll be charged: our letter doesn't state categorically that we won't (we pay in over £1500 per month but quickly shift it out to our offset mortgage with another bank) but we've been thinking about switching to Smile for their ethical status for quite some time, and that has given us the kick up the bum we need to do so.

Having said that, I'm waiting for Smile to repeat their free case of wine offer before I switch. Here's hoping!

:rotfl:

Patr100

FD_EMPLOYEE -

I've been with First Direct for at least 15 years and though I can't meet the £1500 criteria I am currently exempt because of my Credit card (I would assume though the letter never actually tells you) . I am happy with the service and you may feel good about being an employee - good for you .

but I have to say that you are really not helping your cause one bit with your naive posts and PR speak about family, relationships exciting opportunities etc and what "we" would like to do - it ain't a charity - it's a bank - you are an employee not the Chief Executive.

if you think that is what people want to hear you are very mistaken and this is coming from someone who resents some of the "FD is evil - boycott it on principle" type posts.

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SaverSarah_2

I must be feeling charitable because my response to that is "C'mon, give the guy a break, he's trying to help and presumably isn't gaining anything for doing so..."

:A

FD_EMPLOYEE

SaverSarah wrote:

No GARGON eh? Well *that's* a relief! (It's jargon, actually. Sorry, couldn't resist.)
We've banked with FD for over 10 years and during this time we've stayed with them for one thing alone: great service.

I'm not sure whether we'll be charged: our letter doesn't state categorically that we won't (we pay in over £1500 per month but quickly shift it out to our offset mortgage with another bank) but we've been thinking about switching to Smile for their ethical status for quite some time, and that has given us the kick up the bum we need to do so.

Having said that, I'm waiting for Smile to repeat their free case of wine offer before I switch. Here's hoping!

:rotfl:

I am sorry for my mis-spelling of the word, I suffer from dyslexia and do type in MS WORD to spell check first but sometimes i miss a trick.

FD_EMPLOYEE

SaverSarah wrote:

I must be feeling charitable because my response to that is "C'mon, give the guy a break, he's trying to help and presumably isn't gaining anything for doing so..."

:A

Yes, that is correct. I just wanted the facts to be put forward.

I know that i sound a little bit 'team first direct' but i am part of this business and i support it fully, after all that is what i am paid for.

'' naive posts and PR speak about family, relationships exciting opportunities etc and what "we" would like to do - it ain't a charity - it's a bank - you are an employee not the Chief Executive.''

I am not the Cheif Executive, I am just an employee. Well, for the time being anyway!

FD_EMPLOYEE

I will not be posting in this thread again as i feel it may be causing more harm than good.

If you wish to speak to someone further please visit https://www.firstdirect.com or call 08456 100 100

Thank You

$nake_eye$

hey all, i was with FD until i heard about the charge. I earn less than £24,000 a year so i wont be able to cover the minimum deposit. Reason for posting is that i have moved to A&L for a piece of the 6% interest. As mentioned elsewhereon this site, they offer £50 if you are 'introduced' or recommeneded by an existing customer, therefore i am willing to be 'introduced' so we can both receive £50! PM if you would like to 'recommend' me.
Thanks

$nake_eye$

hey all, i was with FD until i heard about the charge. I earn less than £24,000 a year so i wont be able to cover the minimum deposit. Reason for posting is that i have moved to A&L for a piece of the 6% interest. As mentioned elsewhereon this site, they offer £50 if you are 'introduced' or recommeneded by an existing customer, therefore i am willing to be 'introduced' so we can both receive £50! PM if you would like to 'recommend' me.
Thanks

Ross01

I dont have a current account with first direct, but I do have their savings account. However I strongly beleive that the policy of charging for banking is wrong as it is the poorest who suffer most. After all why should a pensioner living on a basic state pension pay 10 pound every month to First Directs Shareholders?

If First Direct gets away with this then further banks will follow, and eventually we will all pay for banking. However if First Direct takes a total pounding, then this nonsense will stop. I would therefore urge all customers of First Direct to close their accounts on principle regardless of whether they have to pay the £10 or not. If First Directs more proffitable customers leave on principle - then the policy of charging will certainly be ditched. Even though First Direct wont charge savers I will still close my savings account, on the grounds that I wont bank with someone who charges in this way, and I will make sure that First Direct knows the reason why.

Goodbye First Direct - Icebank here I come.