First Direct Fees: How to Avoid 'Em or Ditch 'Em Discussion Area

Chubacheroo

I don't think we've had the letter yet, but the £10/month would certainly put us off. We have both been paying our salaries into our joint (and only) FD account, however as I'm now self-employed, I'm worried that it would now be a problem. Would EACH account holder of the account need to pay in that much?

We left our last bank because of the £9/month fee (which they didn't tell us about despite me asking!!!), so would definately leave if we got charged. There are plenty of other banks out there.

grandalf

Following the First Direct saga, I decided to close my account with them and open a high interest Alliance and Leicester current account, I telephone the local Alliance branch and they promised to send an application form, two weeks later I'm still waiting for it, also the representative at Alliance didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned the 6% current account
Alan Horsley
Derby

PosterBoy77

CopperPlate wrote:

I'd be interested to know where you get the figures for fractions of a penny to run and operate a current account? I have little insider knowledge of the banking sector, but I'd offer a guess that it costs significantly more than that to maintain and manage a current account, notwithstanding any other accounts an individual might have. The creation of cards, cheque books, the sending of statements, the hiring and availability of staff to take calls from customers, the auditing of accounts/compliance with money laundering, the list goes on. As a % of profits it probably does work out to be fractions of pence, but as a standalone figure I suspect it might be more.

You are right about loyalty having no place though.

Msot things carried out in a bank are undertaken by computer systems. These are in place whether the bank has 1 customer or millions. Most people never have to contact their bank these days, and if you do it is often a painful experience. printing cheque books or issuing plastic cards does not cost much. The compliance costs are generally sunk costs, of gaining a new customer. Once the account is open, it cost barely anything. If it did cost so much, there is no way HSBC would be able to make billions in profits and pay for all of it's large corporate extravagance.

Still, I don't think it is a huge problem, as there will almost certainly always be banks offering free banking, as it is still very profitable, just not as profitiable as it may be if you have lots of fee paying customers. HSBC will assume that people will stay with them just because they are HSBC. However, I hope that their greed may have got the better of them and enough customers will switch to other more efficient and cheaper banks.

peeweeel

I am quite grateful to FD for pushing me into doing something about earning a bit more money from my accounts. I have current, savings and (unused) credit card with FD. ( I use Liverpool Victoria CC with points towards discounted House insurance)

As I had not seen the original news and only picked up on it from Martin's headline statement I had incomplete information and thought that I would be charged. Had I had a letter from FD I might well have stayed put.

I went online on the 18th and applied for an A & L internet account at 17.00. I got the acceptance at 17.13. I have not yet had anything through the post but I live in hope that the transfer will be as easy ae they claim. It ends 50 years of banking with Midland/HSBC/FD for me and 100 years for our family but £120pa is a flight to Tenerife!

mogsy

MSE_Martin wrote:

This discussion relates to the

First Direct Fees: How to Avoid 'Em or Ditch 'Em Article

To discuss it click reply.

As an FD customer with a low income and a credit tart, I do have a debit card but stopped using it some time ago when I got to a nil balance. I was wondering if I moved from FD to another bank, how would this affect swapping credit cards, invariably they have to know how long you have been with your current bank Would this be adverse for me as a credit tart. I would also like to thank Martin for the bank charges advice as twice I was over by two days (one not my fault) and prior to the letters being provided I did complain and they gave me less than half back at that time.

scylla_2

Whilst I don't agree with the FD charge, I for one will not move my account because they have provided me with a hassle free account for 15 years with no errors, customer service second to none and ease of use anytime/anyplace.

They are not the best for rates I know and my savings have been elsewhere til I took out an offset mortgage with them (confirmed within a week). However given the hassle I have encountered with numerous other companies on a variety of issues, service goes a very long way if you are talking minor benefits to switching.

Cornwall2000

if you only have a dormant account with first direct, of course you will close it to avoid the fee.
if you use them for your current account, and have any recent experience of other banks service, i think that like me you will want to stay with them.
as i have a mortgage and savings account with them the fee doesn't apply to me. it's hardly a hassle to open a savings account with them to avoid the fee is it?
I have had terrible experience of alliance and leicester and barclays. first direct always take ownership of your query/problem and the first person you speak to sorts it out in a friendly and efficient way 99% of the time. i have had all of my "penalty" overdraft charges refunded when i queried them and apologised. this is going back years, way before the current interest in the charges being illegal. Admittedly their rates used to be more competitive, but i think they have concentrated oin maintaining their reputation for customer service rather than trying to induce customers with special offers (the £50 joining fee excepted!).
i will certainly stay with them as long as i get great service for free.

madmalteaser

Question for anyone in the know since I'm slightly confused (not difficult, trust me) - I do have a dormant current account with first direct (wonder if I can find the details of that account?!) but I also have a First Direct credit card so does this mean they won't charge me?


Edit: No worries, I've just rung FD and cancelled the current account. Nice and easy and the woman didn't sound at all surprised!

redhead999

Has anyone else noticed FD's other sneaky trick that they slipped into the 'Changes to terms and conditions' ? If you have an e-saver account and you make a withdrawal they don't pay you any interest for the WHOLE MONTH! How sneaky is that? It's prompted me to claim bank charges back from them with the help of Martin's article and if it's enough to pay my overdraft off I'll be going elsewhere!!

moggsy

redhead999 wrote:

Has anyone else noticed FD's other sneaky trick that they slipped into the 'Changes to terms and conditions' ? If you have an e-saver account and you make a withdrawal they don't pay you any interest for the WHOLE MONTH! How sneaky is that? It's prompted me to claim bank charges back from them with the help of Martin's article and if it's enough to pay my overdraft off I'll be going elsewhere!!

The E-Saver account has always worked in this way due to the high interest rate it pays (when compared to the normal savings account anyway) - nothing has been 'slipped into' the terms and conditions.

My take on all this is that FD offer me the best customer service I have experienced with ANY company. My experience of other financial institutions (Intelligent Finance being a good example of appalling customer service) would make me very reluctant to move current accounts as a knee jerk reaction.

Headline interest rates are never the full story especially when it comes to something as important as a current account.