Do I need to pay my salary into a First Direct 1st Account?

mr_fishbulb

I'm interested in a First Direct regular saver, and to get that I need to have a 1st Account.

The first direct page for the 1st Account is covered with the "Switch your salary and direct debits to us and receive £100" stuff.

I'm not interested in getting the £100. I just want the account for the regular saver. I can't see anything in the T&Cs of the account that I need to pay my salary into it in order to keep it open. Can anyone else confirm this?

R34GTT

To be able to open the Regular Saver you first need to open their 1st account (current account).

This normally requires £1500 going in per month otherwise they charge a monthly fee. However you can avoid this requirement and fee by opening an e-Saver account with them and keep £1 in it. So no need to have your salary going in.

The Regular Saver will be funded by standing order from the 1st Account so you'd still need to make sure the necessary funds were in this account each month.

As a side note, you only have to put in £1500 once to qualify for the £100 joining incentive (you don't even need to switch Direct Debits). Shameless plug now... I have a referral card which I'd be happy to split with you

Lith

Yea, just put £1 in e-saver and thats it. No need for £1500 month crap, you have a full debit card and savings account with FD, and your set.

mr_fishbulb

R34GTT wrote: »

To be able to open the Regular Saver you first need to open their 1st account (current account).

This normally requires £1500 going in per month otherwise they charge a monthly fee. However you can avoid this requirement and fee by opening an e-Saver account with them and keep £1 in it. So no need to have your salary going in.

The Regular Saver will be funded by standing order from the 1st Account so you'd still need to make sure the necessary funds were in this account each month.

As a side note, you only have to put in £1500 once to qualify for the £100 joining incentive (you don't even need to switch Direct Debits). Shameless plug now... I have a referral card which I'd be happy to split with you

Cool. I shall look into the e-saver account.

For the £100 thing, it does say on their site "You'll also need to have used our Easyswitch service, which means we'll have obtained details of your Standing Orders and Direct Debits from your previous bankers and arranged to transfer them for you" - http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/1st-account/overview

blue_eyes

I believe that this specific paragraph from which you quote refers to the "service guarantee" which is the bit that gives you another £100 if you close your account within a year, and has a few strings attached such as that.... however, as I've put £1500 in AND used their easyswitch, I couldn't be sure.

samwsmith1

You only need to have used them to switch your direct debits if you want to claim the £100 to leave them.

R34GTT

The other posters are correct Easyswitch is not required, quoted from the first direct website:

*Open a 1st Account and transfer your monthly salary/income of at least £1,500 within three months and we will add £100 to your account. This offer is only available for people who haven't previously experienced the delights of banking with first direct and is limited to one payment per joint relationship.

mr_fishbulb

R34GTT wrote: »

The other posters are correct Easyswitch is not required, quoted from the first direct website:

*Open a 1st Account and transfer your monthly salary/income of at least £1,500 within three months and we will add £100 to your account. This offer is only available for people who haven't previously experienced the delights of banking with first direct and is limited to one payment per joint relationship.

Cool. So I can set-up a standing order for £1500 once a month into the 1st account, use that to fund £300 into the regular saver, and then transfer the remaining £1200 back out?

R34GTT

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

Cool. So I can set-up a standing order for £1500 once a month into the 1st account, use that to fund £300 into the regular saver, and then transfer the remaining £1200 back out?

Yes you can do that no problem although if you also open an E-Saver with just £1 you can avoid the £1500 per month requirement. You would only need to transfer the £300 to cover the Regular Saver standing order.

If you are now interested in the £100 incentive you would need to do at least one transfer of £1500 to trigger it. If you use a referral card you could get an additional £25 via a 50/50 split of the £50 referral incentive. So £125 for doing very little indeed!

Lith

Why not just put in,

£10 in the current account then put £1 in the e-saver and there you go, no need to transfer £1500 etc,

Then use the account much as you want no monthly fee etc. (or doesn't it work like that with FD?)

R34GTT

Lith wrote: »

Why not just put in,

£10 in the current account then put £1 in the e-saver and there you go, no need to transfer £1500 etc,

Then use the account much as you want no monthly fee etc. (or doesn't it work like that with FD?)

That would be fine, but the reason the OP wants to open the 1st account is to get the Regular Saver so he needs to put in the £300 a month to cover the standing order.

£1500 transfer is just to trigger the £100 joining incentive, if you don't want the £100 then it's not necessary.