views on First Direct

newgirlhere99

IM thinking about switching my account to FD. Has anyone any experiences to share?

samwsmith1

Excellent bank, excellent customer service, any problems are sorted very quickly over the phone or e-messaging.

PeterGoodwin

Agree with Sam great bank to deal with and the phone has been answered by a real person every time I call. The only other company I rave about is Hiscox both great companies to deal with.

Gromitt

Never had to phone them to be honest, I just leave an e-message and its sorted

Used them for about 10 years now. No problems.

Mikhail

They are quite good but quite picky, I hope your credit history is excellent.

jfh7gwa

The only thing that concerned me when I considered moving to them last year was the lack of branch facilities. How do you pay cheques in? How do you get specific cash rather than just use an ATM (I need regular access to specific coinage due to transport fares) and so on..?

I meant to look around/phone to see if they'd let you use HSBC brances, but never got that far. If anyone has the facts about how people dealt with FD as their main account, I'd love to know.

I'd only just meet their minimum monthly deposits you see (literally by a tenner, our income is £1510) so wasn't even sure if they'd accept, so took it no further.

R34GTT

jfh7gwa wrote: »

The only thing that concerned me when I considered moving to them last year was the lack of branch facilities. How do you pay cheques in? How do you get specific cash rather than just use an ATM (I need regular access to specific coinage due to transport fares) and so on..?

I meant to look around/phone to see if they'd let you use HSBC brances, but never got that far. If anyone has the facts about how people dealt with FD as their main account, I'd love to know.

I'd only just meet their minimum monthly deposits you see (literally by a tenner, our income is £1510) so wasn't even sure if they'd accept, so took it no further.

Yes you use HSBC for any branch services, paying in cash/cheques etc. You can also post cheques in envelopes that they can supply to you if you wish.

If you do apply and are accepted you get £100 incentive plus another £25 if you get someone to refer you. (Currently a thread in the referrals section of this forum). I have still have some referral cards

meer53

jfh7gwa wrote: »

The only thing that concerned me when I considered moving to them last year was the lack of branch facilities. How do you pay cheques in? How do you get specific cash rather than just use an ATM (I need regular access to specific coinage due to transport fares) and so on..?

I meant to look around/phone to see if they'd let you use HSBC brances, but never got that far. If anyone has the facts about how people dealt with FD as their main account, I'd love to know.

I'd only just meet their minimum monthly deposits you see (literally by a tenner, our income is £1510) so wasn't even sure if they'd accept, so took it no further.

Not sure what you mean by "specific cash" ? You draw cash from the ATMs same as any other bank. You can pay in at any HSBC branch. Every bit of info you need is on their website. They're a fantastic bank.

mancitychick

Another excellent rating here! It is so refreshing to be able to phone your bank (or any call centre) and have the phone answered quickly by another human without having to key in several different options in to the phone. Also they normally can deal with your query without having to pass you over to one or more departments.

I have found them to be really efficient and there Internet banking is clear & simply to use.

As other have said, if the need arises for you to need branch services, you can use any HSBC branch.

Jennifer_Jane

jfh7gwa wrote: »

The only thing that concerned me when I considered moving to them last year was the lack of branch facilities. How do you pay cheques in? How do you get specific cash rather than just use an ATM (I need regular access to specific coinage due to transport fares) and so on..?

I meant to look around/phone to see if they'd let you use HSBC brances, but never got that far. If anyone has the facts about how people dealt with FD as their main account, I'd love to know.

I'd only just meet their minimum monthly deposits you see (literally by a tenner, our income is £1510) so wasn't even sure if they'd accept, so took it no further.

Go for it. I would dream of getting that income (I'm retired on a small company pension and Basic State Pension). I was accepted with no problems and haven't even moved to FD as my main account. You can 'rotate' the £1500, although I keep savings for this purpose, and am also doing their £300 regular savings for the 8%.

Re customer service, I think that they are slightly more pleasant than other companies and I like the ease of getting online (don't have to use a PINsentry card like Barclaycard). I do have good credit (home owner, no mortgage and on electoral register, and no debt, but have also taken out another bank account and a credit card within the last 6 months). Whether I'll keep the account after the 12 months 8% regular saver goes, I don't know. Depends on what they do next.

Hope that helps.

Gromitt

I've had no problems with using HSBC Branch facilities for FD. They have machines inside the branch for loose change, cheques and notes, or you can visit a cashier. I did the later recently to pay in some euros.

The only thing you can't do is talk to someone in the branch about FD products such as loans and mortgages, but they do provide free phone service should you wish to do so.