First Direct overrated

SIMHOD

I realise they have their spreadsheet calculations. I just find it very sad that they make judgements based on the present and not the past excellent record. Loyalty is clearly one way in this case. I emailed them today and asked them to quote for our investment business when our insurance comes through - be interesting to see how they reply. In my many years with them they are certainly not the bank they used to be - we keep getting products thrust at us to apply for yet when you actually want some genuine help you are just a number and their decision making process seems sterile and unhelpful. The ladies on the phone are lovely but at the heart of the bank its just another greedy corporation - don't get too excited by First Direct - when you really need them they might not be there for you.

Rich1976

I agree they are over rated. whenever anyone is asked what they like about first direct the only answer seems to be ' the customer service'. Have you noticed that nobody has ever mentioned they like them becasue of their savings products apart from the 'regular saver account' , or the credit card ( which gives you nothing ) or their really expensive insurance products.

I agree the service is good but they are only doing what they are 'supposed' to be doing. if you ring them and ask them to cancel a standing order or pay a bill, you expect them to get it right.

I used to be with them but have moved recently to other places which offer an incentive to have a current account or pays a decent rate on an ISA which doesn't plummet after 12 months and where I get an incentive for using a credit card each month. I find the service with these providers just as good.

first direct used to be at the top of their game but they hide now behind a brand image which is all about the service and nothing to do with the generally awful products it offers.

These days it pays to keep finding the decent rate accounts or incentives and not be loyal to any one particular brand - ( although in general I do steer clear of the big high street banks no matter how good their products ).

heloid

Welcome to the commercial reality of free banking and the current UK market. You either get:
Top products at the price of customer service (Santander)
or
Top service at the price of market leading products

The only way you get more of both is more competition.

Rich1976 wrote: »

I agree they are over rated. whenever anyone is asked what they like about first direct the only answer seems to be ' the customer service'. Have you noticed that nobody has ever mentioned they like them becasue of their savings products apart from the 'regular saver account' , or the credit card ( which gives you nothing ) or their really expensive insurance products.

I agree the service is good but they are only doing what they are 'supposed' to be doing. if you ring them and ask them to cancel a standing order or pay a bill, you expect them to get it right.

I used to be with them but have moved recently to other places which offer an incentive to have a current account or pays a decent rate on an ISA which doesn't plummet after 12 months and where I get an incentive for using a credit card each month. I find the service with these providers just as good.

first direct used to be at the top of their game but they hide now behind a brand image which is all about the service and nothing to do with the generally awful products it offers.

These days it pays to keep finding the decent rate accounts or incentives and not be loyal to any one particular brand - ( although in general I do steer clear of the big high street banks no matter how good their products ).

seriousDFW

Rich1976 wrote: »

I agree they are over rated. whenever anyone is asked what they like about first direct the only answer seems to be ' the customer service'. Have you noticed that nobody has ever mentioned they like them becasue of their savings products apart from the 'regular saver account' , or the credit card ( which gives you nothing ) or their really expensive insurance products.

I agree the service is good but they are only doing what they are 'supposed' to be doing. if you ring them and ask them to cancel a standing order or pay a bill, you expect them to get it right.

I used to be with them but have moved recently to other places which offer an incentive to have a current account or pays a decent rate on an ISA which doesn't plummet after 12 months and where I get an incentive for using a credit card each month. I find the service with these providers just as good.

first direct used to be at the top of their game but they hide now behind a brand image which is all about the service and nothing to do with the generally awful products it offers.

These days it pays to keep finding the decent rate accounts or incentives and not be loyal to any one particular brand - ( although in general I do steer clear of the big high street banks no matter how good their products ).

But banking IS a service, and First Direct DO get it right MUCH more frequently than other thanks, which is why they are rated so highly. The consumer surveys bear this out every time. Yes they will have the odd customer who slips through the net and receives a bad experience, but this will happen in any organisation.

Personally I am also very pleased with their products. I think their internet banking is easy to use. I love their current account structure - I am happy to forego interest on current account balances in favour of a £500 overdraft with the first £250 interest free. This is exactly how I want to use an overdraft - my budgeting basically means my current account should stand at zero by the end of the month, and so when the odd extra expense comes in, it's nice knowing that I'm not paying interest for the convenience of being slightly overdrawn.

I am pleased with their credit card, which offers me a lower rate than any other bank has offered me - I'm not interested in 'extras', I just want basic products that do what they are supposed to do well.

Their savings interest rates aren't the best so I have savings elsewhere, but for day-to-day banking, they have been faultless so far.

Chadsman

I used to have an account with First Direct in the late 90s. I never had any major problem though I did have a couple of minor niggles- I had a couple of rarely used direct debits and payment details set up which were removed after they hadnt been used for a year.
Once internet banking became the norm their 'open 24/7' unique selling point felt like a gimmick as everyone was doing that. What made me finally leave them was when I decided I could get far better interest rates elsewhere.
Each to his/her own.

seriousDFW

Chadsman wrote: »

I used to have an account with First Direct in the late 90s. I never had any major problem though I did have a couple of minor niggles- I had a couple of rarely used direct debits and payment details set up which were removed after they hadnt been used for a year.
Once internet banking became the norm their 'open 24/7' unique selling point felt like a gimmick as everyone was doing that. What made me finally leave them was when I decided I could get far better interest rates elsewhere.
Each to his/her own.

Indeed. Some people will be happy to 'pay' for superior customer service with lower interest rates. Some people won't value their product/service and so will look elsewhere. That's the way markets work - first direct's market is those consumers willing to forego higher rates.

Mikhail

I suggest everyone can say what they like/dislike about FD so we can see if they are that special. Here is my list:

Like:
-I just called their 0113 number and immediately got through.
-They actually can send lost/stolen cards abroad.
-iPhone app is very helpful, I can always transfer money to my backup/use abroad account in seconds.
-Thanks God they don’t have a cardreader or a secure-key!
-The Internet banking is very straightforward and easy to use.
-The regular saver pays 8% APR
-They gave me £150 for joining them and brining my partner.
-FD didn’t need the government bailout.
-FD is free banking.
-I can call my bank using a local (free to call) number.
-They support a real-time faster payment, the payment appears immediately; with other banks, it can take up to 2-3 hours.
-Full banking service available via phone, e.g., Nationwide will not send money to a new payee via a phone banking.
-login/authorisation process is excellent! No need to remember a customer ID number or card number, just the information you can remember. This is a HUGE plus for me!

Dislike:
-More information about transactions are needed, in this respect I quite like Barclayscard.
-I would like to see my pending transactions like in Santander.
-Low APR on savings (apart from the regular saver).
-A commission of 2.75% +£1.70 for cash withdrawals abroad.
-The SMS (text message) alert system is very basic, not in a real-time and sends the alerts between 6-8 am of the next day.
-FD’s credit cards are only designed for a balance transfer, and have no other benefits.
-FD and HSBS will punish you for using an unauthorised overdraft by reporting it to the credit reference agencies.
-The Internet banking ‘feels’ unsecure for many customers because it is very easy to set up a new payee. Maybe because of that they can’t delete the old payees.

Have I missed anything?

noh

I like their offset mortgage.
They are currently lending to me at 1.5% (base rate + 1%) and I am saving at 3.25% instant access elsewhere plus of course using their 8% regular saver.

Rich1976

seriousDFW wrote: »

But banking IS a service, and First Direct DO get it right MUCH more frequently than other thanks, which is why they are rated so highly. The consumer surveys bear this out every time. Yes they will have the odd customer who slips through the net and receives a bad experience, but this will happen in any organisation.

Personally I am also very pleased with their products. I think their internet banking is easy to use. I love their current account structure - I am happy to forego interest on current account balances in favour of a £500 overdraft with the first £250 interest free. This is exactly how I want to use an overdraft - my budgeting basically means my current account should stand at zero by the end of the month, and so when the odd extra expense comes in, it's nice knowing that I'm not paying interest for the convenience of being slightly overdrawn.

I am pleased with their credit card, which offers me a lower rate than any other bank has offered me - I'm not interested in 'extras', I just want basic products that do what they are supposed to do well.

Their savings interest rates aren't the best so I have savings elsewhere, but for day-to-day banking, they have been faultless so far.

But what is there to get right? if i use a debit card I expect the correct amount to come out of the account. If i want to pay a bill I expect it to go through ok. If i want to cancel a standing order I expect it to be done. All basic stuff which I have used them for but which any bank should be doing. to me they don't offer anything over and above this. What I did like was that they were generally friendly but at times could be annoying. If I ring up I just want to complete the enquiry as quickly as I can and not spend time chatting about the weather!

Credit card is fine if you want to use the rate, but I don't borrow on a CC and therefore an incentive is important to me.

Rich1976

Mikhail wrote: »

I suggest everyone can say what they like/dislike about FD so we can see if they are that special. Here is my list:

Like:
-I just called their 0113 number and immediately got through.
-They actually can send lost/stolen cards abroad.
-iPhone app is very helpful, I can always transfer money to my backup/use abroad account in seconds.
-Thanks God they don’t have a cardreader or a secure-key!
-The Internet banking is very straightforward and easy to use.
-The regular saver pays 8% APR
-They gave me £150 for joining them and brining my partner.
-FD didn’t need the government bailout.
-FD is free banking.
-I can call my bank using a local (free to call) number.
-They support a real-time faster payment, the payment appears immediately; with other banks, it can take up to 2-3 hours.
-Full banking service available via phone, e.g., Nationwide will not send money to a new payee via a phone banking.
-login/authorisation process is excellent! No need to remember a customer ID number or card number, just the information you can remember. This is a HUGE plus for me!

Dislike:
-More information about transactions are needed, in this respect I quite like Barclayscard.
-I would like to see my pending transactions like in Santander.
-Low APR on savings (apart from the regular saver).
-A commission of 2.75% +£1.70 for cash withdrawals abroad.
-The SMS (text message) alert system is very basic, not in a real-time and sends the alerts between 6-8 am of the next day.
-FD’s credit cards are only designed for a balance transfer, and have no other benefits.
-FD and HSBS will punish you for using an unauthorised overdraft by reporting it to the credit reference agencies.
-The Internet banking ‘feels’ unsecure for many customers because it is very easy to set up a new payee. Maybe because of that they can’t delete the old payees.

Have I missed anything?

Like

free £250 overdraft - although that was very rarely used
answer the phone quickly
secure bank - part of HSBC
Regular Saver pays a decent rate
quick response times using the secure email service

dislike

rates on savings accounts - the ISA plummets like a stone after 12 months. Instant access rates also poor
Faster payments don't always arrive within 2 hours - on 2 occasions I was waiting all day
if I want to pay in a cheque I have to use HSBC means a trip into the city centre on a saturday morning as that is the only branch open. I tried to pay through the post using one of their envelopes but they claimed it never arrived and the person issuing the cheque to me had to incur a £10 fine to cancel by their bank and issue another one.
Internet banking needs updating. would like to be able to delete payees or see pending payments