8% First Direct - Easy Explanation

anselld

mildred1978 wrote: »

Okay, I mean over all.

And you can only transfer out by phone, not via internet banking. (I've just come to the end of one of mine).

8% is 8% overall. There is no way in which it is 4%.

They will take maturity instructions via secure message online, you dont need to phone. A bit messy perhaps, but not dissimilar to many other reg savers where you need to write or wait for a cheque etc.

YorkshireBoy

mildred1978 wrote: »

And you can only transfer out by phone, not via internet banking. (I've just come to the end of one of mine).

I think the transferring issue, raised by jahalamo, relates to the requisite 1st account, not the regular saver.

jahalamo

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I think the transferring issue, raised by jahalamo, relates to the requisite 1st account, not the regular saver.

Yes i meant for the £100 bonus from the 1st account
(my understanding you need to have £1500 income for at least three months to receive the bonus)
As my income is not this high, I was wondering if I could use money already in my Co-op current account and transfer it between the two accounts for three months hence seeming like an income.

anselld

jahalamo wrote: »

Yes i meant for the £100 bonus from the 1st account
(my understanding you need to have £1500 income for at least three months to receive the bonus)
As my income is not this high, I was wondering if I could use money already in my Co-op current account and transfer it between the two accounts for three months hence seeming like an income.

Yes, you can do that.

Gromitt

anselld wrote: »

8% is 8% overall. There is no way in which it is 4%.

It's equivalent to putting £3600 in a 4.25% interest account for a year. I think thats what he means.

But saying this is a 4% account is daft. You only have to put away upto £300/month rather than a lump sum, so is more 'affordable'.

Offer me this or a 4% interest account and i'll take this every time.

MoneySaverLog

mildred1978 wrote: »

Okay, I mean over all.

And you can only transfer out by phone, not via internet banking. (I've just come to the end of one of mine).

I thought they moved the money to the savings account which I've opened with a pound so I could transfer the lot to the first account via internet banking and onward from there to another account paying more than 0.5% or 0% interest :rotfl:

And then open up a new regular saver on the same day the old one is transferred.

amictus

anselld wrote: »

You only need to transfer 1500 for the 100 switching bonus.

The website suggests the £1500 monthly payments are required to prevent paying a monthly admin charge:

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account ["Our charges" section]

Banking with first direct usually costs £10 a month, but we'll waive the fee if you pay in at least £1,500 to your 1st Account each month, maintain an average monthly 1st Account balance of £1,500, or hold a selected first direct additional product*.

http://www1.firstdirect.com/content_static/pdf/rates_charges.pdf [p10]

*excludes Regular Saver Account

Anyone have any experience of this?

anselld wrote: »

Otherwise just open an esaver with £1 to avoid the 1500 monthly funding requirment.

The website states quite clearly that you have to have a 1st current account with First Direct before opening a regular savings account:

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings/regular-savings-account/frequently-asked-questions ["How do I open a Regular Saver Account?" section]

Before you apply, you'll need to have a first direct current account - our 1st Account - from which your regular monthly payments must be made into your Regular Saver Account.

Has anyone here managed to open one of these accounts having only an e-saver account with First Direct? If so, is it possible to fund the regular savings account another account from a different provider (rather than directing it through the e-saver)?

anselld

Yes, you do need a 1st Account.
You can avoid the monthly funding requirement by having another qualifying account, hence my point about the eSaver (but you still need a 1st account).
(The other advantage of eSaver is it can be used to receive funds on maturity for onward transfer etc)

It all seems well explained in this thread, post 3....
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3890743
.

amictus

anselld wrote: »

Yes, you do need a 1st Account.
You can avoid the monthly funding requirement by having another qualifying account, hence my point about the eSaver (but you still need a 1st account).
(The other advantage of eSaver is it can be used to receive funds on maturity for onward transfer etc)

It all seems well explained in this thread, post 3....
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3890743
.

Well I think that clears it all up. Thanks very much for the link.

Seems like the £100 bonus is probably worth the effort. Unless it can be done retrospectively, don't think I'll bother with the 50-50 referral bonus as I want to get this opened ASAP.

Thanks again for your help.

Vortigern

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

I thought they moved the money to the savings account which I've opened with a pound so I could transfer the lot to the first account via internet banking and onward from there to another account paying more than 0.5% or 0% interest :rotfl:

And then open up a new regular saver on the same day the old one is transferred.

Yes they do and yes you can.