First Direct Everyday Savings Account

Gromitt

I've just received a letter stating that the interest on this account is going to change:

Current rates: (Existing customers only)
£1 - £49,999 0.10%
£50,000 and over 2.00%

Rates from 1st March 2014:
£1 - £49,999 0.10%
£50,000 - £149,999 0.75%
£150,000 and over 1.00%

EarthBoy

Anybody who keeps £150,000 in an account paying 1% clearly has far more money than they know what to do with.

LeafGreen

unless you have over £50K it is not going to change, but 0.10% is terrible so it would make sense to move your money elsewhere anyway.

CashIsKing_3

Gromitt wrote: »

I've just received a letter stating that the interest on this account is going to change:

Current rates: (Existing customers only)
£1 - £49,999 0.10%
£50,000 and over 2.00%

Rates from 1st March 2014:
£1 - £49,999 0.10%
£50,000 - £149,999 0.75%
£150,000 and over 1.00%

I've had the same letter and noticed over the page it says 'If we don't hear from you we'll assume you accept this change to interest rates.' This seems an odd thing to say!

This account is a closed one and had odd rules and terms and conditions if I remember correctly. Does anyone have a copy of the original t&c's? Seems a long notice period banks normally do it straight away.........

Only just sorted the £50k needed for the 2%, so not too happy about this change.

alanq

There used to be a 1-year bonus of 1% available on request for new money with this account. I take it that this is no longer available.

CashIsKing_3

alanq wrote: »

There used to be a 1-year bonus of 1% available on request for new money with this account. I take it that this is no longer available.

Sorry, I personally don't remember that part of the account and I'm not sure what was available.

I just have a funny feeling about this and that's why I joined up here today as this was the only real deal my search came up with. I'm not 100% sure they can change the interest rate without our individual personal agreement or as they say if we don't object within a certain time frame.

I didn't realize about the 2% until recently when I noticed it at the bottom of a statement. I contacted FD and spoke to a chap who confirmed that it was correct that the account would pay 2% on a £50k plus balance. I sort of asked why this account was still paying such a silly 'high' interest rate and he said that it always had and had never been changed. He also stated that there were a fair few folk out there who still held this account.

It doesn't add up to me that they say what they say on the letter and are giving us 2 plus months notice, it's not banking as we know it! I suspect that they may be tied into 2% being the bottom rate this account will go down to regardless if you hold £50k plus, remember when this account was around interest paid to savers was a crazy 6% + so the thought of it ever hitting 2% was unthinkable........ Also, I think it was one of FD's first accounts to attract new customers.......... so they may have offered deals that seemed reasonable at the time, that now look just plain crazy.......

EarthBoy

alanq wrote: »

There used to be a 1-year bonus of 1% available on request for new money with this account. I take it that this is no longer available.

I don't think it ever was available on the everyday savings account, only on the everyday e-saver, or the savings account. It still is available on those accounts. The similarity of the account names can be confusing.

EarthBoy

CashIsKing wrote: »

I suspect that they may be tied into 2% being the bottom rate this account will go down to regardless if you hold £50k plus,

Rubbish. I only have a small amount in this account and I don't get 2%

CashIsKing wrote: »

I think it was one of FD's first accounts to attract new customers.......... so they may have offered deals that seemed reasonable at the time, that now look just plain crazy.......

Any opening offers or special deals will have expired long ago.

buffman

EarthBoy wrote: »

I don't think it ever was available on the everyday savings account, only on the everyday e-saver, or the savings account. It still is available on those accounts.

I think that the 1% bonus was withdrawn for new accounts last month.

CashIsKing_3

EarthBoy wrote: »

Rubbish. I only have a small amount in this account and I don't get 2%

Well of course you don't, neither did I until I deposited the required £50k. Any deposits under this amount have been almost zero interest rate for a very long time, just as the rate for £50k plus has, as far as I'm aware, never dropped below 2%.

alanq

Two months notice does seem generous. As far as I can see the BBA guidance is a minimum of 2 weeks notice for significant adverse changes to interest rates. However, today I received a reminder from Nationwide that my 12 months on the higher FlexDirect interest rate will end in early March. Previously I have had similar advanced notification from Virgin Money when a variable interest rate on a savings account was about to drop.

EarthBoy wrote: »

I don't think it ever was available on the everyday savings account, only on the everyday e-saver, or the savings account. It still is available on those accounts. The similarity of the account names can be confusing.

Thanks. You are right in thinking that I had confused the account being discussed with the e-saver.