First Direct money transfers

Zedicus

I am thinking of switching to FD and was reading the PDF's that they tell you to read.

I'm a bit confused by their money transfer options.

With NatWest I can transfer money to any UK current account. I have always understood this to be EFT. (De Facto, it IS EFT.)

FD seem to have an odd and somewhat artificial split between 'Bill Payment' and 'EFT', which is for payments other than bills and standing orders.

The problem with this is that for some weird reason, you can't do EFT over the internet (???).

It's not something I do often but I do occasionally transfer money to friends or family members and I don't want to have to start making phone calls to arrange it.

Can anyone explain this odd two tier service, and why a company that prides itself on its internet service would make life harder than it is with a POBS bank?

Vortigern

I've been with fd for 20 years and I've never encountered this two tier service.

Bill payments, where not done by direct debit, are sent by faster payment. Payments to family members and other individuals are exactly the same. They can be originated via online banking, or by telephone banking. There is no fee for these services.

I don't know when they might charge the EFT fee referred to in their charges.

System

Agreed. I have just made a faster payment to a savings account with A N Other Bank and it was showing on my account statement 10 minutes later. Any payments that I have made to other family members who hold accounts with other banks are there in minutes. I agree with Vortigern. If FD is running a two tier service that I must have been on the upper tier for the last 20 years or so.

Zedicus

I have to say, it's not looking good for FD.

They don't seem to understand the internet very well at all.

I've found 7 annoying rookie errors before I've even got to the application page, and that's not including the fact the the service information they are telling you to read is unclear and does not seem to correspond with the service they are actually offering.

agrinnall

Who says FD pride themselves on their internet service? I think you are confusing their telephone service, which is indeed second to none, with their online offering which as you are finding is somewhat archaic and confusing. I personally wouldn't use them for my main banking for that very reason, I only use them for savings products and choose other providers with better online services for my day to day banking (primarily Nationwide).

lee111s

No issues at all moving money around using FD.

Herbalus

Zedicus wrote: »

I have to say, it's not looking good for FD.

They don't seem to understand the internet very well at all.

I've found 7 annoying rookie errors before I've even got to the application page, and that's not including the fact the the service information they are telling you to read is unclear and does not seem to correspond with the service they are actually offering.

Without meaning to be judgemental, it seems a little hard to please you . Could you give an example of one of these 7 rookie errors?

Their internet banking may not be the slickest in the world, but it is functional and I can do everything I want to without a problem.

YorkshireBoy

I'm OK with the TLA used in the OP, but the FLA used in the last para had me puzzled for a while.

colsten

Zedicus wrote: »

I am thinking of switching to FD and was reading the PDF's that they tell you to read.

I'm a bit confused by their money transfer options.

With NatWest I can transfer money to any UK current account. I have always understood this to be EFT. (De Facto, it IS EFT.)

FD seem to have an odd and somewhat artificial split between 'Bill Payment' and 'EFT', which is for payments other than bills and standing orders.

The problem with this is that for some weird reason, you can't do EFT over the internet (???).

It's not something I do often but I do occasionally transfer money to friends or family members and I don't want to have to start making phone calls to arrange it.

Can anyone explain this odd two tier service, and why a company that prides itself on its internet service would make life harder than it is with a POBS bank?

The term EFT commonly refers to payments made to or received from abroad. For most people this isn't a big requirement, and you wouldn't want to use a bank for this anyway.

FD supports Faster Payments like all other banks do. They are in the first instance a telephone bank but they have a basic website and also a mobile app that lets you do everything you would expect to be able to do with a current account.

I am not here to defend or sell FD but none of the points you mention seems to hold water.

What is a POBS, btw?

Cyberman60

I've worked in IT 25 years and I've used FD for around 30 years. Payments via their online system are immediate and free. I regularly make payments to my other account in another bank and see the movements immediately. I use their online banking when abroad also and it works well.

Payments abroad such as one I recently made over their phone service cost 25 quid.

I thoroughly recommend FD to everyone !! :T

colsten

Cyberman60 wrote: »

Payments abroad such as one I recently made over their phone service cost 25 quid.

you could have got that cheaper by using a currency transfer service.

Cyberman60 wrote: »

I thoroughly recommend FD to everyone !! :T

I wouldn't go that far. For people who don't need loans and overdrafts, FD is amongst the worst banks you can think of as they pay neither interest nor cashback in their current accounts.

They got a great regular saver, and anybody who has never held an account with them can also bag their switching bonus. Not a reason to actually use their current account as a current account.