First Direct 6% regular saver

Roseanne1

I just had an interesting conversation today with someone at FD about this on the phone. My mother had a problem putting her monthly sum into this account. She had been doing it as a one off internal transfer from her 1st account. Normally, she would have a SO set up but she cancelled this so that she could re-jig her payments to improve her cash flow. Turns out, you can't make one off payments like this, you also can't set up a new SO but this was done successfully by us online starting next month. What should have happened was that the account would be funded when opened then FD would set up a SO at their end for whatever amount (in my mum's case £300) coming in on the monthly anniversary of the account opening. Her payments should have been going in on the 27th of the month but they were going in a few days after this.

I tried to set up another SO with my account and was able to do this so phoned FD explaining the situation and what I had been told in connection with my mum's account. They confirmed what I had been told was correct and have sorted my account too.

The thing is that, by setting up my own SO for the date I did, I was effectively doing myself out of some of the interest but they have sorted my mother's and my account so our interest won't be affected. We opened our accounts online so were not aware of this being an issue. The person I spoke to explained that there is nothing to stop people setting up a SO but it is up to FD to check and cancel any extra ones set up with incorrect dates and they apologised. I said this was no problem, to me it is just a systems issue, certainly not the guy on the phone's fault.

So I'd advise anyone with one of these FD regular savers to check when you opened it and that the payment coming out of your 1st account going into your regular saver is the same date, i.e. the monthly anniversary of your account opening. You could be getting lower interest on maturity if the dates are wrong.

The guy I spoke to never mentioned anything about what happens when the anniversary date falls on a weekend/bank holiday, I'd assume it would just go in on the next bank working day. The upshot is though that, if you set up the SO yourself, it is worth a check to be sure your dates are correct. Even then, if you set it up yourself, I'd give them a phone because the guy I spoke to was adamant that FD should set it up. He was even precise about what reference had to be on the instruction so it all has to be done pretty precisely by the sounds of things.

masonic

I've always had the SO set up automatically and seen no reason to fiddle with it, but I do recall the T&Cs spelling out that the payment must be made on the same day each month (or next working day). I can't think of any reason to cancel the SO set up by FD because you can change the monthly amount if required and if you miss a monthly payment you would lose the 6% rate anyway.

meer53

The standing order is set up by FD when the account is opened, you can't set it up yourself. It's set up to be taken monthly on the day the account opens and can't be changed.

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings/regular-savings-account/frequently-asked-questions

colsten

I'm into my 6th Regular Saver with FD and never had any problem with the SO. But then I never had a need to change the amount, and I have always been aware that I need to pay by SO on a given date as the T&Cs are quite clear regarding this.

Roseanne1

meer53 wrote: »

The standing order is set up by FD when the account is opened, you can't set it up yourself. It's set up to be taken monthly on the day the account opens and can't be changed.

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings/regular-savings-account/frequently-asked-questions

It wasn't though in my case or my mother's. However FD said it should have been. When I realised the problem with my mother's account, that was rectified and I then contacted them when I realised my account was the same, i.e. allowing me to cancel a SO I'd set up myself and set up another one with change of date. It is now fixed and my SO will go into the account on the same date in every month but I thought it was worth pointing out, it may be a glitch and people who have opened accounts some time ago (ours were opened in March of this year) may not be affected.

I've got to say, I can see why FD are rated so highly for their customer service. They went out of their way to help my mother and I today and dealt with everything promptly. :T

vouch0r

its weird, i have a problem with my reg saver aswell... somehow i have deposited 600 last month for the same month.. the money hasn't rejected and come back out. should i query or would i get additional interest ...

Roseanne1

vouch0r wrote: »

its weird, i have a problem with my reg saver aswell... somehow i have deposited 600 last month for the same month.. the money hasn't rejected and come back out. should i query or would i get additional interest ...

You should definitely ring them. You won't get additional interest and they were quite clear with me that there is a maximum amount you can't go over each month (£300).

There must be a glitch on their system I think.