First Direct - 20 minute phone quiz now needed to open savings account

Vortigern

Thrugelmir wrote: »

...when it suits them they'll deny reading, receiving a copy etc etc. By running through everyone the bank has covered it's backside.

Surely the bank covers its backside by keeping a voice recording of my assertion, repeated several times, that I've read and understood the terms.

Perhaps in future they'll incorporate some sort of "proof of learning" test. e.g.

• What happens if you withdraw your savings early?
• If you pay in £200 in each of months 1 and 2 what is the maximum you can subscribe in month 3?
• Do you really expect to get 6% of £3600 in 12 months time?

Mr_Goodkat

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Regulatory compliance in the broadest terms is a major issue for the banks both in terms of cost and manpower. Therefore easier to have a set of standard procedures that staff are trained to perform. Than have a vast number of variables.

Very easy to take a micro view of why as a customer should this apply to me. Whereas the bank taking a macro view just has the customer as an account number amongst 25 million others. The banks's issue is economically vetting the 25 million as a whole. Not vetting all 25 million individually.



The account not a loss leader. It's a way of raising deposits. Banks leverage their balance sheets to lend money. Given that FD has no branch network it's also an effective mechanism for marketing. RBS currently spends £11 million a year sponsoring the rugby 6 Nations for example.

What regulatory compliance are they adhering to when it comes to a regular saver product?


I disagree with your view that the regular saver is not a loss leader, whilst they may leverage some of these deposits the relative short term duration of holding these funds will mean deposits to leverage lending will not be the main purpose of offering the account especially as the funds are accessible at any time. The regular savers primary purpose for FD is to help acquire and retain customers.

grumbler

Thrugelmir wrote: »

The account not a loss leader. It's a way of raising deposits.

Raising easy access deposits @6% is nonsense in current economic climate.

Given that FD has no branch network it's also an effective mechanism for marketing. RBS currently spends £11 million a year sponsoring the rugby 6 Nations for example.

OK, Regular Saver is possibly not a loss leader, but it's definitely a loss maker. Marketing doesn't come cheap.

Mr_Goodkat

grumbler wrote: »

Raising easy access deposits @6% is nonsense in current economic climate..

Spot on there grumbler!

BMN

I have no experience of First Direct.

Is this new process on the phone just for their Regular Saver or is it the same for other savings accounts and/or products.

Doc_N

BMN wrote: »

I have no experience of First Direct.

Is this new process on the phone just for their Regular Saver or is it the same for other savings accounts and/or products.

It applies to all their products. The complaints here, though, are essentially that they're unnecessarily forcing longstanding existing customers to endure a 20-30 minute phone call just to add on a regular Saver account - even though many of us have had one of these accounts every year for a very long time.

First Direct is ordinarily an excellent bank, and has been since it opened as a telephone-only bank 26 years ago. Customer service is excellent, and pretty much anything can be sorted out quickly and efficiently online or over the phone.

That's what makes all this so sad. An ordinarily faultless bank behaving, peculiarly, in a plainly ridiculous way, and annoying its lifeblood (and probably very profitable) customers to the point when many of them will simply go elsewhere.

The staff know it's daft, the customers know it's daft. The only people who haven't yet grasped that are the work experience people running the show.

grumbler

Doc_N wrote: »

First Direct is ordinarily an excellent bank, and has been since it opened as a telephone-only bank 26 years ago. Customer service is excellent, and pretty much anything can be sorted out quickly and efficiently online or over the phone.

Is or was? If the CS are busy with torturing the customers for 30 minutes, it's hardly a surprise that they are incapable of maintaining the original high standards anymore:
NOT impressed with First Direct so far....

Archi_Bald

grumbler wrote: »

If the CS is busy with torturing the customers

LOL, let's not get carried away. Torture is something that happens in places like Guantanamo and Syria.

Vortigern

BMN wrote: »

I have no experience of First Direct.

Is this new process on the phone just for their Regular Saver or is it the same for other savings accounts and/or products.

It's not just first direct, but most of the HSBC group has been (allegedly) somewhat excessive in its application of AML and KYC procedures.

Doc_N

grumbler wrote: »

Is or was? If the CS are busy with torturing the customers for 30 minutes, it's hardly a surprise that they are incapable of maintaining the original high standards anymore:
NOT impressed with First Direct so far....

How right you are - and I've just discovered, having tried to phone them, how long it takes to get through. Used to take seconds, but now it's minutes.

Maybe they're looking to follow the excellent example set by HMRC.