Switching to First Direct

bobobski

Well that's fair enough. I am not staying with them because of their customer service, but only the regular saver; still, if people care about customer service (as others in this thread appear to do), I think it worth pointing out my own experiences.

My most recent call to them was about their Ts & Cs not making much sense, particularly in light of a potential avenue for me to switch current account in not too long and keep my RS open. They answered my question simply and quickly. To me, that's more appealing than spending hours reading around the internet for an answer to a very specific question. A lot of the answers I see on this thread are "read the Ts & Cs" which is fine but when they don't make sense, calling the bank is the next logical step, surely?

chrismcfet

Folks your thoughts on FD are much appreciated. Thank you so much!

chrismcfet

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I've opened around a dozen 'donor' accounts in the last 12 months alone!

Hi YorkshireBoy, it hurts my head thinking about switching to one new bank let alone 12! How did you manage it? Let me get this straight - you've got one main account for wages etc. Then another basic current account? That's the one you switch every quarter to a new bank to avail of the 100 cash incentive?

chrismcfet

colsten wrote: »

1. Open another account at Halifax. When you have the debit card for it, switch that account to First Direct. Pay in £1,000 in the first 3 months and withdraw £999 back to your main Halifax account. For the £1, open a normal savings account with First Direct, in order to avoid their monthly charge.
   
2. You don't need the Ultimate Reward account as you would be happy to switch it to FD which has none of the Ultimate features. So downgrade your Ultimate Reward to a normal Reward and use this account as your main account. As long as you have 2 DDs, pay in £750 a month and stay in credit, they pay you the £5 each month
   
3. When you have received your FD switching bonus, you can also consider switching that account to somewhere else for a switching bonus.

Hi Colsten, thanks so much for your advice. How would the switch work re: wages, DDs etc? Are these still kept in your main account and you just use FastPay to the other bank current account?

YorkshireBoy

chrismcfet wrote: »

Hi YorkshireBoy, it hurts my head thinking about switching to one new bank let alone 12! How did you manage it? Let me get this straight - you've got one main account for wages etc. Then another basic current account? That's the one you switch every quarter to a new bank to avail of the 100 cash incentive?

Way off!

I've never switched my 'main' accounts (I have two), and never would.

I have many accounts for various purposes (interest, Reward payments, free travel insurance, and donor accounts geared up ready for switching incentives as soon as they're launched).

The reason for so many this year was primarily down to a switching offer from Yorkshire Bank which, strangely, placed no limit on the number of times you could bag it. I switched 11 accounts for £1,650. Others did even more.

laurel01

chrismcfet wrote: »

Any FD customers on here? What are your experiences with the app?

I have the app but have only used it for checking balances and transactions and it's been fine for that.

colsten

chrismcfet wrote: »

Are these still kept in your main account and you just use FastPay to the other bank current account?

Basically yes. Use Faster Payment between your main current account and the ones you switched to for a bonus for as long as you need to.

There are a huge number of posts about this on this forum. Worth reading about to get a better feel for what people do.

It's like learning to ride a bike - at first you think it's impossible. A little while later, you won't forget it ever again. The bit in the middle involves doing what your mum/dad/mate/and in this case, this forum, teaches you.

colsten

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Others did even more.

Very few others did!

saver861

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I've never switched my 'main' accounts (I have two), and never would.

lol I've done a fair few switches but still have the same main account from 30 years or so!!

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The reason for so many this year was primarily down to a switching offer from Yorkshire Bank which, strangely, placed no limit on the number of times you could bag it. I switched 11 accounts for £1,650. Others did even more.

Not sure what you mean here .... I think I've missed it. I did Yorkshire Bank switch and got the £150. Not sure what you mean by bagging it a number of times? What have I missed there?

I have it now as a donor ready to go to the HSBC and get the £120 there. Have done about 6 switches this year running at about £800.

YorkshireBoy

saver861 wrote: »

Not sure what you mean here .... I think I've missed it. I did Yorkshire Bank switch and got the £150. Not sure what you mean by bagging it a number of times? What have I missed there?

You maybe switched under the 3rd version of the incentive T&Cs?

There was no restriction on the number of switches that could be made in the 2nd version of the offer T&Cs (I was excluded from the 1st version as I already had a current account with them).

As I've said many times on here previously, when you're reading T&Cs, it's just as important to understand what they DON'T say as it is to understand what they DO say.