Is First Direct a hard bank to get in to?

badger09

2010 wrote: »

Regarding the £1k a month pay in to avoid the £10 monthly charge.
Can you pay in the £1k via faster payments from say Santander any time in the month.
But more importantly can you withdraw it again the same day via faster payments and still comply with their T&C?

Yes you can.

After all, it is a current account, and you wouldn't expect any restrictions on withdrawals from your current account.

However, if you read the T&Cs again, carefully, you will see that it is fairly easy to avoid the monthly £10 charge without having to move £1000 in & out again;)

mt99

Yes, open a savings account with £10 (not a regular saver, an ordinary saver) and you don't need to deposit £1000 a month.

meer53

mt99 wrote: »

Yes, open a savings account with £10 (not a regular saver, an ordinary saver) and you don't need to deposit £1000 a month.

You don't need to deposit anything.

Maximum_Saving

In 2012 I changed my current account from Lloyds Bank to First Direct. Yes, I was that year 40 years old and now I am 44 years old. I love the First Direct Regular Saver. I find it is very easy to phone First Direct and the staff are excellent. I used to phone Lloyds Bank and it would be a 20 to 30 minute wait. I just couldn't stand Lloyds Bank anymore.

Jlawson118

Maximum_Saving wrote: »

In 2012 I changed my current account from Lloyds Bank to First Direct. Yes, I was that year 40 years old and now I am 44 years old. I love the First Direct Regular Saver. I find it is very easy to phone First Direct and the staff are excellent. I used to phone Lloyds Bank and it would be a 20 to 30 minute wait. I just couldn't stand Lloyds Bank anymore.

After a fraud attack on my First Direct, I decided it would be a good idea to open a second account just so I have a backup account, so I chose Lloyds Bank. `I didn't find the waiting times too bad, but I found their customer service absolutely terrible! For a start, I requested a new debit card, they cancelled my old one and then didn't send me a new one. What was there response? "You didn't ask us to send you a new one.."
Anyway, another time with their credit card, I had the Avios one so a Mastercard and an AMEX, I asked them to cancel the Mastercard ONLY. They cancelled both, leaving me without funds abroad for two weeks whilst I waited for them to arrive posted from my mum back at home. This was a few months after they cancelled my credit cards for a first time due to 'fraud' when I was trying to purchase something that day whilst out shopping.

Anyway, I recently decided that leaving them would be the better option, and I left them a few weeks ago. I still use First Direct for savings more than anything but I can't think of a better bank, it's straight through to friendly customer services, you can have a conversation with them and they help you straight away. When cancelling my Lloyds the other week, I asked the guy where his accent was from, he blatantly ignored me.

So yeah, I completely agree with you switching your Lloyds account :beer:

username

I think FD can be a little over-hyped, however, I do think they are pretty solid as a bank. Where they've had issues, they have always had some form of recompense, which is a nice touch as others would just write a template letter and tell you to get lost.

They do have some strange processes though, such as insisting on sending my replacement cards via "courier" for "security", yet other banks are happy to send in the normal post, I do dread receiving replacement cards as it is a pain in the backside. Used to be able to get them to send them via Royal Mail special delivery and were more than obliging to sort out alternative arrangements but it seems they no longer do such things.

At the last count, they could send it to an HSBC branch for collection, but these seem to be dying breed, as they seem to enjoy shutting their branches and turning them into trendy wine bars, or dentists as was the fate of the one near my office.

metrobus

metrobus wrote: »

I take it you switch after you open the account?

I applied to open an account this afternoon and was accepted and told documents will be sent out to be signed,once that was done the
actual account opening date will be 3 weeks (November 15th).

I then tried to process the switching service but it did not let me,when I phoned they said its best to get the account opened before switching the Halifax one over,is this what others experienced.

I originally thought the switch would take place at the same time as the opening of the account.

Thank you.

Although I was told it would take 3 weeks to open the account it has actually been completed today 9 days after the application.
Very fast service.
I can now transfer my Halifax reward account over to FD.

Jlawson118

username wrote: »

I think FD can be a little over-hyped, however, I do think they are pretty solid as a bank. Where they've had issues, they have always had some form of recompense, which is a nice touch as others would just write a template letter and tell you to get lost.

They do have some strange processes though, such as insisting on sending my replacement cards via "courier" for "security", yet other banks are happy to send in the normal post, I do dread receiving replacement cards as it is a pain in the backside. Used to be able to get them to send them via Royal Mail special delivery and were more than obliging to sort out alternative arrangements but it seems they no longer do such things.

At the last count, they could send it to an HSBC branch for collection, but these seem to be dying breed, as they seem to enjoy shutting their branches and turning them into trendy wine bars, or dentists as was the fate of the one near my office.

I can't say I've noticed them sending cards through courier. I've noticed that they send an envelope inside of a handwritten envelope though for a little security that other banks don't really do

[Deleted User]

Jlawson118 wrote: »

I've noticed that they send an envelope inside of a handwritten envelope though for a little security that other banks don't really do

That's not standard though - just for higher risk areas.

tom222

I had a FD account a couple of years ago but closed it purely because I couldn't stand the UI of the online and mobile banking. Halifax is much more visually appealing, Barclays even more so, though I don't hold an account.