Switching - 7 days ? Misleading ?

interest_Ted

I took the bull by the horns today - and decided to switch from one bank to First Direct. So I applied for a First Direct account and was immediately advised that my application was successful.

So I proceeded with supplying the switch details. Had expected they would set the switch date as sometime during week of 5 December. But wow ! - the earliest date they will do it is 28 December.

This seems to make a mockery of the 7 day criteria.

I now have to presume that the switch cannot start until the account is up and running, but surely then, it should be able to happen within a few hours ? I naively thought that the 7 days included the time to set up the receiving account and make the switch.

I wonder if this is just First Direct's processing delay or if happens with other banks when switching. ??

Anyway - heads up for anyone else thinking of switching to new bank !!!!

Ted

YorkshireBoy

interest_Ted wrote: »

I now have to presume that the switch cannot start until the account is up and running

No need to "presume" anything. They tell you on their website that you can't start the switch until the account is up and running...

FD_FAQ wrote:

Is opening an account and switching all part of the same process?

No, they're separate. First, you must fully open a first direct Current Account (our 1st Account). Once your 1st Account is open, the switching process can begin.

...and on the features page...

FD_7-day_switching_info wrote:

Once your current account is open, give us a call and tell us to begin the switching process.

So your beef should be with the (almost) 3 week delay in "fully opening" your new current account. It's ridiculous, and having experienced the HSBC way of doing business earlier this year I sympathise with you.

interest_Ted

Thanks YB. You are obviously correct.

I guess I was misled by the continuity of the application into the switch details submission, and absence of anything during the process to indicate nothing would happen until account officially opened.

Made me think they had actually "opened" the account for the purpose of the switch, and wanted to start the switch process. Silly me !!

Ted

TadleyBaggie

If they initiated the switch before the new account was open and you have the necessary items (debit card + PIN, online banking details etc), you could end up in a situation where your money was in an account but you couldn't access it.

meer53

The switch takes 7 working days whichever bank you use. Of course, you can't switch to an account that isn't open yet. If your account is opened sooner than expected you can bring the switch forward but it still takes 7 working days to complete.

michael1234

So I applied after 15+ years with Smile and I didn't get an "immediately successful" response but a message saying they will be in contact within 48 hours. I applied almost exactly 7 days ago and I've heard nothing. They haven't even conducted a search of the credit reference agencies yet.

I suspect they are overloaded and I'm beginning to wonder if I made the right choice (I think I did) since my motivation was primarily based around customer service for those rare occasions when I need it.

georgemac_2

So I decided to switch to M&S Bank based on the offer highlighted on the Martin Lewis monthly email.
It has proved to be the hardest bank account I have ever opened, I applied around the 26th Oct, was asked to phone them on 29th Oct and was accepted on 8th November after phoning them to ask what was happening.
I got a letter dated 16th November asking for proof of identity. This has to be copy of drivers licence and passport, signed by a pretty exclusive list of professions, so decided to wait until we went to city and one of their branches in store to validate our identity. We did this on 26th November and still waiting on the account to be opened.

Hope it's worth it.