Transferring bank account and overdraft (to loan perhaps)

cobster

Hi there

A friend of mine has been in touch because she has a First Direct bank account with an overdraft of £4k and is concerned with the new charges that are coming in that they will have a big effect on her. She asked for my advice as I helped her get a 0% interest free loan for her credit card balance.

I have looked through the forum and it appears that Nationwide looks to have a comparable service to First Direct. The one thing that I am not sure on is whether she is better to take out a loan to pay off her overdraft, or part loan/part overdraft it or try to transfer the whole lot over. She also has a loan with First Direct (not sure for how much) which will also need to be paid off/transferred. I have seen in Martin's section on First Direct that if she were to take out a savings account with FD and deposit £1 or take out a credit card with them (and never use it) that she could avoid the charges. Currently the fees for her overdraft work out to be about £540 per year - without the additional charges!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

PS I am also with First Direct and don't believe that the charges will apply to me but am thinking that I may well just change to Nationwide anyway.

[Deleted User]

My understanding was that the loan would qualify as another product so first direct would not charge the monthly "banking fee", so therefore should be no need to worry.