Opening First Direct Account

RG2015

I applied for a First Direct current account on Wednesday 11th October and got a message saying I would be contacted within 2 working days. I wasn't contacted and phoned them up today. I was impressed that they answered immediately and located my application within 1 minute.

They apologised for me not being contacted within 48 hours and said I should receive a letter within a few days with details and form for a specimen signature.

None of this was on their website or in the application messages so I wondered whether this was the usual experience for opening a First Direct account.

They also said that there was a major campaign running at the moment and they have had a lot of applications which had caused the delay. I am not aware of any campaign and am a bit sceptical of this explanation.

meer53

RG2015 wrote: »

I applied for a First Direct current account on Wednesday 11th October and got a message saying I would be contacted within 2 working days. I wasn't contacted and phoned them up today. I was impressed that they answered immediately and located my application within 1 minute.

They apologised for me not being contacted within 48 hours and said I should receive a letter within a few days with details and form for a specimen signature.

None of this was on their website or in the application messages so I wondered whether this was the usual experience for opening a First Direct account.

They also said that there was a major campaign running at the moment and they have had a lot of applications which had caused the delay. I am not aware of any campaign and am a bit sceptical of this explanation.

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account?fd_msc=PCS0000017&WT.mc_id=FSDT_Aggregators_fdCurrentAccountsAggs2017_exclusiveCUR_Textlink_DR_MSM_CurrentAccountControlListing%2525C2%2525A3125-MSE125_AG2661

RG2015

meer53 wrote: »

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account?fd_msc=PCS0000017&WT.mc_id=FSDT_Aggregators_fdCurrentAccountsAggs2017_exclusiveCUR_Textlink_DR_MSM_CurrentAccountControlListing%2525C2%2525A3125-MSE125_AG2661

Thanks but I have seen these and cannot find anything about the account opening process.

If the campaign is the £100 or £125 switching bonus I thought that this has been on offer since at least January so it is not exactly new.

meer53

RG2015 wrote: »

Thanks but I have seen these and cannot find anything about the account opening process.

If the campaign is the £100 or £125 switching bonus I thought that this has been on offer since at least January so it is not exactly new.

You contacted them on the second working day, they may have contacted you but you called them first. The £125 is a recent offer via MSE which is in addition to the £100 FD offer, which has been running for some time.

RG2015

meer53 wrote: »

You contacted them on the second working day, they may have contacted you but you called them first. The £125 is a recent offer via MSE which is in addition to the £100 FD offer, which has been running for some time.

£125 in addition to £100 makes £225. Is this really the current offer?

I also thought that the £125 MSE offer had been running since January and also that currently applying direct also gives £125 to switch.

I may be wrong but there was no indication from FD that they would have contacted me later on Friday. They just apologised for not contacting me within 48 hours because they were so busy.

binaryuniverse

There are 2 offers concurrently running: £100 to switch, if you go to their website normally. £125 to switch if you go to their site via MSE/Money Supermarket.

The latter was on offer at the start of the year. Then withdrawn. Now back on again. It takes all of 2 minutes looking around to know this.

zagubov

RG2015 wrote: »

I applied for a First Direct current account on Wednesday 11th October and got a message saying I would be contacted within 2 working days. I wasn't contacted and phoned them up today. I was impressed that they answered immediately and located my application within 1 minute.

They apologised for me not being contacted within 48 hours and said I should receive a letter within a few days with details and form for a specimen signature.

None of this was on their website or in the application messages so I wondered whether this was the usual experience for opening a First Direct account.

They also said that there was a major campaign running at the moment and they have had a lot of applications which had caused the delay. I am not aware of any campaign and am a bit sceptical of this explanation.

In my experience they are a very methodical company who don't do anything in a rush. Opening an account during a campaign may require you to be patient.

RG2015

binaryuniverse wrote: »

There are 2 offers concurrently running: £100 to switch, if you go to their website normally. £125 to switch if you go to their site via MSE/Money Supermarket.

The latter was on offer at the start of the year. Then withdrawn. Now back on again. It takes all of 2 minutes looking around to know this.

Thank you for your reply.

On my laptop last week I went to FD via Google (not MSE) and the offer was £125. Just now I have gone in on my tablet and the offer is £100. I assume that there must have been a cookie or two saved on my laptop that remembered an earlier visit to FD via MSE.

It would appear that my laptop has a much better memory than me:rotfl:

I did spend over two minutes looking around but I could only find the thread on this site dating from January. Sadly not all of us are computer wizards:)

RG2015

zagubov wrote: »

In my experience they are a very methodical company who don't do anything in a rush. Opening an account during a campaign may require you to be patient.

Thank you.

It it not so much about having patience (although I admit to having very little) it is more about being kept informed. I would have expected an email or text from FD acknowledging my application and advising me what would happen next. I have numerous accounts with several banks and they all sent me emails or texts almost immediately after I applied for an account.

meer53

RG2015 wrote: »

Thank you.

It it not so much about having patience (although I admit to having very little) it is more about being kept informed. I would have expected an email or text from FD acknowledging my application and advising me what would happen next. I have numerous accounts with several banks and they all sent me emails or texts almost immediately after I applied for an account.

They said they would contact you within 2 working days, you didn't give them chance, you assumed they weren't going to contact you. Not all banks work the same way.

RG2015

meer53 wrote: »

They said they would contact you within 2 working days, you didn't give them chance, you assumed they weren't going to contact you. Not all banks work the same way.

I am not sure that I assumed anything. I just decided to take the initiative and contact FD at my own convenience.

I would though have expected a written acknowledgement by text or email. Most other banks do this but I guess that not all banks work the same way.