Anyone tried First Direct?

ccdorset

I used to be a first direct customer up until around 2014. To begin with I found them great, whenever I had to call them the service was excellent and I felt the offering was very different to other banks. The service was personal, efficient and they went above and beyond. I left soon after I had an issue transferring my ISA
to a different bank. Both banks were blaming each other for the problem and whilst first direct's front line call centre staff were always first class and sympathetic, as soon as they had to transfer me to their back office "Banking Solutions" team the experience quickly changed to one that was very different. The other thing that did irritate me about their app and Online Banking was that you couldn't view pending card transactions. I believe this is still the case.

I moved to Halifax for the switcher incentive at the time and I have been very pleasantly surprised with the service. Yes you do have the IVR to navigate through and you don't get straight through to a person, however I haven't found this a problem at all and have always got through to someone that could help me and have found their call centre staff to be just as helpful and knowledgeable as first direct's were.

Ironically I was looking at switching back to first direct recently, as I was interested in fd's regular saver and possibly remortgaging to them. Regarding the remortgage I spoke to both Lloyds Bank and first direct. Out of the two, I actually found Lloyds far more helpful and easier to speak to. Whilst first direct answered my query, the experience was definitely not like it used to be when contacting them and the member of staff I spoke to almost sounded uninterested. Of course I could have just been unlucky here.

A sticking point for me would be the lack of ability to view pending card transactions on the app and online banking. Also I believe you can't pay in cheques via the app yet either. The actual look and feel wouldn't bother me, as long as the functionality that is important to me is there.

No_6

You are not a OLD foddy doddy that wont do internet or mobile banking
so WHY do you need to talk to a BANK ???


never talk to any of my MANY banks

djpailo

You should create another basic current account with Tesco and switch that one instead.

jaybeetoo

I’ve been with FD since 1989 so they must be doing something right!

aj23_2

I'd open a basic bank account with someone else and switch that to FD. I wouldn't give the Tesco Bank one up at 3%. You'd want Tesco and FD if possible.

JuicyJesus

They're not as good as they used to be, they lag severely behind even other high-street banks in terms of functionality on online and mobile banking, other banks have taken their USP of 24/7 UK call centres, and they put across a very arrogant conceit that they're the best at everything and if you don't like them or are unhappy in some way then that's your problem.

Besides that, they're basically fine until you fall outside of their target market of time-poor cash-rich affluent individuals, at which point you discover that they're not interested in you and in fact would rather you just left so they could continue showering attention and gifts (yes really) on their target customers.

EarthBoy

I was with First Direct for about 25 years until last year. When they started out, they were the future of banking, they were innovative and forward thinking. Unfortunately they're still stuck in 1989 and there's nothing new or forward thinking about them anymore.

They're still good at what they always did best, i.e. telephone banking, so if that's important to you then they're probably the best bank to be with. However, I don't like ringing banks, I prefer to bank online or on a mobile app and First Direct have been left standing by most of the other banks when it comes to online and mobile banking. Their systems work, but they're old fashioned, and clunky, compared to the systems from other banks.

xylophone

I have an FD account - I do use it to pay a couple of DDs but really I keep it for the RS.

The functionality is fine for my purposes.

polymaff

Yet again, still trying to get FD to process this year's RS application.


The desktop interface is pretty poor, both in its clumsy black and white layout and in using a daughter window.


Just saying!

Missus_Hyde

I've just switched my husband's NatWest a/c to First Direct for the switching bonus.

They accepted him straight away (which I was fairly surprised about! ) but actually setting the thing up was a nightmare. Out of all the current accounts we have, this was by far the most complicated to get going with the online banking/mobile app involving such a cloak and dagger approach over the phone, which made it very heavy going.

However, having eventually got the thing up and working, we've had no trouble so far and the regular saver was easy to set up and use. I'll probably keep the account just for that.

Just waiting for the switching bonus now!