First Direct and £125 switch bonus

dreaming

glider3560 wrote: »

I had to do exactly the same. Hardly the service I expected. At least they answer the phone quickly.

And pay up as promised. Bonus was in my account within 1 hour of phone call.

tel_

My old bank was switched to FD on 5th August, but I have not received the £100 bonus as of yet. My payment in of 1k was not paid in until 29th August.

Just for clarity, I take it I won't receive the bonus as it's 28 days after the 1k pay-in, and not 28 days after your bank switch in my case?

Homeboy_1

Hmm Interesting replies. I opened my First Direct account on 5th July by switching a Tesco account via Moneysaving Expert for the, as it was then, £125 if you went via Moneysaving Expert. I also opened a regular saver account, and on the 13th of this month they will have had my third deposit. After about three weeks I sent them a personal message asking when my £125 would be credited to my account. I had a reply back saying it could be credited within 28 days, as they do it in 14 day stages meaning every 14 days some customers are credited with it and some will have to wait. As of today I still haven't received my switching bonus. I have paid in £1000 every month so far, so I think I will be giving them a ring tomorrow. First Direct are supposed to be one of the top banks for customer service, but I am extremely disappointed with them. If they credit me with £125 bonus as stated, I am sorely tempted to then close my account within 6 months and claim back a further £50 as I feel very let down by them. This was not my intention to do this when I opened the account, but it is very disappointing for a top rated bank. Will post an update after I phone them tomorrow

tel_

Homeboy_1 wrote: »

Hmm Interesting replies. I opened my First Direct account on 5th July by switching a Tesco account via Moneysaving Expert for the, as it was then, £125 if you went via Moneysaving Expert. I also opened a regular saver account, and on the 13th of this month they will have had my third deposit. After about three weeks I sent them a personal message asking when my £125 would be credited to my account. I had a reply back saying it could be credited within 28 days, as they do it in 14 day stages meaning every 14 days some customers are credited with it and some will have to wait. As of today I still haven't received my switching bonus. I have paid in £1000 every month so far, so I think I will be giving them a ring tomorrow. First Direct are supposed to be one of the top banks for customer service, but I am extremely disappointed with them. If they credit me with £125 bonus as stated, I am sorely tempted to then close my account within 6 months and claim back a further £50 as I feel very let down by them. This was not my intention to do this when I opened the account, but it is very disappointing for a top rated bank. Will post an update after I phone them tomorrow

I,for one, will be interest to hear what they say to you Homeboy.

snowqueen555

I'm wondering why I keep getting denied for a First Direct account. the only thing I can think of is that I have an HSBC one.

Monkey_B

. I'm wondering why I keep getting denied for a First Direct account. the only thing I can think of is that I have an HSBC one

Not a problem in my experience. I signed up for a HSBC account 12 months ago, then switched my other account to FD 4 months later.

For general info, I switched away from FD after 7 months and, having met the £1000 monthly deposit requirement, claimed the £100 leaving bonus. I had only switched to get the then £125 joining bonus, and switched away to TSB to take advantage of their 3% current account. Phoned FD to say I was switching and "am I entitled to the leaving bonus?". I didn't fancy having to spin a yarn about being upset with their service (I had no genuine complaints), so would have probably accepted it if they'd have put up some resistance. However, the person on the phone just put me on hold for a minute before coming back to say "yes, you're eligible and the money will be deposited in your account as the switch goes through".

born_again

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I'm wondering why I keep getting denied for a First Direct account. the only thing I can think of is that I have an HSBC one.

Their criteria is a lot stricter than other banks.
Having a HSBC account makes no difference.

Homeboy_1

Just an update from my post on the 8th Sept. Contacted them yesterday about doing my switch via moneysavingexpert for the £125, and when would I get the Switching Bonus. No problems at all then, and money has been credited to my account today. One happy boy

scoot65

I'm thinking about switching a redundant Tesco current account to First Direct (I've just had my first ever switch completed today From Tesco to RBS)

I note that FD are giving £50 upon switching to them and £100 if you choose to leave them in six months' time.

Has anyone had any experience of receiving the £100 leaving bonus? Any difficulties? ..... or is this a new requirement which no-one will have used yet?

eskbanker

scoot65 wrote: »

I note that FD are giving £50 upon switching to them and £100 if you choose to leave them in six months' time.

Has anyone had any experience of receiving the £100 leaving bonus? Any difficulties? ..... or is this a new requirement which no-one will have used yet?

It's a longstanding offer since the year dot, and some have experienced issues when trying to claim it without good reason, so take careful note of the wording:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75286747#Comment_75286747