Moving from First Direct to HSBC.

Beartricks

Hi all.


Wondering whether anyone could shed some light.


I'm looking to leave First Direct. No real issues with them aside from the fact that I sometimes need to withdraw more than the cash machine limit and it's a bit of a faff to ring them and organise so would prefer a physical branch. I have a HSBC round the corner so was thinking of getting the £100 First Direct leaving bonus, along with the £175 HSBC joining bonus.



I make more than the salary needed to open the HSBC acount, but after tax, pension and student loans it drops slightly below what they're asking for. I also make between £50 and £200 a month in spare cash doing odd bits and pieces online, buying and selling on eBay etc and do have a couple of other accounts I could always transfer a couple of quid in from if needed.



My question is can I move between First Direct and HSBC if they are the same company, and will HSBC allow me to chuck in a few quid from other sources to meet the pay in limits? I have heard that HSBC can be a bit picky as to who they accept so is it worth it or am I better off going for something like Barclays or Lloyds?

penners324

Yes you can switch. Don't forget you need to call First Direct to get the leaving bonus.

HSBC are an utter pain to set up for online and app banking. Their app like First Directs is pretty basic.

born_again

Beartricks wrote: »

Wondering whether anyone could shed some light.
I'm looking to leave First Direct. No real issues with them aside from the fact that I sometimes need to withdraw more than the cash machine limit and it's a bit of a faff to ring them and organise so would prefer a physical branch. I have a HSBC round the corner so was thinking of getting the £100 First Direct leaving bonus, along with the £175 HSBC joining bonus.

HSBC branches are for FD customers to use, and you have the same facility to take cash over the counter.

New customers who don't stick with First Direct can claim £100 if they leave after six months – to get the cash you must have paid at least £1,000 a month into your account for six months, not have banked with First Direct before, and used the Current Account Switch Service to switch to the bank initially.

Do you meet that critera?

Beartricks wrote: »

I have heard that HSBC can be a bit picky as to who they accept so is it worth it or am I better off going for something like Barclays or Lloyds?

If you are a FD customer, you will have no problem getting a HSBC account.

System

born_again wrote: »

If you are a FD customer, you will have no problem getting a HSBC account.

You seem very certain - they have different criteria and HSBC can be awkward with applicants that don't meet the deposit criteria via conventional methods.

born_again

Lets just say that FD are well known as one of the hardest/pickiest banks to get a account with. HSBC, unless you are looking at Premier acc should not be a problem. They would default to a Basic account anyway if critera was not met for any account.

Ben8282

Why exactly are First Direct paying their customers to leave?

born_again

Ben8282 wrote: »

Why exactly are First Direct paying their customers to leave?

I guess to get rid of the money grabbers.:rotfl:

eskbanker

Ben8282 wrote: »

Why exactly are First Direct paying their customers to leave?

From another thread:

JuicyJesus wrote: »

abz88 wrote: »

I might be missing something obvious here, but why would First Direct pay you £100 to leave?

It's framed as a bet. They bet you'll love them so much you won't even take £100 to go somewhere else.

https://www1.firstdirect.com/banking/switching-bank-accounts/:

We're not just sure you'll love our service more than anyone else's - we're banking on it. If you don't like the way we do things after six months, we'll not only help you move banks - we'll give you £100 as a leaving present.

System

born_again wrote: »

Lets just say that FD are well known as one of the hardest/pickiest banks to get a account with. HSBC, unless you are looking at Premier acc should not be a problem. They would default to a Basic account anyway if critera was not met for any account.

I know full well about FDs selective criteria.

Given that the OP is after switching incentives and not simply looking to move to HSBC, an eligible account might be a consideration?!