Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

gt94sss2

janusdesign said:

Expotter said:

Bazzalona13295 said:

My FD savers not up quite yet but is the phone number shown on their app?

As a side note, you don't necessarily need to call them. I managed to request the transfer of the whole balance to my current account using the online chat. First you get the chatbot who connects you to an advisor. It was done before the chat ended.

out of curiosity, are their call centres still based in Scotland? I ask because my FD matures on 2nd Jan (which will be a bank holiday in Scotland), so wondering if there will be limited staff on the phones/chat that day?? if so, i'll just leave it until the day after.

First Direct have call centres in both Leeds and in Scotland.

Vortigern

gt94sss2 said:

janusdesign said:

Expotter said:

Bazzalona13295 said:

My FD savers not up quite yet but is the phone number shown on their app?

As a side note, you don't necessarily need to call them. I managed to request the transfer of the whole balance to my current account using the online chat. First you get the chatbot who connects you to an advisor. It was done before the chat ended.

out of curiosity, are their call centres still based in Scotland? I ask because my FD matures on 2nd Jan (which will be a bank holiday in Scotland), so wondering if there will be limited staff on the phones/chat that day?? if so, i'll just leave it until the day after.

First Direct have call centres in both Leeds and in Scotland.

...and they are open 24/7/365 if I remember correctly. No bank holidays for their call centres. 

granta

Hanley Economic RS

Have just opened an account and forgot to make the payment in by debit card. Is there a way to make a BACS payment without having to wait for User ID etc? I just want to do a test £1 payment in. There were no account details listed on the penultimate page despite saying there were.

flaneurs_lobster

granta said:

Hanley Economic RS

Have just opened an account and forgot to make the payment in by debit card. Is there a way to make a BACS payment without having to wait for User ID etc? I just want to do a test £1 payment in. There were no account details listed on the penultimate page despite saying there were.

I've just done this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80470561/#Comment_80470561

You'll need your account number, call for details would be my suggestion.

granta

flaneurs_lobster said:

granta said:

Hanley Economic RS

Have just opened an account and forgot to make the payment in by debit card. Is there a way to make a BACS payment without having to wait for User ID etc? I just want to do a test £1 payment in. There were no account details listed on the penultimate page despite saying there were.

I've just done this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80470561/#Comment_80470561

You'll need your account number, call for details would be my suggestion.

Thanks. I've managed to find the clearing bank details (Lloyds) myself and have my application reference so will ping over £1.

SFindlay

subjecttocontract said:

Stargunner said:

alibean121 said:

allegro120 said:

alibean121 said:

First direct have somehow still managed to surprise/disappoint me from what was a low base. Their RS maturity process is genuinely unacceptable.

My account matured yesterday and since Monday it disappeared from the account view, I decided today to message them. They have relevant options in the robot chat and say you can hit to speak to a human to get instant access to the money. I decide to do that, why not. Person says please message again tomorrow. Great, thanks.

This is a shocking suggestion but, if the account takes 5 days to close, why not start the process 5 days earlier and have it done on maturity date? I can’t imagine what they could possibly be doing with this time. 

That's a normal process for FD RS, account disappears from the view for a day or two.  Every time they send a letter or e-mail to remind about this few weeks prior to maturity.

The best way to contact them is phone call.

Thanks I do know they take a while with it. I've never dealt with First Direct before but have used HSBC my whole life as my main bank. I'm shocked by how much worse the technology and service is at FD as I'd always heard very good things. I am genuinely curious what they're up to with this time - I'm into building societies and some of the ones I've dealt with have been one man and a calculator type jobs, but they manage to pay out funds next working day. Anyways, never mind. I suppose I'm a rare RS veteran that has never dealt with FD before, I don't think I'll be repeating it anytime soon unless they up their rate again as they're not now even beating my ISA given tax position.

My FD regular saver matured yesterday. I called them this morning and they transferred the funds to my current account whilst I was on the phone and I have now withdrawn them.
No complaints with that service.

Well I've got plenty to complain about......I'm not aware that the reg saver maturity process provided by FD states that savers are required to phone them. So, why would any of us phone them. This is yet another example of poor customer service for those that follow the normal procedure.

Why FD can't 'automatically' transfer the matured reg saver funds into the FD current account is a complete mystery.

Why people can't read account T&C when they consider applying for an account is a complete mystery to me!! FD don't hide maturity procedure so if people don't like it the simple answer is don't open the account in the first place and find a provider that provides maturity procedures they approve of!! 

TheWoodler

The point about FD is not that people haven’t read the Ts&Cs - it’s that this is an antiquated maturity process that is an outlier in the industry, and one that is particularly irritating from a bank that is both a major player, backed by a very major player indeed, and an app-based bank to boot. When tiny building societies offer a better experience on maturity, then you do have to wonder why FD seemingly can’t. 

It’s a popular product but FD have clearly not decided to invest in improving the maturity experience for their customers. The only good thing about this product is the rate, but the clunky experience doesn’t tempt me to open any further products with them. It’s a loss leader for them I reckon, but I’m not biting in terms of any other products. 

Stargunner

TheWoodler said:

The point about FD is not that people haven’t read the Ts&Cs - it’s that this is an antiquated maturity process that is an outlier in the industry, and one that is particularly irritating from a bank that is both a major player, backed by a very major player indeed, and an app-based bank to boot. When tiny building societies offer a better experience on maturity, then you do have to wonder why FD seemingly can’t. 

It’s a popular product but FD have clearly not decided to invest in improving the maturity experience for their customers. The only good thing about this product is the rate, but the clunky experience doesn’t tempt me to open any further products with them. It’s a loss leader for them I reckon, but I’m not biting in terms of any other products. 

That is your choice, if you want to miss out on the rate. My RS matured last Friday, so I called them on Saturday and they transferred my funds to my current account whilst I was on the phone. Later on Saturday I applied for a new RS and I have noticed this morning that it is open with the first payment of £300 already in it.
I have no problem with having to make one phone call to get the benefit of it being processed in a speedy manner.

subjecttocontract

SFindlay said:

subjecttocontract said:

Stargunner said:

alibean121 said:

allegro120 said:

alibean121 said:

First direct have somehow still managed to surprise/disappoint me from what was a low base. Their RS maturity process is genuinely unacceptable.

My account matured yesterday and since Monday it disappeared from the account view, I decided today to message them. They have relevant options in the robot chat and say you can hit to speak to a human to get instant access to the money. I decide to do that, why not. Person says please message again tomorrow. Great, thanks.

This is a shocking suggestion but, if the account takes 5 days to close, why not start the process 5 days earlier and have it done on maturity date? I can’t imagine what they could possibly be doing with this time. 

That's a normal process for FD RS, account disappears from the view for a day or two.  Every time they send a letter or e-mail to remind about this few weeks prior to maturity.

The best way to contact them is phone call.

Thanks I do know they take a while with it. I've never dealt with First Direct before but have used HSBC my whole life as my main bank. I'm shocked by how much worse the technology and service is at FD as I'd always heard very good things. I am genuinely curious what they're up to with this time - I'm into building societies and some of the ones I've dealt with have been one man and a calculator type jobs, but they manage to pay out funds next working day. Anyways, never mind. I suppose I'm a rare RS veteran that has never dealt with FD before, I don't think I'll be repeating it anytime soon unless they up their rate again as they're not now even beating my ISA given tax position.

My FD regular saver matured yesterday. I called them this morning and they transferred the funds to my current account whilst I was on the phone and I have now withdrawn them.
No complaints with that service.

Well I've got plenty to complain about......I'm not aware that the reg saver maturity process provided by FD states that savers are required to phone them. So, why would any of us phone them. This is yet another example of poor customer service for those that follow the normal procedure.

Why FD can't 'automatically' transfer the matured reg saver funds into the FD current account is a complete mystery.

Why people can't read account T&C when they consider applying for an account is a complete mystery to me!! FD don't hide maturity procedure so if people don't like it the simple answer is don't open the account in the first place and find a provider that provides maturity procedures they approve of!! 

I've had FD regular savers for years and am fully aware of the published procedure. That doesn't mean I can't criticise it on a internet forum where we can all express our individual opinions.

TheWoodler

Stargunner said:

TheWoodler said:

That is your choice, if you want to miss out on the rate. 

I didn’t say I hadn’t renewed, as a matter of fact I have (I said *other* products) but I *was* pointing out that it was an odd strategy for FD to adopt if they want to cross-sell products. One phone call doesn’t matter, but if they were *all* like that imagine how much time Moneysavers would be spending on all those individual calls, then customers would be agitating for industry change. Heck, cheques clear in less time.

Not everyone can use the phone and while app chat works - which was how I sped up the process - not everyone has the manual dexterity to type on a mobile in real time conversation with a customer agent either. If it’s a seamless and quick automated process, as other organisations manage, then it becomes a much more accessible product as well.