Bad Experience with First Direct Foreign Payment

Michaelfb_2

I know Martin lauds First Direct for its customer service but I have had a different experience. I opened an account with them as they offer online payments to the country of Georgia where wife comes from, which my existing bank (Barclays) does not do. A few payments went through OK but then one didn't arrive and after several days I contacted FD and they told me it was held up with their "compliance department" and asked me a host of questions about the person it was meant for, whose name I had put in the reference field. He happened to be my wife's brother-in-law but could I convince them? After several more days the money still had not arrived (although FD assured me it had been sent) so I sent it by another means and asked FD to credit it back to my account. After over a month in all they did so. I wrote a letter of complaint which they still have not replied to. I wonder if they were really suspicious about this person or whether they just wanted to retain my money for a while to earn interest from it? I was thinking of transferring my current account to them but now I am very glad I didn't. I have decided not to risk sending money through FD again so will sadly have to use a Barclays branch once more and pay the £25 fee each time. If anyone knows a good bank that will take online payments to Georgia do please let me know. 

Daliah

The go-to money transfer firm is Wise, more often than not. They are not a bank and have no FSCS protection. There are a number of similar firms you may wish to check out. 

Your money transfer can be held up by any of the banks or money transfer services. This is not to make money off you but to comply with legal obligations. 

FD have 8 weeks to respond to your complaint. If you have not had a satisfactory response by then, you can go to the FOS. Don't expect the FOS to be fast, either, as they are said to have a backlog.

TMSG

Michaelfb_2 said:

I know Martin lauds First Direct for its customer service but I have had a different experience.

I've been with FD for many years and I never found their customer service especially good (they often appear a bit arrogant, even harsh but YMMV). However, things have gone downhill a lot in the last year or so and if I read through recent trustpilot reviews (one of them from me) I am not sure that Martin Lewis still beating this particular drum is actually such a good idea.

As to FD and foreign transactions this has never been their forte IMO. I agree with Daliah that Wise is the way to go. I have done dozens of transactions since 2018 and they have never let me down.

Ballard

I have no experience with Georgia but it’s likely that it isn’t considered top notch in the anti money laundering stakes so I’m not surprised to hear that delays can sometimes occur. 

Whatever the reason for the delay it wasn’t so that First Direct can increase their profit at the expense of your delayed payment.