MSE News: First Direct doubles interest on regular saver to 7% – how to get the new rate

Frogletina

masonic said:

Frogletina said:

masonic said:

I don't regret NOT speaking to an adviser and ignoring the advice to wait until RS is completely closed before applying for a new one, although YMMV. It's sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

@masonic

Can I ask how were you able to apply for a new regular saver. I tried that but the system would not let me open a new regular saver while the other one was still open, {albeit with a nil balance}.

Update - just noticed you said yours disappeared the day before maturity- mine didn't

I've been back to First Direct on line, who now say that if I had not asked for the funds to be transferred, then they would have gone into my savings account and closed within 5 working days.

However, as I asked for the funds to be transferred, the only option was for the funds to be transferred to my 1st account and that means it will take 8 working days for my empty regular saver to be closed as it is now a manual request.

Bonkers.

The only positive thing is that I have moved my savings out to a higher interest rate account.

Yes, I think the manual intervention may have made things worse, and they claim you will earn 7% interest up to the point the money is moved to your savings account (an earlier poster apparently had to chase them for this).

I think my workaround would need to be done before interest was added, taking advantage of the period the account is hidden for the purposes of processing maturity. It sounds like you may have missed this.

Yesterday the regular saver was still waiting for the interest to be added, today it had been added which is why I thought it best to ask for the funds to be transferred. I've no idea if or when the account was hidden. 

TheWoodler

Frogletina 

My interest got added today so I spoke online to an advisor today, but see what she said about the closure of the account. I'm waiting to open a new regular saver.

Thank you. I’ve arranged for your Regular Saver account to be closed, and this can currently take up to 8 working days. Your balance of £xxxxx has been transferred to your 1st Account ending xxxx with immediate effect. You’ll receive a closing statement in the post.

@Frogletina exactly my experience. It’s the best return on the money anywhere in the current savings environment, but we’re paying for it in banking practices that are well below the norm now. It almost seems to me that they’re funding the interest rate by not investing in updating their banking tech. For an online and app-based bank that’s ridiculous. 

The challenger bank is now being challenged by the new challengers on the block!

Band7

TheWoodler said:

Frogletina 

My interest got added today so I spoke online to an advisor today, but see what she said about the closure of the account. I'm waiting to open a new regular saver.

Thank you. I’ve arranged for your Regular Saver account to be closed, and this can currently take up to 8 working days. Your balance of £xxxxx has been transferred to your 1st Account ending xxxx with immediate effect. You’ll receive a closing statement in the post.

@Frogletina exactly my experience. It’s the best return on the money anywhere in the current savings environment, but we’re paying for it in banking practices that are well below the norm now. It almost seems to me that they’re funding the interest rate by not investing in updating their banking tech. For an online and app-based bank that’s ridiculous. 

The challenger bank is now being challenged by the new challengers on the block!

FD is at it's heart a telephone bank, with online and app functionality bolted on to stay in business. They aren't usually mentioned amongst the challenger banks  

TheWoodler

They *were* a challenger bank back in the day. 

And, thankfully, they have moved on from being a *telephone*-only bank. I’d posit that the diversification of their offering to include online and app banking isn’t only moved by incorporating technological innovations, but also by other contemporary factors such as accessibility legislation. 

And that’s the heart of the issue. They’ve diversified, but they need to up their game *again* as they no longer meet customer expectations in the modern environment. Even High Street banks do better with a seamless process. It’s normal now to be asked to give your maturity instructions and not be presented with a single option, that is not only clunky but turns out to be even slower than advertised. If even the small building societies can do it, so can FD! 

Granted, their customer service is pretty good. But customers are no longer interested in slow procedures and FD’s cumbersome processes are tying up their resources and irritating customers.

wmb194

TheWoodler said:

Frogletina 

My interest got added today so I spoke online to an advisor today, but see what she said about the closure of the account. I'm waiting to open a new regular saver.

Thank you. I’ve arranged for your Regular Saver account to be closed, and this can currently take up to 8 working days. Your balance of £xxxxx has been transferred to your 1st Account ending xxxx with immediate effect. You’ll receive a closing statement in the post.

@Frogletina exactly my experience. It’s the best return on the money anywhere in the current savings environment, but we’re paying for it in banking practices that are well below the norm now. It almost seems to me that they’re funding the interest rate by not investing in updating their banking tech. For an online and app-based bank that’s ridiculous. 

The challenger bank is now being challenged by the new challengers on the block!

As stated upthread, this isn't everyone's experience and FD has definitely improved the maturity process from years ago, in my case it was due to mature on a Saturday and I was able to withdraw the money on Sunday (I had a pre-existing instant access savings account). I'd have called you bonkers if you'd suggested just a few years ago that this could have happened at a weekend with a maturing HSBC/FD account.

A Midland/HSBC brand was never really a challenger bank in the real sense but it did try to up its game in customer service, which it certainly achieved. 

RG2015

wmb194 said:

TheWoodler said:

Frogletina 

My interest got added today so I spoke online to an advisor today, but see what she said about the closure of the account. I'm waiting to open a new regular saver.

Thank you. I’ve arranged for your Regular Saver account to be closed, and this can currently take up to 8 working days. Your balance of £xxxxx has been transferred to your 1st Account ending xxxx with immediate effect. You’ll receive a closing statement in the post.

@Frogletina exactly my experience. It’s the best return on the money anywhere in the current savings environment, but we’re paying for it in banking practices that are well below the norm now. It almost seems to me that they’re funding the interest rate by not investing in updating their banking tech. For an online and app-based bank that’s ridiculous. 

The challenger bank is now being challenged by the new challengers on the block!

As stated upthread, this isn't everyone's experience and FD has definitely improved the maturity process from years ago, in my case it was due to mature on a Saturday and I was able to withdraw the money on Sunday (I had a pre-existing instant access savings accounts). I'd have called you bonkers if you'd suggested just a few years ago that this could have happened at a weekend with a maturing HSBC/FD account.

A Midland/HSBC brand was never really a challenger bank in the real sense but it did try to up its game in customer service, which it certainly achieved. 

Agreed.

Mine matured last Saturday (29th April) and the maturity value appeared in my existing easy access saver on the same day. I only saw it just before midnight so cannot say at what time it was available.

Anyway, I transferred it out on Sunday to a high interest account and applied for a new FD R/S. This was open with £300 on Tuesday 2nd May.

Not perfect but okay, particularly in view of the 5 and 8 working day delays reported here.

wmb194

RG2015 said:

wmb194 said:

TheWoodler said:

Frogletina 

My interest got added today so I spoke online to an advisor today, but see what she said about the closure of the account. I'm waiting to open a new regular saver.

Thank you. I’ve arranged for your Regular Saver account to be closed, and this can currently take up to 8 working days. Your balance of £xxxxx has been transferred to your 1st Account ending xxxx with immediate effect. You’ll receive a closing statement in the post.

@Frogletina exactly my experience. It’s the best return on the money anywhere in the current savings environment, but we’re paying for it in banking practices that are well below the norm now. It almost seems to me that they’re funding the interest rate by not investing in updating their banking tech. For an online and app-based bank that’s ridiculous. 

The challenger bank is now being challenged by the new challengers on the block!

As stated upthread, this isn't everyone's experience and FD has definitely improved the maturity process from years ago, in my case it was due to mature on a Saturday and I was able to withdraw the money on Sunday (I had a pre-existing instant access savings accounts). I'd have called you bonkers if you'd suggested just a few years ago that this could have happened at a weekend with a maturing HSBC/FD account.

A Midland/HSBC brand was never really a challenger bank in the real sense but it did try to up its game in customer service, which it certainly achieved. 

Agreed.

Mine matured last Saturday (29th April) and the maturity value appeared in my existing easy access saver on the same day. I only saw it just before midnight so cannot say at what time it was available.

Anyway, I transferred it out on Sunday to a high interest account and applied for a new FD R/S. This was open with £300 on Tuesday 2nd May.

Not perfect but okay, particularly in view of the 5 and 8 working day delays reported here.

And the 1st of May was a bank holiday. HSBC proper is now able to open its regular saver instantly so hopefully FD will soon see this capability.

katejo

ashteadgirl said:

ColdIron said:

ashteadgirl said:

Sparky95 said:

ashteadgirl said:

isasmurf said:

ashteadgirl said:

Mine matured Sunday 30th. Shows interest paid but still a regular saver and can not access it. Only regular saver I have ever had that appears to mature so very slowly, Not very impressed at all. 

I'm guessing you do not have a savings account open with FD? If you don't then there is nowhere for the maturity balance to go and the account will be frozen on maturity and go into the work flow for FD to open a savings account to move the balance in to. These delays can usually be avoided by having an open savings account at maturity. When you already have an open savings account then the balance will usually be transferred and regular saver closed on maturity day.

Isasmurf, absolutely correct no savings account open. Other institutions manage to rename/rebrand account overnight. Thought FD should be able to have done it by now. May ring later today.  

I'm in exactly the same situation and not too happy with my funds stuck in account paying 1.3%. 

Very old fashioned system for newish bank.

Newish?

First Direct was formed on 1 October 1989 by Midland Bank

Did not realise they were that old.

My main account has been with them since 1990 or 1991. My current  FD regular saver matures in a week from now so I will then start a new one.

youngretired

If you don't have an existing savings account and so your regular saver is being converted into one, is it normal to see the regular saver still within online banking and the app with interest added and showing 1.3% interest? My previous experience was that it disappeared from view and that is what the paperwork states, but this hasn't happened. Mine matured on the 9th May, so I understand that it should be converted by Monday (within 5 working days).

wmb194

youngretired said:

If you don't have an existing savings account and so your regular saver is being converted into one, is it normal to see the regular saver still within online banking and the app with interest added and showing 1.3% interest? My previous experience was that it disappeared from view and that is what the paperwork states, but this hasn't happened. Mine matured on the 9th May, so I understand that it should be converted by Monday (within 5 working days).

If you can see it and that's the interest rate displayed it's probably available for withdrawal. Five days is only FD trying to manage expectations.