First Direct regular saver

Brewer21

trient said:

Not my case. RS matured 2 days ago. Funds showing in RS but unable to touch them. Asked advisor today to close RS manually, he moved the funds to the current account but said RS closure now initiated will take another 4-8 working days with no manual option. Can't open new RS until current one is closed.

Edit: also found out that strangely all my payees were gone (I seem to have read about them expiring after 13 months or so? I'd understand expiry of unused ones but not the case - they deleted everything).

Edit 2: Tried to transfer the money to another account in my name, transaction flagged as high risk,
asked me what the purpose was. "Transfer to own account" wasn't an option (unlike "asked by bank or police" for example). Had to select "family or friends" even if technically incorrect. It went through then (with successful COP) - but am really surprised, do FD really assume their customers only have one current account?!

All in all quite a bad experience dealing with them on the simplest of tasks. The magic of FD is gone for me..

They normally ask more questions when setting up a payee for the first time, after that it's more or less straightforward to do again to the same payee.
Don't know why they wiped all of your payees, it's correct they disappear after being unused for 12 months. That's been annoying for me the odd time if I only pay someone each year, or just over, boiler service springs to mind.

ConsistentlyLost

Hi folks!

My regular saver matures today so after reading this thread I logged into the app just now expecting to see that my regular saver will have disappeared. However it's still showing there but with the interest added to the balance too along with the 1.30% interest rate expected from the savings account it was to be converted to! I don't suppose I can withdraw the money yet though as it's still sitting in the regular saver?

katejo

ConsistentlyLost said:

Hi folks!

My regular saver matures today so after reading this thread I logged into the app just now expecting to see that my regular saver will have disappeared. However it's still showing there but with the interest added to the balance too along with the 1.30% interest rate expected from the savings account it was to be converted to! I don't suppose I can withdraw the money yet though as it's still sitting in the regular saver?

No you do have to wait until it arrives in your other savings account. Mine has just matured and I found that it disappeared from the display on my phone app for about 24 to 48 (working) hours before it appeared in my savings account with the interest added. Mine matured on May 17th. The money appeared in my savings account by the 19th and I then set up a new regular savings account. 

Miss_Moneypenny18

Great tips, thanks everyone. I'll wait with anticipation on my Friday 

subjecttocontract

where_are_we said:

I`m with Zero Sum on this. First Direct pride themselves on their customer service, but their maturity process is slower than it should be to the detriment of the saver. Even building societies manage RS maturity more promptly. Woe betide anyone whose FDRS matures on a Friday! You then have to wait 2 extra days because of the weekend.

Yes, that's 50p a day in lost interest. Wouldn't want to loose that through delays !

ForumUser7

Anyone recently gone through FD RS maturity and only held a current account and RS with FD please? If so, is the call up at any time and the first person you speak to will convert RS to EA so you can open new RS straight away process still available please? And any key words worth saying to prompt them? Thanks!

Rich1976

When I last had a FD regular saver they did it over the phone . All done and the money back in my account within 5 minutes. 

ForumUser7

Rich1976 said:

When I last had a FD regular saver they did it over the phone . All done and the money back in my account within 5 minutes. 

Thanks @Rich1976 Did you literally just call up on the date of maturity please, or did you leave it a day or so? And if for example you applied on 16th March 2023, and they opened it on 20th March 2023, what date would you call them on please? Never been sure if maturity date is 15th, 16th, 19th or 20th March 2024 in that situation (sometimes RSs mature like the day before the matching date in the next year, and unsure whether opening backdated to day I applied or if it is just say processed. Thanks

ForumUser7

And when you call to process the closure, do they have to turn it into an everyday saver or can they just close it into your current account please?

jameseonline

I had a First Direct Regular Saver a while ago, for some reason (possibly extra bank holidays) it was taking forever to mature so I rang them up and they just transferred the money to my current account.

So basically if you don't mind waiting for money just wait in app/online or if you don't want to wait ring up and ask them for your money.