First Direct Regular Saver

jaypers

I’m on year 3 or 4 of having a First Direct RS. They are different but it’s no great problem to set up and like many have said, there are quirks to many Regular Saver accounts. Play the game or don’t…..no point in stressing about it. 

[Deleted User]

Stanleychops said:

boingy said:

surreysaver said:

boingy said:

Yes, only from your FD current account and only via the standing order they set up for you. I made the mistake of cancelling that SO and setting up one from a current account at a different bank, which failed and I ended up having to contact FD support to rectify it.  It's a daft restriction in my view and just means we have to jump through an extra hoop if we want to fund it from elsewhere. The end of the 12 months is equally as daft. The money disappears completely for a few days then reappears either in your FD "normal" savings account if you have one or in a new savings account. You can't set up a new regular saver until the money has reappeared. It just seems to be admin for the sake of it. 

My second regular saver has just matured and, to add insult to injury, this time they "fraud blocked" the transfer out of the proceeds, even though the transfer was to the same account that had been funding the regular saver and to which I had made various previous transfers. It would be a weird fraud where the fraudster spends a year gradually filling up a saver then transfers the resulting amount back to that same account. A whole year to make a profit of about £137. 

If you want 7%, you have to jump through hoops. And read T&Cs.

An unnecessary hoop, and one that most other regular severs do not make you do. I currently have six other RS accounts at various places. Interest rates between 6.5% and 10%. All allow direct deposits from elsewhere. I jumped through the FD hoops and got the money. It doesn't mean their system is sensible but feel free to defend it anyway. 

Where are you getting 10% on a RS out of interest?  I cannot find anything over 4.5% unless I am already a customer (like the FD example)

As has already been stated, Virgin Money. They also had a switch offer which didn't 'pay' as such but you were given 10% interest on a pot of a grand.

Thanks to the people on here and their diligence we get in as quickly as possible.

ThePirates

Does anyone know the turn around time from opening the FD Saver to taking the first payment? 
I want the SO to be made as close to the 1st of each month as possible. Which date in March should I open the account?

mon3ysav3r

I opened a FD 1st Account and Regular Saver at end of Feb, they set up a standing order for the 28th.
I cancelled that standing order and set a new standing order again from the 1st Account to Regular saver just for earlier in the month, and a payment has been made using the new standing order, and the Interest Rate still shows as 7% AER online. Have I broken their terms? will they not honour the 7%?

Rich1976

mon3ysav3r said:

I opened a FD 1st Account and Regular Saver at end of Feb, they set up a standing order for the 28th.
I cancelled that standing order and set a new standing order again from the 1st Account to Regular saver just for earlier in the month, and a payment has been made using the new standing order, and the Interest Rate still shows as 7% AER online. Have I broken their terms? will they not honour the 7%?

I didn’t think you were allowed to set up your own standing order? 

Rich1976

ThePirates said:

Does anyone know the turn around time from opening the FD Saver to taking the first payment? 
I want the SO to be made as close to the 1st of each month as possible. Which date in March should I open the account?

They quote 3 working days but my latest one was opened the next working day after I applied. Last year’s was opened the same day so I guess it just depends how busy there are at the time 

dealyboy

ThePirates said:

Does anyone know the turn around time from opening the FD Saver to taking the first payment? 
I want the SO to be made as close to the 1st of each month as possible. Which date in March should I open the account?

Hi @ThePirates
I applied for a new Regular Saver online on Wednesday morning the 5th March and it was opened and money from the 1st Account transferred on Friday the 7th March; it's a manual process and was completed about midday. This was longer than I expected and longer than last year when it was opened/transferred the following day, this was due to high demand. So my Standing Order is now set for the 7th of the month. They advise to allow 3 working days, so application day to application day +3.

mon3ysav3r

Rich1976 said:

mon3ysav3r said:

I cancelled that standing order and set a new standing order again from the 1st Account to Regular saver just for earlier in the month

I didn’t think you were allowed to set up your own standing order? 

The FD website let me cancel their standing order, and it let me create a new standing order from my FD 1st to FD RS. I just don't know if I have broken their terms.

kaysdee

I’ve cancelled their SO and set my own up (from 1st account to RS) for the 1st of the month for the past 3 years. Interest as expected at the end of each term.

Chaykin

kaysdee said:

I’ve cancelled their SO and set my own up (from 1st account to RS) for the 1st of the month for the past 3 years. Interest as expected at the end of each term.

I have heard that this is possible however I thought there were rumours that the interest rate does not kick in for that month's payment until the "monthiversary" date? So, as an example, if your original SO was for the 15th of each month and you transfer £300 on the 1st via your own new SO that £300 won't start earning interest until the 15th. Not sure if it's true though? 🤷‍♂️ Same applies to HSBC RS my understanding was.