Should I switch to First Direct?

moz86

brookerbabyisababy wrote: »

Has anyone applied for a First Direct account - what has the signup process been like? or has anyone been rejected yet?

Think Im the first to be rejected by the looks of things! I feel like a left out child from a game everyone else is playing! Think it must be my age, or the fact I've applied for 2 nectar credit cards in the last 6 months. I really want those 5000 points!

I'm on £30,400 a year, so wouldn't have thought it would be a problem.

They'll come crawling back to me one day! muhahahahaha

:rolleyes:

CopperPlate_2

brookerbabyisababy wrote: »

Have they changed there cards and cheque book to a new design or is it the one below?

http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/AImg/wallet.jpg

Have a look at the link below:

http://www.firstdirect.com/1st-account/

to see the new debit card design.

The new cheque book basically has the old horizontal logo and bank address being removed from the current position, and the new vertical logo placed centrally on the cheque with the address of the bank now in smaller letters at the bottom of the cheque. No real big difference there.

The credit card design will be similar to the debit card.

msaquib

CopperPlate wrote: »

Have a look at the link below:

http://www.firstdirect.com/1st-account/

to see the new debit card design.

The new cheque book basically has the old horizontal logo and bank address being removed from the current position, and the new vertical logo placed centrally on the cheque with the address of the bank now in smaller letters at the bottom of the cheque. No real big difference there.

The credit card design will be similar to the debit card.

I am FD 1st Account holder. I recently recently my new card after expiry of my existing card. The new card is just terrible. You could hardly see the card number because its so black.

M

billbob

I have been using First Direct for the past few years. The service on the phone is great and have had no problems with the bank acount. I find that the other products are very average and usually have some terms and conditions attached so I keep my credit card and savings elsewhere.

The biggest disappoint recently has been their new website which doesn't look very pretty. I was hoping for some long needed improvements to the internet banking, but that has stayed the same except for a colour change.

brookerbabyisababy

There is no denying the First Direct's excellent award winning customer service. But there new card design and logo doesn't look as good as before. I think they should have stayed with the same design.

cgcockcroft

Hi, I'm thinking of switching from Lloyds and this thread has convinced me to do it. However, my wage is £1400 after tax. In the main article it suggests that I could withdraw £100 then pay it back in to meet the £1500 min pay in. Has anybody done this and had problems? I'm quite organised so I should be able to do it OK.

I did wonder if I could I automate it i.e. keep my Lloyds account open with say £1 in it then set up a £100 standing order from FD to Lloyds straight after pay day. I could then set up a £100 standing order from Lloyds back to FD for say 7 days later. Anbody know if this would work?

Thanks for any advise you can give.

CopperPlate_2

As long as the transfer is from an external account and not a simple transfer from one fd account to another, it will count towards the monthly 'total' of £1500 minimum pay-in. Alternatively, just open a savings account and pay in a tenner so avoid the monthly charge when you open your current account. There are three conditions - pay in at least £1500 a month, maintain an average balance of £1500 per month, OR have another product with them, e.g. savings account, credit card, mortgage, etc. The third option saves a lot of messing about with standing orders.

cgcockcroft

cheers for that! i have a cahoot savings account anyway, so i'll swap to a fd 1 instead.

Sillychuckie

I don't know where you are all getting your information from, but I have called First Direct twice about this.
Independently, I have received the same information.

The monthly credit must be mandated from your employer, where your employer matches the details you place on the application form in the 'Employer' section.

Only if you select the fact that you are self employed would a credit from your own account be sufficient.
I went ahead and switched properly, since I don't want it going wrong. The office don't mind (takes them a minute to change the details on the computer), so I'd rather do it right for the £200.

SC

YorkshireBoy

@SillyChuckie,

I think there are two themes running...the initial theme, ie the £100/£200 incentive, and a second one on switching for customer service only (oh, and a third one which is discussing how pretty the debit cards are :rolleyes:).

If you're employed your salary does, according to the T&C's, have to be mandated, via BACS Direct Credit, to bag the £100/£200 incentive. However, and in the interest of research, I've sent my January salary value via BACS transfer from my existing current account (couldn't get payroll to swap it in time - earliest they could do was February) with the statement message "BGC EMPLOYER NAME" to see if their systems are as clever as they would have us believe.