First Direct Current Accounts
Discussion
I've just been having a look at the First Direct Current Accounts that has me tempted into changing.
For the existing customers of the bank, how easy are they to deal with and are there any hidden nasty things I should know?
For the benefit of the Jury, my current bank accounts are with Barclays and HSBC.
Thanks.
For the existing customers of the bank, how easy are they to deal with and are there any hidden nasty things I should know?
For the benefit of the Jury, my current bank accounts are with Barclays and HSBC.
Thanks.
Been with them since the Midland wre taken over by HSBC (think I moved from Midland to them in the mid-90's).
Anyhoo - I would echo all the positive comments above. Makes banking painless. One other thing to bear in mind is they will give you a £100 to transfer to them - and another 3100 if you're not happy and subsequently decide to leave.
Anyhoo - I would echo all the positive comments above. Makes banking painless. One other thing to bear in mind is they will give you a £100 to transfer to them - and another 3100 if you're not happy and subsequently decide to leave.
I've been with them since 1992.
So long as you don't,
- go over your overdraft limit, and/or,
- exceed your credit card limits (as I did in 1993, for both!)
then you'll be fine. Their charges can be, err, VERY high in the above cases....
That said, they did work with me when I was obviously living beyond my means, and got me back in the black helping me with budgeting, etc. (I was young!)
One issue I had recently was when I called to pay my Goldfish bill. I asked for the bill to be paid the next day, but it was entered only to be paid in December, but I only found out when I received an unpaid next Goldfish statement. I called FD and they retrieved the phone call, called me back to apologise, covered the overdue payment fees & interest on Goldfish and put a little more £ in my a/c for the inconvenience of having to call them.
... sorry, it was long winded, but I think it shows they DO have good customer service, unlike many other banks.
So long as you don't,
- go over your overdraft limit, and/or,
- exceed your credit card limits (as I did in 1993, for both!)
then you'll be fine. Their charges can be, err, VERY high in the above cases....
That said, they did work with me when I was obviously living beyond my means, and got me back in the black helping me with budgeting, etc. (I was young!)
One issue I had recently was when I called to pay my Goldfish bill. I asked for the bill to be paid the next day, but it was entered only to be paid in December, but I only found out when I received an unpaid next Goldfish statement. I called FD and they retrieved the phone call, called me back to apologise, covered the overdue payment fees & interest on Goldfish and put a little more £ in my a/c for the inconvenience of having to call them.
... sorry, it was long winded, but I think it shows they DO have good customer service, unlike many other banks.
I once went over my overdraft limit and got charged something like £25 for going over and another £25 for, well I forget.
Rang them up, had a chat with a supervisor who then refunded me the charges as I had a good record over the years.
Like I said before, they are very good and if you call them you talk to real people.
Rang them up, had a chat with a supervisor who then refunded me the charges as I had a good record over the years.
Like I said before, they are very good and if you call them you talk to real people.
Generally very good - although I made a rather large payment once for a car and the call centre girl seemed to be more interested in chatting about my car than making the payment properly. It all got sorted pretty quickly, but left a bit of a sour taste.
Everything else has been fine though - instant transfers from/to most other banks, decent wedsite and iphone app and UK call centres.
Everything else has been fine though - instant transfers from/to most other banks, decent wedsite and iphone app and UK call centres.
I have been waiting for something to go wrong since 1989, Had loans , mortgages, Savings, Current Accounts and never a problem, I use online and phone side, always helpful, easy to use, and if you need a branch pop into HSBC.
I have also banked with Nat West, TSB, Co-op, Midland and I also currently have a Barclays Account as well
So yes they are very good and I cant see me moving from First Direct, having trid the others I know whats Best.
I have also banked with Nat West, TSB, Co-op, Midland and I also currently have a Barclays Account as well
So yes they are very good and I cant see me moving from First Direct, having trid the others I know whats Best.
Up until recently I had my mortgage (offset) and bank accounts with First Direct and they were great.
I then moved my mortgage to HSBC so moved my accounts over as well.
HSBC service is not a patch compared with First Direct (which is ironic since HSBC own First Direct).
... to add to the insult, I'm HSBC Premier account holder as well !
I then moved my mortgage to HSBC so moved my accounts over as well.
HSBC service is not a patch compared with First Direct (which is ironic since HSBC own First Direct).
... to add to the insult, I'm HSBC Premier account holder as well !
I have used them for 14 years ish, brilliant service, and if they make a mistake (which is rare) they make amends very quickly.
Some very good products also.
As an example i have a cash isa with them, which was on an introductory rate till the end of this month, without me asking they emailed to say they were moving me to the new introductory rate, in theory my deal shoukd have dropped from 2.75% to 0.2%. im now on a new fixed rate until january 2013.
Some very good products also.
As an example i have a cash isa with them, which was on an introductory rate till the end of this month, without me asking they emailed to say they were moving me to the new introductory rate, in theory my deal shoukd have dropped from 2.75% to 0.2%. im now on a new fixed rate until january 2013.
As everyone else has said, they are a pretty good bank. I have been with them pretty much since they atarted, probably 1989 or 1990.
Its probably best not to exceed your overdraft cos they know how to charge in that case. I was able to continue to run my account whilst living overseas too. With the time difference it meant that I often phoned them in the middle of the night (UK time) and the call centre staff are always easy to deal with and cheerful.
Its probably best not to exceed your overdraft cos they know how to charge in that case. I was able to continue to run my account whilst living overseas too. With the time difference it meant that I often phoned them in the middle of the night (UK time) and the call centre staff are always easy to deal with and cheerful.
They have been excellent. I was with Barclays until I had had enough of their devious ways and poor support, so in 2002 I moved to FD.
FD's phone support is excellent at all hours, I have only had to wait for more than a minute once before speaking to an english speaking person (usually Scottish but I can forgive them that
)
Most of the time they pick up within 5 - 20 seconds.
The website is easy to use and it's secure. And they seem to have a good fraud unit, they picked up on a cloned card beofre I did and called me to check.
Just don't go over your overdraft limit...they will hurt you in a big way.
FD's phone support is excellent at all hours, I have only had to wait for more than a minute once before speaking to an english speaking person (usually Scottish but I can forgive them that
)Most of the time they pick up within 5 - 20 seconds.
The website is easy to use and it's secure. And they seem to have a good fraud unit, they picked up on a cloned card beofre I did and called me to check.
Just don't go over your overdraft limit...they will hurt you in a big way.
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