Great bank, but few benefits other than good service. Switched back to nationwide who offer free account benefits such as in account interest, travel insurance and nationwide select credit card for perfect exchange rates on purchases no fees. My wife had a dormant account so took advantage of the refer a friend offer 200 QUID. two select credid cards 25 each cash via quidco and another 25 each from nationwide. 300 cashback total and service is good.

Only payable if you don't pay on the minimum monthly amount.

Fabulous bank. Switched from Lloyds TSB and never regretted it. Customer service at First Direct outstanding - when I accidentally ordered goods that turned out to be fake, they immediately reimbursed me the money before investigating it. I'd switch if I were you.

Got a couple of questions..
Does switching accounts affect credit rating?
Can I switch again to another bank after the incentive is paid?

Fabulous bank. Switched from Lloyds TSB and never regretted it. Customer service at First Direct outstanding - when I accidentally ordered goods that turned out to be fake, they immediately reimbursed me the money before investigating it. I'd switch if I were you.

I
Not sure if I believe them ,but HSBC told me that if you don't apply for an overdraft, the credit search has the smaller footprint on your record

Do you have to pay £1000 in every month or in total over the 3 months??

Thanks. I somehow ended up with 2 Current Accounts with NatWest, 1 which I hardly use. Tempted to switch that over

One thing I'm not very keen on is paying the £10 monthly fee after 6 months

probably have paid you switching fee by then, so just switch again.

I had an account and closed it about 5 years ago - does anyone know if this is for new accounts only or whether I will be able to get this deal? Don't want to apply and it affect my credit rating especially if I'm refused! And are they still doing £100 exit bonus after 6 months if you're not happy? Thanks in advance

Thanks

I now know the answers to all the above (I read the T&Cs myself!!) looks like I can't apply. Still hot from me for those that can get it :smiley:

Great bank, but few benefits other than good service. Switched back to nationwide who offer free account benefits such as in account interest, travel insurance and nationwide select credit card for perfect exchange rates on purchases no fees. My wife had a dormant account so took advantage of the refer a friend offer 200 QUID. two select credid cards 25 each cash via quidco and another 25 each from nationwide. 300 cashback total and service is good.

Make sure your name matches exactly to that of your old account, I wasnt allowed to switch, asked to transfer from another account I had and said 'OK, but you won't get switching bonus as you're no longer a new customer!!'. Then setup a regular saver and noticed after 3 months my balance was still £300. Apparently they had been taking the money but out it in wrong account. Useless tw*ts.

They will do a soft credit search on your account, which is routine for most companies if you apply for a mobile contract, do an insurance quote etc. hard search is for mortgages, loans, credit cards etc.

This seems pretty good. No direct debits to switch over either. But what about the fee? If after six months you do not pay £1,000 per month into your 1st Account you may have to pay a fee of £10.

So, aslong as you pay in £1000 every six months there wont be a charge?

​complete rubbish that mate

If you open up a savings account with them and put in £1 or more, you don't need to pay the monthly fee :smile:

No, the £10 fee is waived the first 6 months. After that you will have to pay but only if you don't pay in £1000 a month, have an average balance over £1000 or have another FD product (CC, mortgage).

Great bank, easy switching service and customer service is perfect, phone is always answered after a couple of rings.

Do these get posted every week now?

No charge when paying in £1000 a month or take a credit card and you don't pay the charge regardless of what you put in.

I switched just over a year ago as I was P'd off at the silly overdraft charges Barclays were bringing in.

I was tempted to switch again getting £100 from First Direct for leaving within a year and also £120 from another bank, but I am so impressed with First Direct I wanted to stay.

I must admit I was tempted to tell them to stuff it when HSBC were talking of leaving the UK, but looks like they are going to stay now.

Thank you op, heat added

OK cheers, that makes sense :smiley:

Been with them for a few years (used as a second bank account) never had a monthly fee and rarely pay in more than 300 a month and that is transferred to the 6% saving account.

first direct not as good as they used to be.

I've used them for 12 years and I've noticed a decline.

I'll be leaving soon

Just applied. Seems good enough. Will probably do the credit card application too for an easy £25.

They need to make the terms and conditions clearer on when you have to pay for the account. Also, why do I have to call them before 9am on the day of the switch, annoying. Just do the switch.

What's to stop someone opening a current account with another bank, putting £5 in and then switching to earn £150??

Isn't the mobile app a bit rubbish? The app is basically my only interaction with my bank so it's important.

Does the account you're transferring from have to have any active direct debits? I can't see any mention of it, but I don't want to try then find my unused account doesn't qualify and I'm no longer eligible for the offer.

With the added bonus of a destroyed credit rating! Great advice!!

Plenty of HUKDers have had no/minimal impact on their credit score and they're over £1000 better off for less than a day's work.

I switched from them to Halifax recently after getting their last £125 offer. Can I now bounce back to first direct and get the cash again?

Ah found the answer

"We can only offer this to people who haven't previously held any account"

Oh well any decent mule accounts out there?

​Agree. the mobile is better than it was but could still be better. the mobile app is about the only thing I miss from the Halifax!

Awesome!
What other accounts have u switched to?

You don't have to call them on the day of the switch at all, let alone before 9am.

Note that you may need to provide certified copies of your passport / proof of address. They don't accept post office verification, only doctor, dentist, nurse, lawyer, solicitor, independent finance advisor etc.

Sent them my documents a few weeks back as part of my mortgage switch (FD bank account required), just found out they forgot o scan them and just returned them to me.

Hopefully just one small glitch and the rest of the process will be smooth.

I'd be interested to hear from any such people, you know, with actual proof?

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Add me to the list.

Good enough?

First Direct,
Best bank around
Switched from TSB, no regrets whatsoever

In my experience the only organisation with better customer service than First Direct are American Expresss.

Had the £150 paid 28 days after opening ac - very happy. App not perfect but it'll do!

valid for another 8-9 days or so?

Good cash incentive but these clowns messed up 2 of my direct debits after switching. Needless to say first direct blamed my insurance providers and my insurance providers blamed the bank.
Worth the cash though in my opinion

First direct app isn't the best either

All new applicants to the select visa get 25 account credit once you spend a little on it. Apply via quidco and get 25 cb from quidco too.

still waiting for m,e £150
is it worth giving them a call

I've been with First Direct for 12 years now, been absolutely brilliant. They're always available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

[quote=stek2010]I recently (last Oct) switched to First Direct.
I was previously a customer until 2007.


Yep, me too. Don't think I will risk a 3rd time

Banking with first direct usually costs £10 a month, but you will not be charged this fee for the first six months from account opening, when you pay in at least £1,000 to your 1st Account each month, or maintain an average monthly 1st Account balance of £1,000, or you hold a selected first direct additional product. Take a look at our Account Terms and Conditions for more details of other additional products.

Do you have to close an account when u switch?

Shell I go via moneysavingexpert or via quidco? Or straight to website? Thanks.

I've done this and went through it all. Sure it said they'd send me an email which I'd need to confirm before the switch would start.

Haven't received an email. Should I have?

Has anyone who has done this able to answer a few questions I have? I want to take up the offer (I could really do with £150!) I have all my direct debits going out on the 1st.

If I do this today will it be enough time for everything by next week Tuesday so I don't incur missed payment fees?

If I switch today, will the ball start rolling for 7 days on Saturday/Sunday or will it start the first working day which will be Monday?
If this means I wont be able to get hold of any of my money for a week, how does anyone do this? I will need to get hold of cash over the weekend but nothing will be in my bank for me to get hold of until Friday. I'm not sure if the offer will be available after this week and don't want to miss out. If I need to get hold of any money during the switching process, how does this work?

And lastly- is First Direct connected to Natwest or are they two different banks?

requires £1000 coming in every month or they charge you £10 a month fee..thats £120 per year for just having a bank account!
also takes 1 month for them to pay the £150..(others like Halifax only a week)
real risk of damaging credit score..
I'll pass..

People who offer loans and mortgages want to see a history of financial stability though. Someone who continually switches current accounts is also likely to play loan and mortgage providers off against each other which means they are unlikely to offer you the best deals.

A small increase in loan or mortgage is likely to wipe out any potential profit from continually switching current accounts. I think people need to look at their individual circumstances, their likelihood of needing credit in the near future and weighing up the options.

Think the website is having problems. I got the the last page of details and it was unable to load, followed by some First direct error page when I refreshed.

Good customer service the few times I spoke to them. However, the mobile app at the time (I switched to Halifax in October so it may have changed since then) was horrible- payments took days to show up, I found it was slow, clunky and very un-user friendly.
Halifax's app is so much better, it shows pending payments literally within seconds of making them as well as loads of other services that I couldn't do on the FD app.
For some it probably seems trivial but for normal everyday banking from someone the banks would deem a pretty boring client, it's really made the difference in personal banking for me. Like I say, the app may have updated since and I know FD has many positives, but it made the difference for me.

Switched on 25 Jan, joining incentive paid 5 Feb!

Yorkshire Bank also have this offer with same cash incentive

Any one had their current bank match these 'offers' to remain with them?

we changed 7 years ago...would not ever change back....just brilliant...

we changed 7 years ago...would not ever change back....just brilliant...

How does their mobile app compare to the RBS one? Been with RBS for 20+ years and these days my only interaction with them is the app.

The mobile banking app is garbage, but the customer service is great.

OK, so I bit the bullet and opened an account. One thing I was a little confused at is if I get £150 or £125.It stated on the MSE site that using thier link (which I used) I'd get £150 but on the link it then said £125 and I was supposed to open a credit card for another £25 (which I did not do).

I've not had a First Direct (or HSBC) account before, how do I know if I'm due £150 or £125?

Thanks for posting.

Can you transfer £1,000 as soon as you open the account, get the £150 bonus and withdraw the lot the next day?

Don't hesitate,first direct are superb. I'm already with them,with the addition of £150 to join its a no brainer.

I did this the other day, Once the bank transfer went through and I put in the £1000 First direct payed out within 3 days :-) The account I closed was an old TSB account where I had no direct debits and only had 3p in there. I wouldnt hesitate in doing this again :-)

One of the factors that effect credit rating is how long you have banked with your current bank

I use first direct, they are good as far as banks go, the nice thing is that all of their call centres are in the UK, so you end up talking to friendly people who live in the same sort of world as you and don't work from a script

Their customer service is the reason why I haven't taken advantage of these deal with other banks.

Have been with them for about 13 years. Ok the app isn't the best but it's functional and has come on a lot in the last year so they are constantly developing it.

Superb bank and the best and easiest customer service by far. The sole thing that has stopped me from switching though is their banking app. I'm currently with NatWest and for all their faults their banking app is superb and given it's 99% of my interaction with the bank I still place a lot of importance on it. If FD finally get around to improving their app I may well be on board! Great bank though that aside.

Can only get it if you've never been with FD before. Very annoying, I'm running out of places to switch to and get the bonus! Just moved to Halifax, £125 3 days after organising the switch and £5 a month if you don't go overdrawn.

Best bank I've ever been with - direct to a UK human and so efficient!!! No issues so far!

Don't you think it's bad that switching providers makes it harder to get credit? I can happily buy Persil over Arial and I'm the winner. But switching bank accounts and the inference is that movement is a potential indicator of credit risk. This is not good. And it's the only reason I don't switch.

Do any of these switch deals come with premier type accounts - I use mine to cover European Travel insurance and Mobile phone insurance - I pay £9.95 a month for this and although I don't need breakdown cover (got a company cat) - it's still cheaper than getting the insurances separately imo

£150 to switch? It's a no brainier! Joined First Direct over a year ago on a similar incentive and been absolutely brilliant, could not fault their customer service.

I make sure that I never switch my "main" bank account, I always have an account I have opened for the sole purpose of switching, or I switch away from an account i have received an incentive for. Sadly I have already exhausted every bank account switching incentive so I cannot take this up, but First Direct are brilliant - when I took the switching incentive up a few years ago I decided to keep the account, it has a £250 interest free overdraft on my account, they provide great customer service and you can open up a 6% regular saver once you have the account.

How do you know if you got the £150 or just £125? All the links (including the MSE link) say £125

Footprints all same. it's how lenders interpret information. your credit file shows limits inc. on cards don't use. it's all about risk. if you've got a £1000 overdraft or £5000 credit limit on a card. Even if dobt use it. Potentials their. so my advice close all your old accounts, reduce credit limits to reasonable limits and stop keep switching providers for lower rates ( credit surfing) as potentially that might have undesirable effects if say you then want a loan or mortgage. if you've no credit footprint get one as they'll come a time that you'll need one , but it's no good realising that in a shop full of customers when get told you've been declined credit

Switched to them in 2010/11 and was paid £125.

Great customer services and have not noticed a decline in services as described by other(s) , although I do not have to contact them often.

There website and app are not sexy, but function as meant to.

What is so bad about the mobile app?

I would not hesitate to switch and bag £150.

Are you a comedian?

So do you need to pay in £1000 every month, or just have a balance of £1000 in the account?

That has to be the daftest comment on this thread. first direct have two call centres: Leeds and Hamilton. Santander have them in Glasgow, Belfast, Liverpool and Bradford. Good luck with improved communication.

Do I need any direct debits or just pay in 1000?

Hmmmmm....not so sure about the customer service- having opened an account last night I wanted to ask a few questions (as in when do I get an email confirming anything!).

I thought I'd try calling.
I've been on hold for 25 minutes so far, have lost count of how many times I've heard the same cut-up songs and am wishing there was an option to mute them!

Being that there is no branch for me to visit, I'd have thought they'd at least have some sort of system to call you back if they get overwhelmingly busy like this. (And this is not the first time I've tried to call in the last 24 hours with the same being on hold issue).

...gave up after 30 minutes. I'm now wondering if it's worth finding another bank to move to after all...

I don't care who's fault it was if banks offer a seamless hassle free switch then that's what the customer should get. If they promise a hassle free switch and don't deliver as far as I'm concerned the bank is ultimately to blame whatever the circumstances

You missed off two full stops and two commas. Clown. :man:

I have an account with first direct. The only thing is good about this bank is that you are able to call them any time you want. Otherwise it is really bad bank in every meaning of the work and I would not recommend this bank to any one.

I've already switch to this bank in the past got the incentive and switched it to another bank, does anyone know if I can open another and get the money

Ok....is it really weird that I was able to open an account without providing any ID. Given account number and sort code online in minutes.

Also says earliest switch is 7th March, does that mean I won't get incentive as its after Monday?

I think it is that he likes UK call centres. More financial institutions are moving their call centres back onshore as the offshore model proved to be a false economy as they have generally been poorly received. People prefer to talk to someone they can relate to more easily.

Taken from MSE: If you click through via our link before Monday, newbies can now get a massive £150 to switch to First Direct* (£125 without the link; £100 from Mon). It has excellent customer service – it's won every bank service poll we've ever done, with 92% of its customers rating it 'great' – only 2% said they got poor service. You also get a small 0% overdraft, and can open a linked 6% regular saver.

Got all the docs. Applied for a credit card, £500 limit, just for an easy £25 extra.
Their internet banking is horrible!

my god! How many memorable words, passwords and questions are there! I think I'm up to 10 now!

They send you about 50 pages when you sign up.. Want you to call them every 5 minutes to setup telephone banking, confirm happy, confirm the switch on the day. A bit rediculous. Just open my account and do the switch as I requested when I opened the account.

hi guys can someone please confirm that I've done this correctly:
1) Open First direct account and ask to switch from another account
2) Start switch process
3) Transfer £1000 into first direct account
4) Next day Withdraw £1000 out of first direct account (cos I dont want to leave it in there) one day later
5) Put £1 into a first direct e saver account (so I wont incur the £10 fee)
6) Wait for the £150 incentive
7) When incentive paid into the first direct account - withdraw £150 incentive and close/switch account

Would be really grateful if some of the seasoned switchers could confirm this is correct to get my incentive and avoid the monthly fee. Thanks

£100 now. Expire

how long did people wait for their bonus? mine switched on 5/2 and transferred 1k in on 11/2 and still nothing :neutral_face:

I got mine in less than 10 days

Got mine within about 2 weeks

Slashed to 100 from £150 :/