First Direct are RUBBISH!

[newgirl]

I have banked with First Direct for 15 years - model customer - good salary etc. Today I got a letter saying that unless I pay in a salary or keep my balance over 1500 pounds a month I have to take out another service or pay 10 a month.

I do not meet these new rules because I am on maternity leave, raising children.

I spoke to them today and basically I am not really the sort of customer they want - it is all about taking out more prducts - saving schemes, switching mortgage etc. I am not overdrawn (in fact have a very good amount in bank at mo, but this will go down below 1500 before I return to work).

So, I wanted to let you all know what a scabby company this is now and see if anyone can recommend a different bank?

ps as revenge my husband who does earn a salary is moving his too yippeeee

I've literally just opened a letter saying the same newgirl.

I can't recommend anyone else though. We have our other current account, savings and mortgage with the Woolwich as we have an offset mortgage with them. But they don't compare at all with First Direct. It takes nearly 3 minutes just to get so speak to someone when you ring and they've been less than helpful at times.

I really want to stay with First Direct, so I'm going to look at opening a small savings account with them.

Im with Abbey, and I think the monthly minumum is considerably lower than £1500 (but I can't remember what it is as I do deposit well over that every month).

You could of course have your husbands salary go into your account in the last couple of months of mat leave, then transfer it to his account a couple of days later. Would that satisfy the deposit requirement?

If you open any other account with FD then they don't charge. For instance, you could open a savings account and just stick a tenner in it, or apply for one of their credit cards (assuming you are sensible with it!) and only spend a fiver a month with it.

There's a lot of chat about this on the Moneysavingexpert.com website today. I have taken this quote from there:
"I was told that in order to avoid this I simply need to open up a esavings account and pay £1 per month in by standing order. The person I talked to set the new account up for me and set up the standing order."
Hope this helps?

I'm really annoyed about this as well. My dh got the letter - basically penalising him for being a SAHD. Yes, there are ways of avoiding the charge but I want to send a message to First Direct that this is not bloody good enough. So we'll be off to Cahoot or someone similar in short order.

Thanks everyone - there are ways round it but I don't think it is the point - banks make a fortune and I think they can well afford to manage the less glamorous accounts.

In fact I am so enraged I appear in The Times today on page 2!!!

I think it is actually discrimination against parents who stay at home - if all the banks only want the best customers, where will it end?

newgirl - that's my feeling too. Actually we could avoid the charge if my salary was paid in the joint account rather than my sole cheque account (which is exempt cos I have a sole savings account too) - but that's not really the point, is it? If they wanted to switch off paper statements to save some cash on these accounts, fine, or pay even less interest, fine - actually no interest would be okay on the current account! But this charge is hugely disproportionate to the costs in my view.

i have just emailed them my views!!!

They are picking on the less well off because they can no longer make huge charges on overdrafts etc. Not everyone can afford to move accounts!

Think DH and I are now going to have joint accounts!!!

Alliance & Leicester are not perfect, and you can't have an account at all with less funding than £500 per month, but it's a good free account and pays high interest - see here (this is the online one, there is a conventional one too current account summary page )

Hate to say it but I think this is the way all banks are going - there are mutterings at a couple of other big names too. And I think the criteria to get a current account anywhere is about to become super stringent, so many people will actually be unable to change banks.

Saw this on breakfast tv, and was absolutely gobsmacked. Cheeky . How the are they getting away with it? Shouldn't the OFT intervene or something? I don't even bank with FD, but DH has credit card with them that caused no end of problems. Can't remember fulll story, but they tried to put him on a credit blacklist for THEIR mistakes.
Cannot believe they can get away with this.

It does look that way, doesn't it? FD are the first but as soon as it is seen to work the others will follow swiftly on. DH and I are contemplating a bank-free existence, working only on cash! Our income is so erratic that I can't see us meeting any criteria and our only options will be pay swingeing charges (which we won't/can't) or using cash for everything. I think it's disgraceful - we're not even that poor, there are many people who have considerably less than us. What are they going to do? I think this should be nipped in the bud ASAP, they make pots of dosh out of us as it is.

Have just had a thought Newgirl. Aren't they guilty of sex discrimination as you are unable to meet their requirements as you are on maternity leave? I think they possibly could be..

Apparently it's meant to target "dormant or rarely used accounts" - mine is far from dormant, but I don't earn £1500 a month so could never meet their criteria.
I do have a savings account with them, but for their cheek, me, dh and our savings are going elsewhere! For the pathetic interest rate they pay anyway, I might as well keep the money under the bed.

This is going to hit pensioners very hard. If First Direct's intention is to get rid of customers with lower incomes, then they should say so, instead of hiding behind all of this guff about dormant accounts. Surely a better way to get rid of dormant accounts would simply be to , um, close them.

I have a regular account with HSBC, do pretty much everything over the phone and have never had any problems. The only difference, really, is that one call centre is in Leeds and the other somewhere overseas. The service at First Direct is not sufficiently different to justify charging IMO.

Ours is definitely not dormant, it's used for the vast majority of our daily transactions. BUT my salary is paid into my sole cheque account, and then I transfer the majority of it over to the joint account for our use during the month. Of course I could do it the other way around, transfer just a bit over to my sole account for settling my credit cards, etc, but what's the diff? I'm not being targeted (this time) as I meet their stupid criteria, my dh is, for having the unmitigated nerve to earn less money than whilst caring for our child.

FD are losing me too, after 15 years. I've had savings accounts, credit card with them on & off but I'm leaving on principle! Cheeky sods(I am back at work now, but if they'd done this last year they would have been charging me when I was on SMP).
Coventry BS give you a great interest rate and though you have to pay in a grand a month to get the good rate they just drop the interest down to a nominal amount in months you don't pay a grand in; they don't CHARGE you when you're in credit, for chrissakes!!!!! Did the Co-op teach us nothing???

thank you for the links and tips - we will have a good look at the weekend for which bank to switch to.

I sort-of understand if it is to avoid dormant accts but like bibiboo, mine is far from dormant.

I think it is discimination but is there anything I can do?

I am so glad lots of you feel the same - please spread the word to your friends - I have heard from teachers at school and mums in playground that they also got letters and will be changing - I do hope FD lose out in this.

Surely other banks will start trying to win over disgruntled customers - egg.com, tesco etc

I sent them a stroppy email saying they were discriminating against part-time mothers and low-wage-earners and lots fo other people who just don't get £1500 per month to shove in the bank! Oviously our custom isn't good enough and I'm hoping lots and lots of their customers will leave them.

Please, please do change your accounts! If the backlash is big enough for FD, it might discourage other banks from following suit.

I had a lovely chat with a man from FD and he explained primarily it was to reduce the number of dormant accounts nad so reduce costs. If you open a savings account you won't get charged

Fair enough if they want to cut costs on dormant accounts, write out to the dormant account people. Don't introduce a stupidly high base level for minimum balance and minimum monthly credit!

And, why should I open up an extra account? Will they then introduce another charge if I don't save a certain amount in my savings account?

They make me so mad!

dh is moving his account from them too, even though he meets their criteria. Trying to find an alternative for him now that has good telephone and internet banking.

i am so cross about this, & about to close my first direct account as a result. doubt they'll miss me, but it's the principle.