The first mistake First Direct have made.
My support for First Direct is fanatical. They are, by far, the best bank I’ve had (and over the years I’ve had accounts with most). Some treated me badly (Lloyds TSB), some I wouldn’t trust to sit the right way on a toliet seat let alone be my primary bank (Natwest) but First Direct just got it right.
- Easy to use internet banking - 24/7 365
- Phone banking - 27/7 365 and I’ve never been on hold for more than 30 seconds
- No branches - this is a big one for me - I don’t have time to visit your banch.
- Friendly, Funky attitude.
But that last point is under threat. They’ve instigated a £10 (PER MONTH!!!) fee if you don’t pay in £1500 a month, maintain a balance of £1500 or don’t have another product (such as a mortgage) with them. What do you get for your £120 a year. Nothing, apart from the account which would be free if you also had their credit card. Doesn’t sound like great value for money to me.
They claim their 40,000 dormant accounts are costing them money - but a dormant account is placing minimal demands on their infrastructure. No payments passing betwen bank gateways, not many transactions to keep track of, no calls to phone banking. The only cost is computing power to maintain the account (which is cheap cheap cheap) and the cost of posting the statement. Simple, swich them to electronic statements and the cost is minimal.
Not cool, First Direct. Not. Cool.
I changed to FD as they were different, I’m dissapointed to see that they’re not so different after all.