Bankers

[Nick W]

With the news that First Direct are going to start charging £10/month for the privilege of having an account if that account is deemed 'dormant' - and in their terms that means less than £1500 deposit a month - I need to find a new home for my personal account.

Has anyone got any positive recommendations?

 

[Adam]

Nationwide? At least they haven't gone under to a bank as yet.

Adam

 

[Paul Chapman]

The way banks are behaving these days, stuffing it under your matress is looking like an increasingly attractive option :roll:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[dedee]

It seems the UK is somewhat unique in providing "free" banking services.

I can only help that if the rest do follow suit then their other charges will be reduced.

The problem with keeping cash under the mattress is persuading our employers to pay us in the folding stuff again.

Andy

 

[cutting42]

I can only help that if the rest do follow suit then their other charges will be reduced.

Hoo Hoo, Ha ha ha ha ha, hee hee hee hee hee

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Erm this is rip off Britain we are living in here.... charges reduced, a lovely idea but surely a little unlikely

 

[andrewm]

First I've heard of it and I have a FirstDirect account.

But it occurs to me. What would be to stop me setting up a standing order to pay 1500 pounds a month into my FD account from, say a Nationwide account, and then setting up a 1500 pounds a month standing order to transfer it back. That's 1500 pounds a month deposit in my book even if it doesn't hang around very long. My salary doesn't hang around very long as it is :-(

 

[Nick W]

Nothing to stop you, but I want to send a definate message that THIS-WILL-NOT-DO to FD and other banks. Voting with my business is the only way to do that, I feel.

 

[Gill]

I reckon Andrew's suggestion is the best way to deal with this. The banks actually want people who deposit less than £1500 pm to close their accounts.

Gill

 

[mr]

But it occurs to me. What would be to stop me setting up a standing order to pay 1500 pounds a month into my FD account from, say a Nationwide account, and then setting up a 1500 pounds a month standing order to transfer it back.

Fine, provided you have £1500 a month, what about those people who don't even have that much a month in income let alone residual suprplus.

Hopefully people will vote with their feet and First Direct will fold. It was suggested on last nights news that First Direct, being a small bank, were being offered as a sacrifice by the other banks to test the waters prior to introducing charging across the board.

Mike

 

[Sawdust]

Fine, provided you have £1500 a month, what about those people who don't even have that much a month in income let alone residual suprplus.
Mike

I believe they were asking for a regular monthly payment of £1500 or more and no mention was made of residual or how long you leave it in there. Also on Radio 4 this morning they said that if you had any other services, e.g. credit card or mortgage then they wouldn't charge.

Hopefully people will vote with their feet and First Direct will fold. It was suggested on last nights news that First Direct, being a small bank, were being offered as a sacrifice by the other banks to test the waters prior to introducing charging across the board.
Mike

I really hope they don't fold (and very much doubt that they will). I've been with them for years and think their service is pretty good, especially as when you ring them you get through immediately to someone who can actually help you rather than some useless call centre somewhere.

Mike

 

[andrewm]

You don't need 1500 a month. Just 1500 in a saving acount that can be deposited on the first of the month and transferred back out on the second.

Andrew

 

[Anonymous]

Nationwide have been good to me for 15 years - and I am rarely in the black, never mind £1500 in credit!!!

 

[StevieB]

First Direct is the online internet only banking arm of HSBC. It may not exist as a direct entity if everyone pulls their money out but HSBC will!

The reason for the charge is two fold - 1) it costs alot of money to administer dormant accounts (you still get statements, chequebooks, junk mail etc etc) plus the hidden costs of tracking all those accounts and maintaining them in some form and 2) banks and credit lenders have recently been hit with legislation requiring them to reduce their fees on lending, in particular recouping defaulted debt and chasing missed payments. This is simply the banks way of making up for that. It follows on from the recent story that credit cards may no longer be free either. Another way credit cards are making these reduced fees back is in charging a 2% fee on balance transfers now. A while ago you could switch for free.

By all means close your account, but if its successful for FD then others will follow suit sure as eggs is eggs.

Steve.

 

[mr]

I believe they were asking for a regular monthly payment of £1500 or more and no mention was made of residual or how long you leave it in there.

My point is what about those who cant make that regular payment, but whose accounts are not dormant, they should pay for the pleasure of being less wealthy than those who can avoid paying to run an account by virtue of having more available cash?

I really hope they don't fold (and very much doubt that they will). I've been with them for years and think their service is pretty good, especially as when you ring them you get through immediately to someone who can actually help you rather than some useless call centre somewhere.

Mike

I hope they do myself, it will be an indicatorto the other banks that the paid model is unacceptable. I may feel differently if I were to be given free overdrafts without prior arrangement, and free services otherwise - having paid a fee to run an account but I imagine this will be a supplement to rather than a replacement of existing charges.

Mike

 

[Nick W]

I don't want FD to fold, but I want them to get the message - then I can go back to them ... maybe.

My account is not really dormant, it's just that I do not put that much into every month, and on the months when I don't I really do not need to be fined for being poor.

What really pees me off though is that I joined FD when it first opened, and for most of my time with them I earned an IT-scale salary, and its only now that I have downsized that they choose to clobber us with this change. :twisted:

 

[Alf]

My point is what about those who cant make that regular payment, but whose accounts are not dormant, they should pay for the pleasure of being less wealthy than those who can avoid paying to run an account by virtue of having more available cash?

Unfortunately that's the way of the world - Discworld fans may refer to the Vimes "Boots Theory" of Economics. It stinks ('specially as I'd be stuffed in that respect myself) but since when has that stopped something happening?

Cheers, Alf

Edit: found a link for non-Discworld fans.

 

[Anonymous]

I really don't think first direct would care about all the small customers leaving them. If you look at the charges paid for banking on a personel level compared with business banking, its pretty obvious that they make their money from business's and investments not small customers.

Gve it a couple of years they'll all be charging. This is just HSBC testing the water.

 

[tim]

I really don't think first direct would care about all the small customers leaving them. If you look at the charges paid for banking on a personel level compared with business banking, its pretty obvious that they make their money from business's and investments not small customers.

Not sure thats true. I'm a First Direct customer and they don't offer business banking facilities. When I asked, they directed me to HSBC. So I assume therefore that FD is all personal banking.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Anonymous]

My mistake Tim, but I still don't think banks care about small customers.

 

[andrewm]

It does seem an odd criteria though. You could have £100,000 in your current account but only deposit £1,000 a month and they would charge you and yet would make a healthy profit on the deposited money. Yet you could have almost nothing and pay in 1,500 a month that goes straight out again and you would get free banking.

Dedee is right in saying that the UK is somewhat unique in having free banking. I have US current account and that has a monthly charge but that gets waived if the average balance is above about $2,000. I suppose though that in reality that probably equates to a monthly charge of the interest on $2,000. but that might be a fairer way forward for FD.

Andrew