Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Efficient, quick, easy to use, free access |
| Disadvantages: |
None at all |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I have been a customer of First Direct ever since they first began trading offering a telephone banking service, and I have always been a satisfied customer.
About two years ago First Direct decided to go on line and offered their customers the opportunity of PC banking. The unfortunate thing about this was that you had to load the software, provided by First Direct, from a disk onto your PC and then use it via a high cost telephone call whether you had free access to the Internet or not.
I used this occasionally and found it a useful service, but, because of the high cost, I never really made full use of all the various benefits of on line banking. I tended to log in do the absolute essentials as quickly as possible and log back out again.
The real improvement from my point of view came when they made it possible for customers to access their Internet banking facility directly from their website at www.firstdirect.co.uk which means that I can now log on for free and spend as much time as I need to administering my accounts, how and when it suits me. Being an accountant by profession, this makes me very happy, as I can keep track of my finances at all times.
The site has all the information about the various services available via First Direct - accounts, loans, mortgages, capital investments, shares, etc. There is a facility to set up your account on line, but I can’t comment on the effectiveness or ease of this, as I was already a customer when PC banking was introduced.
When you log on to PC banking from the First Direct home page you are first taken through security. You have to say whose account you wish to access and then you are asked three random letters from your pre-arranged password.
This will then take you to a screen showing the current balances of your First Direct accounts.
The left hand side of the page remains static showing a complete menu of –
Balances
Statements
Move money
Regular payments
Mobile phone banking
Products and services
Apply
Calculator
Read messages
Send messages
Change password
Help
Exit
BALANCES is the first screen that you come to and just show the current balances on any First Direct accounts which you hold. My current account and my cash ISA both appear here, but the stocks and shares ISA does not as it is dependent on the movements of the stock exchange and so a current balance would not be available.
STATEMENTS is the screen which shows a list of recent transactions in the same way that your bank statement shows this information.
MOVE MONEY is the screen to go to in order to move money to or from one of your First Direct accounts. You are given the choice of which of your accounts you want to use and whether you are transferring in or out. You are then asked how much you would like to transfer and when you would like it to leave your account. You are then given all the information together on one screen, which you are then asked to check and verify. The transfer is then set up to be activated on the date you have chosen.
I would always recommend transferring out from the paying account to the destination account rather than the other way round. I have always found it to be much quicker.
REGULAR PAYMENTS is the screen which gives you a list of your current direct debits and standing orders with a facility to click on each one for further information.
MOBILE PHONE BANKING is the screen that gives you text messaging service information and the facility to apply for the text messaging service. It also gives WAP banking information to show how you can manage your accounts on line from your mobile phone, providing that it is WAP enabled.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES is the screen that gives you information on bank accounts, savings, credit cards, loans and other products and services.
APPLY is the screen which you use to apply for a bank account, savings account, credit card, personal loan, joint capital or text messaging service.
CALCULATOR is the screen where you can input the amount of a loan, together with the repayment period and it will calculate a monthly repayment for you.
READ MESSAGES and SEND MESSAGES are the two screens to use to keep in touch with First Direct. As the names suggest you can either receive or send messages.
CHANGE PASSWORD is, fairly obviously, the screen to go to in order to change your password. Bet you’d never have guessed that one would you?
HELP is the screen to access if you’re having any problems with PC banking and a new screen will open showing the help files available. You’ll be able to find information here to help you with any queries you may have. If not you can either ring First Direct or send them a message via the SEND MESSAGE page.
EXIT is again an obvious one – it is the button you click to exit the PC banking system. It will then take you to another screen where you will be asked if you’re sure that you want to exit, just in case you’ve pressed the button by mistake. If you press exit again you will be logged out of First Direct PC banking.
The details of First Direct are as follows;
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD
08456 100 100
www.firstdirect.co.uk
I have been using the PC banking ever since it was made available to me and it has made my life a lot easier, and my banking a lot more convenient. The site is easy to navigate and the screens are quick to load. The security is high and the whole thing is very user friendly.
What more could you ask for?
very helpful
