First Direct

...of your account. With First Direct I get none of this inconvenience. I can still use a branch if I want to but now I can choose from any one of the HSBC branches (first direct are part of the HSBC group) importantly I get access to the best telephone service I have ever come across. The operators are extremely pleasant and most importantly efficient. It is not often that you feel like you are being treated as an individual but with First Direct ...
...the option whether to request First Direct to close your old bank account or leave it open. You also get to state the date from which you want the payments to be made from your First Direct account however you do have to allow at least 20 working days from returning the forms to First Direct to allow them to complete the transactions. Prior to this date any direct debits due will be collected from your old account. When deciding upon a date it is ...

atticusuk 13.10.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...written a reviews recently about First Direct (a division of HSBC Bank plc) and their products and facilities and 'no', I do not work for them and am not on any commission! However, I would be delighted to work for them as I think they are absolutely first class..... After 30 years of banking with the Halifax I moved to First Direct for my banking. The reason I moved was because I took out a mortgage with First Direct and one of the conditions for ...
...can quite honestly say that First Direct are like a breath of 'fresh air' in the world of banking. This is one of the best moves I have ever made and I am delighted with the outstanding customer service and the excellent products that First Direct offer. One of the most pleasing things about First Direct is the superb level of customer service. Whenever I ring customer service I speak to a real friendly person in the UK! The call is usually answered ...

Krazikas 14.06.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

I joined First Direct about 2 years ago. I had just graduated and was fed up with my current bank (NatWest) who did not seem to do ANYTHING to make life easier for me, the customer. My other half recommended FD to me, and at first I was a bit dubious about a bank where you couldn't actually go into a branch and see anyone. However, I have to say that First Direct have been fantastic from the word 'go'. Because of the hours I work, and where I work ...
...bank in person. With First Direct, it doesn't matter. I set up my account over the phone, they sent through the paperwork and off I went. I've set up a couple of savings accounts in addition to my current account - no problems at all. I can sort out all my Standing Orders, DDs and other payments online (or over the phone). Having banked with NatWest, although they did have an online service & a telephone service, I found that the internet banking ...

garbadine 11.06.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

I have been banking with First Direct, a division of HSBC Bank since 1995. With 7 years experience with this bank I would like to put forward my opinion of their internet banking and service. First direct was one of the first telephone banking services introduced in the UK in the late 1980’s; offering 24/7 access to your bank account; something quite unheard of at that time! So, when First Direct made the revolutionary move and launched their ...
...of the population. Long before First direct they launched their internet/PC banking service they had been extensively testing their own java backed software program allowing customers to control their banking transactions from their home PC’s. First Direct has come a long way since those early days and is currently able to provide secure and highly functional banking via the internet or PC. First Direct – The Website: On first impressions ...

Connoisseur_Haggler 24.02.2002 (27.02.2002) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...have I ever heard of First Direct. I had seen some of their adverts on TV but to be honest never paid much attention. As I had got no where with the other banks, it had to be worth a look at least. Knowing that they were an online bank they obviously had a website so I set about finding it. Easy enough (www.firstdirect.com). I sat and looked through all of the information on their site which gave me everything I wanted to know so I requested an ...
...and sent it off to First Direct along with details of my current bank account. The reason they need to know this information is so that they can contact your old bank to gain a list of all of your direct debits and standing orders set up on your account so that they can set up your new account correctly. Once your account is open and they have a list of all your direct debits etc, they send you details of your account along with the list they received ...

Andy0304 07.10.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...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 ...
...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 ...

SusanLesley 13.07.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...this facility, I switched to first direct on the recommendation of a friend who, like me, worked long hours and wanted to be able to organise the payment of bills at any time of day. On the rare occasions when I need to deposit a cheque, I do go into a branch of HSBC (of which first direct are a division), and I usually have to queue, but I would rather do this than bank the cheque by post. Other than these isolated occurrences, banking and I have ...
...now have several accounts with first direct, all of which I can manage over the internet at times convenient for me. ~ Current Accounts ~ I have a ‘bank account’ which pays 2.10% interest (AER) on credit balances; a switch debit card which also allows me to withdraw up to £500 per day and guarantees cheques up to £100; entitles me to a £500 overdraft, with no arrangement fee, at a reasonable interest rate (9.9% EAR); and gives me 24/7 access to ...

thethirdeye 18.12.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

First a snapshot of the bank - 1) Owned by HSBC and created just after the merger of Midland and HSBC (not High Street Bank Company) freed up funds 2) Available on the phone instantly - no button pressing options / no holding (OK very rarely I have been put on hold) and in HSBC branches 3) 1.7% interest (to date) on balances - the first bank to offer higher than 0.01% on current accounts 4) Internet very easy to use - can manage accounts simply ...
...seems to work well - as I haven't been pilfered from. 6) Arranges and transfers of all your direct debits / standing orders, etc, etc and pays you if they get it wrong (they did not get it wrong with me) 7) Proactive to the point of selflessness - Quite a statement - you may think, but please read on: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What can you say about banks - banks are another one ...

coleecip 09.05.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...I decided to join First Direct in 1998, when it first opened its virtual doors (if you look at their postcode you will see its LS98, Leeds 1998 – cool, isn’t it) They are probably based in the middle of nowhere in a huge warehouse and they got to choose their own postcode! Well I was looking for an easy to access bank, I am also at the Bank of Scotland, but living in Oxford at the time it’s quite hard to find a branch round there – there aren’t ...
...bit backward… So anyway, First Direct was doing a fair bit of marketing to give them a head start and I think I got a leaflet through the door of the dingy flat I was living in on the Cowley Road at the time. So I think what happened was I filled in the form (it promised something like £10 free if you joined) and waited. Not long passed and they send me an even larger form to fill in. I filled that one in and then I got a whole welcome pack – way-hey ...

MadeinScotland 10.12.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...changed my bank account to First Direct in 1994 and haven't looked back. Worrying about driving into town and battling through the madding crowd and the rain to reach a bank before it closes and then queuing to carry out my business in earshot of everybody else are distant memories. For the past nine years banking has been a pleasure. Up until 1999 my banking was done over the phone any time day or night, 365 days a year. When you have been used ...
...access the website for the first time. From then on you log in by entering three letters from your password. Recently First Direct have revamped their site and it now takes alot longer for it to open, although this could, in part, be down to my computer which is starting to show its age! Once you have access to your account/s you can view your balances, download statements, arrange payments, set up/amend/delete standing orders and direct debits, ...

mickfleet 02.02.2003 (03.02.2003) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...money that tempted me to first direct. i has a leaflet come through with some mail that offered me £35 for opening an account with first direct. of course i was hunting high and low for the terms and conditions, looking for the catch but i was surprised to find that there wasn't one. the only stipulation was that i had to have a balance in the account by a certain date, that wasn't a problem. so i logged on the website and filled out an online application ...
...a savings account. first direct are a bank who seem to value service. their customer service phoneline is open 24/7 and i have to say that their tv ad's are doing justice to their service. everyone i've spoke to on the line has been very helpful and surprisingly cheerful. it's also welcome not to have a glut of menus when you call and you're answered pretty quickly. i check my accounts online and first direct's site is pretty simple. you have a password ...

utero 29.05.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...and wap/text banking side of first direct is also a great asset my mobile tells me if I am getting close to my overdraft mark as I have a low level limit in place. A txt warns me of the account balance and the transactions that have passed though the account that day. So a quick phone call and transfer of money and the charges are avoided and it's free the pay to keep me informed of my accounts balance, The internet site is also great to use with ...
...and access id numbers I feel safe to move money online, as well as view and amend standing orders or cancel direct debits. In fact there is little you cannot do online, you can even apply for a mortgage or credit card on the Internet. The site is easy to navigate and there is also a secure message system direct to the bank and department you want to contact and usually all enquires are answered within 24 hrs. Having also banked with Abbey National ...

Dezza_9 03.02.2003 (03.03.2003) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

First Direct was the first bank ever to launch in the UK that was entirely telephone based. This was almost eleven years ago and they have since gone from strength to strength. Starting of with only a 24-hour telephone banking operation that offered every banking service available. First Direct is a member of Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Group and has followed on in their success. HSBC is the biggest bank in the world and the success ...
...First Direct were also the market leaders in PC banking which offered customer’ the facility to operate their finances from home via a PC. Customer’ are able to pay bills, view balances, set up standing orders, send messages to First Direct without having to talk to a soul. This in itself was surely a revolution. Now they have moved one step further and launched their fantastic new website that hosts an abundance of benefits to customers. ...

Squidget 08.02.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

I first heard about First Direct from my boyfriend. He'd moved away to University and was having trouble doing his Banking because his account was with the Midland (now HSBC) and he hadn't realised they had hardly any branches in Scotland. The Midland had written to him saying that they were closing his old branch in Forest Hill in London, and moving customers to other branches nearby. But they had noticed he lived in Scotland and wondered if he'd ...
...beginning of our association with First Direct. And our first contact with what was then quite a new phenomenon.….telephone banking. The first thing that struck me about First Direct was how different they were from other Banks. There were no branches, just a voice on the other end of the telephone. You had to post any cheques you wanted credited if you didn't live near a Midland branch. But they were available 24 hours a day, so you could ...

fallen121 24.05.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct

...had heard good things about First Direct so looked at their website. They were offering (and still are) £100 for moving your account over to them and another £100 if you decide you're not happy with them and want to leave. This got me interested… History First Direct is a division of HSBC and was set up back in 1989 with a headquarters in Leeds which is where it has remained since then. It was originally part of Midland Bank but when that was bought ...
...mystery shopping service) declared that First Direct had the best call centres across all the sectors it measured (retail, financial services & insurance, telecoms & utilities, public sector and entertainment, leisure & travel). I also remembered seeing on Watchdog that First Direct was the most recommended bank in the UK with 96% of its members recommending it. 1st Account This is just their name for your bog standard bank account. This is the ...

mynameisrui 21.11.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of First Direct