Posted November 15, 200618 yr First Direct to end free banking First Direct says it is costly to maintain some accounts First Direct is set to charge its customers for running a current account unless they pay in or keep a balance of at least £1,500 a month. It is proposing to charge people who only have a current account a £10 monthly fee, potentially affecting up to 195,000 customers. The fee will be waived if customers open a savings account or buy products such as home insurance or loans. The bank said the move was aimed at dormant or rarely used accounts. Primary customers About 40,000 of its basic accounts are not used at all while a further 250,000 accounts see fewer than 10 transactions a month. The new charging structure, part of an overhaul of fees for accounts and overdrafts, will come into effect in February. I want to focus our efforts on our most important customers Chris Pilling, First Direct chief executive End of 'free' accounts? First Direct, the UK telephone and internet banking arm of HSBC, will write to all its 1.3 million customers to let them know how they can avoid the £10 charge. The fee will apply to those paying less than £1,500 into their account each month or those who have an average monthly balance below £1,500. "I want to focus our efforts on our most important customers: those who use us as their main bank or who have a number of products with us," said Chris Pilling, First Direct's chief executive. HAVE YOUR SAY "I closed my First Direct account this morning" Chris, London Send us your comments "Many of our customers do not enjoy the full benefits as they use us for a secondary account." First Direct said it believed 85% of its customers would be unaffected by the charges. "Some customers are more important than others because those customers who have the deepest relationship with us, benefit from the offer we have got," Mr Pilling said. Mark Gander of the campaigning website Consumer Action Group said First Direct's move was the first step towards the end of free banking in the UK. "This is an example of banks putting their toe in the water of ending free banking," he told the BBC. "First Direct is a small bank and maybe it's a sacrificial lamb to put out there to see what's going to happen." this sounds bad if all banks are gonna go this way. will have to keep my cash in my moneybox again esp since my bank has never seen £1,500!!!
November 15, 200618 yr ****ing greedy parasites :rolleyes: the c**ts are already raking it in to the tune of £10bn a year profit in some cases yet that is clearly not enough :rolleyes:, it is time to bring in regulated price capping for banks by the government or the windfall tax as this is getting beyond a joke, not to mention the fact the THIEVES already rake it in through charges for using cashpoints etc. Edited November 15, 200618 yr by Kimi Räikkönen
November 15, 200618 yr Chris Pilling, firstdirect Chief Exec says it all, really... "I want to focus our efforts on our most important customers" - in other words, people with under £1,500 in their bank accounts are, to him, unimportant customers. The ****ing cheek of it! I was one of the first customers of firstdirect in 1989/1990, and I held an account with them for many years until 1996 when I applied for a mortgage through firstdirect. I was refused - told I 'didn't meet their criteria'... this was despite being a loyal customer for 6 or 7 years and also NEVER going over my overdraft limit and ALWAYS, every month, having my wages paid into the account. I closed the account immediately. And I hope EVERY firstdirect customer, regardless of whether they have £1 or £100,000 in their accounts, does the same to this greedy bank. It's not even as if they have multiple staff bills to pay or expensive rents - they have a minimal call centre staff (paid absolute peanuts) and no rent as they are a 100% telephone banking service. Let's hope this nasty HSBC subsidiary REALLY pay for this....
November 15, 200618 yr Something more useful. How to reclaim bank charges. This is a step-by-step guide, including template letters, to forcing your bank to repay the last six years charges for going beyond your overdraft limit, or cheque and Direct Debits bouncing. Plus there’s a specially developed calculator so you can add interest on top. Thus you can join the thousands who’ve already successfully reclaimed £100s or £1000s. It’s a true consumer revolution and one this site’s proudly been a part of since the early days. I, and many others, believe the penalty charges banks and credit card companies levy are unlawful; the banks of course disagree. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/v...141050760,24632,
November 16, 200618 yr Chris Pilling, firstdirect Chief Exec says it all, really... "I want to focus our efforts on our most important customers" - in other words, people with under £1,500 in their bank accounts are, to him, unimportant customers. The ****ing cheek of it! I was one of the first customers of firstdirect in 1989/1990, and I held an account with them for many years until 1996 when I applied for a mortgage through firstdirect. I was refused - told I 'didn't meet their criteria'... this was despite being a loyal customer for 6 or 7 years and also NEVER going over my overdraft limit and ALWAYS, every month, having my wages paid into the account. I closed the account immediately. And I hope EVERY firstdirect customer, regardless of whether they have £1 or £100,000 in their accounts, does the same to this greedy bank. It's not even as if they have multiple staff bills to pay or expensive rents - they have a minimal call centre staff (paid absolute peanuts) and no rent as they are a 100% telephone banking service. Let's hope this nasty HSBC subsidiary REALLY pay for this.... How much of this is being directed by HSBC though...? I suspect rather a lot of it is.. I can see HSBC proper following this, I think what they're doing is to have a subsidiary do it in order to test the water to gauge public reaction... Here's hoping that public reaction is utter outrage at this totally unnacceptable Corporate greed. Because, if they get away with it, other banks will follow suit.... It's about time the Govt and EU stopped fannying around with these banks and got seriously pro-active on their dodgy deals.... As e-motion points out, much of their charging is totally illegal....
November 16, 200618 yr I think this is all directed by HSBC, Scott, as you say. I know quite a few people still with firstdirect accounts - all of them are planning to close them after this announcement. Let's hope firstdirect going under will deter the others from following suit.... It's vital we let banks know whgat we think of them, especially with matters regarding them legally thieving from their customers.... I emailed firstdirect and told them exactly what I thought of their Chief Executive - and these charges. Here's the link if you care to, too... http://www.firstdirect.com/contact_us.shtml Edited November 16, 200618 yr by russt68
November 16, 200618 yr I think this is all directed by HSBC, Scott, as you say. I know quite a few people still with firstdirect accounts - all of them are planning to close them after this announcement. Let's hope firstdirect going under will deter the others from following suit.... It's vital we let banks know whgat we think of them, especially with matters regarding them legally thieving from their customers.... I emailed firstdirect and told them exactly what I thought of their Chief Executive - and these charges. Here's the link if you care to, too... http://www.firstdirect.com/contact_us.shtml emailed 'em mate....
November 16, 200618 yr oh, I bet they'll be ****ing SMARTING from your email, Scott... well done... the more people tell them how disgusting this charge is... maybe they'll get the message? Doubt it, though...
November 16, 200618 yr oh, I bet they'll be ****ing SMARTING from your email, Scott... well done... the more people tell them how disgusting this charge is... maybe they'll get the message? Doubt it, though... It'll probably achieve sod all.. I think what WILL work though is if enough people close down their accounts in protest... That'll make 'em hurt.... :lol: Consumer boycotts do actually achieve things....
November 16, 200618 yr I know 4 people with firstdirect accounts - 2 closed them down today, and one of the others plans to do the same on the weekend.... and none of them have less than £1,500 in their accounts so wouldn't be affected. I think the Chief Exec of this company still thinks it's Thatcher's 80s.... where people don't give a toss when the underdog is being trodden on..... to charge these people £10 a month, in effect, charging the poorest of their customers, it's great to see the richer customers nowadays leaving in protest.
November 16, 200618 yr I know 4 people with firstdirect accounts - 2 closed them down today, and one of the others plans to do the same on the weekend.... and none of them have less than £1,500 in their accounts so wouldn't be affected. I think the Chief Exec of this company still thinks it's Thatcher's 80s.... where people don't give a toss when the underdog is being trodden on..... to charge these people £10 a month, in effect, charging the poorest of their customers, it's great to see the richer customers nowadays leaving in protest. It's basically unethical, and probably illegal.... But you wont see HSBC being charged with any actual criminal offences... Reckon you're more likely to see Satan and God playing ice hockey on the lake of fukkin' fire before the establishment actually grows a pair and takes some of these bloody banks to court on fraud charges.... <_<
November 17, 200618 yr I just received this automated, stock-answer response - how insulting... 17-Nov-2006 11:20 To: Mr R Thomas Re: Banking Fee Thank you for your message dated 16-Nov-2006 regarding the new banking fee. I can confirm that all first direct customers will be receiving a letter to outline their individual circumstances and to explain the charge in full. I am sorry you have already made the decision to close your accounts with us. first direct are asking all of our customers to await the pending letter before making any decisions about moving their banking as their personal circumstance may not be affected by the new banking fee. Many of our customers do not enjoy the full benefits of our services, as they use us for a secondary account. This change is aimed at encouraging customers to use us as their primary bank. In addition we are also making our overdraft proposition, simpler and easier for our customers to understand, and lowering overdraft costs. Although first direct have some very loyal and rewarding customers, we also have a large number of dormant accounts. Dormant and secondary accounts are a significant cost to our business, reducing our ability to reinvest in continued development of our outstanding customer service. We want to focus on our customers who use us as their main bank. Implementing the new banking fee should encourage our customers to deepen their relationship with us. More than 85% of our customer base will be unaffected by this change. In the meantime, please contact us on 08456 100 106, if you would like to discuss this matter further or visit www.firstdirect.com where we have setup a FAQ page. Regards Saffron Hanson Electronic Services
November 17, 200618 yr I just received this automated, stock-answer response - how insulting... 17-Nov-2006 11:20 To: Mr R Thomas Re: Banking Fee Thank you for your message dated 16-Nov-2006 regarding the new banking fee. I can confirm that all first direct customers will be receiving a letter to outline their individual circumstances and to explain the charge in full. I am sorry you have already made the decision to close your accounts with us. first direct are asking all of our customers to await the pending letter before making any decisions about moving their banking as their personal circumstance may not be affected by the new banking fee. Many of our customers do not enjoy the full benefits of our services, as they use us for a secondary account. This change is aimed at encouraging customers to use us as their primary bank. In addition we are also making our overdraft proposition, simpler and easier for our customers to understand, and lowering overdraft costs. Although first direct have some very loyal and rewarding customers, we also have a large number of dormant accounts. Dormant and secondary accounts are a significant cost to our business, reducing our ability to reinvest in continued development of our outstanding customer service. We want to focus on our customers who use us as their main bank. Implementing the new banking fee should encourage our customers to deepen their relationship with us. More than 85% of our customer base will be unaffected by this change. In the meantime, please contact us on 08456 100 106, if you would like to discuss this matter further or visit www.firstdirect.com where we have setup a FAQ page. Regards Saffron Hanson Electronic Services It's BS really mate.. If Dormant and inactive accounts are such a problem, then it's simple enough to target those and those only surely.... Send out letters instructing those with such accounts to either use them or close them, or else be charged...
Create an account or sign in to comment