Seemingly secure (first-e.com)

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	first-e.com
Date:	20/07/00 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seems secure, excellent interest rates

Disadvantages: Not easy to use, lots of security software needs to be downloaded

If one thing's for certain, first-e is secure... or at least, so they want you to believe. In order to bank with first-e, you seemingly have to download several megabytes worth of security code to make sure that no-one else can get access to your funds.

Once this is downloaded, you never need to do it again, unless you want to access your account from another computer of course... not that you'd ever want to do that would you? Oh, you would? Well, they're not really prepared for that, because every computer you want to access your account on will need to download the security software in order to do so. Oh, and periodically, they update their security software, which obviously means downloading the new software. Fortunately, all of this is done automatically, but it does mean a delay in doing your online banking, as the upgraded software is downloaded.

I'm pretty convinced that the security is very tight, I've not experienced any problems with security since I opened an account with them a few months ago. However, other banks often wonder why you want to transfer money to an account with "Banque d'Escompte", which is the bank that actually operates the first-e internet bank, and you often need to reassure them that you've not made a mistake.

Actually setting up the first-e account is more of an ordeal than you might expect too, involving filling in several application forms, and sending them several documents to prove your existence.

In order to transfer money out of your first-e account, you need to use a special code from a series of codes that first-e e-mail to you. They call this a TAN list, and it arrives in your inbox encrypted, so you have to download an additional piece of software, so that your browser can unencrypt the TAN list.

Now, supposing that you're prepared to put up with the hassle of setting up your account, the delays of downloading security software, an
d the idiosyncracies of their system, first-e offers what is undeniably the highest rate of interest for a savings account - 6.4% (or 6.81% gross) at the moment. It's a tricky system to use, but it's worth it for the return on your investment. If you're not likely to need access to your money in a hurry, I strongly recommend putting some of it in the first-e bank.

Summary: