Good, competent, highly recommended. (firstdirect.co.uk)

Member Name: zero

Product:	firstdirect.co.uk
Date:	21/07/01 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reliable, simple, versatile

Disadvantages: None really

First direct started off as a telephone-only bank. It now offers other banking channels.

My wife and I have had an account – well, several accounts actually – with first direct (the lack of capitals is intentional) since they started up, over ten years ago. I first chose first direct partly because they offered good current account interest rates, something which may no longer be the case; and partly because of the attractiveness of 24-hour telephone access, something they still offer now, and very well too.

Over the years I have used many of their services. Current accounts, insurance, deposit accounts, a loan, international funds transfers, all have come and some have gone. All were delivered impeccably. Even our mortgage was arranged by phone; now that was neat. A phone call, they sent us a form with all the boxes filled in and ticked, we signed and returned it, and voilà! All fast and easy.

To be fair I remember first direct making one mistake, once. When I spotted it, they quickly corrected it without fuss. Oh, and I once felt they didn’t offer me their best loan rate; but that, arguably, could have been my fault because of the way I asked.

First direct has only ever done one thing badly as far as I am concerned. In 1998 they experimented with “PC Banking”. This was when the internet was around, but not as widely-used as today; and internet security technology was not what it is today, so it had its own dial-up number and did not use the internet. Boy, was it bad! So many faults I quickly gave up on it, and summarised the problems in a three-letter letter!

Maybe the PC Banking works better now, I don’t know – because I use first direct’s internet banking, which is great. It works well, it is fast enough, it offers all the functionality I can think I might need, and I like it. A recent Sunday newspaper survey rated it highly too. And a tip: users of th
e internet banking service get better interest rates.

But back to the core telephone service. What matters? Well, operators answer the phone quickly, only rarely is the wait more than a few rings. The banking clerks are polite, well trained, and knowledgeable – I have just about never had a problem involving one of them. The security routine they use to identify you at each call is simple, clever, and well thought out. They offer all the services I need – the only time I go near a real bank is to pay in a cheque or to get cash (and first direct can even deliver cash, such as foreign currency, but I have never tried that). Sometimes, if I want to do something “complicated” – insurance, foreign transfer for example – there is a wait to be connected to a specialist, which is a pity. but even this transfer is handled smoothly, there is none of this nonsense about telling each person who you are, why you are calling and so on.

An extension of the telephone banking is the SMS service, which automatically sends a message to my mobile phone whenever one of my account balances or transaction exceeds a limit. I can specify the accounts and limits. It works, but I must say I am less keen on this. How useful it is depends on how you run your account(s) and how you set up the service.

Basically what I get from first direct is good, dependable, service. Their rates may not be the best possible, and that may be more important to some. But the bank offering the best rates changes every month anyway.

The only other drawback I can think of is that they won't open a company account - strictly personal accounts only. When I was self-employed, that was a pity; but it won't affect most customers.

Would I recommend it? Yes, there is absolutely nothing worthwhile to say against first direct. So I suppose that means five stars.

Summary: