first direct Reviews

Excellent service, seamless operation.

I have been with First Direct for so many years and wouldn't change. I've always had exemplary service. I have only given 4 stars and the reason is the layout of the online Accounts page. You changed this a year or two ago and I have found it harder to navigate than before due to they layout and the colours used. The pink headers for each date are just too pale and I have to hunt up and down to locate the day I want. It would be great if you could deepen the pink headers and use a different colour for todays page. Just a small thing but it annoys me every time I use the computer to check my accounts. My eyes are not as good as some peoples so a little help like this would be great. Thank you.

Setting up a standing order is time consuming, tedious and complicated

I've been with First Direct since 1982, drawn by their revolutionary telephone banking. I've always had confidence in what they're doing and never had any reason to need help. Very happy customer.

I have been a customer for many years and I am very happy with FD. Recommend them all the time.

simple easy to operate and confidence of security

Attempting to comply with FD's crypto limits, I moved £2.5k then, the next day, another £2.5 and, the day after that, another £2.5k. I sort of expected their Fraud department's interrogation the first time and answered all their questions. At that time, I then pre-warned them I'd be sending 3 more identical payments (up to the maximum £10k in a 30 days rolling period) in coming days and I hoped not to have to undergo the same interrogation each time. Nevertheless, I did! Very annoying and disappointing.

I’m honestly baffled by First Direct’s wisdom in launching First Direct Perks. The name is promising, but the delivery… less so. It’s run through a third-party company called Marketing Lounge Partnership, which already feels a bit detached. I’ve banked with First Direct for decades and, until now, they’ve been brilliant. So when I got an email out of the blue announcing this shiny new perks programme, I thought, “Well, this should be interesting.” The message promised “amazing perks” and directed me to a website to register. That’s when the confusion began. Why, I wondered, does my bank need me to register for perks? I’m already a customer — a loyal one, at that. Still, curiosity won. I clicked the link and was immediately asked for chunks of personal information. Alarm bells rang — it looked every inch like a phishing scam. I rang First Direct, expecting reassurance, but even their own team didn’t seem to know this programme existed. After a merry round of transfers, someone finally confirmed it was genuine. Reassured, I registered and waited for the magic to happen. Weeks later, another email arrived, urging me to “check my perks.” I clicked in with the excitement of a child at Christmas. The reality? Nine perks. Seven were bog-standard discount codes, and two were competitions. Out of sheer stubbornness, I tried the Cineworld offer: two tickets for £10, Monday to Thursday, 2D only. After jumping through more hoops than a circus poodle, I discovered the code didn’t even work. On closer inspection, two tickets were actually £11 anyway, so all this drama was to save a grand total of £1 — assuming the code had worked in the first place. So let me get this straight: First Direct is sending out fanfares and glossy emails about perks that are little more than a pound-off coupon you could beat with a quick Google search? Either the marketing team never bothered to test this, or someone high up trusted them a little too much. This isn’t perks — it’s an insult dressed as a perk. Save the money, fix it properly, or scrap it altogether. For the record, I ended up booking my Cineworld tickets using a different discount code I found elsewhere. First Direct is still an excellent bank. But when it comes to perks, they’ve scored an own goal.

terrible customer service, unhelpful

Employees are experiencing hallucinations, hearing whispers when I talk to them on the helpline, and asking if anyone is around me. I explain that I'm alone, and the employee continues to say that she hears whispers. I suggest you put down those medications...

Outstanding service from the two agents that I spoke to - I only wish I had got their names to thank them properly. The issue was resolved quickly and efficiently. Am a long-standing client for this very reason.

They refused point blank to pay the advertised £175 switching bonus because I was switching from a business account, even though they agree that this limitation ws not mentioned in their advertising. ... and your offer of a call is worthless - as you well know. You're posturing in public wih no intention to do anything in private. I've been told you will not discuss this with me further, and that I should go to the ombudsman - who we both know is worthless. You people make me tired and sad - not for my lost £175 but for the fact that people like you earn a good living treating decent people this way.

It has all gone very well,I was a bit nervous switching but everything was done for me and the fed sight seems very easy to use.

I left my previous bank due to poor service: taking 20mins to get through and no “out of hours” customer service for example. Since joining FD I have been amazed at the change in customer care. The transfer was seamless ( and unexpectedly they are giving me an “hello” gift of £175). I have to say that at the Cooperative Bank, when I did get through the staff were great, so it was a systemic issue and lack of investment in staff numbers that was the issue. I’m a happy bunny now!

They recommend that you use the automated chat to open an account, so spent 5-10 minutes going through the procedure. Was then told that a human would continue the chat. Human eventually replied to say that sorry, but that particular account was “off sale” at the moment and to please try again in a couple of days! I telephoned instead a couple of days later, spoke to a very friendly and helpful member of staffs who proceeded to open the account without any problems or issues. Please stick with human staff members instead of trying to force your customers to have to interact with untested chat functions, else you will lose far more custom than the small amount of savings you’ll make by ‘automating’.