First Direct Chat

I suppose it’s not really an issue for most people - few have more than £85,000 to worry.

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Officially they are the same bank. HSBC just allows them a degree of semi independence.

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I know some who do but only due to bereavement and the madness that is the UK housing market.

Another poor experience with FD today. I tried adding my debit card to Apple Pay using the in-app “Add to Apple Wallet” feature. Sadly, despite their own app initiating the process of adding to Apple Pay, they still flagged it as suspicious and blocked my debit card.

I’ve spoken to them twice so far, they keep saying the card fraud team are busy and will call me back within 15 minutes to go through the card unblocking process. They can’t transfer me.

No call backs and I’m still unable to use my debit card.

If their own app started the process from within a fully authenticated session, at least stop your own security systems from flagging it. Piss poor design.

2nd complaint of the week going in and I’ve only been with them since 13th Jan.

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This happened to me also with their own app initiating it , they flagged it as fraud.

Had to call then had to wait 24 hours after they removed the fraud flag before I could add it again.

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I haven’t had any issues adding my debit card to apple wallet on my iPhone or watch, however have had 2 Apple Pay transactions declined since opening the account 3 weeks ago. Both were foreign transactions.

Neither could be resolved over chat, had to call and was transferred to the fraud team, resolved in 10 mins or so.

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It must be ApplePay they don’t like as I’ve never had any issues adding my FD cards to Google Wallet.

It’s now been sorted. It took 4 phone calls and a long, long time on hold but we got there.

It has knocked my confidence in FD though. I will be on the move again soon.

To who, I don’t know. I’m utterly fed up with banking in general at this point.

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Intriguing…

We get it, banks are all about numbers.

Counting cash, calculating loans, keeping an eye on your outgoings.

But to us, there are certain things that are more important than just numbers. And that’s you.

You - who we think is honestly like a 10/10 most days (oh wait, that’s a number). You, the one who’s been with us since 13/10/1989, through thick and thin, black and white.

And we think it’s about time we show you how great we think you are. So, keep your eyes on your inbox because we’ve got a very nice lineup coming your way.

Until then #7861, we mean David, thanks for being you.

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May I ask why?

I’ve currently got multiple accounts and have had a lot more and haven’t really had any major issues with any of them

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In which case, you’ve just answered your own question.

You haven’t had issues, so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t feel the same way.

My frustration is around not being able to find a bank that is right for me. I’ve tried most at this point. As for who I try next, I’m really not sure. I may just choose to accept mediocre, leave the forum and never think about banking ever again… job done :slight_smile:

Who are you with at present, out of interest? As I recall, you quite like Santander?

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I can see your frustration. Have you had any thoughts on NatWest/RBS . They have the notifications you wanted.

I’m happy with Santander. I have my current and some savings accounts with them. However, they don’t have all the features some want, such as notifications.

I’ve been with First Direct for a while now and again, no issues, but obviously they are off the table for you.

I’ve also got HSBC and just got Bank of Scotland but don’t really use either of them enough to really judge them fully yet

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I would say RBS had the best app experience of all the banks I used. Lots of features that worked and the layout was good for most people. Personally, felt too cluttered for me but I doubt most will care about this

What one person judges to be a major issue, another will regard as a minor inconvenience.

You sound like you’re looking for the perfect bank, but you might have to settle for the least worst.

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Agreed. It’s just working out which is the least worst for me.

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What are your thoughts at the moment? Which are you definitely not choosing?

Have you tried NatWest Group recently? (I can’t remember if you’ve talked about NW recently). Their app is alright, transactions work fine, and I’ve never had a problem with the customer support in itself :man_shrugging:. They’d also give you a credit card if you wanted to keep it all in the same brand :slight_smile:. I think you did mention something about not wanting to go with NatWest Group though…

There’s always Kroo or Co-op Bank :wink:

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Maybe give* might not be eligible.

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Don’t all banks have, more or less, some form of issues like this at times. I have had similar with Barclays, Monzo and FD in the past. Once, HSBC blocked my card because I attempted to re-add it to my watch.

So you may not find that bank. I guess it’s finding one that’s good enough?

NatWest are decent but the silent notifications can be a game changer depending on preference. I’d avoid Nationwide, Lloyds (and co) - maybe chase might work?

You could also consider reopening HSBC and sticking with advance?

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