Their 3.5% RS is OK for now
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Itās about the only product they offer thatās competitive!
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Iāve got a mortgage with them - which is actually pretty flexible once onboarded (overpayments can be made via FP/SO from any account at any time - no limit either with a fixed rate) - but the application process was slow.
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Does anyone know if there is a minimum period that you have to hold a FD account for if youāve CASSāed to them for the bonus? Iāve been with them since March this year and to be honest, Iām just not using the account for anything other than paying off my M&S credit card.
Thatās the other thing I donāt get about FD and credit card payments. When I pay my M&S balance, it shows Iāve made a payment in the credit card app and updates the actual balance within 24 hours. The FD account is different however in that it does show an āavailableā balance after Iāve paid the credit card, but it sometimes takes up to 3 days before the payment pending disappears, even though the payment has completely cleared on the credit card. Iāve got this scenario now, paid the credit card 3 days ago, still shows a pending payment in FD even though itās all gone through. All seems half cocked to me.
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Thereās no minimum period that you have to stay with them, unless one was mentioned in the conditions of the switching offer, and with First Direct there was no such condition.
The only minimum term Iām aware of was the Nationwide refer a friend scheme, where they said theyād take back your reward if the friend youād referred closed their account within three or six months, -I canāt remember which.
Also, some switch bonuses are only paid after youāve had your account for a certain length of time, so if you switch away before then you wonāt get the bonus. If youāve already had it, you can leave as soon as you like.
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You can switch the day you get your switch bonus in.
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What happens if you both switch the accounts same day?
You used to get a āleaving bonusā if you could provide a reason why you werenāt happy with them (hence switching again). To qualify for that you had to give them a fair try by keeping the account for at least 6 months, but then switch again between 6 months to a year - ringing up first to say you were leaving because you werenāt happy and explaining why.
They seem to have removed references to that from their website, but they may still (unofficially) offer it?
Iāll be giving that one a miss! Thatās such old fashioned tosh, having to phone up and speak to someone to explain yourself about why you donāt want to bank with them any more. If I can at all help it, I never want to speak to anyone at a bank, phone, branch or otherwise. I guess I should be thankful that I donāt have complications in any of my banking. Iāve had to telephone Starling a couple of times since I opened the account in 2018, but that was over initial teething issues. I now when I need to, mostly use the in app secure chat. Chase have been very good at responding to some of my queries as have Starling to be fair.
What Iāll do then, is wait until mid September before dumping FD, because then Iāll have had the account for six months. If they do pay me anything on leaving, then, well, that would be a bonus, but Iām definitely not going to phone them up because I remember the one and only phone call Iāve ever made to them which lasted 20 minutes and I quite literally felt like shoving my own head down a toilet. At least I got the free Ā£150, thatās all I wanted out of FD.
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Understood, and Iām sure the same goes for most of their customers to be honest!
I switched to them in 2017 for a free Ā£100, and never left.
That said, the only draw for most of that period, and indeed now, was/is the Regular Saver.
Other than funding that, it only holds a tenner to try and stop it becoming dormant.
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