No news yet but set up a Santander text alert for any deposits above £129.99 
Mine went in today 
How long did your switch start at? I just filled the criteria last night. Although I guess I need to wait for my 1PoundDD to setup
I did mine at the start of October, arrived earlier than they said, was supposed to be 60 days then they would check if I was able to get the bonus then up to 30 days to receive the bonus (I think)
How do you setup a DD?
My experience is that the merchant initiates it.
Well, I’ve had a look see on MSE and I notice that First Direct are currently offering a £150 switching bonus with no minimum monthly pay in, just deposit £1k in within 3 months. No direct debits required either. I think it might be time to cut RBS loose for the CASS bribe…
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I do think First Direct require you to send in certified copies. At least they did last time I checked which put me off opening accounts with them
I’m assuming you’re talking here about Passport, DL etc?
Yup! Not sending them stuff, be that original or copies
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Fair enough. I haven’t had to send anything like that off for years if I’m honest, especially if you apply in app, but I’m not sure if you can do that with First Direct, I’ll have to look into it.
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First Direct’s version of “pop in to your branch with some documents” is to ask you to send certified copies, since they only have limited access to the HSBC branch network.
Most people won’t have to do that - if they can verify you electronically. Make sure to check the conditions though, as anybody who has recently opened another HSBC account is ineligible, as is anybody who has ever had a First Direct account before (even if they received no bonus for opening it).
Sometimes they also do a “leaving bonus” if you use the account and then phone up to say you are switching again because you are dissatisfied with x (within 6 months to a year). I think that was last advertised about a year ago, so may not be applicable now.
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Ah, ok. I’m assuming that as I’m on the Electoral Roll at my full time address and I appear on all of the credit reference agencies with a clean bill of health, I suspect I won’t have to provide such documentation. I might give it a go 
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Yes, that booklet only applies if they do need extra documentation from you.
Most customers won’t have to send anything in if they can identify you through CRAs instead.
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I see you can apply in app. Any documentation as with Starling et al, you can just upload through the app. Seems like it might be pretty straightforward. I’ve passed Credas checks recently anyway, so I don’t forsee any issues.
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First Direct are notoriously picky, so be prepared for the potential of a surprise decline!
They do also takes ages to open the account. You may have to wait around a month for all the necessary post to arrive.
Still, it’s worth a try for the bonus (I only got £100 last year, so now I’m jealous of your extra £50)!
Thanks for the warnings. Did you apply via app or web browser via PC?
It does say in the app that if an application is successful, then one is able to use the account and app straight away.
Video selfie is required. At the end of the day, this all makes sense and for me personally, no hardship.
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In my case, you couldn’t apply via the app at the time so I used a computer. The application all went through OK but then I had to wait for the outcome (I suppose it was referred, but it didn’t say that).
Then I think I got a text to say I’d been approved and my account was open, so I called them to set up the switch (I hadn’t been able to do this online since the switching application is post-opening and I hadn’t been able to get through to it due to being referred).
There was then a significant wait for all the bits and pieces to arrive. Before I could use online banking or the app, or the account at all, I had to call them to activate my account. They said “do you have a welcome pack yet?”; I said “no, but I have my debit card so I know my account number and sort code” (I still didn’t have the PIN at this point, three weeks in).
They then proceeded to “activate” the account which required setting up numerous security questions for use with telephone banking (which they still treat as their primary “channel”). Once that was done, I could set up the app which activated a digital secure key so I could also login online. On the same call, they enrolled me in Voice ID in case I ever called them again. That all took about 30 minutes. The PIN did arrive about 3 days later.
The process may be very different now, but I would still expect it to be lengthy!
Certainly have to have your wits about you when opening a FD account. It felt like I was setting up an inordinate number of security layers (that digital security key ! 
) and I found getting confused rather easy.
That was a few years back, however. Always nice people to deal with (though my dealings were only about set-up). Long ago consigned to the deep….
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I’ve never seen so much wasted paper coming through my letterbox after I opened a First Direct account a few years ago!
Do they have transaction push notifications now?
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Indeed, @Graham!
I found them pleasant and it was fine, but also frankly a hassle. I didn’t mind that, since I was getting paid for it, but it wasn’t the simplest account opening experience. I just Googled them to see if the process has changed and stumbled onto an old Reddit thread from a couple of years ago, where somebody mentions that the account opening call was so long it put them off ever calling again. I concur with that!
@MikeZ also brings up the push notifications. They still don’t have them, which is rather annoying!
However, to their credit, once I did have that long setup call, everything was set-up properly and I never needed to call back or complain about errors in the set-up, as I’ve needed to with some banks. They even ordered the chequebook and paying-in book I asked for on the same call without any fuss (I did that so I wouldn’t need to ask for them later).
What I would say, going back to when I mentioned that phone is still their “default channel”, is that you do have to call them for lots of small oddities that their digital platforms aren’t set up for. So although they now have an online chat function, you will often get told to call them instead as the chat people “can’t do that”. I suppose the logic is “we’re a telephone bank, all our customers like the phone, it doesn’t matter if they have to call us” but it can be an annoyance.