Anyone use First Direct (owned by HSBC) for the current account and/or credit?

I've just arrived in the UK this week and I'm trying to get things like bank accounts and phone set up.  I thought I'd be able to transfer my American Express account to the UK pretty easily (after spending too much money on it for years and never missing a payment), but they still require a UK bank account to do that.

Heard about First Direct when looking at some consumer reviews (from JD Power and the like).  Apparently started as an Internet bank (later bought by HSBC), but still gets higher marks than others for customer service (and you can use HSBC branches/ATMs).

Has anyone had experience with them, or know whether there are any advantages/disadvantages vs. just using HSBC (aside from a different website and iOS app)?

Thanks!

I have an account with them. It took me about 18 months to get an account, though, as (for whatever reason) they kept turning me down for a current account (and after that, you have to wait 6 months to re-apply). I also have an account (opened previously) for my business with HSBC, so I don't know if that helped.

First Direct's customer service has been excellent. HSBC was fine, but you have to go in branch and wait to see someone, whereas with FD you can just pick up the phone and sort out whatever you need. I don't write checks much, so haven't had to deal with that.

FD does (or did) give you £100 for opening an account, supposedly after you've had it for 3 months (but I got mine early, just around the 2 month mark). Supposedly they also give you £100 if you decide they suck and want to leave, but I haven't done that.

Since opening an account with them (current and online savings), I've also opened a regular saver account as it's offering 8% interest. You can only put in £300/month for up to a year, but at least that's 8% on up to £3,600.

I also have accounts with HSBC (business), Santander (current), and Lloyds (current/credit card). Transferring money between any of those 3 takes 2+ hours. Transferring money between FD and Santander is instant, even though they're not linked. I think the same is true with HSBC, but I only do an automated transfer on a certain day of the month so I'm not sure if it's instant.

Hope that helps!

We have an offset mortgage & current account with First Direct, had it for about 2 years and haven't had a single bad experience with them in that time. Can do nearly everything on the internet, and just about everything else on the phone. Lots of HSBC branches about when you need to pay cheques in as well. All in all a much better experience than I had with RBS.

Thanks guys, that's helpful.

A related question... do either of you know whether you get a discount on wire transfers between First Direct in the UK and HSBC in the US (as I believe you do between linked HSBC accounts in the UK and US)?


And I guess while I'm at it... are there any other banks besides HSBC that offer UK and US accounts with discounted transfers?

And I guess while I'm at it... are there any other banks besides HSBC that offer UK and US accounts with discounted transfers?

I use XE.com to do all my US/UK transfers, so the fees are pretty minimal.

That said, I know Barclays/Bank of America had a deal where BOA would waive ATM fees to withdraw cash at Barclays machines (not sure about the reverse). I think when I looked into it there was still some bogus 4% "international fee" or something which made it a moot point, but that was a few years ago.