Pledge “firstdirect”
"I will close my First Direct Bank account on 1st February 2007 unless they reverse their decision to charge customers with a balance below £1500 but only if 200 other people will do the same."
— Kevin O'Malley (contact)
Deadline to sign up by: 31st January 2007
45 people signed up, 155 more were needed
Country: United Kingdom
More details
First Direct Bank have announced plans to charge £10 per month to customers who can't afford to hold, or deposit, £1500 each month into their accounts.
I have been a loyal First Direct customer for 13 years and have found their customer service second to none, recommending them widely to family and friends.
However I find this decision high-handed and absolutely wrong. There has been no consultation with customers about this and after all it is OUR money they are building their business on.
Sign the pledge and demonstrate the strength of feeling there is about this and, if they still won't listen, let's show them exactly how we feel by acting together on the 1st February 2007.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6148...
http://www.firstdirect.com/
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Current signatories (
= they've done it)
Kevin O'Malley, the Pledge Creator, joined by:
- Jayne Hathway
- Lynn O'Malley
- Jo Lamb
- Steve Setford
- Gareth Maldini
- Efi Chatzopoulou
- Joe Leech
- clare guy
- Joanne Saint
- Jen Pegram
- H
- Philippa Wilcox
- emily conroy
- Danny Allen
- Adele Grover
- Ted Smith
- John Drake
- Jason Eden
- Marc Levine
- Mary Douglas-Jones
- alex sandro de souza
- Chris Thomas
- j r paine
- Guy Thompson
- daniel gregory
- Sarah Nash
- James Baker
- Reg Morrison
- david scott
- Craig Webber
- Amy B
- Frank Plowright
- Graham Gardiner
- Jimbo
- giovanni frisari
- KHannan
- Susan Hensman
- 8 people who did not want to give their names
They will be charging account holders who only have a single current account so if you have a deposit/savings account or other card/accoubt with them you will not be charged
Thanks for your comment. The First Direct position is as you set it out but I put a clear link in my pledge to their site so anyone can see their case. My objections in particular are to the lack of consultation and the principle, rather than the detail.
This won't effect me (something that First Direct were at pains to point out when I phoned to complain) but I consider this action to be unfair and as this bank uses my money I want them to act ethically and to listen to me and other customers when we feel they have made a decision that we consider to be wrong and unfair.
By all means close down dormant bank accounts with zero balance by negotiating with the customer on an individual basis but by imposing such high deposit limits they are, I suspect, cynically driving away "unprofitable" customers. If they continue with this policy I hope that they will see that some of the "profitable" customers will be leaving them too and no longer acting as the informal ambassadors who have promoted their service widely over the last ten years.
Great pledge, and one that has caused me some concern. I do have quite a few accounts with fd. As I've been with them since 1989 and like you received good service, its only recently that I've started to question why I give them such opportunity to play with my money.
There are plenty of other good banks, for an objective review of current accounts go to www.fool.co.uk
I feel that fd are being money snobs. Only those that earn 28K plus can bank with them. Wouldn't like to be seen associated with that!
Thanks for the tip off on fool.co.uk. I had been wondering who to move my huge piles of cash to- I'd sort of settle on the Cooperative bank but I'll check out the fool site and see if there is another ethical alternative.
k
I'm pleased if you aren't going to be charged £10 but that isnt the point for me. I'm not going to be charged anything as I already have a VISA card, cheque account and savings account, but I object to this on principle. The folks who will be charged are those who can't afford to pay and this, in my view, is simply wrong.
On principle we weren't prepared to open a third account just to suit fd. We're moving everything to a high interest earning current account so have ended up with a better deal!