Tuesday 17th July 2007
Despite the introduction of a monthly charge for its banking services, online financial services provider first direct claims a relatively small proportion of its current account customers have moved to another provider.
An estimated 20,000 of first directs 1.3 million current account holders have quit its service since the introduction of a £10 monthly fee for accounts which do not meet minimum activity requirements.
This represents more than one in ten of the 195,000 account holders which first direct predicted would be affected by the charge on its introduction.
But the bank refuses to confirm the figure and expresses delight at the number of customers who have chosen to keep their accounts open.
"A small number of people out of our 1.3 million customer base have closed accounts following our decision to charge," a spokesperson reveals.
"But we are pleased with the numbers given that it was a significant move for us."
Those who have remained with first direct are charged £10 per month, with the fee waived for customers who pay in at least £1,500 over the course of the month.
If the account balance is maintained at more than £1,500 the fee is also avoided, while customers who obtain a second first direct product such as a mortgage or savings account are told they will not be charged.
Previous research commissioned by first direct found that 16 per cent of all working hours now take place outside of the traditional "nine to five" business day.
The financial services provider predicts that this could grow to 35 per cent of all time spent at work by 2027 to contribute some £450 billion to the economy.
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