Online Banking allows access to your accounts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, there may be times when a part of the service is unavailable to allow for maintenance and updates to the system. This will usually be between 00:00 and 06:00.
How do I access Online Banking?
Online Banking is fully integrated with our telephone service, you can therefore choose when, and how, you do your banking from home or abroad. To access the service, simply go to firstdirect.com and select 'Online Banking'. If you are accessing the service for the first time, you will need to set up a new username, password and memorable question/answer. To access full Online Banking service you will need either a Secure Key or a Digital Secure Key. You will be asked to choose which type of Secure Key you would like when you log on for the first time. You can access a limited Online Banking service by setting up a username, password and memorable question/answer.
What are my responsibilities with my password?
You should keep your security details secret at all times and not divulge them to anyone, including first direct employees. If you believe your password has become compromised you should call 03 456 100 234 immediately.
Can my electronic password be anything?
Your electronic password needs to be between 8 and 30 characters long and can be a mixture of letters and numbers. For security reasons we recommend that you do not use obvious passwords such as 123456789. Your electronic password must not be the same as your telephone password.
What are my responsibilities with my Secure Key?
You should keep your Secure Key safe. Your Secure Key PIN is personal to you and you should keep it secret at all times. Do not divulge it to anyone, including first direct employees. If your Secure Key has been lost or stolen or you believe your PIN has been compromised you should call us on 08 456 100 242 immediately.
What are my responsibilities with my Digital Secure Key?
You should keep your Mobile device with your Digital Secure Key on it safe. Your Digital Secure Key password is personal to you and you should keep it secret at all times. Do not divulge it to anyone, including first direct employees. If your Digital Secure Key has been lost or stolen or you believe your password has been compromised you should call us on 03 456 100 242 immediately.
How does the navigation work?
When you click on the main menu options on the left, further navigable options appear below. This means that getting around Online Banking is much faster and you can see what's available more easily.
Which accounts can I access via Online Banking?
Balances are available for the following accounts:
The balance displayed may also include cheques that have credited your account but are not yet available to withdraw. You will normally have to wait three business weekdays after a cheque is paid in before withdrawing the money. However, please note that cheques can be returned unpaid at a later date. If a cheque is returned, we will debit your account and send an advice to you by post. If you would like further clarification on returned cheques please refer to the first direct Account Terms and Conditions or call 03 456 100 100.
It is possible that certain transactions may debit and credit your account throughout the day. Your balance will always be the most up to date balance when you first view it, but if you wish to obtain the most up to date details whilst you are logged on to your account, click 'refresh balances'.
Please note that the 'refresh balances' function will update all the balance information displayed within the balance summary, but will not update statement information.
When will cheques I write show on the system?
When you issue a cheque payable to someone else, the amount will normally be deducted from your account two business weekdays after the recipient pays it into their account. For example, the amount of a cheque paid in on Monday will normally be deducted from your account on Wednesday. More time may be needed for a cheque paid into a building society account or a bank outside England or Wales, or any accounts held at a non-clearing bank. If you cash a cheque at a branch of HSBC Bank, the amount will normally be deducted from your account immediately. If your account goes overdrawn, or your existing overdraft increases as a result of our deducting a cheque from your account, we will charge you interest from the day the cheque is deducted from your account. It is possible that certain transactions may debit and credit your account throughout the day. Your statement will always be the most up to date when you first 'log on' to your account, but if you wish to obtain the most up to date details whilst you are 'logged on', click 'refresh statement'.
Please note that the 'refresh statement' function will update the statement information for the account selected, but will not update any other account or your balance summary.
How many transactions can I see?
Currently Online Banking holds up to the last 72 months worth of transactions (while you have an account with us). Should you require paper statements, please call on 03 456 100 100. A charge of £2.50 will be incurred for each paper copy of a statement issued.
Can I download statement information to my computer?
Online Banking allows you to electronically download transactions to a file on your computer. This file can then be loaded into your own excel spreadsheet.
Transactions for the following accounts can be downloaded:
You can also load the file into the following personal finance management software, although we acknowledge these are old applications and this service is limited for the time being:
Microsoft® Money, Intuit Quicken (1997-2005 versions), or your own spreadsheet, for example - Lotus 123, Microsoft® Excel*and Microsoft® Works.
The default date range for downloading statements is set from the previous day, back for 90 days (up to a maximum of 200 transactions within the period selected). You can change the date range if it is still within the 90 day and 200 transaction limit.
Credit card and Gold card statements can only be downloaded one statement at a time.
What is an International Bank Account Number?
You will see an International Bank Account Number displayed on your bank statements. International Bank Account Numbers are primarily used across Europe to uniquely identify a bank account number. If you receive payments from Europe you are likely to be asked for your International Bank Account number instead of your "normal" account number.
What is a Branch Identifier Code?
You will see a Branch Identifier Code displayed on your bank statements. The Bank Identifier Code is an address that uniquely identifies the branch where your account is held. If you receive payments from Europe you are likely to be asked for your Branch Identifier Code.
Where can I find my International Bank Account Number and Branch Identifier Code?
You can find these numbers by selecting to print your statement on Online Banking. You can see them on the print preview option and on the printed version of your statement.
Can I save the format and date each time I download statement information?
You can save the format of your download information so you don't have to select it each time. If you choose to save the format, it will pre-select the most recent dates since your last download (except credit cards where no dates will be saved). You can of course change both the format and the dates if you choose.
Can I print my statement?
You can view and print up to 90 days account transactions (while you have an account open with us) to a maximum of 200 transactions, for the following accounts:
You can select the statement period you require and include an account summary* detailing the total amount paid in and out of the account, the account overdraft limit where applicable and the opening and closing balance for the selected period.
* account summary not available for visa accounts
What charges information can I see?
When fees or overdraft interest have been incurred, these will be detailed on a charges advice 21 days prior to the charge being applied. If you have not suppressed charges advice a paper copy will be sent to you, otherwise a link to the charges advice will appear on Online Banking at the top of the statement screen. You can view the 3 previous charging periods.
What is overdraft interest?
Overdraft interest is calculated during the statement month on any debit balances and any withdrawals made against uncleared funds.
How do I find out how much I have been charged?
When fees or overdraft interest have been incurred, these will be detailed on a charges advice 21 days prior to the charge being applied. If you have not suppressed charges advice a paper copy will be sent to you, otherwise a link to the charges advice will appear on Online Banking at the top of the statement screen.
When is my account debited?
Any fees and overdraft interest you have incurred will be deducted from your account 21 days after the statement of charges has been produced.
Can I send messages to you electronically?
Yes, by using the 'secure message' option under 'contact us' menu. You can also send other comments by using 'feedback', under 'contact us'.
How quickly will you respond to messages?
We will respond to your messages within 48 hours. Whilst in all instances we may not have the answer to your query we will be able to advise you of the likely timescales.
What can I use the electronic message service for?
We recommend that you use the electronic message service for non-urgent queries. In circumstances where the request is urgent please call us on 03 456 100 100 for us to carry out your request immediately.
Can I send money to someone for the first time online?
Yes, if you have a Secure Key, you can set up new payment destinations online - select 'Payments & transfers', 'Send money', choose the account to make the transfer from followed by either 'Send money to a company' or 'Send money to another person'.
If you have opted not to have a Secure Key you won't be able to set up a new payment online.
We hold most account details for telecom, gas, water, electricity and mail order providers as well as Visa and Mastercard under the 'Send money to a company' option. You will need to select the destination, input your reference number and other payment details. You can also send money to your first direct credit card using this option.
You can send money to other accounts if you have the destination sort code and account number by using the 'Send money to another person' option. If you are unsure of the banking details to use, please contact the beneficiary.
Some new payments will require a Transaction Signing code to be generated using your Secure Key or Digital Secure Key. If the payment you are making requires a Transaction Signing code there will be on screen instructions to help you. If you require assistance when generating this code please call 0345 587 3494.
You'll be given the opportunity to double check the details before confirming your request. It's really important that you make sure the details you've given are correct because we'll send the money based on this information. If you give us the wrong information we won't be responsible if the payment is delayed, made incorrectly or fails.
How long does it take to send money between first direct and HSBC accounts?
Requests to send money from your account to another first direct or HSBC (not HSBC Head Office Collection) account will take place immediately, 7 days a week. If the request has been arranged after 11:45pm then the funds will transfer immediately, but will show on your statement as the following day. These payments may also be subject to fraud checks.
Who can I send money to and when will they get it?
You can send money to most UK based individuals and organisations. A number of UK banks now operate a system called the Faster Payments Service (FPS). FPS is a UK clearing system which is available between the member banks and covers the following types of payment:
In normal circumstances, money should reach the beneficiary straight away, subject to normal checks.
Some organisations and banks will not accept FPS payments, in which case funds will be sent using the existing system and be received on the next working day provided your instruction is received by us before the applicable cut-off time.
What are the cut-off times for sending money?
If you select to send the money on the date the request is input, the money will be taken from your account immediately.
Faster Payments generated after 11:45pm will not be sent until the next day. If you ask for money to be sent immediately, it cannot be stopped.
Payments that are not Faster Payments and which are generated after 3:30pm or on a non-working day will not be sent until the next working day.
What is the difference between balance and available balance?
Your balance includes all transactions that have been posted to your account at the time of your request and may include uncleared items such as cheques paid in. Your balance may not represent funds that are available for you to withdraw.
Your available balance represents funds that you are able to withdraw against (subject to any restrictions on withdrawals) and includes any arranged overdraft on your account, but may include cheques which have still not been paid and which could be returned unpaid, at a later date (see the first direct Account Terms and Conditions for late return of unpaid cheques). Both balances may include transactions that are not yet processed, such as debit card transactions, and may be subject to reconciliation for accounting errors and Court Orders affecting your account.
How long does it take for money to be sent to a first direct credit card?
Money sent to first direct credit cards or any HSBC credit card will normally be reflected in the credit card available balance immediately. The account balance will be updated the next working day. If the money was sent after 5pm on the last working day of the week, it will not update the credit card available balance until the day after the next working day.
What do I do if the destination account number is not 8 digits long?
Although most banks use 8 digit account numbers, some have either 7 or 9 digits and in these cases changes are required in order to send payments to them.
For Egg Savings and Lloyds TSB accounts, if the account number is 7 digits long, please precede this with a 0 (i.e. account number 1234567 will need to be 01234567).
For Girobank Account/National Savings, if the account number is 9 digits long, please remove the first digit of the account number and replace the last digit of the sort code with this (i.e. sort code 720000, account number 123456789 would become sort code 720001, account number 23456789).
If your account number is not 8 digits long and is not covered by one of the instances above, please call us on 03 456 100 100 for assistance.
Can I delete payment destinations?
You can delete payment destinations from your list of payees although for those you have recently sent money to, you will need to wait to do this.
Can I send money to countries outside the UK?
Yes, you can send money to countries outside the UK via Online Banking or by calling us on 03 456 100 100. You can call us from abroad on +44 113 2345678.
Things you'll need before making an international payment
Please make sure you give us all the correct information to avoid delays or incorrect payments (though we'll do our best to help and make reasonable efforts to recover the payment). If a payment is returned, you might get a different amount back because of other bank's charges and differences in exchange rates.
As part of our ongoing protection against fraud, one of our team might give you a call to confirm the payment.