I just tried to log on to my First Direct online bank account only to get this message:
important information
sorry, first direct is currently unable to support access to our internet banking service through the Safari browser. We are working hard to fix this.
We recommend that you install Firefox (version 1.5 or higher) so that you can access our internet banking service. This is available at www.mozilla.com.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience.
I read on silicon.com that this was an un-anticipated issue emerging from a identity/ security upgrade that affects 3% of their 700k customers. That is probably the same identity/ security upgrade that caused me to put the phone down on the tech support person I spoke to last week about not being able to access my business bank account, despite having been able to do so for the last 5 years without any problem.
Anyway – not noticing that 21,000 First Direct customers were using Safari seems pretty naive to me. I used to be a strong advocate of First Direct, but over the last year I just get the sense they are getting dragged back into ‘business as usual’ for HSBC, i.e. just the same poor service and lack of interest in customer needs as all the other major banks.
