Why all the questions to open a simple First Direct savings account?

In a whirlwind of activity this week, savings rates continued to rise.

You can now get a rate of 5.41 percent on an annual fix and 4 percent on an easy-to-access bill — with the expectation of more increases to follow.

Most of the activity comes from smaller banks, but even large banks offer savings products in dribs and drabs, albeit largely with deals reserved for existing customers.

One of them is First Direct. The digital offshoot of HSBC launched its eye-catching 7 percent regular saver late last year.

Recently, however, I was in the market for a simpler savings account than one with the traps common to regular savers.

A look at the First Direct app revealed nothing like a bread-and-butter, cash-on-hand, easy-to-access savings account.

This was on one of those apps that banks pushed us to do online banking. Indeed, this sort of thing was once First Direct’s USP given that it has no affiliates.

But after leaving the app to browse First Direct’s website for more information, I found a bonus savings account that paid 3.5 per cent on balances up to £25,000. Perfect.

I say “excavated” because two of my This is Money colleagues are fellow First Direct customers and also had no idea about the rate, so it seems well hidden.

This 3.5 per cent deal is slightly less than the 4 per cent offered by stablemate HSBC up to £10,000. But it’s still a reasonable rate, and like my bank, it’s an easy place to park cash and watch it all under one roof.

When I read the bumf, it turned out that you can only open the rate over the phone.

That seems strange for a customer-friendly bank like First Direct – especially considering that you can open the regular saver and cash Isa with just a few clicks on the app.

So I called and got a meeting with the Spanish Inquisition when I tried to open the account. It was all rather bizarre.

It started with are you a British taxpayer, are you a British resident, where were you born… all questions that First Direct already knows the answer to.

Then it turned into something I was more uncomfortable with that I would describe as a data mining exercise.

I can only conclude that this was for cross-selling because let’s face it, First Direct sells mortgages, credit cards, loans, and even has a shared-dealing service.

To get the 3.5 percent rate, I had to navigate a maze of questions. Four of them I took offense to as I believe they are absolutely irrelevant to whether or not you open a savings account.

1. My marital status: Why does First Direct need this? Is it only open to those who are married, or who are single – who cares?

2. With which other banks do I have accounts?: Can’t I get the bill if I do business with another bank?

3. Do I own my home?: Can’t people who rent open the account?

4. How much will I earn?: This isn’t a credit check – who cares if I make £10,000 or £1million? Can I not open the account if I earn too little or too much?

I declined to answer the question about other banks and how much I make (information I’m pretty sure First Direct can easily figure out for themselves).

The savings team employee put me on hold. I was then told I couldn’t have the account without all this information filled out. Computer says no.

It does not make any sense. I had opened a First Direct regular saver last year without all this information, while a family member recently opened that HSBC bonus saver without any hassle.

I asked First Direct why this happened. A spokesperson told me that the call provides an opportunity to verify that customer information is accurate and up to date. But what’s in it for me?

They said I can open the bonus savings account through the chatbot in the app. I’ve tried that ever since, and it didn’t work – instead I spat out a robot chat about the regular saver I don’t want. (Do chatbots ever work?)

First Direct has announced that it will soon make the savings account available digitally. Put that against the backdrop of nimble, rival banks racing to raise rates and it doesn’t look great.

Once upon a time, First Direct was the bold newcomer – albeit backed by a big banking name – that offered something different and made things simple.

With rates rising, I’ll be going elsewhere. After all, there are now 23 savings deals offering 3.5 percent or more in our independent This is Money best buy tables.

Opening a savings account at a bank you have a long-standing relationship with should be easy. It should not be whims.