Firstactive Reviews 

Opened a new savings account on 25/08/26

Still not open today 7/9 a full * 13 days later * and counting.

Surely someone at this company must have anticipated the expected demand for this account.

Clearly not!

Not sure what problems others are having but opened and verified and working in 15 mins. I could have missed out on a great rate here taking notice of people who clearly don't how to open an account

Appalling. Nearly two weeks now and they are incapable of opening my account. Just emails telling me how busy they are! Even though I’ve told them I no longer wish to proceed they still seem to think that I want to open an account with them. They and Nat West should be embarrassed but they seem oblivious to their failings.

Would give them zero if I could
Absolute joke, been well over 2 weeks and still wait for savings account to be opened.
Would steer clear says part of NatWest so will avoid them also.
So so poor.

Despite what others say (not sure why they have they have time issues) my account was open and I was using it within minutes. 4.55% interest rate which is much better than what Virgin could offer. No mobile app though which they did say they wee working towards in the near future.

Absolutely terrible !!
I applied for an account 10 days ago and still have not received a decision. I have received 2 emails apologising for the delay.
A Micky Mouse operation, I have lost any confidence that my money would be secure with this bank.

I also applied to open an account with First Active, but the account is still not open... So far all they say is that "we received a lot more applications than usual", that's a pathetic excuse and the phone line customer service is poor.

This is not a financial institution it's a joke.

I intend to: withdraw my application and consent, have my data removed under article 17 of GDPR, report this so called financial institution to their regulators the PRA and FCA, report them to Natwest Bank PLC.

If they cant operate like a bank then they should not be a bank, how to trust them with my money and personal information....

Absolutely the worst experience ever in opening an online savings account. This company need to take a long hard look at what has happened and make a formal apology to all those that have endured delays. I wonder whether they may offer a goodwill gesture once it’s all sorted, but there again I have no idea how long it will take before the account is finally open…10 days and counting!

Very poor. I applied 2 weeks ago and I am still waiting. I have even called twice and they stated you should gear in the next day or so. I am still waiting. I will now look else where to deposit my money. I am also a Natwest customer. This is ludicrous.

I applied to open a savings account few days ago after they falsely advertised I could open an account in minutes. Well I'm still waiting! I'm already a Natwest customer so I have no idea what the hold up is.

I applied to open a savings account about 3 weeks ago after they falsely advertised I could open an account in minutes. Well 3 weeks on I'm still waiting! I'm already a Natwest customer so I have no idea what the hold up is. They obviously don't know how to run a business.

The interest rates are an obvious attraction but must admit I was deterred by some of the reviews about delays in setting up but I decided to give it a go. The application time on line was less the 3 minuets after which time I received an application successful email plus sort code and account number, I carried out a £1 test transfer from my nominated account which appeared in the First Active account within minuets, the whole process from starting the application to that first £1 landing was less than 15 minuets.

As with many other reviewers, the account is taking far too long to open, (opened over two weeks ago and still not active), with one communication stating they are extremely busy! If this account is ever opened, I will close it straight away. Keep away from this bank; your time is better than a few extra percentage points!

over a week to open an account. I am still waiting . I will open an account somewhere else other than these cowboys.

As others have said taking too long to even open account
Has now been more than a week since I applied
I applied with Spring account opened immediately my cash is now with them earning interest

Update it’s now been 12 days since I applied and have had two emails apologising for the delay joke of a bank
Avoid at all costs

False advertising.... they advertise opening an account in minutes....10 days later still waiting for them to verify account. Only correspondence is they have "had high demand and taking longer than normal to open and dont bother ringing them as their team can't help"... if they can't deal with the demand then dont let yourselves go to top of the best buy table for rate. Shocking in this day and age... i know the ID system they use and have never had a problem with other organisations that use the same ID provider..... won't bother depositing any funds now when or indeed if they finally open the account.

Was attracted by the generous interest rate and FA was a recommendation on Moneysaving Expert. However, applied several days ago and the application is still being processed! NWG know who I am but for some reason, their security needs more. Many other other banks and building process an application almost instantly. Have found and instantly opened a better savings account so probably won’t put any funds in anyway now even told it is approved. Am beginning to wonder if they are actually a real bank.

Applied on Tuesday and checks still in progress almost a week later. Was attracted by the headline interest rate and backing of NWG, but will no longer be funding the account if it approved because the extended delay has impacted my confidence. FWIW I’m already a customer of NWG.

Managed to open account fine. Tested it by depositing £10 and then try take out £1. Whilst it was more than happy to take the money, it just would not let me take the money out. No errors, or messages - even looks like the transaction went through. However, on transaction history nothing shows and balance stays the same. Will be closing this account down, cannot rely on them.

Requested to open an account 21/8/26. Page said “verifying identification” for one week. At which point I contacted their digital assistant. I had not received any communication from them and the DA asked for my email so I continued to wait. Two days passed and as I hadn’t had any emails, I opened the DA again. There was a message in there to my surprise. It said they were experiencing high volumes of applications but would eventually get to mine. So I continued to wait. Today, 31/8/26, I received an email saying they needed proof of address from me. I have replied cancelling my request to open the account. It is shocking to think their process takes this long and does make me concerned that the reality of trying to get your money out of the account would be just as lengthy. I would not bother with this bank.