SMS helps First Direct customers manage their money

According to UK bank First Direct, customers using their transaction alerts by text service are less likely to go overdrawn.

The bank, a division of HSBC, say that nearly a third of customers use the service, and they send around 2.6 million text messages every month.

According to First Direct’s Rob Skinner, the service is useful to customers because “people can be alerted when they are likely to be going into the red”.

“It helps them manage their money a little better, particularly when they are living busy lives,” he explained, adding: “The mobile phone is something which we carry around with us, it’s almost a remote control for our lives.”