MSE News: HBOS 'High Interest' customers to earn zero interest

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Halifax/Bank of Scotland (HBOS) customers who hold the bank's 'High Interest' current account will soon earn absolutely no interest on credit balances...."

Read the full story:
HBOS 'High Interest' customers to earn zero interest

opinions4u

It's always good to see MSE bang on time with the hot news stories.

:T

(Readers: If you have one of these accounts get it moved over to a 'Reward' account. If you pay in £1,000 a month the £5 monthly Reward payment will easily exceed your interest).

stoneman

opinions4u wrote: »

It's always good to see MSE bang on time with the hot news stories.

:T

(Readers: If you have one of these accounts get it moved over to a 'Reward' account. If you pay in £1,000 a month the £5 monthly Reward payment will easily exceed your interest).

I second that. I have 3 Halifax Saver reward accounts, bounce £1,000 around them during a month, and get £18.75 ( £6.25 as a non tax payer). My OH does the same, so in one month for bouncing £1,000 around 6 accounts we get £37.50 "rewards". Thats £450 a year for lending 1K of our money out for 10 days a month.

suffolkpaul

The other changes to the bank account are the worst possible news for myself and my wife. We are currently treading water and servicing debt as best we can with a target per month, the overdraft, whilst expensive before was our lifeline.

we live within our £2750 arranged overdraft for the whole month and currently pay £20/mnth in debit interest. This is going to at least double! talk about a vicious circle!

I called the numebr on the letter to discuss other accounts they have and all they tried to do is get me to take out a loan or a credit card. It's disgusting and im at my whits end with Halifax. Having moved my job into London I really hope i get a decent bonus and can stick my middle finger up at HBOS. Will be taking my business elsewhere asap.

YorkshireBoy

stoneman wrote: »

Thats £450 a year for lending 1K of our money out for 10 days a month.

10 days! They have my money for less than 5 minutes on the 2nd of each month (£1,000 in and £1,005 out on all 3 accounts)!

opinions4u

suffolkpaul wrote: »

we live within our £2750 arranged overdraft for the whole month and currently pay £20/mnth in debit interest. This is going to at least double! talk about a vicious circle!

If you can get yourself below £2,500 at the top end the new set up will cost you £25 a month (assuming you get the £5 by changing to Reward account).

I called the numebr on the letter to discuss other accounts they have and all they tried to do is get me to take out a loan or a credit card.

What did you really expect them to do? A loan may actually save you a fair bit and help you to manage your debt down.

It's disgusting and im at my whits end with Halifax. Having moved my job into London I really hope i get a decent bonus and can stick my middle finger up at HBOS. Will be taking my business elsewhere asap.

Always an option. What happens when other banks intrdoduce new charging structures? Make sure you're not jumping out of the frying pan and in to the fire.

stoneman

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

10 days! They have my money for less than 5 minutes on the 2nd of each month (£1,000 in and £1,005 out on all 3 accounts)!

:rotfl::rotfl:
Yeah, I knowI know, but I am the cautious type. Want to take account of weekends when the transfers might not have gone through, so we space it out a bit.

suffolkpaul

opinions4u wrote: »

If you can get yourself below £2,500 at the top end the new set up will cost you £25 a month (assuming you get the £5 by changing to Reward account).

What did you really expect them to do? A loan may actually save you a fair bit and help you to manage your debt down.

Always an option. What happens when other banks intrdoduce new charging structures? Make sure you're not jumping out of the frying pan and in to the fire.

All good points, Thansk for your opinion. in the heat of the moment I vented my spleen a little.

I figure that i just need to re-adjust my priority debts, from overpaying credit cards to paying off mymy OD.

If your position is better than mine, I can see how these changes to the charges can leave you better off. but not for me.

apt

As has been pointed out you can 'earn' £5 per HBOS reward account just by bouncing a total of £1,000 per month in and out of the account - if you do not have £1,000 easily accessible 2X£500, 4X£250 etc. works just as well. So the passage in the article 'The HBOS Reward account pays £5 a month after basic rate tax if you deposit a minimum £14,700 salary' is inaccurate.

JimmyTheWig

Yes, it's time to switch.

Tend to dip into overdraft from time to time, mainly for small amounts. Figure it's easier to do this and pay a few pence in interest than to transfer money out of savings to cover it. But there's no way I'm paying £1 a day for the privilege (sp?).

Already have A&L and Abbey accounts, so looks like First Direct is the answer. 0% buffer means I should save money, plus there's the £100 bonus on offer.
Before I head off to their website to apply, does anyone know if they ever do cashback for this?

rb10

apt wrote: »

As has been pointed out you can 'earn' £5 per HBOS reward account just by bouncing a total of £1,000 per month in and out of the account - if you do not have £1,000 easily accessible 2X£500, 4X£250 etc. works just as well. So the passage in the article 'The HBOS Reward account pays £5 a month after basic rate tax if you deposit a minimum £14,700 salary' is inaccurate.

The '£14,700 salary' bit is also misleading for those people who are self-employed, who only need £12,000 before tax. Or for those people who get money from benefits/interest paid from other accounts etc, as HBOS do not insist that the money comes from a salary. They take the total amount of all money paid into the account during the month - regardless of whether it's salary or not.