Halifax £1 per day charge for using authorised overdraft? Will others follow?

rb10

Yogicat wrote: »

I'm not sure there is enough new people that wish to take up the £5 reward, set against the people whom will leave because of the Overdraft Charges & Branch Closures?

They have already had massive numbers of Reward accounts opened, I can't remember the figure off the top of my head, but there are a very large number of Reward accounts that have been opened since it was introduced in February. £5 is such a high figure that I expect them to have a very large - and relatively high quality - current account base within not too long.

And branch closures...? Ok, they are closing a tiny, tiny number of agencies, but all the proper branches are remaining open. In fact, they've opened new ones over recent years, not closed them down.

Yogicat_2

rb10 - How does a bank whom has just introduced daily Overdraft Fees & Branch Closures attract a high quality/any client base??

Yogicat

sabretoothtigger

They wont pay the reward unless its requested by the way, standard account charges 1 quid but gives no reward so you do need to upgrade as mentioned in a post above.
A person who doesnt read their mail or throws bills away is going to be worse off on both counts

jambosans

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

They wont pay the reward unless its requested by the way, standard account charges 1 quid but gives no reward so you do need to upgrade as mentioned in a post above.
A person who doesnt read their mail or throws bills away is going to be worse off on both counts

Absolutely. I think the High Interest Current Account is an interesting example. Historically these accounts also required £1000 minimum funding to qualify for the higher rate of interest, but HBOS have decided to change these accounts to a Standard Current Account, as opposed to the Reward Current Account. You can obviously hazard a guess behind their motivations, but it seems unfair for HICA customer's who, like you've said, do not explore their options.

jambosans

Yogicat wrote: »

rb10 - How does a bank whom has just introduced daily Overdraft Fees & Branch Closures attract a high quality/any client base?

I think this has already been answered, the £5 net payment each month. There is no other bank on the high street that offers such an easy way to obtain £60 net per year. As, rb10 has already stated, they are closing the Halifax Agencies, not branches, and in future, once the integration is complete, HBOS customers will have access to Lloyds TSB branches (and vice-versa).

noh

Yogicat wrote: »

rb10 - How does a bank whom has just introduced daily Overdraft Fees & Branch Closures attract a high quality/any client base??

Yogicat

The reward account is a very good proposition for those who don't use a overdraft which is the majority of account holders. They gain £5 per month.
The closure of agencies within what were Halifax Estate Agents is an irrelevance.
Have just seen a TV ad for the Reward Account.

So in conclusion I would say they aim to attract new customers by raising public awareness of a good product suitable for a large number of current account holders.

YorkshireBoy

Yogicat wrote: »

rb10 - How does a bank whom has just introduced daily Overdraft Fees & Branch Closures attract a high quality/any client base??

As this backlash gathers momentum, and makes the national press, the £5 per month Reward payment will ensure Halifax/BoS are swamped with applications from 'prime' customers, because that'll be a free £180 per year per couple* with a joint account and one sole account each.

And 'prime' customers are good risks for credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc, so plenty of opportunity for cross-selling which will recover some of the outlay. Speculate to accumulate?

And who pays? Answer...the cost is funded by a wider customer base than previously was the case when only a few customers who abused their accounts footed the bill.

Winners...those who abused their accounts, and those who ran their accounts well and in credit.
Losers...most definitely those who struggled, yet still managed to run their accounts within the bounds of the T&Cs...specifically their overdraft limits.

What's the winners/losers split?...50/50? So it's break even for Halifax/BoS, ie cost neutral. And more importantly, it meets with the OFT guidelines on 'clarity' and 'fairness'.


* Even those on minimum wage, topped up by tax credits, can meet a £1K per month funding requirement so it's not even just an account for the 'rich'.

Yogicat_2

Jambosans - Some of the Headlines I have read say "Halifax Branch Closures", is this incorrect? can the newspaper be sued for this?

Yogicat

Yogicat_2

YorkshireBoy - You're right, it seems the "Bank of the People", isn't actually for everyone, owned by us all, but unable to serve us all.

Yogicat

jambosans

Yogicat wrote: »

Jambosans - Some of the Headlines I have read say "Halifax Branch Closures", is this incorrect? can the newspaper be sued for this?

Yes. What can I say, don't believe everything you read in the papers. A Halifax Agency offered a basic counter service in comparison to a branch. Your second, sarcastic question, has been duly ignored.

Perhaps you can provide genuine counter-argument in future, instead of repeating the same question or asking irrelevant silly questions? (this question is rhetorical, there's no need to answer)

If you would like some more information about the closures, as opposed to what you've read in The Sun, see below*:-
BBC - Halifax estate agents sold for £1
The Independant - Lloyds axes jobs and estate agent before cash call
The Wall Street Journal - Lloyds Bank Sells Halifax Estate Agency For GBP1

*these examples are taken from a selection of results from a Google News Search, all articles I've read refer to the closure of Halifax Estate Agency's, not branches.