so thats why that halifax article was on here

kelloggs36

Morglin wrote: »

In the end, all the banks will raise money with rules like this, so I wouldn't think switching banks will do much good in the longer term.

Someone has to pay for those who, despite being aware of the T&c's, spent money that wasn't theirs, and are now moaning they want refunds of charges.:rolleyes:

Banks will always find a way to get their money!

As the taxpayers own some of these banks now, that means WE will will be paying these refunds from certain banks.:mad:

On top of that, those who abide by the rules, and don't exceed their overdraft agreement will be pay more than those who break the rules, from what was said last night on WD.

How is that fair?

It won't be long before banks start charging for current accounts, and we will all be the losers.

Lin

They are already sneaking this in! So you pay twice!!

rb10

HalfPint wrote: »

I've not seen the programme yet either but I've already "ditched and switched"...I'm one of these who use the od facility as a safety net....I hardly ever use it but for me it's the principal of it all.

[...]

I for one appreciate Martin's advice...thanks Martin! :T

I haven't seen the programme, but if this was Martin's advice then I think you may have been let down. Maybe someone has been too caught up in the whole 'this will negatively affect a small number of people' thing.

You say that you hardly ever use the overdraft. Remember that (provided you're paying in £1000 per month), your first two months of overdraft usage in any year is effectively totally interest free. So it could be that you were a little premature in ditching and switching.

HalfPint

rb10 wrote: »

I haven't seen the programme, but if this was Martin's advice then I think you may have been let down. Maybe someone has been too caught up in the whole 'this will negatively affect a small number of people' thing.

You say that you hardly ever use the overdraft. Remember that (provided you're paying in £1000 per month), your first two months of overdraft usage in any year is effectively totally interest free. So it could be that you were a little premature in ditching and switching.

That's the catch...I don't pay in more than £1000 per month.....therefore don't qualify for the reward...but I am penalised now for the odd occasion that I do use my arranged od. I've been loyal to Halifax for over 20 years...It's the right thing for me to ditch and switch now....I realise that this may not be "right for all"

HP x

Judith_W

With your comment about not paying in £1000 per month, this can be in several transactions, so if you would like to take advantage of the £5, you just need to transfer money between that account and another several times until £1000 has hit your account.

simon_templar_2

"Personally, I did not think Martin gave good advice to the assembled whingers on Watchdog. Current accounts are not a minor part of personal finance."

Is a person who only has a degree in journalism really the best person to start giving out financial advice???

fozzeh

MSE_Martin wrote: »

As for your point about those with bad finances moving, I specifically told the woman in the studio talking about moving her mortgage too that this was a dangerous idea to protest that way and should be careful - though i havent seen the programme yet and some of that may've been cut out.

Martin

It was left in.

Everything said was good advice, the examples were good and you actually did well in the quiz!!! :T
It's a nasty approach by the bank and, fortunately, my banking is with another provider who have kept my overdraft interest and fee free since I was a studen (grad 2006)...saying that, I opened 3 Reward accounts with Halifax to basically stooze on funds I have and make money from nothing.

PROLIANT

Can't wait to see the reaction once the rest of the banks follow suite, shock, horror, suprise! :eek:

As stated in one of my previous post's on similar thread;

We as the consumer have brought this on our selves and the banks are now retaliating and are squeezing the crap through the financial sieve, with hope the good bits will remain ergo the clients who can manage their finances will remain and manage their money and for those can not...a hard lesson learned.

An old saying applies here; "Never bite the hand that feeds you".

Littlemadam83

PROLIANT wrote: »

We as the consumer have brought this on our selves and the banks are now retaliating and are squeezing the crap through the financial sieve

They were more than happy to keep extending peoples overdrafts. Mine shot up from £450.00 to £2000 in a year. I never asked for it, and now (this part is my own fault), I have dipped into it as I have been earning less due to sale being low.

I see it as a totally evil scheme, give them increased overdrafts - then whack the prices up! :mad:

wolfina

My husband and I had a meeting with the bank yesterday as between us we both live in our £550 and £660 O/D's , Now i totally get that it is our fault but we have lived in these for the last few years and are trying really hard to get our finances in order and were really starting to get some where, until this was made aware to us on monday morning. During the meeting they tried to sell us the new accounts , life insurance and even tried to drop in house insurance. Although i except that it is our own fault and we need to find away out of it , i cant help but feel upset and utter confusion as of what to do for the best to get out of this mess. As it stands right now we will be handing over between £40 and £60 pound a month in charges to them.

PROLIANT

I strongly agree that people should be more responsible with money and stop finding get-out clauses and blaming others for their error, however I also think the Halifax and any bank for that matter should be helping their "genuine" customers by means of transferring their overdraft to a fixed rate loan thus preventing them from spiraling in to financial meltdown.

We all should know that the good old days of living in the overdraft are coming to an end, banks are becoming more "pro-active" as far as lending goes however "customers" should also follow suite as far as their borrowing habits go, stop living a life-style out of reach of their normal day to day cleared funds and help themselves out of debt by taking sound advice from forums like Money Saving Expert.

Both parties must shoulder some of the blame here, however the pathetic excuse for a government is not helping matters in any way by not providing "useful" support to people who are facing financial difficulty, it may be a matter of a few hundred quid that could tip somebody over the edge and plunge them in to defaults, CCJ's and at the end of the day nobody getting paid.