Halifax reward current account

jennifernil

My Halifax accounts refused to send a faster payment to Lloyds, it is indeed a crazy system.

Yesterday the website seemed to be close to meltdown, kept grinding to a halt. Could only send £1000 from each account to a payee by FPs........and nothing to Lloyds.

Tee-Es

These accounts (I have two) are a particularly good way to generate money if you use them in conjunction with either a Alliance & Leicester or Abbey current account (or both).

If you transfer the money quickly you can get almost the full 6% from either or both A&L / Abbey and (effectively) 12% (£120 per year if you hold two Halifax Reward accounts) - that's almost 18% on £1000 per year!! Amazing return!!

Mikeyorks

D1zzy wrote: »

Yep - yesterday £1500 out of all 3 accounts FP - no probs. Today.................................?

Other than a contingency held in a poorly paying Websaver - I've just been moving all my cash away from Halifax. The last to go was £17.65k to Ing. I sent £15k via BACS and thought the remaining £2.65k would easily go FP if I used both my own and the OH's Reward account (which are our fully functioning current accounts, complete with unused O/Ds and a bucketfull of well used DDs)

Bit of a silly thought it turned out to be The first £1k went from my account .. but nothing else would. Nor the next day (which was yesterday - not today) ...... until, getting a bit bemused by it all I tried it again (for the 3rd time) from the OH account without realising I hadn't transferred enough cash across. And £650 went by FP quite happily - leaving her £500 into overdraft! I then transferred virtually all the remaining cash into her account and tried the same from my account and the final £1k departed immediately by FP ..... leaving me £800 into overdraft! That despite I'd attempted to do just that on at least 6 separate Logins earlier in the day.

I'll put it down to co-incidence - whilst leaving the conspiracy theorists to work up something else?

Then, right on cue, a 'phone call this evening from a man with the Halifax who says he 'looks after the IFAs diaries in the local branches' ...... and would we like an appointment! :rolleyes: I briefly mentioned horses and stable doors - but he was very pleasant so left it at that.

Mikeyorks

Tee-Es wrote: »

Amazing return!!

No ... it's better than that. Partially because the £5 / month is net - the real figure is £6.25 / month or £75 / year.

I now only keep an average £100 in my Reward account despite it's my main current account. So that translates to 75% effectively? As you keep £zero in yours - then the interest rate is unquantifiably higher.

That all said ..... it's still only a finite £75pa no matter what you call the percentages!;)

Tee-Es

Mikeyorks wrote: »

No ... it's better than that. Partially because the £5 / month is net - the real figure is £6.25 / month or £75 / year.

(...)

You are right, I guess I should calculate it properly and take into account the tax being paid / net yield.

I based my calculation on having £1000 and trying to generate a return from it, so

Net £120 pa from two Halifax Reward accounts
Less than £60 from either A&L or Abbey

Sum: Less than £180, hence less than 18% net yield.

It's still pretty good

D1zzy

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Then, right on cue, a 'phone call this evening from a man with the Halifax who says he 'looks after the IFAs diaries in the local branches' ...... and would we like an appointment! :rolleyes: I briefly mentioned horses and stable doors - but he was very pleasant so left it at that.

Took me best part of an hour yesterday to get a cheque for some of my matured reward account funds, by the time I'd avoided :
Appointment with Financial planner
Cash ISAs
S & S ISAs
Structured Investments
Fixed Rate Bonds ( said they could do me a 2 year 1 as I couldn't get their Website to stay up long enought to complete the form - however they could not do that without an appointment :rolleyes:)

Tee-Es

Mikeyorks wrote: »

(...)
I now only keep an average £100 in my Reward account despite it's my main current account. So that translates to 75% effectively? As you keep £zero in yours - then the interest rate is unquantifiably higher.

That all said ..... it's still only a finite £75pa no matter what you call the percentages!;)

As for yours, it depends how much the £1000 that you pay into your Halifax Reward account every month yield elsewhere. If you spend them, the % return is fantastic but, as you said, not more than £75 pa before tax.

Mikeyorks

That's salary - which is paid directly to the Reward account and then I move it out on day of receipt. As my DDs are well spread .. I just move enough back in periodically to satisfy them. And maintain an overdraft just in case I mess up.
The penalty is that I have to keep money in Halifax adjacent to the Reward account to do that - and their easy access rates are pathetic at the moment. But no one has much better and allows a guaranteed FP inwards. Hence why I've moved most cash out and just maintain a float.

cottager

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Other than a contingency held in a poorly paying Websaver - I've just been moving all my cash away from Halifax.

Where did you head for in the end after the WS dropped? Or did it come down to the dartboard solution!

I still have a lump to get out of there. You wrote recently about setting up multiple payment arrangements to the same destination, so got a few set up ready to use... but it wouldn't play today with more than one by FP (and another from OH account), so more tries ahead tomorrow.

jennifernil

My £1000 is coming from the miserable 0.5% websaver, but passes through our 5 (3 are mine) reward accounts, our daughter's 1, and my Lloyds Vantage. We also have a joint Reward account that is funded by our pensions. So the £1000 is generating £30 per month ++, not a bad return. Also I reclaim the tax on my £17.50 share per month.