Halifax Reward or First Direct - From Nationwide Flex

Stormy

Hi all,

Well, the dust has settled on the Foreign Charge introduction on the Nationwide Flex Account and having been using my Nationwide Flex Account for the past 10 year and seeing the features degrade and degrade, this is the final straw for me so I have decided to move my daily banking from Nationwide.

I like the idea of the Halifax Reward account (cashback is available, and a switching bonus to sweeten the deal) and am just wondering if I will be regretting moving there from Nationwide. I used to use First Direct until they introduced charges (although I would be exempt I just took offence to it) so wonder about moving back there, but of course I will receive no incentive for moving as I have been a customer before.

Could I have some opinions please?

Thanks,

CLAPTON

what will be the foreign charge with nationwide
what will be the foreign charge with Halifax
what will be the foreign charge with First Direct

Stormy

CLAPTON wrote: »

what will be the foreign charge with nationwide
what will be the foreign charge with Halifax
what will be the foreign charge with First Direct

That wont be an issue. I should probably have mentioned in the OP, I have gotten myself a Halifax Clarity card ready for November the 1st which will be cheaper than all 3 current account options from a foreign charge point of view in my circumstances.

So the comparison is purely on day to day banking I guess, how the customer support is and what the internet service is like.

jambosans

Stormy wrote: »

I have gotten myself a Halifax Clarity card

That being the case I would go for the Halifax Reward Current Account. When you have a Halifax current account funding £1000 or more each it becomes a Halifax Reward Clarity Credit Card which gives £5 cashback when you spend £300 or more in a statement month.

FYI, if you go through Topcash you get £50 cashback, plus £50 cashback from Halifax if you switch and the your £5 per month (when funding £1000 or more). So that's £160 for the first year, and £60 thereafter. If you include the Clarity Credit Card Reward of £5 per month that could add up to £220 in the first year.

Stormy wrote: »

So the comparison is purely on day to day banking I guess, how the customer support is and what the internet service is like.

Never had an issue with customer service, a bit of misinformation here and there, but nothing show stopping. Their Telephone Banking is fine and you can do most things (pay bills, change address, etc.), although it's widely accepted First Direct have the best telephone service. I rarely use branch, so can't really comment, never had an issue when I've had to visit.

Internet banking is excellent, below is a link to the demo:-
http://www.onlinebankingdemo.co.uk/launchhalifax.html

onlypaddy

IMO, apply for both accounts. First Direct for your normal banking, and Halifax Reward to take advantage of the £5 a month current account interest and the upgrading of your Clarity credit card to a Reward clarity card as stated below.

First Direct are streets ahead of the rest when it comes to customer service, and putting £1000 in and out of a halifax reward account looks like it will reap you £10 a month returns, so best of both worlds. Just a shame you cant get the £100 from FD too....

rachieb123

Hi,

Is it possible to open the halifax account, then just transfer 1000 in a month from my main account and then transfer it back out again, do you still get the £5 a month if you do this?

onlypaddy

rachieb123 wrote: »

Hi,

Is it possible to open the halifax account, then just transfer 1000 in a month from my main account and then transfer it back out again, do you still get the £5 a month if you do this?

Yeah, i do this. Takes about 5 minutes with Faster payments in and out

LongTermLurker

I was about to say the same as onlypaddy. Everyone should own a Halifax Reward account (or 3 if they got in early enough )

Use FD as your main account and either set up a pair of standing orders to Halifax and back or just do it manually by FP 1st of each month.

Note, if using FP, I can't remember why/if there's a limit, but I always transfer 2x£500 to Halifax and £1000 back - the great thing about both banks is it shows up instantly so it's almost like drag and drop!

JCB2020

I've bitten the Nationwide bullet to!

Moving to Halifax - £5 for Current account, one off £50 for moving DD's etc
also £5 for spending more than £300/month on Clarity - my wife can do that without blinking

So overall any benefit from Nationwide's travel insurance is more that compensated for

I just dont understand Beale's thinking - a number of forums like this have significant number s of longstanding members doing a bunk
They must have had load of dosh removed by now

jiggy2

JCB2020 wrote: »

I've bitten the Nationwide bullet to!

Moving to Halifax - £5 for Current account, one off £50 for moving DD's etc
also £5 for spending more than £300/month on Clarity - my wife can do that without blinking

So overall any benefit from Nationwide's travel insurance is more that compensated for

I just dont understand Beale's thinking - a number of forums like this have significant number s of longstanding members doing a bunk
They must have had load of dosh removed by now

don't forget the £50 cashback from Topcashback as well for opening the reward a/c.

Stormy

JCB2020 wrote: »

I just dont understand Beale's thinking - a number of forums like this have significant number s of longstanding members doing a bunk
They must have had load of dosh removed by now

Yeh, I am going for Halifax, looked at the internet banking demo and it looks just as good as Nationwide. So bye bye Mr Beale from me, say goodbye to my salary each month.

Cheers for the input.

Mike