Halifax reward a/c - just been told can't keep my 3

tillycat123

Just called Halifax as needed to do a transaction I could not do online.

Lady noticed I had 3 reward a/cs. Says I can now only have one and the other 2 will be down graded!

Can they do that?? I opened them all in branch. Really peeved, wish i had not called. Looks like she's not even done the transfer I called up about either.

noh

Depends when they were opened.
For accounts opened on or after 1st November 2009, you can hold one Reward Current Account in your sole name and one in joint names.
Accounts opened prior to then you can hold three in total.

jambosans

noh wrote: »

Depends when they were opened.
For accounts opened on or after 1st November 2009, you can hold one Reward Current Account in your sole name and one in joint names.
Accounts opened prior to then you can hold three in total.

Whilst what you say is partially true, the reality is that all Reward Current Account customers with more than two (one sole, one joint) accounts are in breach of the revised terms & conditions which came into effect in November 2009.

Halifax have simply not been exercising their right to close or downgrade accounts in breach of said terms & conditions. It was only a matter of time before they enacted a policy* to begin weeding out the offending accounts.

*I don't know if there is a policy in place ATM. Tracing accounts automatically may be a more complicated exercise than simply putting front line staff on the lookout. In the OP's case, it could simply be an over enthusiastic member of staff, but there is little recourse.

YorkshireBoy

jambosans wrote: »

Tracing accounts automatically would be a more complicated exercise than simply putting front line staff on the lookout.

I'm no IT expert, but I can't believe that's the case. Surely they could run a simple database query?

However, with 4 Reward accounts in my sole name I'm always wary about 'speaking' with them (either by phone or in branch) in order to minimise the chances of experiencing the OP's problem.

Lokolo

Yep tbh I don't imagine it being that difficult. As YB says, a quite database query to return all accounts which are X type (reward), if more than one with the same name at the same address with the same DOB, send letter out, downgrade.

10_66

Crikey, I hope they don't make a habit of this. I've got 1 joint, 3 sole and OH has 2 sole, so the £30 a month is a nice bonus!

savemoney

We have several accounts joint, mine, oh, and one daughter 4 in all in house

opinions4u

They certainly have the IT capability to identify multiple account holdings if they wish to. I'm not aware of any enforcement process though when it comes to Reward account.

jambosans

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm no IT expert, but I can't believe that's the case. Surely they could run a simple database query?

Me neither, I was surmising. So the honest answer is I don't know.

That said, identifying may be simple enough, but then there would be the headache of closing/ downgrading the accounts - plus all the mailing associated with that. Contrast that with a 5 minute brief rolled out by a team manager telling staff to "take action if you notice", is a much simpler method of saving a few fivers.

Like o4u, I'm also not aware of any enforcement policy in place, and as a result, most of my post was conjecture.

pinkdalek

tillycat123 wrote: »

Just called Halifax as needed to do a transaction I could not do online.

Lady noticed I had 3 reward a/cs. Says I can now only have one and the other 2 will be down graded!

Can they do that?? I opened them all in branch. Really peeved, wish i had not called. Looks like she's not even done the transfer I called up about either.

About time! You can have 1 sole and 1 joint, it is about time they clamped down on people who abuse the account and just soley pay in £1000 by drip feeding monies around. Halifax should make it a condition that the Reward account is used as a true bank account eg certain number of direct debits/cheque book usage, debit card usage.

Sorry for being blunt but if people abuse the system in the end the bank could withdraw the account completely which is not good news for those of us who use it properly!

anselld

pinkdalek wrote: »

About time! You can have 1 sole and 1 joint, it is about time they clamped down on people who abuse the account and just soley pay in £1000 by drip feeding monies around. Halifax should make it a condition that the Reward account is used as a true bank account eg certain number of direct debits/cheque book usage, debit card usage.

Sorry for being blunt but if people abuse the system in the end the bank could withdraw the account completely which is not good news for those of us who use it properly!

If they were a decent account in the first place, eg FP that actually works consistently, they would not need to invent rewards to get customers. If they invent such rewards then people will make the best of it. Complying with the terms is not abuse.