Halifax vs First Direct

rh22uk

Hi,

I can't decide which current account to switch to.

The main positives of First Direct is the £125 switch incentive, customer service and the 8% regular saver.

However if I go for Halifax I get £5 every month which in the long-term works out better than the First Direct Incentive also I can get the 3.2% Halifax ISA instead of 3% by being a current account holder.

Any thoughts/advice people?

crispy_chris

Go for both!

Switch to First Direct (for the £125) and simply open a Halifax Reward Account (no switching needed to get the £5 a month).

Then just transfer £1000 into the Halifax account every month to get the £5 and you get your extra 0.2% on your ISA, then transfer it back to your FD account.

Then use your First Direct account as your primary account due to FD being great

[Deleted User]

Very wise words, crispy_chris. It's exactly what I do

rh22uk

Thanks for your replies everyone,

I did have another question though....to qualify for the £125 it says you must transfer a salary of £1500 within 3 months. Does that just mean one payment of £1500 within those 3 months to get the incentive or do you need to keep paying that £1500 for the 1st three months??

throughtherain

1 payment is enough.

rh22uk

Thanks - does anyone know, is it ok to make the payment of £1500 and then withdraw it straight away.. do you still get the incentive??

samwsmith1

pp87 wrote: »

Thanks - does anyone know, is it ok to make the payment of £1500 and then withdraw it straight away.. do you still get the incentive??

Perfectly fine, that's exactly what I did.

pjread

I may be being stupid - is the £125 'free' even without switching any account with a DD etc?